Film vs Manga: Alita Battle Angel

 Alexander Sirois

Storyboarding and Comics

3/3/2021

Alita Battle Angel (Movie) vs Battle Angel Alita (Manga)

A notable detail to point out in the discussion, the movie only spans from the first four volumes of the series and at a glance, the only factor to compare from available is the first volume. So before comparing the film from the novel taking into factor what each novel will hold. Volume 1 basically takes the narrative as the origin or standpoint of where the story for Alita begins. Volume 2 dives more into the romance and humanization of the character with another. Volume 3 dives further into the action of the story and the involvement of a barbaric sport. Volume 4 continues from the 3rd volume with the process of formulating a team and a glimpse into the character's past. 

Over the span of nine volumes and many more elaborate narratives that have formulated throughout other spinoffs, it is quite concerning and embrace to mash up nearly half into a feature film. Notable aspects of design vary greatly though a consistent variable being the design of Alita herself. All throughout the series and film, the comparative limits are at a reach for both, i.e. the grasp of how far one could go within the CGI of the film is overwhelming in design while the illustrative nature of the manga outreaches those capabilities to show a more cyber-esc and fantasy design. Taking a step back, the narrative focus of trying to piece together four volumes into one film seems troublesome, especially when it comes to those who take the story of the manga to heart, but in comparison how the story was pieced together for the film was quite cohesive to elaborate more depth with the overall story. There are just moments that within the manga feel placed and only further elaborated with each volume while the placement of specific scenes and design from a filming standpoint settle well with recreating this cyberpunk world. Now where the design and story separate is most certainly a large gap each variation pieces together well with how far the narrative needs to span. In aspects of design and story the involvement of how Alita obtains her name and first body are quite different though also similar. In both, the film and novel Doc give Alita her name, but within the first novel, it was foretold as a dead pet's name, in the film it elaborates as the doc's dead daughter, and the body he created that she bares was also for his daughter. While the body in the novel was various trade parts obtained through the docs other jobs, though is seemingly set up as though the doc was killing women and taking their cybernetics. 

In aspects of visual design, the film shines brightest in my opinion, from a technological standpoint. The film takes the imaginative visuals of the world and people and forges those ideas into life, though surprisingly maintains the same philosophy from the original narrative. In comparison to the manga the linework and character elements are both cartoonish and confusing in the design of purpose, more so though visually represented the proportions and mechanical value are overly-exaggerated the force and life represented feel immense and entertaining. The same is presented with the film, though represented heavily from a logical standpoint. 

Back onto the story really only the core principles from the manga are there while the scenic display of many points of conflict and growth in the story is drastically separated. Within the first volume, Alita murders a murderer joins as a bounty hunter and fights a psycho cyber maniac. Now well within the film these things do happen but are not only confined, they are more so censored as well. In the novel, the cyber maniac eats brains to sustain “sanity”, while in the film the maniac is simply doing the bidding of his hire-up. Indeed it boggles down to timing, while the intricacy and involvement of depth for character growth and understanding has unique pacing though somewhat rushed in comparison the film does a good job in telling the story while maintaining the structure of the character.