With the Japanese market expected to be one of the biggest markets for the recently-released Alita: Battle Angel movie from Robert Rodriguez, mostly due to it being based on a manga from the country, lots of promotional work for the film is being focused within the country. With a large amount of the cast as well as the aforementioned director and producer Jon Landau all flying over to the country for the Japanese premiere of the film, and with the original mangaka Yukito Kishiro also in attendance, everyone was there. They even got Kizuna Ai to host the Q&A session for this Alita: Battle Angel premiere.
まずは、自身のYouTubeチャンネルの登録者数が360万人を超え、最新テクノロジーと人間の架け橋になろうと日々奮闘中のバーチャルYouTubeクリエイター、キズナアイさん（@aichan_nel）が登壇❗ 来場者からどんな話を引き出してくれるでしょうか。楽しみです。 pic.twitter.com/kRErtuUw64
— 映画『アリータ：バトル・エンジェル』公式 (@AlitaMovieJP) February 15, 2019
As it turns out, joining the mangaka, director, producer and main stars of the film was none other than the famous V-Tuber herself, Kizuna Ai, taking part in a short Q&A session for the film. Perhaps they were a fitting guest considering the setting for the film and the love story that takes place within it between a cyborg and a human, forming a connection beyond humanity itself.
Both Rosa Salazar, who plays the role of Alita, and Christopher Waltz, who plays Dr. Dyson Ido, were in attendance for the premiere, and the latter was very impressed and intrigued by Kizuna Ai’s appearance. In a small conversation between the virtual YouTuber and the actor, Christopher inquired whether Ai was engaged to anyone, she reported that she wasn’t before very quickly asking whether he wanted to get engaged to her. He replied that they would discuss it later (I wonder what the tabloid press would think of that relationship!). Rosa then joked that she would love to see a love story movie about the two of them and decided she would love to hang out with Ai as well.
A later photo posted to the official Japanese twitter account for the movie even showed Ai-chan (complete in an Alita cosplay outfit) holding hands! I’m not one to start rumours but… well…
最後はマスコミ向けのフォトセッション📷
来日ゲストもキズナアイさん（@aichan_nel）との交流を大いに楽しんでくれました‼
『#アリータ：バトル・エンジェル』は、2月22日（金）公開❗ ぜひ劇場で体感を‼ 公式サイトは👉https://t.co/JZlZR7eqMl#youtubespacetokyo に #アリータ降臨 pic.twitter.com/oBQHofT6tu
— 映画『アリータ：バトル・エンジェル』公式 (@AlitaMovieJP) February 15, 2019
It did seem like a rather fun event as the film prepared to launch in Japan on February 22nd, in any case. There will be many hopes pinned on the film’s Japanese premiere in order to help 20th Century Fox break even on the film’s large production budget, following reports that the film looks set to struggle to recoup its costs amid a low domestic box office in the United States. Which is a real shame, since, as I noted in my review, this is a rather exciting and unique blockbuster feature that manages to stand out and have an impact on you as a viewer.
Alita: Battle Angel has released in most territories worldwide and will launch in more territories, including Japan and China, on February 22nd. You can learn more about the film at the film’s official website.