Description

Alita demonstrates more of her badassity in the beginning of the 'Motorball' arc, which featured prominently in the James Cameron/Robert Rodriquez movie. Skip synopsis @ 4:04 

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068: Battle Angel Alita vol. 3

Chapters 13 to 17

'Killing Angel' and 'Second Stage'

By Yukito Kishiro

Translation by Stephen Paul

Lettering by Scott Brown

Synopsis:

 Devastated by her loss, Alita runs away from Dr. Ido. Ido spends days as a wanderer and intends to put his work on hold in order to find her. When he hears the cries and screams of a girl coming from a back alley, he knows too well that it is not the Alita he is searching for. Luckily for her, Dr. Ido finds himself a weapon and obliges to save her. In doing so she rewards him by taking him to see Alita. The girl, named Shumira, buys Ido a ticket to a sporting event, there we see that Alita is competing in the deadly sport of Motorball. When Ido reaches out to Alita, he is greeted coldly, she turns her back on him and walks towards her next destination.

Through Shumira, Ido meets the reigning Motorball champion, Jasugun. Ido works with Jasugun as his personal tuner in order to defeat Alita and make her question her career path. But to Ido's terror, Alita is not one to back down.

Their paths cross on the market, and the both Alita and Jasugun begin to compete in an arm wrestle. Alita wagers her cybernetic heart and literally puts it out onto the table. Jasugun forfeits the arm wrestle but not before blowing out Alita's arm actuators. The two decide to settle things in Motorball, where Alita must assemble a team in order to compete with him.

Topics:

• In the chapter, 'Second Stage', Alita's tenet expressed within this volume is "Every human being needs something to stand up and fight against. If you run away or protect your own hide, you're bound to go soft and rot away. You've got to keep fighting or else you'll ruin yourself. At the very least, that's the kind of person I am"
• Alita vs Ido, and how they're psychological battles compare to the more comical action scenes and violence throughout the manga. As well as how their character embellishes the action.

Other references:

• Damascus Steel, is a legendary metal and is the closest thing to antiquity that would resemble the fictional metals of Tolkien's Mythril and George R.R. Martin's Valerian Steel (Dragon Glass). Damascus steel is merely an alloy that has a distinct marbling and wood-grain look to it. The plural for such weapons made in Damascus is Damascene whilst Damascus itself is the capitol city of Syria.
• 'Sea Monkeys', one of the most successfully marketed and sold products in U.S. history. Simply they are brine sold as eggs that when hatched become pets. The person responsible for selling these was Harold von Braunhurt, who also sold the infamous 'x-ray specs' along with his 'sea-monkeys' via mail order.
• Agoraphobia, Ed mentions this when Alita asks where Umba is. Literally means scared of open spaces but in reality it pertains to a social anxiety.
• Qi (pronounced as "Chi" and often written as "Ki") is the energy that Jasugun uses for strength. Tai Qi Gong is a mind and body exercise from where the trope is derived from. It's been in many manga such as 'Dragonball' and 'Battle Royale', where in episode 19 of the 'We Appreciate Manga' podcast we talk about two characters who fought each other using Qi.

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