Battle Angel Alita is the translated
English title of
Yukito Kishiro's
manga series
Gunnm. An approximate translation of that is "Gun Dream", and that's certainly a thematic element. Alita explores
the distant future where the
Earth is in a
post-apocalyptic state, almost completely
desertified. While technology is extremely advanced, the vast majority of society is disorganized, a network of government contracted bounty-hunters being the only visible arm of the law.
Rescued from a scrap heap by a mechanic,
Alita is a
cyborg, though before the repairs she's barely more than a head and a fragment of her body. She does not know much about her past, but retains an instinctive knowledge of an extremely powerful fighting technique called
Panzer Kunst.
The official English translation is available from
Viz.
Background:
The underclass are forced to work for the elite people from
Tiphares, a massive floating city where they all live. They get little in exchange, except that which they get through the
black-market. The people from
Tiphares are identifiable by a mark on their forehead, something they are given as a
right of passage when they reach a certain age.
Alita is discovered by
Ido, a bounty hunter and doctor/mechanic (the difference isn't entirely clear with
cyborgs) laying in a junkpile, discarded by the Tipharians. He is skillful enough to restores her to working condition.