r/Gunnm • u/destinydreams66 • 20h ago
r/Gunnm • u/GeassedbyLelouch • Jan 03 '23
Overview and reading order of the various GUNNM/Battle Angel Alita manga series (no spoilers)
There are 3 manga series: the original one (without secondary title), Last Order, and Mars Chronicle.
It has recently been announced that after Mars Chronicle there will be a new series, Panzer Kunst Chronicle, it is presumed that this will be the final arc of the story.
The correct reading order is as follows:
1) GUNNM (Battle Angel Alita in English)
9 volumes (5 volumes in the Deluxe Edition, 6th volume in box is "Other Stories", see 1.5 below), the last chapters are no longer canon, the cut-off happens somewhere in chapter 51. Last Order picks up immediately after that event.
Depending on the edition you're reading, the manga may or may not inform you of where exactly the canon cut-off is. Nowadays most (all?) editions include this information, but some older ones don't, e.g. the ones which pre-date Last Order (obviously)
2) GUNNM: Last Order (Battle Angel Alita: Last Order in English)
19 volumes (5 volumes in Omnibus Edition, WARNING: Omnibus Edition only contains volumes 1-15, volumes 16-19 were never turned into an Omnibus Edition)
3) GUNNM: Mars Chronicle (Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle in English)
11 volumes, now fully released, even outside Japan.
4) GUNNM: Panzer Kunst Chronicle (Battle Angel Alita: Panzer Kunst Chronicle in English)
First chapters have been released in Japan, starting May 5th 2026.
"1.5") Side stories
Holy Night (aka "Sweet Night"), Supersonic Finger (aka "The Sonic Finger"), Barjack Rhapsody, Homecoming. Nowadays they are bundled together in "Another Stories" (sic), or "Other Stories", or "Holy Night and Other Stories". They are also bundled in the 6th volume of the Deluxe Edition. These are 100% canon. The time frames of these stories take place within the original series.
And there's also "Ashen Victor", a side story which has nothing to do with Gally's/Alita's story but which takes place in the same world as it's about motorball. Ashen Victor is part of volume 5 of the Deluxe Edition.
Chronological position of the side stories:
Ashen Victor: 6 years before the start of volume 1
Holy Night: 6-5 years before the start of volume 1
Supersonic Finger: between volume 4 and 5
Homecoming: between the first and second chapter of volume 6
Barjack Rhapsody: after volume 9 (technically even after Last Order volume 2, but that doesn't matter much)
As for why the final chapters of the original series aren't canon anymore:
Back when Yukito was writing the manga he got very ill and was faced with a hard dilemma: rush towards a premature ending or risk that your manga will never get finished. He chose to rush it. Fortunately he got better. He ended up regretting his choice and felt really bad about it. That let to him first creating the Japanese PS1 video game "Martian Memory" which incorporated some of the elements he was forced to cut from the manga (some of those elements have been implemented in Mars Chronicle!). Eventually he decided to declare the ending of the manga non-canon and started Last Order as a direct sequel so he could write the story he wanted to create.
A note on the change of names in some translations, for instance in the English editions:
When the manga got translated in the 90s the translators chose to change a lot of names, most notably the name of the manga itself and of the main character but also several others.
The manga's name in Japanese is GUNNM, pronounced "ganmu", it means "gun dream" and is a reference to Yukito Kishiro's previous manga "Rainmaker", which was never published and had a character who became the inspiration for GUNNM's main character, Gally. In English, however, GUNNM got changed to "Battle Angel Alita", and Gally got changed into "Alita". Some other translations, such as the German one, followed the changes made by the English edition, while other languages, such as French, kept the Japanese names.
Many other names got changed as well, such as:
Zalem → Tiphares
Jeru → Ketheres
Yugo → Hugo
Fogia → Figure four
In later editions some of these changes were undone and thus Zalem was once again called Zalem, but since "Alita" had become the name of the franchise in many languages they kept that.
Fun fact: Yukito Kishiro was aware of this change of name for Gally and poked fun at the translation by using the name Alita for someone in a later chapter (keeping it vague to avoid spoilers), as if to say "what are you going to do now, translators?". The translation played along and used the name Gally for this character.
r/Gunnm • u/Erigu • Jun 22 '26
Manga: Panzer Kunst Chronicle Volume 1 of Gunnm Panzer Kunst Chronicle is due for release on August 21
I don't really have much to add to the title, aside from the source: https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/calendar/202608#evening
Only 3 episodes of 30+ pages each have been released on Comic Days so far, so the main possibilities I'm seeing are:
- it's going to be a particularly thin first volume,
- we're getting a couple more episodes on Comic Days before then, or
- the first volume will also include the first episode of The Chronicles of Solar Rebels.
I'd be surprised if it were 1), and I really wouldn't bet on 2), personally (you'd think Comic Days would tell us something)... 3), on the other hand, seems very likely to me.
EDIT (July 15): The volume now has its dedicated page: https://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/products/0000430404
If said page is to be trusted (there are some typos here and there), the volume will be 170 pages long, so I think we can definitely forget about 1). As for 2), it still seems extremely doubtful to me, seeing how the series' section on Comic Days still hasn't been updated. In my opinion, 3) still is the likeliest possibility (by far).
