Alien 9

Alien 9 is a bizarre and sadly very much underrated coming of age story. It is set in a school which suffers from constant daily alien attacks. Most of the aliens are best-like creatures both in mind and body. Our protagonists are three 12 year old school girls who were in one way or another recruited in the Alien control party.

The basic look and premise of the show do not appear to be special from the first glance, yet mere minutes are enough to see that you are into something much more than just another high-school, moe, action anime. There are a few things ... that make Alien 9 very distinct and give a bizarre and unique feel to the show. First of all the directing. It is slow and methodical with each and every shot meaning something or adding to the underlying themes and overall surreal feel of the show. The smart directing is accompanied by an offbeat soundtrack that helps build the atmosphere. The moe style that the show uses makes the disturbing parts provide even more impact. The tactic that some future shows also used, like Madoka Magica.

The anime itself (at least in my understanding) is a scary allegory of growing up, blooming and being afraid to be left behind. What sets apart this coming of age story from many others is that it is made from the girl's point of view.

The characters I found to be very relatable and well written. The voice actors also did a terrific job.

A downside to otherwise amazing series is that it only adapts the half of the story from manga. The ending does not answer all questions and the story is ultimately left unfinished. While there were attempts to revive the show, it is still stuck in the developmental limbo and has been so for close to 15 years. It is unlikely that we will ever get the rest. Even without the ending. I do advise reading the manga as it is only 3 volumes long and the anime adapts the first 1.5 volumes.

As it stands the show is still very much a fantastic, emotional and thought provoking ride through and through. Sadly this anime is very much underrated and mostly unappreciated. I urge people to give it a try, especially if you are into psychological, thought provoking and disturbing anime.

A decade before Madoka Magica subverted tropes of the magical girl genre and spawned a new wave of “darker” magical girl shows, Alien 9 did something a similar vein. Starting off as a quirky sci-fi slice-of-life featuring cute girls fighting aliens, this 4 episode OVA lulls you into thinking it’s a fun little sci-fi adventure romp with its unassuming first episode, and then proceeds to shatter those expectations throughout it’s the rest relatively short run-time. It’s a bizarrely off-kilter yet compelling mixture of quaintness and horror that puts a uniquely sadistic twist on common anime tropes, even by today’s standards. Unfortunately, we’re ultimately provided with ... only a small taste of the OVA’s potential, as its short episode count prevents it from becoming something truly substantial.

The OVA follows three elementary school students who have been selected to be their school’s alien hunting squad. There’s Kumi, a girl much more mature and responsible than most kids her age, and a big sister-like figure to her friends and classmates. Kasumi, an accomplished child-prodigy, who volunteered herself to be part of the school’s alien hunting squad. And then there’s Yuri, a timid cry-baby who was selected by her classmates to be part of the alien hunting squad because she didn’t participate in any other school clubs or activities, and the show’s main focal point. The girls aided by aliens called Borgs, which perch themselves on the girls’ heads like hats, and supervised by the cheerful Ms. Hisakawa, who seems too enthusiastic to push the girls to hunt aliens.

Now, if this situation off to you, it’s because it is. It does pit little girls against aliens, after all. Though it may not appear so strange at first, partly because this kind of thing is commonplace in anime, but also because the show introduces the premise as nonchalant and matter-of-fact. Nobody ever questions the ethics of sending little girls to catch dangerous aliens, Ms. Hisakawa seems to be more pre-occupied with monitoring and taking the girls than the safety of the girls. Early on, the show itself treats some of the alien encounters with a certain lack of seriousness and urgency, often showing them in fun little montages, as if to intentionally downplay the severity of the situation. Even Yuri’s scaredy-cat tendencies are played for some laughs. The show takes advantage of the tropes of the medium to fool the audience into thinking it’s a fun little show, and not questioning the bizarre and unethical nature of what is demanded of the girls.

