‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Reveals First Japanese Poster

Fans have been keeping their eyes on Alita: Battle Angel for awhile now, but there have been some worrying things as fans are grown accustomed to being disappointed by live-action anime and manga adaptations.

But the newest poster for the Japanese release of the film definitely alleviates a bit of this worry as it teases quite the intense film.

Originally scheduled to premiere December 21, Alita: Battle Angel is currently slated to premiere February 14, 2019. The Japanese release of the film is on February 22, and the newest poster shares Alita’s intense gaze along with the tagline, “The angel awakens into a warrior.” While fans have had mixed reactions to Alita: Battle Angel‘s footage so far, its original creator Yukito Kishiro is optimistic about its future noting that a Hollywood adaptation is like a “dream come true” for him.

The mixed reaction was mostly due to the way the film depicted Alita’s eyes, which are much larger than any other character’s in the film. Highlighting her inhuman nature, fans dubbed them as “anime” eyes, which seemed to draw influence from Yukito Kishiro’s original work. This critique has been shifted a bit as progress on the film moved forward as the latest trailer for the film seemed to correct the size of her eyes.

Alita’s eyes now seem less large, but still uncanny enough that she sticks out amongst everything else in the film. Fans are appreciative of the change, and the film will most likely undergo plenty more work before its official release. It’s been a major defining factor of this film project, which has been in development for several years before.

Alita: Battle Angel will be directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, stars Rosa Salazar (as the titular Alita), Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley.

Battle Angel Alita (known as GUNNM in Japan) was originally created by Yukito Kishiro for Shueisha’s Weekly Business Jump in 1990. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic future and follows Alita, a cyborg who is found in a garbage heap by a doctor and rebuilt. Completely devoid of her memory, all she has to cling to is a legendary cyborg martial art known as Panzer Kunst. With this knowledge, Alita decides to become a bounty hunter. The series has since been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media, and collected into nine volumes.