Name(s): Battle Angel Alita / Ganmu / Tsutsu Yume: Gunnm / Battle Angel / Hyper Future Vision: Gunnm /  銃夢 GUNNM
Format: Original video animation [OVA] (2 episodes)
Studio(s): Madhouse

It’s an OVA. It’s cyberpunk. If this doesn’t make you want to watch Gunnm, then you’re a lost cause. The adaptation of this legendary manga only covers a part of the series, but manages to be the best execution of that limitation in that it tells a complete story arc that doesn’t end on too much of a cliffhanger. Gunnm centers around Gally, an amnesiac android recovered by the benevolent mechanical engineer Ido. The two live in Scrap Iron City, a run-down wasteland where robots and humans alike struggle simply to survive and make the best out of their meager means. Amidst the dangers of the city Gally discovers she has innate incredible combat ability and power, and joins Ido in becoming a bounty hunter. Her human friend, a young boy named Yugo, gets involved with a manipulative businessman named Vector who promises to take Yugo to Zalem for an exorbitant amount of money. Zalem is a city that hangs above Scrap Iron City, and supposedly offers a better life to the elite class permitted to live there. The story progresses around people who risk their livelihood and lives for a chance to get to Zalem.

Science fiction that deals with the separation between the elite class and lower class that are forced to live in a post-apocalyptic sort of area is an extremely worn trope, but Gunnm‘s setting still oozes with enough atmosphere to make it a success beyond simply being derivative. The appeal of this OVA is that it truly feels like a broad portrait of what life in this cyberpunk city is like, and you come for the sights rather than the storyline or character depth. Both of which are limited due to the extremely quick pace the OVA moves between events. There’s little to no transitional downtime, just a skipping string of the important things in the plot and nothing else, while you soak up the background available. It’s an absorbing OVA but the reward basically stops there, climaxing in an inexplicably quick and weightless romantic plot and an obvious conclusion. Gally’s background is never explained which is the only thing blatantly missing, and the looming abuse of Zalem is never actually shown or dealt with, but it doesn’t thematically need to be. Zalem is important for what it symbolizes to the Scrap Iron City residents, not what’s actually there. The art and animation quality are both respectable and the action is smooth if movements are poorly choreographed at times. The damp tone and dark coloring of the OVA along with the fact this sort of genre is underrepresented in anime reminds anyone affectionate towards the bygone OVA scene exactly what’s so refreshing about it. Worth a look for OVA and cyberpunk enthusiasts, although it’s a modest achievement.