Of course, it the show doesn’t stay this way for too long, as the danger the girls are in become very apparent and the show’s content becomes progressively more disturbing. After some events that would traumatize any elementary school student, the show stops treating Yuri’s crying fits as comical and more as the harsh and horrifying truth of the situation. Yuri, for all her crying, is right to be scared; serving as the anxious fear-ridden heart of the show. She’s a shy, timid girl forced against her own will to fight aliens and continuously pressured to do so despite her objections. She even starts having nightmares about her ordeals, which are colorful and even child-like depictions of her rational fears. The contrast between the cartoony visual direction and the darker thematic content of the show make the experience even more bizarre and unsettling. Even when the show is at its most surreal and violent, the art retains a certain cutesiness which makes it all the more sinister.

Yuri isn’t the only one that suffers psychologically as the show progresses, however. Mature and confident Kumi, whom Yuri heavily relies on, and even the enthusiastic Kasumi have their own mental and emotional scars. Their familial issues and struggles with responsibility and loneliness are just as relatable as Yuri’s fear, if not even more so. Unfortunately, the OVA’s short episode count only allows a very light examination of their psyches. This inconclusiveness envelops the OVA as a whole; the plot largely goes unexplained and left with a lot of loose ends, including a cryptic final shot which is frustrating on multiple levels. Regrettably, this severely undercuts the show’s impact. For its ambitions, Alien 9 suffers from a curious lack of purpose. It succeeds in subverting commonly used tropes and weaving a grim tale from a cutesy aesthetic, but the hanging plot and rushed catharsis leaves a certain lack of fulfillment as the OVA ends. Sadly, this ultimately devalues what the show accomplishes to an extent, making it a half-fulfilled promise of what it could have been.

The show was produced in the early 2000s, a time when anime was transitioning from hand-drawn cells to digital cells, and it’s pretty easy to tell just by looking at the show. The digital coloring and animation was not the most refined, certainly not as refined as the anime series of the mid-2000s onward. It’s colorful and animated well, but the show doesn’t really pop visually outside of a few creepy surreal moments. The character designs are very purposely made cutesy, with emphasis on the characters round and expressive faces. The alien designs look more weird than threatening; they look appropriately otherworldly, but also oddly unmemorable. The Borgs in particular are peculiar looking, being frog-like creatures with wings that double as hats. The music, like everything else in the show, is deceptively light and bouncy. Mostly composed of xylophone, bells, flutes, and electronic beats, it’s an energetic soundtrack that progressively gets stranger as the show delves into darker material.

Alien 9 is a nifty little oddity that has unfortunately become obsolete as time has passed. Its deceptive façade of cute characters and wacky hijinks with more sinister intentions it hides makes the OVA quite a novelty. Unfortunately, it never actually develops or expands on its themes, characters, or plot. This really diminishes the show’s value to little more than an interesting idea. This lack of development compounded with the upsurge of darker magical girl series pretty much ensure that Alien 9 is doomed to be an obscure novelty from the early 2000s, and nothing more.

At first glance, Alien 9 appears to be a cute little anime about chasing aliens on roller blades. Thinking this was the case, I bought it. I thought that they must have been exaggerating or in complete error when I saw the 13+ rating. Not. Despite its cheery and cutesy character design, this is a very dark and disturbing anime.

I should have known something was up when I kept getting bad feelings for no reason. Things happened in the anime that made zero sense, and yet I felt completely horrible while and after watching it. When I finished the series (4 30-minute episodes), I couldn't ... watch anime for the rest of the week. I felt dirty, like I had done something very wrong. Although the anime was violent and disturbing, it didn't seem enough to affect me for days. Then, I discovered that Alien 9 is riddled with symbolism - and some of it not so hidden. To call it dark would be an understatement. There are blatant sexual instances represented, expressions of deep and black pain, and perverted thought processes. I would never recommend this to anyone. I have a feeling that someone who has experienced firsthand some of the horrible things the symbolism depicts would pick up on the innuendoes instantly.

Last, but not least, there is some very light yuri (girl's love) tone in the anime - and it's more obvious in the manga.

