faqs:

This is a frequently asked questions (FAQ) list on the Japanese series Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita.

Any corrections, contributions and/or comments are welcomed through e-mail at: shumira_chan@altavista.net <mailto:shumira_chan@altavista.net> or snydder@grove.ufl.edu <mailto:snydder@grove.ufl.edu>. The Italian version of this FAQ is maintained by jashugan@geocities.com <mailto:jashugan@geocities.com>. Please let us know if you find any dead/wrong links! We'd also be very much interested in hearing about new translations, fan-made Gunnm music videos, recent publications by Kishiro, and anything that doesn't seem to be covered here.

Version: 4.Jun.2000

Contributors (yell if we missed you!)

shumira_chan@altavista.net <mailto:shumira_chan@altavista.net>

snydder@grove.ufl.edu <mailto:snydder@grove.ufl.edu>

fburke@best.com <mailto:fburke@best.com>

bstacy@earthlink.net <mailto:bstacy@earthlink.net>

logand@cyberramp.net <mailto:logand@cyberramp.net>

murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp <mailto:murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp>

alita15@hotmail.com <mailto:alita15@hotmail.com>

besson@datacom.ch <mailto:besson@datacom.ch>

09097121@spv.ing.uniroma1.it <mailto:09097121@spv.ing.uniroma1.it>

doc_ido@animefan.org <mailto:doc_ido@animefan.org>

jmaracil@retemail.es <mailto:jmaracil@retemail.es>

sonagenc@colba.net <mailto:sonagenc@colba.net>

bobengel@aloha.com <mailto:bobengel@aloha.com>

PMCHUCK@pbtcomm.net <mailto:PMCHUCK@pbtcomm.net>

miyamoto@chass.utoronto.ca <mailto:miyamoto@chass.utoronto.ca>

moraga@mail.ddnet.es <mailto:moraga@mail.ddnet.es>

xcredia@mindspring.com <mailto:xcredia@mindspring.com>

chetwah@home.com <mailto:chetwah@home.com>

nadir@dusted.net <mailto:nadir@dusted.net >

Bits and pieces stolen from the Web and Usenet...

 

1. Where can I find this FAQ?

2. What is "Gunnm" (a.k.a "Battle Angel Alita")?

3. Who is Yukito Kishiro?

4. What is Shueisha?

5. What is Viz Comics?

6. What is AD Vision?

7. What Gunnm manga/anime is there available?

8. What other languages has Gunnm been translated to?

9. What about the Spanish language edition?

10. What about the French language edition?

11. What about the German language edition?

12. What are the "tech notes"?

13. Why are there only two OVAs?

14. Will there be any more Gunnm manga or videos?

15. Any differences between English and Japanese versions?

16. Where does Gunnm take place?

17. When does Gunnm take place?

18. What is the 'ten-thousand-chip' problem?

19. What are all the angelic references in Gunnm?

20. What is the physics of Tiphares/Salem?

21. What are all the weapons used in Gunnm?

22. What is Go-No-Sen?

23. What is Ido's relationship with Gally?

24. How did the GIB make Kimji?

25. What is Ashen Victor/Haisha?

26. When does Ashen Victor take place?

27. What is "Megil Corp"?

28. What's the kanji on the cyberporn merchant's head?

29. What other manga has Kishiro done?

30. What is Hito?

31. What is Gunnm Gaiden?

32. Are there any plans to release Gunnm Gaiden in English?

33. What is the "GUNNM Complete Edition"?

34. What is Aqua Knight?

35. Why are all the names in Aqua Knight in Spanish?

36. Are there any fan translations, fan-fiction or fan-art?

37. What other Gunnm stuff is there?

38. Is there a Gunnm video game?

39. Are there any Gunnm-based RPGs?

40. Any Gunnm mailing list out there?

41. What about Gunnm in Usenet?

42. What about Gunnm on the Web?

43. What is "The New Kansas Chat Room"?

44. What is "The Gunnm Message Board"?

45. What is "The Gunnm CyberRing"?

46. What is "Pinion of the Seraph Webring"?

47. Where can I find Gunnm-related pictures and multimedia?

48. Where can I find scans of the Japanese/English covers?

49. Is there any Gunnm hentai?

50. How can I tell if I'm obsessed with Gunnm?

The latest version of this FAQ can be found at the following site(s):

<http://128.100.80.13/marco/gfaq.html>

<http://members.fortunecity.com/cordylus/seraph/gfaq.html>

There is now an Italian translation available at:

<http://studenti.ing.uniroma1.it/%7esfalco/gfaqita.html>

<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8654/gfaqita.html> (mirror)

It is also posted periodically on alt.comics.gunnm <news:alt.comics.gunnm>.

You are free to link to it or to copy it to your site as long as the original source code remains unaltered. Please feel free to make any contributions you'd like (and let us know about it!)

There is a separate Mythology FAQ for various mythological references at (< http://www.geocities.com:80/Tokyo/Spa/7501/>)

Gunnm is a Japanese manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1991, and published in Shueisha's "Business Jump". The word Gunnm is written as two kanji (Japanese letters) which mean "gun" and "dream", the literal translation thus being "Gun Dream". The comics were subsequently published in English by Viz Comics under the title "Battle Angel Alita". An anime (also called "Gunnm") was made in 1993 and released in North America as "Battle Angel" by A. D. Vision.

"Gunnm" is formed from the two kanji characters "gan" and "mu", which together mean "Gun Dream"--indicative both of the violence in Kishiro's world and of the often surrealistic images he uses. Although the name is properly pronounced "GAHN-mu", the transliteration "GUN-m" is also widely used.

Students of the Japanese language will notice that the "mu" character is usually pronounced "yume". The pronunciation of the character has changed because it is used in combination with another kanji.

The official Gunnm website is located at: <http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/gunnm%20top.html>.

Yukito Kishiro is the writer for and artist of the series. He was born on 20 March 1967 in Tokyo. He has at least one brother, and was apparently very close to his father as a young man. In high school he delivered the Asahi Shinbun newspaper (from 5-7 am!). Many of his own interests appear in the series: his love of motorcycles and his phobia of butterflies, for example. Although each of the original tankoubons, or graphic novels, has a picture of Kishiro of some sort, they are all (deliberately) indistinct. A translation of the autobiography from one tankoubon can be found at: <http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/author.html>.

Intreviews and chats:

http://128.100.80.13/marco/kishiro_interview_1993.txt <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/kishiro_interview_1993.txt> (1993)

http://128.100.80.13/marco/kishiro_interview_1995.txt <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/kishiro_interview_1995.txt> (1995)

<http://128.100.80.13/reimeika/snydder/fi.html> (1995)

<http://128.100.80.13/reimeika/snydder/mom.html> (1998)

<http://www.showa-bt-unet.ocn.ne.jp/SHOWA_HOME/AKS/GunnmMarthUj20/GunnmUj22_interview.html> (original Japanese of the above)

http://128.100.80.13/marco/kishiro_chat_1998.txt <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/kishiro_chat_1998.txt> (1998)

Kishiro's influences include Frank Miller, Buichi Terazawa and Yasuhiko Yoshikazu.

Yukito Kishiro's official website -- maintained by his brother Tsutomu Kishiro -- can be found at <http://www.yukito.com>. Biographical info about both is located at:
<http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/profile.html>.

Shueisha Publishing is a Japanese publisher, best known for their "Shonen Jampu mangajin" ['Boy's Jump magazine'], one of the longest- running and most popular manga magazines. Kishiro has been published in two of Boy's Jump's sister publications: Gunnm in Business Jump, Haisha in Ultra Jump Special, Gunnm Gaiden and Aqua Knight in Ultra Jump.

Ultra Jump has a home page at:
<http://www.showa-bt-unet.ocn.ne.jp/SHOWA_HOME/UJ_home.html>.
It is entirely in Japanese, however, so you should have the appropriate fonts to fully appreciate the page.

Viz is an American subsidiary of another Japanese publishing house, Shogokukan. It has been publishing English-language translations of manga and anime since 1989. Viz Comics first brought Gunnm to English- speaking North America with under the title "Battle Angel Alita" in 1992. Their home page is at: <http://www.viz.com>.

As for the English translators, Fred Burke has been a longtime writer with Viz, and an author in his own right. Sterling Bell and Matt Thorn left the series in 1993, and Toshifumi Yoshida--best known for his dubbing work--replaced them in the translation. Yoshida's page is at:
<http://www.crl.com/~tyoshida/toshi.html>.

Viz has released a book of their interviews in Animerica. It contains the 1993 interview. Bibliographical information is:

Animerica Interviews
The First Five Years of Animerica, Anime & Manga Monthly (1992-97)
Edited by Trish Ledoux
Cadence Books, San Francisco, California
ISBN 1-56931-220-6

For information about foreign publishers of Gunnm, please consult Questions Q8-Q11. Regarding other vendors see Question Q37.

A. D. Vision is company centered out of Austin, Texas, USA. ADV has been working on anime translation. In 1993, coincident with its release in Japan, they issued the English-language version of the Gunnm anime in North America.

ADV's home page is at: <http://www.advfilms.com>.

Gunnm was first published in typical manga format, as part of one of those large "telephone book" comics in Japan. Compilations (called "tankoubons") came afterwards. The Viz english translations follow a similar trend, Battle Angel Alita being first published as a typical North American 25 page comic with subsequent compilations (the "graphic novels") coming out later on. The Japanese manga and English-language translations have already ended in Japan, the ninth and last installments published in July 1995 and July 1998 respectively.

Full information on the Japanese graphic novels and the Gunnmcyclopedia is available at:
<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/comics.html>

The list of tankoubons is as follows (english edition in parenthesis):

Gunnm: Rusty Angel (Battle Angel Alita)
ISBN4-08-875071-3 (ISBN 1-56931-003-3)

Gunnm: Iron Maiden (Tears of an Angel)
ISBN4-08-875072-1 (ISBN 1-56931-049-1)

Gunnm: Killing Angel (Killing Angel)
ISBN4-08-875073-X (ISBN 1-56931-092-0)

Gunnm: Ars Magna (Angel of Victory)
ISBN4-08-875074-8 (ISBN 1-56931-082-3)

Gunnm: Lost Sheep (Angel of Redemption)
ISBN4-08-875075-6 (ISBN 1-56931-053-X)

Gunnm: Rainmaker (Angel of Death)
ISBN4-08-875076-4 (ISBN 1-56931-127-7)

Gunnm: Panzer Bride (Angel of Chaos)
ISBN4-08-875077-2 (ISBN 1-56931-178-1)

Gunnm: War Chronicle (Fallen Angel)
ISBN4-08-875078-0 (ISBN 1-56931-243-5)

Gunnm: Conquest (Angel's Ascension)
ISBN4-08-875079-9 (ISBN 1-56931-293-1)

Note that the length of the tankoubons and graphic novels differ. In Japan they basically subdivided the entire saga into equal parts, while the Viz graphic novels usually contain entire "parts" or volumes (note that there are eight volumes in total - the third is divided into two graphic novels/tankoubons). In discussions, they are most often referred to by their given names ("Rusty Angel", "Iron Maiden" etc.) or as "The first GN", "the second GN", etc.