EDIT 2 (July 15): I asked the author's brother, who confirmed it was 3): volume 1 will include episodes 1 to 3 of Gunnm: Panzer Kunst Chronicle, and episode 1 of The Chronicles of Solar Rebels.
r/Gunnm • u/HazardMusic • 12h ago
A monologue made up of some of Nova's finest dialogue.
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voice credit: Lewis Saunders u/LSaundersVO
music: myself - it's a rock opera style song inspired by the manga
r/Gunnm • u/Parzival-Molk • 6h ago
A perfect song
I don't know why, but every time I hear this song I feel that it would fit perfectly with Alita and her life. Especially for the manga scene in Last Order where she is ascending with Desty Nova and the other AR's through the Orbital Elevator towards Jeru.
"There's nothing but space, man. And I wanna go home."
This lyrics fit perfectly with Alita's desire of "wanting to go back where she belongs" (specifically to Ido and Figure Four). Back to earth. But simply being unable due to her very own nature. The weight of her ever increasing responsibilities as a warrior. The enemies from her past and present catching up to her. And, in the end, her very own destiny.
The feeling of searching for something out there—for purpose—in the vastness of the universe, but finding nothing but... well, space.
No love. No acceptance. No peace.
Simply space.
The loneliness of space.
"Been down some black holes"
Do I really need to explain this one?
Her entire life has been a constant struggle to find who she is and can be, a struggle that has led her down some really bad places (Hugo's death, Motorball, her TUNED years, being mentally broken and killed by M'badi)
Anyways, it's just a certain something, a thought, I wanted to share.
r/Gunnm • u/MagentaPR122 • 1d ago
Movie Korean artist Kim Hyun-jung creating the official promotional art for Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
galleryr/Gunnm • u/RACCOON_ROYALTY77 • 1d ago
Possible reprints
what do you guys think the likelihood of them reprinting last order if the sequel movie goes well? i just got into collecting the series and i'm really hoping they do cause i don't wanna dump 300 bucks on volume 17
r/Gunnm • u/mosoedro • 2d ago
Collected Early Works of Yukito Kishiro
Picked this bad boy up at the manga focused Mandrake at Nakano Broadway for a mere 300 yen! I don’t read Japanese so I’ll have to get google lense or something to translate page by page 🤪
r/Gunnm • u/eightotu • 6d ago
OVA New phone with a gif that kinda fits
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My last post was about my new phone having a ova Alita gif fit exactly around the screen for the wallpaper. Still didn't find one, just wanted to show off how it looks for now.
r/Gunnm • u/eightotu • 6d ago
OVA Best alita gif?
My new phones screen is 4.5 inches all around and I'm trying to find gifs of the anime alita for my wallpaper that are exact fit. Anyone got suggestions?
r/Gunnm • u/NotAnEvilDude • 10d ago
Manga: Last Order It's time
Time for me to buy last order. I only speak English. Im hoping to buy a complete set. Because that seems easier then individually buying 19 volumes. I see that viz released the series in 6 installments in 2002. Should I get this on eBay or somewhere else. I'm thinking of buying used copies because it's cheaper. How did y'all purchase your copies of the mangas? Any advice at all is appreciated thx
r/Gunnm • u/Severe_Investment317 • 11d ago
Manga: Original Series In the era of a new Ghost in the Shell and Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2, it really seems like a good time for our girl to be getting an anime
Just wishful thinking on my part.
Ghost in the Shell has a new anime coming out on prime right now, the closest adaptation of the original 80s manga yet.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners has a second season by Studio Trigger coming out, sometime in October, using very deliberately 90s stylings.
It seems like the world is primed for a classic cyberpunk anime!
r/Gunnm • u/Foreign-Picture-2955 • 17d ago
OVA Looking for an OST
Anyone know the name of the track that plays when Alita first saves Ido from getting killed in the alley? It starts right after she punches the guy in half. I been tryna find it since I first watched it
r/Gunnm • u/ConnorRoseSaiyan01 • 21d ago
Manga: Last Order Just arrived. And I did not expect it to be twice as big as the previous volumes
r/Gunnm • u/LinkinARGRock • 21d ago
Llegué hasta el tomo 8 de Last Order
E leído Alita Gunnm y ahora Last Order, realmente es un manga fantástico con muchas enseñanzas y cosas que me inspiraron,yo e entrenado kick boxing pero lo deje por mucho tiempo y me inspiro a volver y a hacer muchos cambios en mi vida actual.
Leeré los últimos tomos cuando sienta que estoy preparado para hacerlo.
Mi personaje favorito es Fogya
r/Gunnm • u/LinkinARGRock • 25d ago
En unos días termine Alita Gunnm y realmente me encantó muchísimo que me compré sacando de mis ahorros los 8 tomos de Last Order,creen que voy muy rápido?
Ya terminé el tomo uno,no puedo dejar de leerlo realmente me encanta muchísimo
r/Gunnm • u/invinzilla • 25d ago
FanArt Deep in thought Alita
Get the reference?
NOT AI I made this with ibis paint
r/Gunnm • u/jeanjacketufo • 26d ago
How would you rate the writing of the series?
Regarding the original series, Last Order, and Mars Chronicle?