In a new PlayStation Blog interview, Stellar Blade Director Kim Hyung Tae revealed Battle Angel Alita is another inspiration for the game. Specifically, he cited the 2019 movie starring Rosa Salazar as a major influence.
Here’s exactly what Kim mentioned when discussing Stellar Blade and its reference to Battle Angel Alita in the PlayStation Blog interview:
There are quite a few. However, one of the most inspirational, in terms of theme and design, is the sci-fi manga Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro sensei. It was released as an action film in 2019 under the title Alita: Battle Angel. I’d say I took a lot of inspiration from that movie.
As a reminder, Battle Angel Alita began running in Japan in 1990. It’s since appeared worldwide, and it also inspired anime adaptations and the 2019 live-action movie Alita: Battle Angel. The series stars Alita, a cyborg with amnesia surviving in a cyberpunk world who ends up using her martial arts skills and strength to hunt down criminals. Throughout the course of the story, she ends up being tied to the community and a savior.
Head of launch, Shift Up and Director Kim Hyung Tae have often discussed various Stellar Blade inspirations and shared development details. We already know NieR Automatainfluenced the action game, for example. Also, the length of Eve’s hair also affected its development time.
Stellar Blade will come to the PlayStation 5 on April 26, 2024. There’s no word yet on if it will eventually appear on other platforms sometime after that.