See Question Q37 for sites from where the books can be purchased. For information on the Gunnm re-issues ("Complete Edition"), see Question Q33.

Translations of the manga have been released in other countries (see Questions Q8-Q11). There are two Gunnm OVAs available, based on the two first volumes of the manga. There are both subbed (subtitled) and dubbed (english voices) versions on tape, and presumably also on LD. Both OVAs come on a single tape, LDs are on separate disks. A.D. Vision has also released Gunnm on DVD (see Question Q6).

More information on the anime can be found at the Internet Movie Database: <http://us.imdb.com/M/title-exact?Gunnm+(1993)+(V)>.

Note that there are two English versions of the dub, one made in the US (ADV) and the other from the UK (Manga UK). The latter was actually released as a single "movie" instead of two separate OVAs.

Gunnm exists (or is currently being translated) in:

Japanese

English

Spanish

French

Thai

Chinese

German

Italian

Information courtesy of jmaracil@retemail.es <mailto:jmaracil@retemail.es>:

The Spanish version has been published by Planeta-DeAgostini Comics. The first part of 6 comic-books was released from July of 1.993 to December of 1.994, and about 1.995 was sold the last, so I don't have any of these -maybe it will be reprinted in a book. But the translation was really bad, literal from english, so expresions as "this way" were translated as "este camino" and not "por ahí;", "en esa dirección", and so on... The mail was a mix of letters to Dragon Ball and 3x3 Eyes. Anyway, I think that in one or two weeks, I'll be able to send you the titles of the chapters, and the name of the first translator. The covers were Viz's, and some were... ehem... The Editor was JuanJo Sarto, and seems that was surprised by the succes of the Angel...

The second released, that has been done thanks to the pressure from the Otakus, has been from April of 1.995 to June of 1.998, and was composed of 5 parts and 39 comic-books (5 for the Yugo's part, 9 for the motorball part, 5 for Zapan's part, 10 until "Dual Man" and another 10), translated by Santiago Garcí;a, labelling by Rosa Romeu, interior desing by Rosa Romeu & Josep Maria Ricart, and tecnical realization by Josep Maria Ricart. This team improved the traslation, and, altought it has been done from English, I've some reasons to suspect that they used sometimes the original Japanese. In June of 1.996, Ana Marí;a Meca was placed as the Editor, and the covers were improved, colour by A&J Torres -we prefer darker colours than the used by Viz.... ;-)

There is not a particular enphasis about giving names to the books, as you can see. Mostly, the titles of the chapters sometimes are wrong, with the wrong number or repeated, and, as I've see in Kwock's page, the word "Batalla" is droped soon. My transcription has been acurated, so if you see something strange, it was in my comic, and I'v marked the chapter with ****. Only in the two last parts (the japanese GN-6 to GN-9), sometimes the name of the book is suggested, but appears at the end of the book, or in a wrong place. The Technical Data until nanotechnology appears at the end of the Spanish 4th issue, and in the 5th and 6th appears the Data in the right place. In the 6th colection, also, apears a resume in the 5 first comics of the previous parts.

ALITA, ÁNGEL DE COMBATE

Número 1:
El Ángel Oxidado. Batalla 1: Reclamación.
Sangre Luchadora. Batalla 2: El Despertar.

Número 2:
Despedazar. Batalla 3: El Valor.

Número 3:
El Renacer de los Furiosos. Batalla 4: Resurgir.
El Renacer de los Furiosos Parte II. Batalla 5: Comienzo.

Número 4:
Trampa Infernal. Batalla 6: Responsabilidad.

Número 5:
Trampa Infernal Parte II. Batalla 7: Modo de Supervivencia.
Angel Victorioso. Batalla 8: Combate.

Número 6:
Las Lágrimas de un Ángel. Batalla 9: Compasión.

2-a PARTE

EN EL CIELO AZUL
Batalla I: Salvaje

DONZELLA DE HIERRO
Batalla 2: El Despertar del Corazón

DONZELLA DE HIERRO Parte 2
Batalla 3: Vidas Enfrentadas

DÍAS LLUVIOSOS
Batalla 4: Fugitivo de los Sueños

DÍAS LLUVIOSOS Parte 2
Batalla 5: Cabalgando en el Relámpago

SUEÑOS AMARGOS
Batalla 6: Corazones Rotos

MÁS ALLÁ DE LAS NUBES
Batalla 7: Vidas Perdidas

3-a PARTE

ÁNGEL MORTÍFERO
Carrera 1: Descubrimiento

REY DE REYES
Carrera 2: Nuevas alianzas

EL DESAFÍO DE LA CALAVERA
Carrera 3: Trabajar para ganar

EL DESAFÍO DE LA CALAVERA PARTE 2
Carrera 4: Matar o vencer

SÓLO UN CORAZÓN
Carrera 5: Arriesgarlo todo

EL CAMINO DEL ASPIRANTE
Carrera 6: Segunda etapa

BOLA ASESINA
Carrera 7: El rostro del mal

BOLA ASESINA
PARTE 2
Carrera 8: Toque de crueldad

ZONA ROJA
Carrera 9: Pelea como el viento

CUMPLE TU SUEÑO
Carrera 10: Tradición

INTRUSA
Carrera 11: Baile Misterioso

ARENAS ROJAS
Carrera 12: El largo regreso a casa

*****
4-a PARTE

LA TEMPORADA DE LA VENGANZA
Ciclo 1: Oveja perdida

EL AMO DE LOS PERROS
Ciclo 2: Melodia de redención

REDOMA DE KARMA
Ciclo 3: Laboratorio

COLAPSO
Ciclo 4: La realidad se desmorona

PERRO DEMONIO
Ciclo 5: Chivo expiatorio

COLISIÓN
Ciclo 6: Afronta los hechos

EL LEÓN Y EL CORDERO
Ciclo 7: Nuevos ángeles

5-a PARTE

LA VUELTA DEL ÁNGEL

Capítulo 1
LA PUERTA AMARILLA

Capítulo 2
ANGEL DE LA MUERTE

Capítulo 3
HÉROES DEL SALVAJE OESTE

Capítulo 4
PELEA DE PERROS

Capítulo 5
TRAIDOR

Capítulo 6
RAIN MAKER

PANZER BRIDE

Capítulo 1
A PIE DE TIERRA

Capítulo 2
RADIO K.A.O.S.

***********
Capítulo 4
NOVIA PANZER

Capítulo 4
NOVIA PANZER

Capítulo 5
ENCRUCIJADA

Capítulo 6
HOMBRE DUAL

6-a PARTE

WAR CHRONICLE

Capítulo 1
PROMESA

Capítulo 2
TESTAMENTO

Capítulo 3
MATERIA SÓLIDA

Capítulo 4
INSANITY BEING

Capítulo 5
WAR CHRONICLE

Capítulo 6
OUROBOROS I

CONQUEST

Capítulo 1
NO PROBLEM

Capítulo 2
OUROBOROS II

Capítulo 3
LAST BLADE

Capítulo 4
EPITAPH

Capítulo 5
CONQUEST

EPÍLOGO

Traducción: M.D.Mañas.
Rotulación: Rosa Romeu.

Information on the French translation courtesy of sonagenc@colba.net <mailto:sonagenc@colba.net>:

Publisher: Glénat, its an european publisher (either from France or Belgium)

Translator: now its a little weird because the translator changed for the last volume but here are the infos anyway:
Volumes 1 to 8: Yvan Jacquet
Volume 9: Vincent Zouzoulkovsky
That's what is written in the book so I don't know why they changed

The names of the characters have been chosen from both the english and japanese version, here are the names for the ones listed in the FAQ

Japanese -> French

Gally Gally

Gonz Gonzu

Jashugun Jashugan

Ed Crystal "Ed" Esdoc

Unba Umba

Sala Sara

Yugo Yugo

Zalem (Salem) Zalem

Fogira Four Fogia Four

Ruw Colins Lou Collins

Ido Ido

Names of the volumes: Tome 1 to Tome 9, but they have the original names inside (Rusty angel, Angel's tears,etc)

Gunnm: Tome 1
ISBN 2-7234-1900-2

Gunnm: Tome 2
ISBN 2-7234-1906-1

Gunnm: Tome 3
ISBN 2-7234-1947-9

Gunnm: Tome 4
ISBN 2-7234-1942-8

Gunnm: Tome 5
ISBN 2-7234-1974-6

Gunnm: Tome 6
ISBN 2-7234-2119-8

Gunnm: Tome 7
ISBN 2-7234-2120-1

Gunnm: Tome 8
ISBN 2-7234-2121-X

Gunnm: Tome 9
ISBN 2-7234-2430-8

The french volumes have copyrights that apply in France, Belgium, Québec (where I live by the way), Swiss and Luxembourg

Information on the German translation courtesy of besson@datacomm.ch <mailto:besson@datacomm.ch>:

The German version of Gunnm is published as 'Battle Angel Alita' by the 'Carlsen Verlag GmbH' in Hamburg (Germany or D) The books are bigger in size than the English ones (16.8 x 25.3 cm)

Part 1 ('Engel ohne Erinnerung', that means 'Angel without Memory') was first published Mai 1996. It was translated by Junko Iwamoto-Seebeck and Juergen Seebeck. It ends with page 140 of GN 1 (when Makaku enters Bar Kansas with Kinuba's body and eats one HW's brain). The cover features part of the Business Jump 1-cover (you just see Gally and the greater part of the gun) and the gun points to the left.

Part 2 ('Makakus Untergang', means 'Makaku's Downfall') was first published July 1996. Again, ti was translated by Junko Iwamoto-Seebeck and Juergen Seebeck. It starts with page 141 of GN 1 (you see the panel of 'Bar Kansas' falling down the stairs) and ends with page 29 of GN 2 (that's when we realize that Yugo is a spine-thief, just when he calls Ido to pick up a victim). The cover-pic is the same as for GN 2 but, of course, a little bigger. Gally's face is less of a light brown but more white and her arms are of a deeper blue-grey (compared to GN 2). And she runs to the right.