All in all, Alien 9 is, in short, to be avoided like the plague.

This is one of the worst anime I have ever seen, bar none. I first watched this when I was getting into anime to be honest, a time when a feeble young mind tends to be overjoyed when it sees any anime, a time before standards start to be formed. Well, this was the anime that spurred on any sort of quality control in my mind, this was the anime that made me say "some anime are utter and complete crap", way to hit the very bottom of my standards, Alien Nine. And way to reference Cowboy Bebop on your box to make it look ... like it might be something actually good. I enjoyed Eiken ten times more than this. Yes, Eiken.

Story: 1
A 6th grader gets picked for the one class job she doesn't want: the alien hunter. Why she wouldn't this job is beyond me, there are two other people who also do the jobs from other classes who will do all the work for her and they don't have to do homework as a perk. So the episodes mostly show them fighting some alien that is heavily implied to have been put there on purpose just so they could kill it while we see the main girl, Yuri Ootani (as they will repeat 10 times in a row before the opening credits so you damn well know) cry and whine the entire show about how unfair it is that she has to fight these aliens and someone else can't do it instead. It only gets worse when the story tries to pretend it's deep but we're still watching a main who is actually more of a whinebag then Shinji Ikari himself whine. Anything it tries to imply to be deep is incredibly obvious to begin with so we're just left watching incredibly annoying characters for 4 episodes. It's hard to care about a story that wants to be all mature and dark when it fails it so clearly. Not to mention that the story just....ends, no closure or anything, it basically tells you to read the manga if you gave a crap about this as is.

Character: also a 1
Yuri Ootani is the main and dear god does she whine the entire time and I mean the entire time. She cries when playing a recorder, when taking a bath, when trying to fight aliens in which she stands back and cries the entire time while her teammates tell her to stop crying, it's like this entire show revolves around her crying. The other two teammates....not quite as bad. There's the normal girl and she's pretty much unremarkable. She neither adds much nor subtracts much to the show and she's obviously the best character if only because she doesn't flat out suck. Then there's the other girl who reminds me of Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, an overachieving little smart alec who is annoying because she spends most of the series making strange noises then she rather turns her brain off and starts acting weird. You'd think this might make her interesting as she's acting a bit odd, but it only serves to make her look incredibly pretentious. The borgs...not that bad I guess, they just never bother to explain them or any of their motives. Much like the normal girl, they're just kinda there as characters, although they're supposed to sync up with their partners and act as attack weapons of some sort, but they don't really do all that much as characters per se.

Art: 6, Sound: 7
Sound is pretty good, I won't lie, the OP is a bit addicting. The art is...ok, I can say putting cutesy characters on "darker" material is new, Osamu Tezuka has been doing that for ages and now we've got better darker material drawn cutesy with Kaiba anyway. It's nothing terribly standout, it's just kinda there.

Overall: 1
This is just torture to watch. You hear so many decent ideas above and every single one of them falls flat on its face thanks in no part to a terrible cast of annoying and boringly infuriating characters. And I've heard arguments this is deep, it really isn't, it tries to be pretentious at best in trying to force meanings that really aren't there and having only 4 episodes just made it a cocktease for a manga that I sure as hell don't want to read (and in fact haven't). At least I wouldn't have to hear Yuri cry every 3 minutes for the entire show in print format. Don't watch this, not ever, I'd sooner cut my own limb off then watch this again, but if anyone is in that stage where all anime is automatically good, watching something terrible like this to set your standards of good and bad back on track.

You know the way stories like to big-up what children can do? Those stupid adults, they can’t fight off these alien monsters. Give it to the children. We’ll set up a club, or pilot a giant robot, or gain magical powers, and then we’ll show those baddies what for. Occasionally though, along comes another show that subverts that formula (apparently the word ‘subversion’ is a dirty word in anime reviewing circles, but I can’t think of a better word and making self-important nerds angry on the internet is fun so I’m going to use it anyway) and demonstrates what would actually happen if you gave ... a child that amount of power and responsibility. Evangelion does that with mecha. Madoka does that with magical girls. Alien 9 does that with a little girl being chosen to fight aliens.

