Producer James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez built the entire film from Yukito Kishiro's 1990 cyberpunk manga Gunnm and its 1993 anime adaptation. The cyborg body design, the dystopian scrapyard city, the blend of body-horror and wonder—everything maps directly from the manga. This wasn't adaptation. It was translation, manga becoming live-action while remaining faithful to its visual DNA.
He had elements that he loved that I also love. Like Hong Kong action and things like that, so there were a lot of places we could meet and agree.
— Unknown (speaking about James Cameron) · Screen Rant Interview: Robert Rodriguez on Alita Battle Angel