The prize printed on both books is DM 19.90. The names used are: Alita, Hugo and Zalem

The "tech notes" are a series of notes which Kishiro wrote explaining with more detail some of the technology used in Gunnm and other thoughts he had on various subjects (music, drawing, etc.). These appeared at the end of the Japanese graphic novels but never made it into the English edition (the Spanish edition did include them, however). Later on dozens of extra notes were added in the "Complete Edition" (Q33), and included comments of the character designs, the Gunnm timeline (Q17), analysis of the fights, and much more.

The "tech notes" published in the Japanese graphic novels can be downloaded from: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/tech_notes.zip>.

Translations of the first few notes were made by moraga@mail.ddnet.es <mailto:moraga@mail.ddnet.es> and shumira_chan@altavista.net <mailto:shumira_chan@altavista.net>:

Notes from the first tankoubon

Factory Techmans

The Factory and the tech-men
"Factory" is just that, a factory, but in Scrapyard lingo this word also means "government office". In the Scrapyard, the Factories are the control centers of the farms and refineries which produce supplies for Salem. Almost everything is made on the surface: food, detergents, and every kind of product which then passes through the Factory and is shipped to the skycity. Ranging from Factory 11 to Factory 1111, there are 11 control centers in total. There are no humans at the Factories, all processes are automated using tech-mans, specialized android units.

Captions:

A tech-man in an operation cylinder

Different types of tech-men

Factory front gate

A human brain serves as the tech-man's main CPU. The tech-man, however, has no wishes or will of its own - it is simply a robot working for Salem.

The tech-man's cylindrical body slides along the Factory's tubing, and it can then connect to some external machinery (which in turn can provide the tech-man with mechanical limbs).

Caption: A tech-man moving within a Factory tube.

You probably have a lot of questions about the Factory and Salem, but if you follow the story you'll slowly begin to understand everything.

The strip: Tech-man number 10 is born!

Tech-man:"Forget about all your problems and become a tech-man!" "Orphans and those with suicidal tendencies are welcomed!"
Fat boy: "Today I'll cease to be a human being. Since my early childhood I've always dreamed about being a tech-man."
#12: "Don't move. We've got to cut off your fat face and your brain's speech control center"
Fat boy: "Cool!"
#12: "Commence production!"
Text: "Chomp! Skrunch! Splotch!"
#12 : "Why did you become a tech-man?"
#10: "Because I wanted to..."
Text: "Shyuuu"
The end.

Notes from the second tankoubon

The net-men and the criminal system

The Factory laws
In Salem's criminal system, the Scrapyard is under Factory control and a set of rules called "The Factory Laws". These laws exist to guarantee that there will not be any problems which may upset transactions between Salem and the surface, and to make sure that the Factory workers are protected (but not necessarily the dwellers of the Scrapyard).

Different crime categories:

Class "A" crimes

Destroying a Factory

Stealing supplies from a Factory

Block a shipment between Salem and a Factory

Making or owning a gun

Offer resistance to a Hunter-warrior

Class "B" crimes

Killing or harming a brain, except during a sports competition

Buy/sell a living brain

Steal living body parts.

Net-man
In the Scapyard, the Net-man is used to supervise the surveillance system, and units are located in strategic points of the Factory.

Net-men usually are usually located at street corners, and act not unlike policemen. It gathers information from citizens, eye witnesses and investigates the circumstances of the crime. It then seeks a suspect and classifies the offense as an "A" or "B" class crime. When a suspect has been pinpointed he's added to the "wanted list". If the criminal is not found and the crime is not of type "A", the investigation is eventually canceled.

A Net-man will be provided with weapons to assist the Hunter-warriors in cases involving "A" class crimes.

The criminal's fate
There are no courts or jails in the Factories, just facilities for storing bodies and an incinerator. The victim's DNA is analyzed and if it matches with the records from the "wanted list" a reward is paid. The criminal's head is then incinerated, or his/her brain used in medical experiments.

A #2 Net-man

Left:

Its eyes are similar to those of a tech-man

Screen

Two lovely fingers taken from a living body

Computer

Keyboard (water resistant)

Printer

Right:

Its head contains an antenna which receives information from the Factory.

A bold mouth, also made of living tissue

This extremity can be fitted with an electric gun or a missile launcher in case of emergency. Missiles are "smart", and can be guided by the bar code imprinted in a Hunter-warrior's brain.

The sole of its "feet" are equipped with motorized cushions. The net-man is capable of moving at 25mph over asphalt.

In spite of the cruel criminal system, the lack of an organized fight against crime makes the Scrapyard a haven for crime.

Notes from the third tankoubon

The Scrapyard and Motorball

The most popular "sports" at the Scrapyard are the underground Coliseum fights, in the Eastern zone, and Motorball, in the Western Zone. (Ido's Hospital is on Tempesto Street, Eastern zone). In the underground coliseum, cyborgs over 15 feet tall fight by clashing against each other. It's something similar to wrestling and looks really impressive.

Figure caption: Underground Coliseum.

There are several types of Motorball of varying complexity. It's a very popular sport, comparable to the baseball or motor sports (Formula 1 races) of our times.

Motorball basic rules

The players run around the circuit, and the one who catches the ball and scores a goal wins.

The movement along the circuit must be always in the same direction. If a player moves backwards more than 3 metres, he loses points.

A player must not stand without moving more than 1 minute. If he does, he's eliminated from the match.

If the motorball falls off the circuit or the internal mechanism breaks down, the game is stopped until the motorball is replaced, then the game is restarted keeping the players' respective positions.

Guns, missils and explosives are forbidden.

Fighting beyond the goal line isn't allowed.

The goalkeeper must stay in the goal (?)

Observation: when only two players remain on the circuit, it's called "show down" and victory is decided by having both players fight against each other. In such case, the basic rules from 1 to 4 are no longer valid.

It is the Factory who manages all Motorball related business. Players come to the Scapyard from the furthest reaches dreaming with fame. Given the large number of players and people whose survival depends on the games, Motorball is a large and very important business within the Scrapyard. Betting is allowed in the stadiums. Spectators can get into a seat equipped with a monitor and receive the information dierctly from their favorite player the same way the player sees it, and live the Motorball experience the same way the player does.

Pyramid picture: (from top to bottom)

First division
The first division matches are seen even in the Salem, since they're considered a first class show. There are less than 50 players in this division.

Second division
This is the most popular league, because of the spectacular dribbling, the fighting techniques, and the outspoken players.

Third division
This is the first step for success for any Motorball team. Motorball fanatics like this league because of the hard playing and the enthusiasm of the players.

Amateur league
These are non-official matches on the streets, where the players have not yet made their professional debut.

The motorball pyramid

Top: Schematic of the monitoring network. (Drawing = Human being).

Above seated guys: Monitor network (seats with monitor).

Inside seated guys: Spectator.

Below seated guys: Thief who wants to steal from the spectators.

Right of the antenna: Wire.

Left of the antenna: No wires.

Inside the antenna: Circuit control tower.

Under the antenna: Audience stats.

Box under the antenna: Cabin. Coach: Come on, now, hit it!

Inside brain: Player.

Box under brain: Transmitter.

Left text: Speed 300 km/h (About 186 miles/hour)

To have good audience stats, players must not only win, but also show all their skills.

Notes from the fourth tankoubon

How cyborgs work

Umba:
Now we're going to explain to you all about cyborgs, about which you've asked so many questions. (Heh, heh).

Face:
It consists of 3 types of parts: those taken from living beings, polymers, and mechanical ones.

Face captions (top to bottom):
Sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch (touch on the tongue).

Arrow pointing towards the brain: information from the senses.

Syringe: hormones.

Inside the brain: brain.

Arrow between brain and vertebrae: nervous system.

Right below the brain: blood pumping.

Spinal column caption:
It's manufactured only by the factory, and that's why they are so scarce and expensive. In this case, the reactions are much faster than those of the normal humans.

Caption under brain:
Internal organs. The chest is a compact unit. Even if the mechanical body breaks down, the brain lives on.

Internal organs:
Heart, lungs, liver (central box), stomach and intestine, emergency battery (right box), glucose (under heart), oxygen (between heart and lung).

Above the lung:
Exhales (pointing up), inhales (pointing down).

Umba at the middle of the page: The best product to stick these together is called "nylon alpha".

Box with lighting inside (box 1): generator (normal temperature).

Under box 1: mechanical part.

Box 1 caption:
If the generator has its water changed regulary, it can work from 5 to 10 years. To increase its power, some have an engine incorporated.

Box to the right of the generator (box 2): neural converter.

Box 2 caption:
The computer and the "soft-wear" (note: it's not software. This is what I had in the text here) are in charge of the interpretation of the orders delivered from the nerves to the actuators. According to the program, the cyborg moves more or less quickly.

Note--this does not seem to refer to "wetware", i.e. organic material used in the cyborg: the original does say "soft-ware". I think it just means, uh, "software" :)

In the arm: actuator.

Guy at the bottom: I'm the best, you know that?

Text on his left:
This guy specializes in cutting and repairing the ceramic material used to build the joints. His family has been doing this for many generations.

Text below the arm:
"Wett zeug" means in German "competing machine", and it's used in the bodies made for motorball players.

Lower Umba:
The Scapyard's android technology has not advanced in the last 500 or 600 years. However, thanks to this, their mechanisms are still understood, and they can be built or repaired very easily.

Umba:
Doctor Ido is very meticulous when building the face and the body.

Strip caption: How Gally's face was built.

Ido: Aaagh! This is not the mouth I wanted!! I have to repeat it all!
Gonzu: Lately women prefer the glucose cartridge system, so that they don't spend so much time eating and evacuating.
Ido: Idiot!
Ido: The human being likes to eat, and a good shit!! I'm gonna put this into Gally! It's a number 8 turbo-stomach that allows performing the digestive process more efficiently!
Ido: Did you defecate a lot, Gally? That's what makes you feel alive!
Gally: Ido no baka!

Strip caption: Scrapyard inhabitant "A" is born!

Text: Patom. (You know, sound of a fall)
Girl: Ouch!
Doctor #1: Did you get hurt?
Girl: It's just a scratch... (Scratch? Oops...)
Doctor #2: I'll heal you.
Text: Blah, blah...
Girl: One moment...
Doctor: Cut this too...
Doctor: You don't need an arm...
Text: Gyaaaaa.
Doctor: It's a million for the operation!
Doctor: What? You don't have any money??
Text: chak, chak...
Doctor: Look for a rich one, OK?
Girl: Yes, boss.
Text: Heh, heh...
The end.

