After the insanely awesome Battle Angel Alita vol. 9, I was a bit hesitant to start Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, if only because it has one hell of a show to follow. Luckily, this sequel and semi-retcon totally lives up to the original series.

Last Order takes place about a decade after the original but pretends that the last two chapters of the first series (which were very strange, forced and nonsensical) never happened. This is very weird for the reader, who has to constantly remind themselves what did and what did not happen in this new continuity. That aside, Last Order has all the energy and beauty of the original.

Last Order does have a bit of a rough start as it sets the scene for the new series and does its best to wipe away the old. The setting is very, very different than that we were left with in the first series, but sudden changes in the status quo is nothing new to fans of Alita. Once every thing gets going, it’s clear that mangaka Yukito Kishiro is back at the top of his game. His artwork is noticeably cleaner and less grungy than the first series, but it is effective in the new setting.

I won’t give away any of the plot but if you pick this up and start to loose interest half way through, thinking it doesn’t have the balls of the first series, just wait until you see how Alita defeats her serious opponent. It is the sort of high-velocity ridiculousness of the last volume. Read this!