Anime Discussions: Speed Racer & Alita Battle Angel W/ Myself & Comics

We got a double feature today as Bianca & I talk about what I consider two of the best anime adaptations the west has done. Speed Racer by the Wachowski's and Alita Battle Angel by James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez!

Born into a family business of race cars, Speed Racer is one of the track's hot stars. Sitting at the wheel of his Mach 5, he consistently deflates the competition. When Speed turns down an offer from the head of Royalton Industries, he uncovers a secret. Powerful moguls fix the races to boost profits. Hoping to beat the executive, Speed enters the same arduous cross-country race that killed his brother.

A box office bomb on it's release, a lot of people criticized Speed Racer for being too light hearted, bright, and campy...completely forgetting that's how the anime was! These days people look back at it more fondly, especially with how it perfectly matched the show's tone, writing, characters, etc.

Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido, a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.

Alita had been in the works for a LONG time (Hell Dark Angel was a prototype James Cameron did to test the waters) and it was well worth that time! Much like speed racer, this is a special effects movie but where as Speed had the effects in the backgrounds, this one had it for the characters, especially the Titular Alita herself!

Both of these movies perfectly capture their source materials, but they also suffered one other problem. Both of them were all over the place in their story that, thankfully, both come together by the end. But it was that jumbledness that probably didn't help them in the short term. Both of these movies deserve sequels but sadly we'll probably never get em.