Notes from the fifth tankoubon

About nanotechnology

Nova:
Now it's up to me, Doctor Nova, to talk to you about nanotechnology, the also called the "divine technology".

A nanometer is 10^(-9) m, i.e., the billionth part of a metre. "Nano" derives from the greek word "nanos", which means "tiny". This concept is written in chinese with the "jin" letter, speck of dust. The "nanomachine" is a molecular sized robot, with gears, cushions and motors made from a few atoms. It moves thanks to static electricity. As it's a molecular combination, it is difficult to break. This molecular robot works according to a built-in program, and it's also called "assembler robot".

Caption:
Nova's "assembler robot" drawing. 20 nm is the size of the smallest known virus.

The "assemblers" join atoms or molecules as fast as one million in a second. They can make another "assemblers" of the same size in just 15 minutes. These "assemblers" can also make other ones, and so on, and they multiplicate like rats in an exponential way. In 10 hours there are 6.8 billion, and in less than one day there are a ton of them. In two days they are heavier than the Earth, and, of course, to avoid this process that could provoke panic among the Scapyard inhabitants, there is a program and a specialized team to stop the process. (Not to mention conservation of mass - ed. :)

Right box: Nanotechnology origin.

1942- Robert A. Heinline first uses nanotechnology in a sci-fi work.

1959- Richard Feynman gives some speeches on the subjet: "Downwards there's still a lot to explore".

1976- Eric Drexar Has the "assembler" idea.

1981- Doctor Roller and Doctor Biniji build the STM microscope, in the IBM laboratory in Zurich.

1986- E. Drexar publishes the book: "a creative machine", called by everyone the "nanotechnoloby bible".

1990- An IBM's investigator creates the atomic alphabet with the STM microscope (see the drawing below).

Actually, the "assembler" can build anything that follows physical laws. Its mechanical force is unlimited.

Inside the arrow: Possible applications.

Brain rehabilitation (brain repair)

Berserker bodies (mechanical living being)

Prefabricated spinal columns (prefabricated system)

Restorer (immortality)

Food production from non-organic materials.

Self development and improving of many different types of machinery.

Investigation of new raw materials

Molecular computers.

Planet remodelation.

Nova: It can theorically control any material to perfection!! Ha, ha, ha.

Strip: Flan fabrication!

Right: He, he, he... It's a flan maker.
Left: You put water, mud and fish thorns!
Text: za-za-za
Nova: And a "nano" miracle! A delicious flan is born!
Left: Flan
Right: WOW! Delicious!!

But then, the flan maker got out of hand...

Text: As there was no possible way to stop the "assemblers", Nova's lab became a huge flan
Flan, flan, flan, flan, flan... Brrrrm
Nova: UAAH!
The end.

Notes from the sixth tankoubon

Factory circulation system

#10: This is the system on the surface which is controlled by the factory.

Captions:

Top: All the electric power needed to support Tiphares comes from the Space through an axis.

Inside Tiphares: Tiphares (Duh!)

Arrow: Trash

Lower right: The mountain under Tiphares (1500-2000 m), is made of garbage, and constant avalanches change iyts shape.

Low right text: The water, the food and all the industrial goods are sent to Tiphares through a pipe system. Tiphares provides the electrical power to the factories and the "combinatos".

Arrow besides Tommy's head: Recycling.

Tommy: I've made a lot of money with this.

The trash recycling provides work to many people.

Middle figures:

Upper: Factory.

Lower: Factory warehouse

Captions:

Inside the Scapyard.

Under the guy:
Pointing right: Manpower
Pointing left: Remaining trash.

Left arrows:
Upper: Street
Lower: Underground transport pipe

Lower rigt figure:
"Combinato"
Here's where all the imported stuff for food is processed or refined. The "combinato" works with manpower, but it gets orders from the Factory.

Upper caption: Farm

The farm is under the direct control of the Factory. The surveillance system is controlled by a "Deck-man", and it's protected by the Factory's army and volunteer soldiers. The farm people have a lot of food, but on the other hand they have many other problems; they have no medicines or cyborg parts, and there's a lack of doctors. They depend on the Factory for these.

Captions:

Factory railroads

R.R. station entrance

There are eleven entrances, all them under the Factory's control. The control is very strict to avoid terrorist attacks.

Captions:

Upper arrow: Citizen caravan

Lower arrow: Factory's exclusive use

Strip: The Wall becomes true!

The "Hydro" Wall! No one has achieved a successful smuggling operation yet
Text: Chaaaf!
Even the heavier vehicles get squished by the pressurized water.
Text: UOH! Creek, Crash!
Even if you open a hole with dynamite.
Text: BOOM!
Text: Now! Let's go!
The hole closes again at once.
Text: Ouch! Blup, Blup.
And the people get trapped in the wall, turning foprever.
Text: Today I've trapped three of these insects
Text: Chaaf, Chaaf
The End.

Note: besides these, there are Tech Notes from three more tankoubons, as well as tens of pages more included in the Gunnm reissues. See Question Q33.

The anime was not popular in Japan. There are two schools of thought as to why this happened:

Gally was not cute enough.

Low-quality animation and rather obscure seiyuus. Also, most of the Japanese viewers already knew the manga and were probably disappointed by the elimination of various plot elements from the original source.

This has not stopped discussion about "what if" there was more...
http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html#RainMaker <http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html>.

Some exciting news by bstacy@earthlink.net <mailto:bstacy@earthlink.net>:

I didn't see it in the FAQ so I thought I'd mention it. There's a Gunnm novel also:

_Gunnm_ by Kishiro Yukito and Kawamura Yasuhisa
published by Jump Books
copyright 1997
ISBN4 - 08 - 703059 - 8
780 yen

It looks like this was originally published in "Jump Novel" vol. 10 (3/30/'96) and vol. 11 (8/18/'96)

Anybody interested in translating this?

More information from thbbpt@yahoo.com <mailto:thbbpt@yahoo.com>:

first, intro of new character, a female mercenary whose trademark weapon is a superheated blade that swings out from her calf, and she kicks/slashes people with it. her personality is sort of cruel and anarchistic. Ido finds Gally. It gives more detail of the emotions involved. Gally tries to follow Ido to find out why he goes out at night. she gets stopped by a group of prostitutes because she has the arms of one of their missing. turns out theres a serial killer and they think its her . but when they attack her she defends herself and she relizes that occurrences gave her a glimpse into her past. at that time she meets the female, named Calco. Then she decides to become a hunter warrior, Calso helps her. Then right away they bump into a big cy-thug who Gally bumped into the other night. Calco thinks its a good way for Gally to start her new career, and she also secratly invites Ido to come. Gally wins the fight. The prositute sent to invite Ido is killed by the serial killer in the meantime. then when calco gets home she is attacked by the serial killer, and loses cuz she used up her energy cartridge taking care of the thug's peons. ack okok so then gally sees this crazy old guy who has this mannequin he thinks is is daughter. hes blind. gally tries to talk sense into him. when he relizes its not his daughter talking, he gets angry, then he changes bodies (to the 'mannequin's') and the fight and she wins, i think thats about it. not fabulous but not bad.

It's my understanding that the book did not sell well. (Thanks to murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp <mailto:murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp> for the personal communication)

Apparently, Yasuhisa Kawamura was an assistant artist on Gunnm before writing the novel.

Shortly after the ending of Gunnm a special issue of Business Jump Extra was published, called the Gunnmcyclopedia. Few lucky people seem to have it, but there is a nice scan of the cover at:
<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/comics.html>.

Here is A.D. Vision's response regarding further anime episodes:
http://www.advfilms.com/advhome/aboutus/faq/faq.html#q2 <http://www.advfilms.com/advhome/aboutus/faq/faq.html>.

In mid-1998, there were rumors that James Cameron was planning to direct a movie version of Gunnm. These rumors were not confirmed. This project may have morphed into the series Dark Angel <http://www.cinescape.com/links/tvdarkangelr.html>, and although it has little left of Gunnm, even this may never be made. Sources within Viz reported that they had not been contacted, but were aware of the rumors. A source affiliated with Shueisha has told us that Hollywood has been interested in Gunnm, but would not discuss it any further.

In early 2000, it was reported that the domain name www.battleangelalita.com <http://www.battleangelalita.com> had been purchased by Fox studios. Although promising news, it's certainly not unheard of for studios to purchase rights to movies that are never made.

For more information about Gunnm's sequel/prequel/coquel, see Question Q31. For more information on the Gunnm re-issues, see Question Q33.

Yes!

What, do you want more??? :)

The most notable differences are the flipping of the pages (so they are read left to right), and the elimination of the technical notes at the end of each volume. Viz also changed the names of various characters, and has made some changes in the dialogue (mostly slightly incorrect translations).

The most obvious change in the series was the names. In translation, "Gally" became "Alita", and "Scrap Iron City" became "The Scrapyard". Both of these changes, according to Fred Burke, were for marketing purposes--the original Japanese names didn't sound so good in English. However, "Salem" (or "Zalem", as it's sometimes spelled) became "Tiphares" and "Yugo" became "Hugo" for an entirely different reason--both of these names have overtones in English that they don't in Japanese. To escape the problems that they might cause, the change was made.

Here are some interesting observations by Fred Burke regarding Salem/Tiphares:

The literal translation I was working with used "Salem." For me, that already had all sorts of connotations for Americans -- witch trials, etc. So I had to come up with something else. (Seriously -- this *is* how it works, folks. The object is to make the reading experience as unobtrusive to American readers as it is to Japanese readers. Would Alita fall in love with a cheap and tiny compact car? I think not!)

A strange series of synchronous thoughts led me to "Tiphares":

I'll leave you to guess at the actual content of my free-floating associations -- but, obviously, this was before the Jeru/Salem stuff ever hit the page in Japan. (Oh, the choice of Tiphares over Tiphareth was for sound quality).

In a similar vein, the name Alita wound up with connotations beyond my original thoughts: I found out a year later that there is a Russian silent expressionist film called Aelita, Queen of Mars. And the name, obviously, was chosen well before I hit those parts of the story.

The one thing I knew, from just the first chapter, was that this was a much deeper comic than people realized -- and that my word choices should have similar depth.