The story is set in a world where aliens are invading, of which they’re not doing a particularly good job of because they keep sending down the equivalent of dogs and bulls instead of laser wielding elite warriors. Or maybe they have no intention of invading, since they have aliens who sit on humans heads to protect them from monsters and helpfully lick their backs for them. Alien 9 is based on a manga that wasn’t completed when the anime was made, so not an awful lot is explained about the setting.

The important part is Otani, a 12 year old girl drafted in her school’s Alien Defence Team. She only got onto the team because nobody else really wanted to, which the club supervisor points out is surprising. I mean, you get off class when aliens invade. You get an awesome pair of rollerblades and a sweet hat. OK you have to fight off aliens in who are intent on ending your life and keep exploding with green blood everywhere, but that’s OK because your hat will keep you safe with its drill tentacle things.

The set up is very much like an awesome kids show where the children join a club and beat the smelly aliens. In reality though, when faced with these scary, angry, vicious aliens, Otani is petrified. Not simply frightened, but complete deadening fear where she can’t be calm as long as she has this post. The show really does drive home how much terror she feels towards aliens, to the point that she can’t function properly as a human being.

What the show probably does best is showing her interactions with other characters and how they treat her fear. Her teammates and friends think they can help her by being supportive, but that completely underestimates the extent of her fear. There’s that truly scrawpy moment where her feelings are channelled directly into the other two’s minds (I think it was through some kind of mindshare the aliens they wear on their heads enable? As I said, not much is explained about the world in this show) and the two of them collapse on the ground in utter terror. The subsequent looks on their faces when they see Otani again show how little they understood of her fear before then.

The club supervisor’s treatment of Otani is a stark contrast to Otani’s feelings. She treats Otani as though she’ll obviously eventually get over it if you just treat her normally, poo-pooing her requests to leave the club. She keeps hold of this idea that eventually she’ll be a good enough fighter by the end of the year when they ‘need them’ (for what reason they need fighters I don’t know, probably have to read the manga for that). It leads to these scenes where you’ll have Otani in a petrified state lying in a heap on the floor as her friends scream her name, followed by the supervisor balancing her pen between her nose and her mouth, being lightly scolded by the school principal for allowing the aliens in captivity to be killed.

Alien 9 does have some obvious issues, such as the one I’ve been alluding to frequently in this post. It’s only a 4 episode OVA and it’s part of a much longer manga, so very little is explained about the world. This also means there’s relatively little development of the characters, beyond them getting even more petrified as it goes on. To be honest though, this isn’t as much as an issue at I’m making it out to be. The story is primarily about how absolutely fucking petrified Otani is, and the show does a fine job of getting that across. The rest is just set dressing.

No, my real problem with this anime is that…well, I didn’t enjoy watching it. It achieves exactly what it sets out to do in portraying this character having her life deadened by fear of a role she has been pushed into, but the experience of watching that play out isn’t enjoyable. Otani is such a wimp at everything in life that it’s difficult to feel any attachment to her. The story has no emotional highs or pay-off at the end. It’s just deadening fear the entire way through. There’s plenty of anime that are gruelling and harrowing to sit through that I absolutely love. Berserk, Infinite Ryvius, heck even the two I referenced at the start, Madoka and Evangelion. Those anime have things like narrative arcs, character progression, thrilling visuals, humour (no, really), emotional payoffs. The gruel and suffering bring about these feelings, while Alien 9 doesn’t. It doesn’t even try to because it’s so focused on the feeling of fear.

Alien 9 achieves what it sets out to do. It’s definitely left an effect on me too, as proven by the fact that simply hearing the BGM when I went back to take screencaps made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. But the experience isn’t particularly enjoyable. It’s for a similar reason I don’t really have any intention in checking out the manga. As a short OVA series, it’s effective at getting that feeling across it’s supposed to be portraying, but I don’t know if I could handle any more without getting tired of it.

