Zott finally wrapping up

[Vendigo]

Is it just me, or is the ZOTT arc wrapping up really quickly?

My pet theory is the dragging on ZOTT arc was never Kishiro's own choice, and the dispute over some trivial word was legally sound excuse to terminate the agreement. Don't know if it's wishful thinking, but it seems the ZOTT arc is wrapping up at maximum pace considering how it sometimes took a whole chapter to deliver a punch.

I can't say what it was originally, but Alita's "Damn.... am I going back to the ZOTT" seems to indicate neither of them really want to

[AR-99]

It is a single elimination 16 team tournament with 2 seeds, so the further along it gets the pace will pick up more, allowing more time to be spent on the matches (e.g. the semifinal between the Space Karate Forces and Genome Kingdom took a whole volume). Also the timeframe is 6 days. There are multiple scenarios as to what could play out next, even if Mbadi will allow the finals to fully play out without intervening. I would like to see things move beyond the ZOTT and especially to Mars.

[HumanRage]

given nova went to mars witk Zekrow's brain, i think this is to be expected

[Sergio Nova]

Is it just me, or is the ZOTT arc wrapping up really quickly?

I have no idea why ZOTT took so long, but it indeed took too long. Finishing it will be a bless.

[Sergio Nova]

the semifinal between the Space Karate Forces and Genome Kingdom took a whole volume

Yes, but the whole volume is great. Kishiro made poetry in the middle of an endless tournament. In a certain way, Olympe is facing God and asking him the meaning of life. Reading the bible, you could say humans were created to suffer (NO! I'm not inventing. Even Jesus Christ had to suffer a lot, and mankind is predicted to extermination, anyway). As it happens in Blade Runner, the creature kills the creator, in a poetic revenge. Finally, the love story between an emotive machine and a beast would usually sound idiot. Kishiro made the impossible.

[AR-99]

I was using this as an example of how the further along the ZOTT goes, the more time can be spent on the later matches, I wasn't criticizing it. As you point out, this is great. It shows that Homme de Feu isn't a single dimensional killing machine, but had developed a personality as well as very conflicted emotions because to become as good as he was, he ultimately felt deceived by Olympe. If this degree of character development wasn't done for the supporting cast, it would have made the ZOTT much more tedious.

[Dream]

as far as I know, the zott was already in the PSone videogame, so it wasn't a a forced event out of nowhere.
I think Kishiro made it last so long because it allowed him to use many one shot characters, for one shot special fights that wouldn't fit anywhere else in the story, but were still fun to draw and narrate.
Some rumors also state that some of those characters where inspired by fanarts (maybe one of those many contest he uses to make on the japanese version of the website).
But yeah, it definitely dragged a little too long, and seemed like a cheap way to upgrade some of the character's powerlevel. As many of us I'm really eager to see what's after the event.

[crazyankan]

Dream: Yeah, Yukito were using fanarts for his characters under the part with Caerula and ZOTT.
You can find some character artworks suggested from fans in the VIZ version :]

[Abaddon]

Some rumors also state that some of those characters where inspired by fanarts (maybe one of those many contest he uses to make on the japanese version of the website).

I think you mean this

Spoiler:

[Vendigo]

as far as I know, the zott was already in the PSone videogame, so it wasn't a a forced event out of nowhere.
I think Kishiro made it last so long because it allowed him to use many one shot characters, for one shot special fights that wouldn't fit anywhere else in the story, but were still fun to draw and narrate.

It was motorball that was made into a Playstation game, and speaking of which, the extra characters and stories were put into the 'Ashen Victor' side story, a totally separate set of books. An approach that would've been more than welcome here too.

Some rumors also state that some of those characters where inspired by fanarts (maybe one of those many contest he uses to make on the japanese version of the website).

As pointed out a couple of times by now, even VIZ had the competition for new characters and costumes for ZOTT. I consider it a strong signal the entire ZOTT arc was forced.

By the way, in vol. 4, where Alita looks longing after the ship setting of to Mars and wows to go there after the ZOTT was over, also has a bonus strip where Kishiro complains about editor interference.

[AR-99]

It was motorball that was made into a Playstation game.

I'm currently playing Martian Memory right now (on and off). I'm at the Granite Inn and am about to take on Eelai.

There is motorball in the game, but only for that part of the story arc. It is in accurate to say that motorball was made into the game in and of itself.

If you look at a walkthrough for the game that someone put together as well as for videos of the boss fights on Youtube, there is a tournament in Ketheres that Gally fights in towards the end. However it is 1 on 1, not a team event. So what Dream says is correct.

speaking of which, the extra characters and stories were put into the 'Ashen Victor' side story, a totally separate set of books. An approach that would've been more than welcome here too.

Not sure what you mean in that last part - because this IS what happened.

As for Ashen Victor, that is a single storyline with less than a dozen named characters (Snev, Dolagunov, Ben, Holgeolund, Koba, Beretta, Lorna, Marvin, Marathon Man), far less than all the one shot characters in LO.

Are we reading the same things?

[Vendigo]

It was motorball that was made into a Playstation game.

I'm currently playing Martian Memory right now (on and off). I'm at the Granite Inn and am about to take on Eelai.

There is motorball in the game, but only for that part of the story arc. It is in accurate to say that motorball was made into the game in and of itself.

If you look at a walkthrough for the game that someone put together as well as for videos of the boss fights on Youtube, there is a tournament in Ketheres that Gally fights in towards the end. However it is 1 on 1, not a team event. So what Dream says is correct.

It's not ZOTT.

speaking of which, the extra characters and stories were put into the 'Ashen Victor' side story, a totally separate set of books. An approach that would've been more than welcome here too.

Not sure what you mean in that last part - because this IS what happened.

No we didn't get a separate set of books for the boring ZOTT garbage - it was all merged right into the main series.

EDIT: the fact there is EVEN MORE ZOTT garbage available elsewhere doesn't equal there was none in the main series.

As for Ashen Victor, that is a single storyline with less than a dozen named characters (Snev, Dolagunov, Ben, Holgeolund, Koba, Beretta, Lorna, Marvin, Marathon Man), far less than all the one shot characters in LO.

Are we reading the same things?

The idea still is that put those useless side stories onto a book series of it's own - whether the stories are the same (Ashen was one motorball story, ZOTT has many) is TOTALLY beside the point.

Obviously, we're not reading the same thing.

[AR-99]

Different interpretations for sure.

The ZOTT can be seen to have been expanded from the Ketheres tournament in Martian Memory though.