The name of Gally's hometown in the original Japanese is "Kuzutetsumachi", something of a mouthfull in English. The following information was provided by feline@ma.kcom.ne.jp <mailto:feline@ma.kcom.ne.jp>:

To put it more precisely, Scrapyard is 'Kuzutetsumachi' in Japanese.

kuzu = scrap
tetsu = iron
machi = town

In the past, there has been some speculation as to where Gunnm takes place, with a few people postulating an extraterrestrial setting. The question seems to have been laid to rest with the map in the opening pages of Graphic Novel 8 (Fallen Angel/War Chronicle). Gunnm takes place in the continental United States of America:

The Scrapyard = Kansas City
Farm 22 = Garden City, KS
The Necropolis = Colorado Springs
Radio KAOS = Dallas/Fort Worth
Alhambra = Alhambra, CA
Farm 21 = Sweetwater, TX

Other places of interest include Minneapolis/St. Paul (Farm 28), St. Louis (Farm 29), Memphis (Farm 9), Louisville (Farm 6) and Little Rock (Farm 14).

This is a question of pure speculation; probably, only Kishiro himself can say for sure. Estimates have ranged from between 200 and 2000 years into the future.

As for when individual events in Gunnm take place...with the re-issue of the Gunnm tankoubons (Question Q33) and the inclusion of Kishiro's volumnous tech notes, Kishiro has established a definite time line of about 450 years for the events preceding and including Gunnm to take place. A translation, with additions from the Haisha manga Q25, is being prepared:

<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/8934/Timeline.html>

In the original Japanese, Vector wanted 10,000,000 chips from Yugo. However, in the English translation, Vector says, "Three years ago, I told you...bring me ten thousand chips, and I'll send you to Tiphares." This is a mistranslation, with the contributing problem that suddenly, Hugo's goal seemed much more real. Many questions about the economics of the Scrapyard have arisen because of this!

A similar, though more subtle, problem occurs in Graphic Novel 3 (Killing Angel). In the original, Thompson's company is "Trench Broom", and hence, probably a street cleaning sort of corporation. In translation, this came out as "Trench Bloom", which has been interpreted as some sort of urine recycling company. Gally's sponsorship status slumps even further...

PMCHUCK@pbtcomm.net <mailto:PMCHUCK@pbtcomm.net> has further thoughts on this:

In the Gunn FAQ section 17, the faq mentions trench broom/ trench bloom miss-translation and possible activitys for the respective co.'s. In WWI and WWII "Trench Broom" often was used as a name for any firearm designed to kill soldiers quickly in a trench. Such weapons would include shotguns, Thompson SubMachineGuns, etc... This offers another possibulity for the activitys of Mr. Thompson's Co. That of a firearms manufacturer, ofcourse firearms are not allowed in the scrapyard, or rather the discharge of a firearm is not allowed. Perhaps Mr. Thompson manucfactures SMG's for Tiphares/Salem?

Although, in light of the strict prohibitions on firearms in the Scrapyard, this is only a remote possibility, nevertheless it does show the importance of free thinking in the Gunnm community (see Q27).

The majority of the information that follows is from Gustav Davidson's "A Dictionary of Angels", copyright 1967, printed by the Free Press, New York, New York:

Battle Angel: None identified. In translation, the entire story has been called "Battle Angel Alita", and one chapter in the first tankoubon is called "Battle Angel"; however, no specific angel of battle is named. "Angel of Battle" is, in fact, a work by Tennessee Williams...

Tears of an Angel: None identified. In translation, the second graphic novel is called "Tears of an Angel", and one chapter in the second tankoubon (the final chapter in the first graphic novel) is called "Tears of an Angel". Davidson identifies Sandalphon and Cassiel as, among other things, angels of tears; and he further mentions an unnamed 'Angel of Tears' in the 4th heaven. (p. 44)

Killing Angel: None identified. Both in the original and in translation, the third book is named "Killing Angel". This may be a reference to the "Angel of Death" (see below).

Angel of Victory: Bahram, or Var (Adar) Bahram. (Davidson, p. 46) In translation, the fourth graphic novel is called "Angel of Victory".

Angel of Redemption: None identified. In translation, the fifth graphic novel is called "Angel of Redemption".

Zapan: In the fifth tankoubon, Kishiro makes reference to princes or overlords of Hell, from Johann Weyer's "De Praestigiis Daemonium". An examination of the original shows that there is no such named fallen angel. The most likely explanation is that it is a misreference to Satan.
Source: "Witches, Devils and Doctors in the Renaissance; Johann Weyer, De praestigiis Daemonum" Ed. George Mora. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY 1991.

Scapegoat: Davidson identifies the Scapegoat of Leviticus 16:8 as being a reference to Azazel, "God Strengthens", a fallen angel. (p.63)

Angel of Death: Davidson lists many angels of death, including: Adriel, Af, Apollyon/Abbadon, Azrael/Iblis, Gabriel, Hemah, Kafziel, Kezef, Lefiathan, Malach ha-Mavet, Masshit, Meshabber, Michael, Metatron, Sammael/Satan, Suriel, Yehudiah/Yehudiam, Yezer-Hara. (p. 26) In popular culture, Azrael and Michael seem to be the two most often listed as Angels of Death. In translation, the sixth graphic novel is called "Angel of Death".

Evil Angel:None given. In the original, the second chapter of the sixth tankoubon is called "Evil Angel".

Gabriel: "God is my Strength", identified as "the angel of annunciation, resurrection, mercy, vengeance, death revelation...presides over Paradise...is said to sit on the left-hand side of God" (Davidson, p. 117) The Tuned satillite that keeps Gally in touch with the GIB is called "Gabriel".

Angel of Chaos: Interestingly, Davidson identifies both Michael and Satan as Angels of Chaos (p. 24). In translation, the seventh graphic novel is called "Angel of Chaos".

Fallen Angel: It is generally held that Satan, as well as a host of angels with him, fell out of pride; possibly ambition or lust as well. Davidson (111-112; 352-353) identifies many of the angels rumored to have fallen with him, as well as circumstances of their fall. From his writing, as well as his sources, it seems as though angels have fallen more than once.
In translation, the eighth book is called "Fallen Angels".

Abaddon: "The Destroyer", also Apollyon, "The Angel of the bottomless pit". Sometimes identified as the pit itself; in fact, a name for many things good and evil (Davidson, p. 1). "Abaddon" is the name of Salem's super-weapon in both the original and the translation.

Melchizedek: Also Melchisedic, "the god Zedek is my king". A priest-king of Salem (Genesis 14) who later seems to have been elevated to a high place in the celestial hierarchy (Davidson, pp. 187- 189). In both the original and translation, Salem's central computer is named Melchizedek.

Angel's Ascention: Possibly a reference to Jacob's Ladder (Genesis 28), where angels are seen ascending from and descending to Earth. In the translation, the ninth book is called "Angel's Ascention".

A thorough review can be found at:
<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Fuji/7539/phys.html>.

From nadir@dusted.net <mailto:nadir@dusted.net>:

Dagger
Plasma punch
Electric field
Damascus blade(s) [later changed to her butterfly sword?]
Assault rifle
Handgun (revolver and automatic)
Grenade
Arachno
Missle Bee
28mm w/ HE rounds
Lice Probes
Solenoid Quench Gun
Firefly
Nuclear device

For a list of the attacks used in Gunnm, see http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html#KillingAngel <http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html>.

22. WHAT IS GO-NO-SEN?

This question relates to the original Japanese manga. In the Motorball sequence, Esdoc says that Zafal Takie fights with a "Go-no-Sen" style.

The following information comes from murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp <mailto:murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp>:

Go-no-Sen is Romaji expression of Japanese pronunciation. I don't know its English. Directly translated, that means "the 2nd move against the 1st attack." Originally, this is the special tactics of Musashi Miyamoto who is the katana master lived in Japan hundreds years ago. (Katana is Japanese sword, you know.) He is known as one of the strongest swordsman (katanaman) in Japanese history. It is said that he can see the motion of opponent's katana with milimeter-order accuracy. The famous legend is that he let a rice peace on his forehead cut by partner, without injuring his body. This ability makes it possible that he surely dodges opponent's 1st attack and hit his counter attack immediately after.

Musashi Miyamoto is best known in the West as the author of "The Book of the Five Rings", a classic series of essays on swordsmanship and strategy.

By dsnydder@gunnm-seraphim.org <mailto:dsnydder@gunnm-seraphim.org>:

What is Ido's relationship with Gally? After reading Panzer Bride, I don't know what to think...

It's clear from the first few chapters of Gunnm that Ido wanted Gally to play a very different role in his life than she ended up playing...something like "a gem in a velvet box". But after the second graphic novel, we don't see very much of them together. So their relationship is very much open to speculation.

We don't know much about Ido's upbringing in Zalem, and there are indications that Ido isn't very proud of his heritage or youth. Possibly, Ido didn't have very healthy relationships with women as a young man, which would explain the difficulty he has receiving affection from women in general (Gally, Chiren, Shumira, and Eelai being examples we see). Regardless of how intimate Ido is with Gally, it's clear that he does have her well-being at heart and does care for her, even if he has difficulty expressing that care.

How, then, does Gally feel about Ido? He's a father figure for her, always courageous and brave but at the same time unreachably distant. She also cares about him deeply. And yet...

...and yet, in Panzer Bride, she has a bona fide erotic fantasy about Ido taking her apart. So what does she really think of him? Is she sexually attracted to him? Maybe, but considering their previous relationship--and that they haven't seen each other in a decade--it's unlikely. Is it that she's always hoped he would show some sort of care and affection for her, and his periodic maintenance of her body was the closest he'd come? Maybe she's sexually repressed as a cyborg? Ido is one of the few people she's allowed to take apart her body, and Kaos is showing her unusual attention because of his psychometry; perhaps she is making a free association between Kaos' care and the physical bonding she hasn't felt with Ido. Is there some desire she has that Fogira can't satisfy?

In the end, we can only speculate. These are only a few of the ideas that have been generated. Feel free to concoct your own.

Kishiro left many unessential questions in Gunnm unanswered, or has answers in his unpublished notes. Much of Gunnm fandom operates by rhetoric: whoever can argue the best, the loudest, the first, or the most parsimoniously becomes accepted as the dominant paradigm; and (more often than not) others will take these arguments in lieu of gospel.

An example of this is the question of how the GIB made Kimji. There was no one central agreement until bobengel@aloha.com <mailto:bobengel@aloha.com> proposed the following:

This recipe came from "How to Make it in Korea" published in Korea by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Korea Mission

3 heads Chinese cabbage (preferred) or head cabbage
14 large cloves of garlic, crushed with heel of a knife and chopped
10-15 green onions cut into two inch lengths
About 4 inches of fresh ginger peeled, crushed and chopped
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. MSG
3 Tablespoons regular salt or 1/4 cup course salt
3/4 cup red pepper powder (not chile powder or cayenne pepper. Look for this at an Asian market)
1 cup non-chlorinated water mixed with 1 tsp. regular salt or 2 tsp. course salt

Wash cabbage well in non-chlorinated water (chlorinated water will inhibit fermentation). Cut into pieces about 2 inches square. In a large pan, layer cabbage with generous amount of salt to draw out the moisture and wilt the cabbage. Set out overnight or until the cabbage is well wilted. (Head cabbage may take longer than Chinese cabbage). Wash cabbage in non-chlorinated water to remove salt (at least three changes of water). Drain.

