Perhaps because March follows the shortest month of the year it seems to have lasted a particularly long time for me. Granted, that feeling may attributed to how incredibly busy I’ve been recently. Regardless, the end of March is almost here, which means it’s time for another manga giveaway! This month you’ll all have the chance to win the first omnibus in Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita: Last Order as published by Kodansha Comics. The omnibus collects the first three volumes of the series as well as additional stories by Kishiro not previously released in English. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!
It’s not at all a secret that I am a fan of androids (I blame the absurd amount of Isaac Asimov that I read in my youth), so it probably isn’t too surprising that I’m rather fond of cyborgs as well. That’s one of the reasons that Battle Angel Alita particularly appeals to me. The existence of ancient Martian martial arts and space karate in the series doesn’t hurt, either. In general, cyborgs aren’t a particularly uncommon element in near future science fiction and I’m aware of quite a few from manga specifically. Much as with android stories, I enjoy stories about cyborgs because they allow creators a way to explore what it means to be human in interesting ways.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of the first Battle Angel Alita: Last Order omnibus?
1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite cyborg from manga. (If you don’t have one, you can simply mention that.)
2) For a second entry, name another manga that features a cyborg that hasn’t been mentioned yet by me or by someone else.
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
That’s all there is to it. Each person can earn up to three entries for the giveaway and has a week to submit comments. If you have trouble leaving a comment, or if you would prefer, entries may also be submitted via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com which will then be posted in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on April 2, 2014. Best of luck to you all!
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.
Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Battle Angel Alita Giveaway Winner
This is the easiest question I’ve been asked in a while.
1.) My favorite cyborg from a manga is “Cyborg” Franky from One Piece. He wears a speedo all the time and runs on cola. He’s also a master shipwright.
2.) Another cyborg that is really interesting is Ochiai from Knights of Sidonia. One of the most interesting and enigmatic characters in the manga.
3.) https://twitter.com/MatthewCycyk/status/448804360617984000
1) favorite cyborg is Buaku from dominion tank police. Tank police was one of the first anime’s I saw and it encourage me to go out to find the manga
2) not quite sure if you’d count it as a cyborg but the Gyver is an interesting mesh of man & machine and gyver 3 has to be the best
3) https://twitter.com/Rhinhart_Mstar/status/448833797715677184
1. My favorite cyborg has to be Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. I watched the 1995 movie a month or so ago, and liked her character. She is a strong fighter, but also philosophical about her existence. In addition, she notices small details that others do not. By the end of the movie, she has opened her eyes to a larger world and is free to explore it now.
2. There is Pero from Astro Boy. He’s a dog cyborg, and I don’t mean simply a dog with mechanical adjustments. A Russian duchess trying to claim the moon by founding the Hot Dog Corps, cyborg men that were actually dogs that had been modified into soldiers. Robots have programming to prevent them from fighting humans, so making dog cyborgs was a way around that problem. However, Pero gradually recovered his past and returned to his old master after being transferred into a canine cyborg form.
1) Casshern from Cassher/Casshern Sins. Love him.
2) Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis. Hopefully this isn’t one mentioned before… I tried really hard to look for one not already mentioned!
Included my email.
1) My favourite cyborg is probably Lien Lei from E-Depth Angel… which is also my answer for 2 since I’m not thinking of any other cyborgs off the top of my head… :D
2) E-Depth Angel features cyborgs (and mechas) – it’s a free webmanga and the first mecha story I’d ever read. Still think it’s pretty cool, years later.
3) https://twitter.com/Melody_Kondrael/status/448954282734141440
I’m not sure I really have a favorite cyborg from a manga, strangely enough I don’t come across many of them and I’m trying to remember if there were any cyborgs in Pluto or if they were all androids, I like the manga I just read it so many years ago I can’t remember if there were any!
https://twitter.com/WanderinDreamr/status/448994651966799872
1. The closest I’ve come to ‘cyborgs’ is Chii from Chobits by CLAMP. It’s a beautifully written series and one of my firm favourites by the group.
2. I’ll mention Chobits as no one seems to have done so yet!
1. Kamen Rider. Any of them really, but only the old series guys are Cyborgs. Let’s go with Kamen Rider Black.
2. Joe Shimamura from Cyborg 009. That is, he’s the titular 009.
3. https://twitter.com/Suribot/status/449186063916232704
1) NukuNuku from a 90s manga “All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku”
She’s a high school girl cyborg built around a brain of a cat! Literally, brains from a cat!!
The series starts with a kitty being run over and the lil kid was so upset about this that he made his dad ‘rescue’ it this way.
It is a riot!
2) do Angels ‘fighting dolls’ from Angelic Layer count?
3) https://twitter.com/persoconchii/status/449212980346245121
I am a derp that confused androids and cyborgs… so please forget Angelic Layer for number2 and instead replace with Jet from CowboyBebop! (yes its a manga. There are 2 diff spinoff mangas after the anime)
1) It’s surprisingly hard to think of cyborgs! All I’ve got is androids. But yes, definitely have to echo the person who mentioned Pluto – Detective Gesicht is my favorite, even if he doesn’t quite count.
2) If a cyborg is defined as a person with machine upgrades, then certainly Vash the Stampede from Trigun would count with his arm!
1. Sophia Theodores from Eden: It’s an Endless World. A fun, genius super hacker. I’m afraid I’ll spoil the manga for you if I’ll say anything else, but I like the character, how she develops and it’s interesting to see how it can cyborgs possibly be like in the future.
2. I’ll use Sophia also for this one.
3. https://twitter.com/ArTIkBaNAnA/status/449222227473756160
1. I’d have to say that Motoko Kusanagi is probably my favorite cyborg as well, she’s such an interesting character.
2. Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn is a cyborg in the original Sailor Moon manga! I’m surprised no one’s mentioned her, but I guess since she wasn’t a cyborg in the anime, sometimes it’s easy to forget. XD
3. I RTed your link on my Twitter :D
1. Doesn’t really count as a cyborg, but my fave will be Odette from Karakuri Odette
2. Android 18 from Dragonball Z technically is a cyborg, so I’ll go with that :)