Updated: Real Trailer Added!
Since the late 90s, James Cameron, the Academy Award winning director of Titanic, The Terminator and Avatar has had one pet project he’s been working on: Battle Angel Alita. Battle Angel Alita (originally GUNNM) is a manga and anime classic title from Yukito Kishiro. Its so classic, it was one of the long since gone AD Vision’s first stateside releases back when the Anime boom began in the mid-90s. It caught the eye of James Cameron and is said to be one of his favorite manga ever. He acquired the rights over a decade ago, which makes it one of the very first anime adaptations in production. Now we finally have a teaser trailer for Alita: Battle Angel, Cameron’s labor of love.
It has been a very long time coming, and Cameron himself said that he wasn’t going to rush the project opting to wait until CG technology caught up with the visuals that he wanted to produce. I personally didn’t think we’d ever see the day, but it’s finally here! However I must admit that the climate in which it comes is a far cry from where we were when the project was announced. Earlier this year, Ghost In The Shell was absolutely destroyed by zealous anime fans and champions of the under-represented for casting Scarlett Johansson and Major Motoko Kusanagi in the lead role. The same problems that film faced, may arise once again here as the title character Alita (Gally in Japan) is being played by The Maze Runner actress Rosa Salazar. Certainly, she isn’t asian and it remains to be seen just how much blowback is received for the film. It’s just being revealed to the world, and as it is a very classic anime title, it remains very dear to the hearts of older anime fans. Let’s keep an eye out for how things play out here, but for now let’s enjoy what Cameron’s put together!
