A quietly influential manga is continuing its ruminations on AI asBattle Angel Alita’s mangaka Yukito Kishiro confirms a new series to debut in 2025. Emerging from the booming fascination with cybernetics and AI futures during the 1980s and 1990s, Battle Angel Alitais a dystopian journey in a distant future about an amnesiac cyborg who wakes up only remembering a form of martial arts instinctually, called Panzer Künst. Alita becomes a bounty hunter and joins up with different allies as part of a quest to discover her past.
Best described as a work of cyberpunk existentialism,Battle Angel Alitamight ring most true with fans ofNier: Automataand its anime adaptation. Regarded asone of the best manga about AI,Battle Angel Alitawas actually fairly short at only 124 chapters. However, it spawned a franchise set within the same universe which has been running strong (albeit with some hiatuses) since the original series' launch in 1990.Alita’s next iteration has officially been announced, but there are many questions about what to expect.
Battle Angel Alita Gets New Manga As Current Series Ends
Approaching 40 Years Old, Battle Angel Alita’s Premise Is Still Ripe For New Stories
Alita’s current series,Mars Chronicle, is coming to an end with the completion of chapter #56. The series' latest run follows a 2-year hiatus from 2022 to 2024. According toAnime News Network, the same post on Kishiro’s blog announcingMars Chronicle’s completion also brought an announcement of a new series slated for 2025.
The new entry will be the sixth entry in the series (including spin-offs). It can be assumed the entry will be connected to the mainline story rather than a spin-off. Beyond these minor details, nothing is yet known about the upcoming series' story. The history of the series leaves room for speculation, though.
What Will The New Battle Angel Alita Series Be About?
Alita’s Mangaka Gives A Major Clue
In view of the original series' relative brevity, it’s interesting that Kishiro effectivelyretcons its ending inBattle Angel Alita: Last Order. The revival, six years after the original’s conclusion, mirrors Alita herself. The ending change allowed for a direct sequel, andBattle Angel Alita’s continuity has carried forward ever since—an opportunity to carve out a more distinct identity for the titular character and the manga alike from the certainty of death. ThroughoutLast OrderandMars Chronicle, and with the help of flashbacks from the original manga, a complex picture of Alita’s backstory is pieced together.
Her name is revealed to be Yoko, and a good deal of information about her life before her revival is revealed. It’s established that she once worked alongside a girl named Erica, with whom she had a violent falling-out, leaving Alita in a severe condition and mortally wounding Erica. Erica is revived as a Necro Soldier, and the two meet again years later inMars Chronicle. Erica and Alita go way back, and based on theoriginal blog postfrom the author, “Yoko and Erika’s journey continues”, it seems that the coded message Erica once left behind for Alita—“so much awaits”—is true.
Battle Angel Alita’s version of the future is oppressive, exciting, and tantalizingly foreboding. However, the soul of the series rests in watching Alita’s identity be constructed from scratch traces of the past, revealing all of its entanglements with the setting. Her relationship with Erica is one of the high points in that respect. Since it seems to deal heavily with that,Battle Angel Alita’s next series could be the best yet.
