Synopsis:
Gally is a cyborg who was reconstructed by Dr. Ido. But Gally soon discovers that Dr. Ido is also a Hunter Warrior, a bounty hunter paid by "The Factory" to eliminate wanted criminals. Gally decides to become a Hunter Warrior herself, but soon faces a dilemma when the boy she loves becomes a criminal with a bounty on his head...

Review:
Two things about Battle Angel impressed me the most: Gally's beautiful character design and the spectacular fighting sequences. Gally has a face that is pretty as it is expressive, and I found myself mesmerized whenever she was in the scene. Her small frame hides the true extent of her power, and she moves with such agility that every battle becomes an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Plot-wise, Battle Angel is simple and straightforward. I can't really elaborate any more than I already have in the synopsis because I'd just end up giving everything away. What I can tell you is that I totally hated Gally's best friend / love interest Yugo. Aside from the fact that he's physically unattractive, he's dense, selfish, and just plain idiotic. I just couldn't understand how Gally could love such a moron so deeply and I was actually HAPPY when Yugo's fate was sealed. Aside from the main story, Battle Angel lightly touches a few other subplots (such as Dr. Ido and Chiren's relationship) as well but you are only given an idea of the way things are, and unavoidably questions are left unanswered because the series is so short. The loose threads aren't so bad that I'd call this series half-baked though.

As I've hinted at earlier in the review, the art and animation are excellent. Character designs are very distinct, and the action just blew me away. There's a lot of blood, violence, and gore as well as a few sexually suggestive scenes which feature some upper body nudity. The English dubbing is kind of okay as long as everybody speaks in a normal tone of voice. When the characters start raising their voices however, it's a different story. They tend to sound annoyingly shrill when they shout or get emotional, making me want to cover my ears for the whole duration of the dialogues. Gally's voice actress tries too hard to sound cute to boot.

Overall, Battle Angel is a commendable effort at animating one portion of an extensive manga series. It gives us enough to go on to enjoy the anime on its own while at the same time tipping us off that there's a whole lot more to it than just these two episodes.

Miscellanies:
Battle Angel is composed of two half-hour episodes. If you want full closure it's best you turn to the manga version.

Screenshots:

Shopping - click on title to purchase: - DVD Version is Out of Print

Rightstuf
Battle Angel (English Dubbed VHS)
Battle Angel (English Graphic Novels)
AnimeNation
Battle Angel (English Graphic Novels)

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