Gunnm - Mars Chronicle 021 (part 1) Is out!

[FluffyMcMittens]

Finally chapter 21, part 1 v2.
It's been a long wait due to Kishiro's vacation to the US.
Anyway enjoy the latest chapter!

v2! to reflect the actual names listed on part 2.

https://mega.nz/#!yM01zaLY!EvmJxR8h4k1o ... PvhpBt5t7A

http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/5gfD9UEx/file.html

[00_unit]

This should be an interesting new arc, it will most likely feature character development and the good kinds too, looking forward to it with full anticipation

[Sergio Nova]

Thanks for the chapter (or the half chapter, whatever!).

This is interesting. In Log 19, we see Muster demanding Kagura to transfer her position of lady of those lands, and Kagura is a monster deformed by the tumor mask. Now in log 21 we see Kagura when she was a beautiful woman. Looking at her face, we can immediately identify her, and the mention to her bewitching moving lips (octopuss lips?) makes us think that she is Yoko's original matrix.

And considering that a sort of Alita tried to kill the current queen of Mars…

It seems the pieces are joining in the puzzle.

[D3sty]

Thanks

[kuroro86]

Thanks for the chapter

[MrFaber]

Spoiler:

So, since Kagura is drawn absolutely identical to Yoko, despite make up and a more mature look faintly try to deceive (same nose, same lips, same eyeline, see chapter 009.1 page 1 panel 1 and chapter 21.1 page 15 panel 4 and 5 for a direct comparison), we can settle on the Maske tumor origin hypotesis, i'd say.

[MrFaber]

Spoiler:

We could argue that Gally's face (which never changed in the whole story) is entirely artificial, yet when she is rebuilt by the venusian bioprinter, she retains the very same face. So we can think that the face yoko had in her martian life was modeled somehow on her biological face. When then Ido found her, face was the only intact part, easy to reproduce it. Yet i wonder how. Maybe child yoko had still her biological head on a cyborg body and it was later sobstituited with a cyborg head better suited for panzer kunst?

[Sergio Nova]

Spoiler:

Maybe child yoko had still her biological head on a cyborg body and it was later sobstituited with a cyborg head better suited for panzer kunst?

Spoiler:

You are right! In log 006, Mui, the gärtner, says that Yoko's body is 80% mechanic. And, yes, she must be referring to her head as biological.
When Ido found the cyborg, he rebuilt her face according to what she already had (and her face was, indeed, the only identifiable part of her body). Ido did not made her Panzer Kunst facial tattoo simply because there was no remaining trace of that (even because, as we can see in Last Order phase 37, she was not wearing the facial tattoo when invading Ketheres, but a metallic piece; when she goes in direction to Melchizedeck's slot, she is using neither the tattoo nor the metallic piece - she did not want to be identified, after all; the same way, she had no Panzer Kunst identification when thrown to the atmosphere). Only when facing Makaku she would instinctively remember her tattoo.
In motorball, Alita herself would reproduce her facial tattoo, and then her tuned body was a reproduction of her previous visual. As to Desty Nova, he simply made her imaginos body face as he was used to see her.
Anyway, all her bodies had the same face, but then again, the biological body made by Biovouivre Bioprint brings no tattoo at all, but still has the same face.

[kamugin]

Just watched the pictures, couldn't bother myself to read those amazing FOURTEEN pages. (Alita's mother -- or whatever -- oooh!!! Thanks Yukito sensei, I'm mesmerized)

Thanks anyway

========================
I've just finished the second volume of the weird Joshi Kouhei https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=57709 from Matsumoto Jiro and I'm eager for more. Better have a look at some of his previous works like Freesia, Uncivilized Planet or Wendy to better understand his style, before jumping inside Joshi Kouhei otherwise it will look like just sick pornografy.

[Martin]

Looks good. Jeez Louis lots of new characters. This seems like the beginning of the end. Answers to a lot of questions.

As to Gally's face, I see two near science explanations for the consistency of it.

One is that her face is simulated from her brain's DNA. Read the DNA code, and create the bones, skull, muscles and shapes of her face via CnC/3D Printing technology. I don't like this solution because we have seen so many cyborg's with unnatural faces. Also, this "feels" like something Desty Nova can do but "feels" against the grain of the other story-tech explanations.

Theory Two is that the brains for cyber users have a minimal, common operating system installation as the means of interfacing with a cyborg body. Somewhere in that bio-digital interface is a memory slot with instructions titled along the lines of a global variable named "MAKE_MY_FACE_ LOOK_LIKE_THIS". Like a computer BIOS setting.

The second concept is the "simpler" one. It draws from more now-common technology concepts. Her original face had chipped paint, making it look porcelain. I actually think that Gally has been like a Cyber-Wonder Woman reboot, once I thought about Wonder Woman being made of Clay and all of the Cyborg/Real/Tiphares/Brain/Soul themes.

Frankly, thinking about a reasonable origin of the Brain-Bio-Chip...the development of Cyber Bodies would call for testing "mocks" swapping in a piece of test equipment for the intended target user brain stem. Standard Software/System engineering concept. It would make sense for a mega-Quantum-AI playing with Cyber-bodies and unlimited processing power to develop a "full" test AI, the Bio-Brain Chip. The Standard Brain-Cyborg Body interface. Face Instructions.

[Novel Kars]

Interesting... this might go on for longer then expected then... looks like mars chronicle may go on for well over 100 chapters, and if the Bodhisattva theory is anywhere near true, then mars chronicle may go on for more than even 200 chapters.......

[Rindain]

With this talk of Gally's face, I'm reminded of how I have no idea why Kishiro decided to give her a face so different (less pretty / cute imo ), starting in Last Order.

LO volumes 1-3 kept her face at least having some similarities with her original series faces, but even in Last Order 1 to 3 I immediately thought to myself that the facial characteristics that made Alita such a unique and endearing character were jettisoned. And, no, it's not the Octopus Lips, but the combination of her hair, eyes and facial / head structure that made the Last Order Gally so different looking from any of her original series bodies.

I wish Kishiro would draw her like he used to. Its hard to explain what I mean specifically by this, but lots of people noticed it when LO first came out.

[00_unit]

With this talk of Gally's face, I'm reminded of how I have no idea why Kishiro decided to give her a face so different (less pretty / cute imo ), starting in Last Order.

LO volumes 1-3 kept her face at least having some similarities with her original series faces, but even in Last Order 1 to 3 I immediately thought to myself that the facial characteristics that made Alita such a unique and endearing character were jettisoned. And, no, it's not the Octopus Lips, but the combination of her hair, eyes and facial / head structure that made the Last Order Gally so different looking from any of her original series bodies.

I wish Kishiro would draw her like he used to. Its hard to explain what I mean specifically by this, but lots of people noticed it when LO first came out.

I think he has gone for a mature and masculine look for Gally. I mean when you see the beginning I feel like she has a cute face to represent her innocence. But as she grows she starts to lose that innocence and when you compare BAA vol 1 to BAA vol 9 she looks more battle scarred. I personally think he did to show Gally is not that kind of character anymore and has matured throughout the years.

Plus I think he wented to show more details on Gally's limbs to looks more muscular to make it more convincing she is strong, after all in the first part Gally's limb were less detailed and lacked muscle defintion.