One of the best cyberpunk manga of all time is on sale for an incredible price at Amazon. Battle Angel Alita’s Deluxe Edition Series Box Set collects the complete original run in premium hardcover format. The Deluxe Edition Series Box Set is on sale for $100 off, dropping the price from $180 all the way down to $80. This is the best deal ever for the six-volume, 2,392-page collection, and this says a lot considering it was published in December 2018 by Kodansha Comics.
And if you’re interested in Battle Angel Alita’s hardcover collection, you may also want to check out Kodansha’s upcoming Ghost in the Shell hardcover set. Scheduled to release February 17, The Ghost in the Shell Legacy Edition Deluxe Box Set is available to preorder for $119 (was $140) at Amazon.
$80 (was $180)
Yukito Kishiro’s post-apocalyptic cyberpunk series ran for nine volumes from 1990 to 1995 in Japan. The series was first translated to English and published in the US in the mid-’90s. The hardcover omnibuses in the box set feature an all-new translation that is more faithful to original Japanese manga. These editions also include the full-color pages that were printed in black and white in the original English editions. Each hardcover edition has new cover art. The slipcase display box also has original character art on each side.
Books 1-4 collect two volumes each and clock in around 430-450 pages. Book 5 closes out the original series with Volume 9 and collects Ashen Victor, a one-off manga set before the manga in the same world. Book 6 is a collection of Battle Angel Alita stories called Holy Night and Other Stories. The 272-page boo features four stories in all: Holy Night, Supersonic Fingers, Homecoming, and Barjack Rhapsody. These stories had never been published in English prior to this collection.
Along with the translated short story collection, the box set comes with three art cards–two of which have gorgeous silver foil accents–multiple interviews with Kishiro, and an alternate ending to the original series.
$23-$30 each
The cover art for all six hardcovers is shown above. Kodansha published the Deluxe Editions individually in 2017-2018 for $30 each. Amazon has deals on the first four books, but if you bought those four, you’d already be spending more than the price of the box set. At current prices, the entire Deluxe Edition run costs $156 outside of the box set.
All Battle Angel Alita Deluxe Editions:
Set in the lawless settlement of Scrapyard, far beneath the mysterious space city of Zalem, this scrapyard is where disgraced cyber-doctor Daisuke Ido discovers the detached head of a cyborg woman who has lost all her memories. Adopting the name Alita after she is repaired and outfitted with a powerful body, this warrior sets off on a journey to reclaim her memories as she faces off against dangerous cybernetic enemies. Alita is a master of the Panzer Kunst martial arts, and she uses her skills to become a hunter-killer mercenary to help those in need.
Kishiro returned to Battle Angel Alita in 2000 with the Last Order arc, which concluded in 2014 after 19 volumes. Five paperback omnibuses collect the first 15 volumes in the series, but the final four volumes are difficult to find in physical format. That said, you can get each one on Kindle for $7.
Since 2014, Kishiro has been working on a third lengthy arc called Mars Chronicle. Volume 1 in the series releases in English on February 10. Fans can preorder Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle Vol. 11 for $11 at Amazon. Most volumes in the Mars Chronicle arc are still in print in paperback, but there are a couple that are only sold for high prices from resellers.
Adapting Battle Angel Alita to film had been a passion project of James Cameron, the director of blockbusters like Terminator 2, True Lies, Titanic, and the Avatar movie franchise. While Cameron would spend decades attempting to get the project off the ground, it would be Robert Rodriguez who would eventually helm a feature film adaptation, with Cameron as a producer and co-writer. The adaptation released in 2019 under the title of Alita: Battle Angel. It’s actually a fairly impressive adaptation starring Rose Salazar; it’s definitely worth a watch as a companion piece to the beloved manga.
If you haven’t watched it or simply want to add a physical edition to your collection, Alita: Battle Angel is available for low prices on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD. The 4K Blu-ray edition is only $18, and the 1080p Blu-ray is $10.