Combine garlic, green onion, ginger, sugar, MSG, 3 Tablespoons salt and the red pepper powder with cabbage using your hands to rub the flavorings into the cabbage. Pack mixture into non-metal container. Rinse the mixing bowl or pan with the cup of salted water and pour over packed cabbage. Cover tightly and let ferment at room temperature for about 4 days, then refrigerate for three more days of ferrmentation before eating.

Having no more elegant solution by themselves, the editors defer to Bob's superior knowledge of the subject and mechanisms. If you the fan are curious, you are encouraged to ask on the Gunnm mailing list or alt.comics.gunnm (see Questions Q40-Q41).

A recent school of though has it that Kimji may actually be a pokémon of some sort. The debate continues...

Ashen Victor is the English-Language name for Yukito Kishiro's second work. Originally titled "Haisha", or "Loser", the name was a pun on the two kanji in the title.

Note from murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp <mailto:murakami@av.crl.sony.co.jp>:

The Japanese title 'Haisya' is originally written in Kanji. Two Kanji characters are used, the 1st one means 'ashen' and the 2nd one means 'man' or 'person'. But if you replace the 1st one with the other character which has same pronunciation, you will find the meaning of the title becomes 'loser'. Probably this double meaning is the intention of the author.

AV, as it is referred to, is a four-part series that appeared in Ultra Jump Special. It marks a radical change in style for Kishiro: while Gunnm had been marked by its elegance and attention to detail (with a few rather cartoony moments), AV shows a style--both in art and in the narrative story--much closer to Frank Miller's "Sin City". Although unusual, this change is not surprising; Kishiro has mentioned his admiration of Miller's work in his 1993 interview (see Question Q3).

The subject of the story is Snev, an up-and-coming Motorballer on the Circuit. After a trauma incurred in his first race, he finds himself unable to win races, and instead lives only for the thrill of crashing and destroying his body. But not all in Snev's world is what it seems to be...

The ISBN of the English graphic novel is: ISBN 1-56931-343-1
The ISBN of the Japanese graphic novel is: ISBN 4-08-782560-4

Viz's promotional material says that Ashen Victor is set "decades" before Gunnm. The presence of overlapping references to a character named "Megil" may have made the casual reader suspicious (see below). With the publication of Gunnm Gaiden Chapter 2 (Question Q31), we are told that there is a six-year gap between the storylines.

In Gunnm, Gally does battle with a drug-producing and drug-using individual by the name of Megil, while in AV an organization named 'Megil Corp' has come up with (among others) the powerful drug known as Accel. It is widely held that the individual is the boss of the company, though how the fall from grace took place is a subject of speculation.

See Mike Isenberg's essay "The Life and Times of Megil the Pharmacist <http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/2193/megil.txt> for some thoughts on how this may have come about.

After learning Beretta's fate, Snev is approached by a man offering to sell him a snuff flick. In a rather sick joke, the kanji on his forehead reads "Ai", or "Love" in Japanese.

Besides the two titles mentioned above, Kishiro has also written the short serial Gunnm Gaiden and is at present writing a serial called Aqua Knight. Before Gunnm, Kishiro drew a number of short stories, some of which were published (in a number of different manga magazines). A compilation of early works can be found in an anthology called "Hito" (see Question Q30).

The official "other manga" website is located at: <http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/other%20top.html>.

An on-line manga called "Iron Fist" is also available at: <http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/specialstage%20top.html>.

Again, thanks to bstacy@earthlink.net <mailto:bstacy@earthlink.net> for this invaluable information!!

As for his (Kishiro's) early works there's already a volume of what I'd call 'Gunnm Universe' predecessors. It's titled:

_Hito_ by KISHIRO Yukito

The title is two kanji:

The first one is a 9 stroke character, (radical #183)
On reading: Hi
Kun readings: to(bu), to(basu)
Meanings: fly, skip (pages), scatter

The second one is a 2 stroke character, (radical #9)
On readings: Jin, Nin
Kun readings: hito, -ri, -to
Meaning: person

It was published by Shueisha in 1997 under the Young Jump imprint. Current price: 819 yen. 250 pages. B6 size. ISBN4-08-782080-7

This is a compilation of six early works:

"Kikai" from January 1, 1985
"Kaiyousei" from November 9, 1988
"Hito" from March 1989
"DAI-MACHINE" from August 25, 1989
"Uchuu Kaizoku Shounendan -- 'JUNKS' The Space Rover"
(Part 1 and the 'sequel') from May and June of 1990
"Mirai Toukyou HEADMAN" from September 1, 1991

It's a rather entertaining volume to look through. ;-) (Wish there was a translation somewhere ... ^_^;; )

"Kikai" was actually written between August 14th and September 26th, 1984. Kishiro was nominated (at age 17) for SHONEN SUNDAY's "Best New Artist" award for this work.

Some scans are available:
Hito: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/hito_cover.jpg>
Hito: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/hito.jpg>
Dai-Machine: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/daimach.jpg>
Headman/Kikai: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/headman-kikai.jpg>

The above titles, plus Out Rigger and Bugbuster (1988) (see the 1995 interview in Q3), Gunnm Gaiden (see Q31), Haisha (see Q25), Iron Fist (see Q29), the Gunnmcyclopedia Q7), Aqua Knight (see Q34), and Gunnm (Q2), represent all of Kishiro's works which have been published so far. A non-manga novel called "Gunnm" is also available Q14).

A crucial work is yet to be published: Reimeika, where the character of "Gally" was born (see the 1993 interview Q3). Apparently it was a collection of sketches, never really meant for publication.

Gunnm Gaiden is the name of a Gunnm-derived series that appeared in UltraJump magazine in 1997, and subsequently in the re-issues (the "complete edition") (Question Q33). Some translations of the series are available on the WWW Q36.

The title is written in four kanji. The first two are the same as Gunnm Q2, the latter two translate as "Legendary Journey". In keeping with the title, the themes of the stories are subjects that weren't touched on directly in the Gunnm storyline.

The second story, though first in chronological order, is called "The Holy Night", and it appears in the first re-issue. It has been fan-translated in part by snydder@grove.ufl.edu <mailto:snydder@grove.ufl.edu> and thbbpt@yahoo.com <mailto:thbbpt@yahoo.com>

The following and subsequent synopses contain spoilers! They were made by miyamoto@chass.utoronto.ca <mailto:miyamoto@chass.utoronto.ca> and shumira_chan@altavista.net <mailto:shumira_chan@altavista.net>:

The Holy Night

PROLOGUE

At the time of Christmas, Ido -- mooching off of a woman named Dana -- is decorating a small Xmas tree he bought. Dana is irritated by him, and the fact that doesn't earn money but is still happy. The cat he is holding is called Gally.

Ido's monologue: Time indeed flies, next february will mark two years since I have been expelled from Salem.

Ido accidently finds a girl in the sewage, and fights off a robot monster who is persuing her. When Dana comes home she finds Ido and the girl on her bed (Ido's putting a clean shirt on the girl, but it looks like...oh well). She gets mad and kicks out Ido, the girl, the cat, and the Christmas tree.

Ido asks the girl her name and address, but she babbles. Ido thinks she's lost her memory due to a shock.

Ido and the girl are drinking cocoa -- Ido can't afford a room to spend the night in. Ido asks her if she can temporarily call her Carol (as in Christmas carol). He tells her about his past: although he is now a bounty hunter, he was a medical student in his home town. Even though he lives precariously as a bounty hunter he has a dream of having his own clinic with a sign stating "Ido Daisuke Medical Clinic". It starts to snow and the girl begins to dance.

An old man behind a ramen stand called Gonzu invites them to his home. At Gonzu's place he asks Ido why is it he doesn't practice medicine on cyborgs. Ido says he is only knows how to treat humans. Gonzu offers to set Ido up with a friend of his, a cyberdoctor named Gauss.

SPRING

Gonzu asks Carol to wait home. "Ido at work?" she asks.
Ido is at Gauss cybermedical office performing surgery. Gauss isn't satisfied with Ido's work and takes over the operation. Gauss tells Ido that his knowledge of the human body and his lofty ideas about medical science are very impressive but that he must overcome a repulsion towards cyborgs. Ido's fingers reveal that as long as he dislikes cyborgs he will not be able to be a cyber-doctor.

Ido is at a bar, drinking and depressed by whay Gauss said. Dedekint (a cyber-doctor, and fellow ex-Tipharean) speaks to him.

Late that night, Carol is waiting for Ido for Ido on the street, but when he comes home Ido gives her the cold shoulder. She runs away, crying. Ido catches up with her and they walk together. They take an amusement ride called "Chimney High" and Ido wonders about Carol. His first thought was that she suffered from amnesia and suffered regression, but later suspects that her mind is actually blank. Ido just catches Carol as her horseplay almost causes her to fall out of the basket. They watch the sun rise.

SUMMER

Gonzu and Carol are playing chess. Gonzu is surprised by her skill, and wonders if she might actually be very smart.

Dedekint's castle:
Ido has performed an excellent surgery, replacing an artificial limb for a real one. Dedekint, using Salem's technology, transplants a new living part which is made through cloning, and thus attracts many female clients who want to replace their ugly artificial limbs with others made of flesh and blood. Dedekind finds an excellent assistant in Ido. Ido thinks this is a good compromise between treating humans and cyborgs.

WINTER

Ido is buying a Christmas present for Carol. Back home, someone knocks on the front door and Carol answers, only to be confronted by the huge monster which was chasing her originally.

Ido returns to his destroyed home. Gally is shaken, but still alive. Noticing a huge footprint, Ido realizes who kidnapped Carol. He notices a message on his answering machine: it is Carol, pleading for help. Ido notices a big Christmas tree in the background and realizes where the call is from. He bursts into Dedekint's place. Carol comes out of a room, with the monster following her. Ido attacks it and destroys it. carol kisses Ido but he notices something different. He pushes her back and asks her who she is. Dedekind asks Pakira (who has Carol's body) to pay her surgery fee. Ido is confused, asking where the real Carol is. Dedekint introduces Carol/Pakira to him as Lady Pakira, his patient, He had just finished an operation to give her back her original body that morning. According to Dedekint she was a human brain with an all-cyborg body due to an accident. At her request Dedekint cloned her a new body from her brain cells. Dedekint dismisses Ido's ethical questioning, saying that a medical doctor as capable as Ido should know it requires to clone an entire body to replace a full cyborg. Pakira makes it clear:

Pakira: As you already understood, what you called 'Carol' was my cloned body, a thing that was originally mine.

