Gunnm; or, Gun Dream
No past means a clean slate for your soul, no memories to
haunt you.
With the approaching premiere of James Cameron’s dream
project Alita: Battle Angel (2019), I thought that it would be fun to review the
1993 OVA which stemmed from the original manga and served as the introduction
into the world of Gally for many fans.
Release Info
Release Info
Directed by: Hiroshi Fukutomi Voice actors: Miki Itou, Shunsuke Kairya, Mami Koyama
Language: Japanese Original Title: 銃夢 GUNNM No of eps.: 2
Doctor Daisuke Ido, the cybernetics expert, is scavenging
the garbage heap which has been dumped from the city of Zalem. There, he finds
a female cyborg with an intact head and chest. Ido rebuilds the cyborg, but she
does not remember her past at all. She is given the name Gally and starts
living with Ido. Soon after, Gally discovers that her cybernetic body contains huge
reservoirs of power and knowledge of martial arts. She registers as a bounty
hunter and begins hunting down criminals in the dystopian Iron Scrap City, a place
below the unattainable Zalem.
Rusty Angel/Tears Sign
Due to the increasing talk about the movie over the last
year, I decided to check out the phenomenon of Battle Angel Alita. This is the
English title, actually. For clarity’s sake, I intend to refer to the main
protagonist by her original name, Gally. So at first, there was a 5-year-long manga which was originally released in 9 volumes. OVA came approximately
in the middle of the manga’s release process and its sole purpose was to boost
the comic book sales. As a result, there were no plans intended for a huge
story-arc beyond the two episodes which were made. Allegedly, Yukito Kishiro,
the main creator, did not really care about the OVA either.
It does not change the fact that Gunnm is a stellar instance
of animated science-fiction. Within the time span of a little over 50 minutes,
the viewers are presented with the image of a vast world in which there is
an ongoing conflict. The exposition is served quite effortlessly, as things are
only touched upon rather than properly developed. However, these are the basic things
we need to know: Gally is a cyborg without any past and she finds her way of
life in destroying the robotic bad guys. Ordinary people want to go to Zalem,
but in fact, Zalem is exploiting Iron Scrap City. The world of Gally is dense
and claustrophobic, but open and colourful at the same time. These are the primary
advantages of Gunnm.
Is there anything I didn’t particularly like? Well, the
romantic aspect felt a bit too rushed (I'm not going into spoilers). The character Gally falls in
love which comes off as bland, but nevertheless, the subplot furthers the
story and provides a change for Gally at the end of the second episode. When
the end credits roll in with the chilling “Cyborg Mermaid” song by Kaori Akima
in the background, I desperately wanted to see more of Gally’s adventures.
Perhaps that is the main disadvantage of Gunnm: it sets up things so well and
they don’t get picked up afterwards.
Recommendations
Generally, I very much enjoyed this animation for its
hand-drawn style, interesting story, and awesome main heroine. There was a lot
of action, which was aided by Kaoru Wada’s atmospheric music score. Taking
everything into consideration, it was an hour well spent and my only regret is
that it was just an hour. Gally deserves to be revived in a full season anime.
Check out this OVA if you can, even if you will happen to find the theatrical
movie disappointing. Now, I’m off to read the manga!
Overall score: 9/10
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