Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 8 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 8 by Yukito Kishiro-145 pages

The story of Yoko (Alita) and Erica continues in the latest volume. Yoko and Erica have been taken in by Keun the Kaufmann. Keun is looking for information on NNN and the hero's journal. Alliances shift and decisions are made that will affect character's lives in the future. This series is a prequel to to the original Battle Angel Alita series. This volume ends with a big cliffhanger that has me anticipating the next volume, if and when it is released. I enjoyed reading this, though not quite as much as the previous volumes, and I rate it 3 stars. 

Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle Vol. 7 (Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle) by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle Vol. 7 (Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle) by Yukito Kishiro-162 pages

I have previously read through vol. 6 of this series and this is the latest. I enjoyed this volume just as much as the previous ones. I continue to hold anything "Battle Angel Alita" in high regard. If you've read any of the previous "Alita" works, then I would recommend this. 

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 6 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 6 by Yukito Kishiro-200 pages

The story continues with even more shocking revelations. Yoko's origin is not what is previously thought. No, she was a Masketoma of someone else who was given life and a mechanical body to go along with her living brain. She was not a Masketoma of Lady Kagura and, therefore, she can't be named as Lady of Cydonia since she is not of that line. Erica continues down a dark path and Baron Muster's plan of vengeance comes to its epic conclusion. I await volume 7 which, alas, will not be published until next spring. 

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 5 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 5 by Yukito Kishiro-176 pages

We learn how Baron Muster came to be the villain he is today in this volume. Also, we learn how he was betrayed by the Lady of Cydonia and those who he thought were his friends. We learn how Muster used to be called Itall and how he got the Masketomas. Additionally, the reader learns that Yoko was a Masketoma of Lady Kagura of Cydonia and that is why she needs prosthetics for much of her body. We learn the utter depravity and pain that Itall endured to ultimately become Baron Muster. This volume is mostly back story of Baron Muster. I eagerly await reading the next volume. 

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 4 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 4 by Yukito Kishiro-200 pages

In this volume, Erica continues under Baron Muster's tutelage. They continue their search for the Great Treasure of Mars, which Baron Muster thinks is the immortality potion. Muster needs the potion because he is mortally ill. The reader also learns more about Baron Muster's origin and how he came to be in possession of the Golden Cane. Baron Muster and Erica find the treasure and thwart a plot to kill them by a supposed slave/captive. However, is the treasure really the immortality potion or is it something else? Meanwhile, Yoko/Alita and her mother are in Cydonia and someone powerful wants to install Alita as the Lady of Cydonia, but only so he can take the power for himself. 

Battle Angel Alita:Mars Chronicle, Vol. 3 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita:Mars Chronicle, Vol. 3 by Yukito Kishiro-176 pages

In this third volume, the story goes back in time and shows how Yoko (Alita) and Erica get separated. The doctor who took Yoko and Erica in has found where Erica's parents live in Curie Stadt. However, they find a burned house when they arrive and Erica's parents are dead. It's revealed that Erica directly and indirectly killed her parents because they were mean, bad people. They find a book that her father had in his possession at his death that plays a key part in the story. Erica's father was a treasure hunter. A bit later, after it's revealed that the doctor has found Yoko's mother, he and the girls meet her mother. Yoko goes with her mother and Erica feels abandoned. Erica is then kidnapped by a villain named Baron Muster after an altercation with a group of bandits/bounty hunters who are searching for Yoko. Baron Muster takes Erica to his secret hideout. I am eagerly awaiting the next volume in this series. 

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 2 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 2 by Yukito Kishiro-210 pages

This is the second volume of the series. It is a pretty dark story, but I am enjoying it so far. The story jumps ahead 200 years from the first volume. Erica has been turned into a Necro-soldier, which is someone who has died but has been re-animated as a soldier to do the bidding of the one who re-animated him/her. Yoko is now going by Alita (her full name is Alita Yoko). She has apparently been many places in the last 200 years and is very secretive about what she's been doing. Erica and Alita are now enemies and they fight at one point in the story. I am looking forward to volume 3 (and the subsequent volumes). 

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 1 by Yukito Kishiro

 Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 1 by Yukito Kishiro-208 pages

While I wait for copies of the next volumes of Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization I am reading this. It caught my eye on the shelf because I have seen the film "Alita: Battle Angel" based on the manga. This is not the story line explored in the movie. However, this is a captivating story on its own. Yoko (Alita) is a young cyborg girl who is taken to live in an orphanage with Erica in the town of Mamiana on Mars. At first, Erica and Yoko are bullied but then they almost sort of become friends with some of the other girls. However, an army faction (one of 3 at war on Mars) slaughters all the girls except Yoko and Erica. They are the only ones who escape the slaughter. They are rescued by a different army faction. This is pretty much how the first volume ends. I am now reading the second volume of this series and plan to read the third, as well. As I said in an earlier post, I plan to read a lot of manga and graphic novels for this month's challenge.