Dedekint asks why Ido is so upset, there was no reason to sympathize with the blank clone body. Pakira is happy with her new body and wants to enjoy it, she wants Ido's love and asks him to call her Carol. "Carol... I love you... " murmurs Ido.

The monster stirs and Pakira tells Ido to kill it off. Ido is on the point of doing it, but hesitates and asks her who is in the monster now. Carol evades the question and attempts to strike the monster with Ido's rocket hammer, but she accidentally kills Dedekint and punctures a gas tank. Pakira is caught in the fireball, and the place burns down. Ido, however, is saved by the monster. He asks the monster if it is Carol. The monster walk away and into the fiery building to die.

EPILOGUE

At Gauss' clinic Ido performs a flawless operation. Ido returns home, where on top of the entrance Gonzu has placed the sign:

Ido Daisuke Seibidokoro (machine dock)
Cyborgs, Androids, Robots
Repairs of any kind. Tuning and maintenance.
[Korean words] - KYBERNETIK REPATURWERKSTATTE
MAX HEADROOM 2.0 M

The second story is called something like "Supersonic Fingers". It appears in the third volume of the "Complete edition" (there are no side stories in the second). The corresponding synopsis is as follows:

Supersonic Fingers

It starts at a bar with the regulars watching Gally fight Jashugan in Motorball on TV. There is a guy there who apparently uses something like the Hertza Haeon on his beer (you have to see it), leaves the bar and reads Moby Dick while murmuring "Gally".

Later we see Gally waking up and doing her morning jog from rooftop to rooftop. This is a really neat sequence, with Gally practicing calisthenics, and a kick identical to the one Trinity first uses against the cops in "The Matrix", a Silat move I believe in which you lift your foot so high it actually reaches your shoulder. Anyway, Gally is jogging and is suddenly shot in the head, but the bullet only grazes her skull and she survives. Her Hunter Warrior friends decide to go after the sniper. In the meantime Gally gets better and she meets a guy who works for the Scrapyard's sanitation department, picking up corpses off the streets and such. They talk for a while about German philosophy (don't ask me what, it's about Fromm's "The Heart of Man"), and he lends Gally said book.

Cut to New Kansas where a guy a shooting bottles with his fingers. Did you play marbles when you were a kid? Same idea, but he uses steel balls and his arms are mechanical, so he's actually shooting the balls really hard. Gally's friends begin to suspect...

Cut to the garbage guy who gets his book back with a note. For some reason he types his "last will" and then goes off down a sewer to put on his "special" arms with which he can shoot those steel balls. There is a cool couple of pages of him practicing his shooting. He goes off and Gally's Hunter Warrior pals ambush him but they are no match for this guy, he uses a lot of cool tricks and defeats them soundly.

Finally Gally shows up, and it's one-on-one. There's a great "western" type of duel between them, since Gally can also shoot with her cyborg hands. Ultimately Gally gets down and dirty with the Panzer Kunst and tears the guy apart, to which he responds "good job", so he obviously had some kind of death wish. It ends with Gally just standing there with a "what the hell?" expression on her face.

It's clear that the main point of the story has something to do with Fromm's ideas, but unfortunately I don't have any translations of the thoughts or dialogues so I can only tell you the "visual story" and comment on the action.

The artwork is Gunnm-style Kishiro, although you can tell he had no helpers since the pictures are somewhat less detailed than in Gunnm. Some panels are really good though, it's clear that Kishiro really spends time on the scenes he likes. Gally looks quite mature here. Actually she looks pretty damn hot.

Anyway, I made a couple of scans, to wit:

<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/gwks1.png>(2Mb)
<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/gwks2.png>(660K)
<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/gwks3.png>(2Mb)
<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/gwks4.png>(300K)

A third side story appears in the fourth volume. This takes place during Gally's decade as a Tuned agent. It's called "Hometown" or "Homecoming"...and rather than tell you about it, we'll let you read the synopsis!

http://128.100.80.13/reiemieka/snydder/gaiden2.html <http://128.100.80.13/reimeika/snydder/gaiden2.html>

These works mark yet another change in style for Kishiro, this time to a much more cartoony style of art. One explanation for this is that Kishiro is trying to exert himself less, mindful of the illness he experienced working on the highl detail of Gunnm. Additionally, Kishiro may have begun to work with one or more staff artists, which would further produce differences in style (however, Kishiro has implied that he no longer works with staff artists -- except his younger brother Tsutomu -- and hence the monthy [as opposed to weekly] format of Aqua Knight).

According to Viz, because Gunnm Gaiden is forming a part of the Gunnm re-issue (see below), there are no plans to release Gunnm Gaiden; after the re-issue has been completed, then plans will be made.

These are re-issues of the original Gunnm manga. There are several important differences, however. These re-issues are the same size as the original Business Jump magazines they were originally printed in, meaning the artwork will be presented at its intended viewing size [and the kanji will be legible!--Ed.]. Kishiro has put new artwork in them, some stunning CG artwork. Finally, the re-issues include ALL of Gunnm Gaiden and ALL of Kishiro's tech notes; apparently, more than the 18 pages that were published in the tankoubons, his notes numbered in the HUNDREDS of pages.

A note by an insider affiliated with Shueisha:

It's expected to be six volumes, and so far [at the time he wrote--ed.] the first two volumes have been published. As for the content, in addition to the original 9 volumes, it includes three side stories written in 1997 and many new materials including rough sketches. The size is bigger then the tankoubons and accordingly the price is higher (^ ^);

ISBN's are as follows (each volume costs Y2500):

GUNNM Complete Edition Volume 1: ISBN4-08-782576-0
GUNNM Complete Edition Volume 2: ISBN4-08-782579-5
GUNNM Complete Edition Volume 3: ISBN4-08-782584-1
GUNNM Complete Edition Volume 4: ISBN4-08-782588-4

Most valuable to the student of Gunnm arcana are the time lines in the first two volumes. These include incidents Kishiro never even made reference to in the original manga.

Beginning in Issue 16 (1998/4/25) of Ultra Jump, Kishiro has created an entirely new world with his Aqua Knight story. This is the first work he has done since the early 1990's that is not cyberpunk set in the world of the Scrapyard; instead, it is a fantasy-oriented series in a world called "Marmundo", or Ocean-World.

So named because it is a world entirely covered with water, with only islands and no true continents, Marmundo nonetheless has many details remeniscent of Gunnm. These include a city in the sky, and a massive pillar leading up from the earth. [I have heard rumors that some characters in Marmundo are related to those in Gunnm--Ed.]

The first Aqua Knight graphic novel (tankoubon) is also available in Japanese, ISBN4-08-782582-5. 800Y. The second one just came out (ISBN4-08-782651-1). More information can be found at <http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/%90%85%92%86DB%83t%83H%83%8B%83_/aqua-DBtop.html>.

Viz Comics has already started translating AquaKnights, and will be releasing the first six issues during the year 2000. So far, sales have been good.

The official Aqua Knight websites can be found at:
<http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/aquaknight%20top.html>
<http://www.showa-bt-unet.ocn.ne.jp/SHOWA_HOME/AKS/AKS_01/AN0101.html>

No one is sure. However, in the promotional/teaser material for Aqua Knight one of the drawings appears to be in a Mayan or Aztec motif. Perhaps this is simply a change of emphasis (again!) for Kishiro.

Gunnm fan-fiction is steadily growing. There are also some fan translations. Most of it can be found at:

<http://128.100.80.13/reimeika/snydder/>

See Q31 and Q12 for translations of Gunnm Gaiden and the "tech notes".

I know that there is foreign-language fanfiction out there, but I don't have any references for it. If anyone could help with locations please let the maintainers of this FAQ know. The only Japanese language fan essay I know of is an essay comparing Gunnm to Neon Genesis Evangelion:
<http://www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~t95014ha/Hiyorin/gunnm.html>

There is apparently some Japanese fan-fiction at: <http://www.jah.ne.jp/~buri/zallem/novel/index.htm>
but -- shame on us -- we can't really tell...

Synopses and memorable quotes can be obtained from: <http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/ctkwok/gunnm/>

Some nice fan-art (at last!) can be found at:

<http://tyranny.egregious.net/~khrome/gunnm/>

<http://www.ics.uci.edu/~alo/gallery.html>

<http://www.hut.fi/~hynde/art/>

<http://www.aloha.net/~waldo/fanart.htm>

<http://www.underworld.net/~blud/art.html>

<http://w3.mtci.ne.jp/~tosikun/D-CGL.HTM>

A *lot*! It's quite hard to keep track, but here are some highlights:

For the English version of Gunnm check out:

<http://www.viz.com/>

<http://www.j-pop.com/>

http://www.the-place.com/manga/emanga.html#B <http://www.the-place.com/manga/emanga.html>

(ISBNs and such in Q7).

For the Japanese originals take a look at:

<http://www.nikaku.com/>

http://www.the-place.com/manga/jmanga7.html#G <http://www.the-place.com/manga/jmanga7.html>

(ISBNs and such in Q7).

"Hito", a compilation of Kishiro's early works has been recently published. Please see Q30.

The novel "Gunnm" is also on sale now. Please see Q14 for details.

The anime is distributed by http://www.advfilms.com <http://advfilms.com>. The tapes are available subtitled (VHSBA/001) and dubbed (VHSBA/001D). The LD (CAVBA/001) is subtitled. DVD format is also available. See:
<http://www.advfilms.com/advhome/catalog/catitem.html?c=all&k=ba001>
<http://www.advfilms.com/advhome/catalog/catitem.html?c=all&k=badvd>
http://www.the-place.com/video/domestic_vhs.html#B <http://www.the-place.com/video/domestic_vhs.html>
<http://members.xoom.com/animemania01/animetex.htm>

There's info about the CDs at:
<http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dfukushi/Gunnm.html>.
Briefly, we have "Gunnm: Another Story", KSS Records JSCA-29006 (1993.6.21, 3000Y) and "Gunnm: Image Album", KSS Records JSCA-29005 (1993.5.21, 3000Y). Both contain the ED song Cyborg Mermaid. Much more information about the CDs and links to sound files can be found at <http://studenti.ing.uniroma1.it/%7esfalco/multimsound.html> (and the mirror <http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8654/multimsound.html>)

Model kits:
<http://www.gremlins.com/garage/galleryView.jsp?buildupUid=274>
<http://www.gremlins.com/garage/galleryView.jsp?buildupUid=903>
<http://www.venus.dti.ne.jp/~lynx-tm/mokei/junk/index.html>

I know of only two posters, namely the ones used by A.D. Vision for marketing purposes. I don't know if they sell them, though. There is also at least one wallscroll available.

Get a Gunnm email address at <http://gunnm.zzn.com/email/login/login.asp>

A cool tattoo (<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/tattoo.jpg>) by kelley@aol.com <mailto:kelley@aol.com> from Avalon Tattoo <http://www.avalontattoo.com/Patty.html>.

There's a Quake II model of Alita too at:
<http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/models/18.shtml>.

Nice Gunnm desktop themes!
Linux:
Window Maker --
http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/wmaker/anime.html#gunnm <http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/wmaker/anime.html>
KDE --
http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/kde/anime.html#gunnm <http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/kde/anime.html>
Enlightment --
http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/enlightenment/anime.html#gunnm <http://ntua.linuxberg.com/themes/enlightenment/anime.html>
Windows/Mac:
<http://otakuworld.com/desktop/screens/Gunnm-JonathanMukai.html>
<http://members.xoom.com/angelofdeath/theme.htm>
Litestep Windows theme:
<http://dusted.net/gallystep.zip>

Gunnm backgrounds! <http://members.xoom.com/Crasont/computer.htm>

Winamp skin (Gunnm - Musical Dreams):
<http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jdsmith9/skins/>

A KISS dataset of Gally:
<http://otakuworld.com/kiss/dolls/fg/gally2.htm>

A KISS dataset of Zapan:
<http://otakuworld.com/kiss/dolls/fz/zapan.htm>

Memories of Mars PlayStation game:
<http://www.cyberzonegames.com/psxa.shtml>
<http://www.buyrite.net/playsta/gunnm.html>

XGally is out! Find this cute little program at: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/xgally.zip>.
An extension is available at: <http://members.xoom.com/mzhell/>

If all else fails, there's a usenet newsgroup rec.arts.anime.marketplace <news:rec.arts.anime.marketplace> dedicated to anime/manga related buy/sell.

With the rise of online commerce, auction houses have become excellent places to get such things as used tapes, cels, and the like. An informal, unscientific inquiry showed that ebay, the largest such house, consistantly had the most Gunnm merchandise for sale. Go to: <http://www.ebay.com>

According to Trish Ledoux, Viz attempted to get the rights to produce Gunnm t-shirts sometime in 1993; however, Shueisha refused. One bootleg Gunnm t-shirt, based on the front cover of the first tankoubon, has been sold in the past. If you look in the lower right-hand corner, though, you'll notice that it's "Copyright 1993 Rumiko Takahashi". It must have been very easy for the artists to get permission to use the picture, we assume.

After months of breathless anticipation, Gunnm: Memories of Mars (also known as "Gunnm: Martian Memory"), the video game RPG, has been released. The player acts out Gally as she revisits the storyline and continues from where the original manga ended into outer space. Players must collect pieces of Gally's fragmented memory, and battle through scenes from her past, including The Scrapyard and Mars. Kishiro, who worked on the game itself, promises that this game will reveal the whole of Gally's past.

Owners of PlayStations not made in Japan will require a translator chip. Ask at your local video gaming speciality store for details about what you'll need and costs.

The following initial review was prepared by alita15@hotmail.com <mailto:alita15@hotmail.com>:

impressions are iffy...after the Banpresto logo appears (Okay, so Banpresto haven't had what you'd call a perfect track record..) you're treated the oh-so-functional options screen. Leave it for a while, and a demo of the game comes up (no CG/Anime intro, nothing..). but at least the demo (which is a PSX .str file..) is pretty long in terms of opening demos..it shows Gally at various stages of the storyline (the game covers the ENTIRE series..). It shows her in the scrapyard, as a TUNED, talking to Ido, Makaku, Yugo, etc..,playing Rollerball, there's a sub-game bit with her being chased by Den on the bike (you have to avoid his spear and shoot at him with the Solenoid Quench gun..I know, it took one shot to nearly kill him, and you have to shoot him lots here, but I suppose they had to take some liberties..); you see her as a TUNED fighting some plebs, using those little insect-bomb things (I haven't got my GNs with me for reference (Hello Alex!)). You also get to control Figure at one point, fighting Barjack soldiers...and finally we see her fighting the central computer (no sign of Nova or Zapan..hmm.). Anyway, on to the game itself, it opens with Gally's head being found by Ido, and her subsequent resurrection. So far, the graphics aren't too shabby, but they could have been better..I think Functional best describes them..the music ranges from quite good (think some of the music from Wings of Honneamise) to dull..There are no voice-overs, but Gally does make some sounds when she fights (I'll come to that in a minute). The characters' models look OK, nothing to go crazy about (they could've done them in a higher resolution.., but they're at least recognizable).. You save game by going to Gally's room and using her diary, and rest by using her bed..

Evidently, the changes between the game and the manga (until the very end, but we don't want to give that away!) are minimal:

Shumira gets kidnapped, or something. I dunno, I was just walking around trying to figure out what to do next, and I ended up finding Shumira strapped to a table in some crazy doctor's (not Nova) operating room. Also, AJ starts out at #88, you don't have to challenge him for the number. And the girl that picks up Alita in book 5 is now some large scary-looking man. Not many other differences

The workload from the original manga series drove Kishiro into a stress-related illness, and he was kept from completing Gunnm as he had envisioned it. He has said in interviews that this game has given him the opportunity to finish Gunnm as he had planned to do.

There is another extensive review at:
<http://videogames.gamespot.com/psx/adventure/gunnm/review.html>.

A manual and a FAQ of the game can be found at:
<http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/game/20840.html>.

Codes, manuals, tips, and much more is available from:
<http://www.gamewinners.com/playstation/GunnmMartianMemory.htm>.

For sites of purchase see Q37.

I know of at least two fan-made sets of specs:
<http://www.meta-earth.com/gunnm/gunnm.html>
for Steve Jackson's GURPS system.
Another set of specs is available for Cyberpunk 2020:
<http://www.tiphares.com/~scrapiron/gunnm/>.
There is also a character write-up for the Champions system:
<http://www.mactyre.net/scm/deejay/champs/characters/anime/battle_angel.html>

There is also a Gunnm play-by-e-mail game, but I don't know if it's still running:

The Gunnm Mailing List is centered at the Gunnm Database:
<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/gunnm-ml.html>

alt.comics.gunnm <news:alt.comics.gunnm> was created on January 6th, 1997. The charter for the group is:

To discuss topics related to the Japanese cyberpunk manga/anime "Gunnm", created by author/artist Yukito Kishiro. Posts regarding other works by the author and related material (e.g. the scientific and moral issues which the series tackles) are also acceptable. Fan-fiction is particularly encouraged, although fan-art will only be accepted in the form of ASCII art, as binary posts are not allowed. The newsgroup will not be moderated, but spam will be strongly discouraged.

If your news server does not carry the group please ask your newsadmin (or sysop) to subscribe!

There are many, many pages dedicated to Gunnm, but the population fluctuates quite a bit. Some of the more notable sites are:

Yukitopia, Yukito Kishiro's official website:
<http://www.yukito.com>

Fred Burke's (English translator) site:
<http://www.netjaunt.com/manga/BAAhome.html>

<http://studenti.ing.uniroma1.it/%7esfalco/>

<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8654/> (mirror)

<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/gunnm.html>

http://www.gunnm-seraphim.org/ <http://www.gunnnm-seraphim.org/>

<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8654/>

<http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dfukushi/Gunnm.html>

<http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/ctkwok/gunnm/>

<http://members.xoom.com/battleangel/>

<http://www.jah.ne.jp/~buri/zallem/index.shtml>

<http://otakuworld.com/cgi-bin/amtgxttl.exe?Gunnm>

<http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html>

An excellent, thorough list of websites is available at <http://dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Anime/Titles/B/Battle_Angel_Alita>.

A WWW chat room theoretically dedicated to Gunnm, but whose actual substantive conversations may sound like a wine-and-cheese suare or a barroom brawl. Read all about it at:
<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/cgi-bin/g-chat2.cgi>.

44. WHAT IS "THE GUNNM MESSAGE BOARD"?

A bulletin board system where messages may be posted on particular threads or new ones generated. A rather formal forum
<http://www.globalserve.net/~nishimura/gunnm/gunnmboard.html>

Although the site appears to be down at the moment, past contributions can still be read.

The Gunnm CyberRing is a series of Gunnm web pages which are linked together under the auspice of Otaku World <http://otakuworld.com/rings/>. For information on how to join please visit: <http://otakuworld.com/rings/gunnm.html>.

Pinion of the Seraph began in 1998, as a reaction to the mixed quality of Gunnm websites in the CyberRing. PotS is more exclusive than CyberRing as a consequence, and has attracted a different sort of page than the common "introduction-pictures-links-guestbook" format.

For information on the Ring, as well as more information on guidelines and how to join, see the main page:
<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/5231/>

There are quite a few image galleries on the web. A few WWW sites with originals/scans are:

<http://www.interq.or.jp/drums/tsutomu/gunnm%20gallery%20top.html>

<http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/4625/gunnm.htm>

<http://angel.simplenet.com/anime/ba/>

<http://www.aloha.net/~waldo/pics1.htm>

<http://archess.ctw.cc/images_de_gunnm/galeriegunnm.htm>

If you'd rather FTP try:
ftp.sunet.se under pub/pictures/anime-manga/Gunnm/Images <ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pictures/anime-manga/Gunnm/Images>

For fan-art galleries please see Q36.

For soundtrack, movies, and a lot of other stuff check:
<http://members.xoom.com/battleangel/html/downloads.html>
http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html#RainMaker <http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html>

There are several places on the 'Net with the lyrics to Cyborg Mermaid, the closing theme of the Gunnm anime. One is: <http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/1809>

Recently, fans have tried their hands at making Gunnm music videos. Check out these two RealMedia files:
<http://matrix.crosswinds.net/~wolfden/Alita.rm>
<http://www.crosswinds.net/~wolfden/CityOfLies.rm>

Scans of the original Japanese covers can be found at:

<http://www.tama.or.jp/~ryup/gunnm/comics.html>

<http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html>

Scans of the English covers can be downloaded from:
<http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/viz_covers.zip>

Well, kinda. Very, very little, at least on the web: <http://128.100.80.13/marco/data/citric/>.