This was a very strange anime to me, which i what made me want to write a review. To be frank this anime to me was not that enjoyable but it does something that most anime don't. Alien Nine is full of symbolism providing an insight into the life of the average Japanese student.

It starts off really lame. But after forcing myself to watch it to the end i still didn't get the story. it was not until i found out the anime was all about symbolism that i finally began to understand the true meaning of the anime. (for u to find out)

If ... u do decide to take a swing at this anime i suggest u read the article from this site after: http://anime.mikomi.org/episode/914/Will.html
warning it contains spoilers
however it does explain all the symbolism and made me understand the story better. It changed the score from a 4 to a 6. keep in mind that im very strict with my anime.

At the time of writing this review Alien 9 sits at 6.71 on MAL. I’ve been told that I underrate most of the stuff I watch and I gave it a 9. Did I do it to sync my score up with the title because I have a severe case of obsessive compulsive disorder? Possibly, but let’s delve a little deeper.

Some of the themes Alien 9 ruminates on include weakness, fear, loneliness, blossoming and completely unwanted sexuality. “But Boss Chrissy,” you might say “the cover here looks like a few moe girls with butterfly nets and roller skates. I assume they’re chasing cute little aliens. ... In fact this is just Pokémon isn’t it you sly fox?!” That’s where we run into problems I reckon. Folks go into Alien 9 expecting it to be something it’s not (which I believe is completely intentional). It lures you in with a sweet glass of lemonade and then hurls a bitter glass of sorrow straight at your unsuspecting noggin.

So if we aren’t watching a cute girls chasing cute aliens show what are we watching? Something very special indeed as far as I’m concerned. Alien 9 made me feel…weird. A strange, almost guilty kind of weird. The series focuses on Yuri, the most reluctant of reluctant heroes. And my god does Yuri suck at catching aliens. And you know how in like, every other anime, the hero like…gets better and stuff? Yuri…never…does. There is no badass scene of breathtaking alien catching action, no steady improvement shown in a training montage. Just an unending sense of inadequacy, a sense of guilt for having to completely rely on others and the dreadful feeling that Yuri has to wake up the next day and do it all over again. And the next day too. And the next.

“But Chrissy! What about my power fantasy!? I don’t want to be subjected to how a small child might really feel were they put in this horrible situation!” Well sir, neither did a whole lot of other people, which probably explains why this show is rated so low and why people think Shinji is whiny. But I digress. Yes, if you watch Alien 9 you’re going to see some things that will make you feel awkward. There is a certain unease the series just radiates, and as the story unfolds the feeling increases. But dammit this is art! This is Madoka before Madoka! Art should make you feel uncomfortable! Art should impose itself on you! I want my anime weird and dark and frankly kind of mean! I want my anime like Alien 9!

Other things I liked about Alien 9 that you probably won’t like about Alien 9:
The soundtrack: for the most part it’s completely insane.
The voice acting: Yuri sounds like an actual person as opposed to a character. This one’s hard to explain but I think you’ll get what I mean if you watch the series. I feel like an entire essay can be written on her performance alone and how vulnerable she sounds which totally escalates the strangeness and queasiness Alien 9 conjures up in the viewer.

In closing: I bet I could write a novella about Alien 9 but I’m a tired boy. Sometimes life is weird and uncomfortable and gross, and I know a lot of folks watch anime to ESCAPE from these unfortunate adjectives. But Alien 9’s not gonna let you do that. Let it in. Let it change you.

Alien 9: Consistently weird and uncomfortable and gross.

Man what the hell do I even say about this one?

This is an anime that works much more solidly on a thematic and symbolic level than it does on a basic plot level, with most of the actions and scenarios set up for meaning rather than for story. This isn't necessarily an inherently bad way to go about constructing a series, but it will absolutely put off any viewers that aren't prepared for this kind of narrative.

Personally, this is the kind of anime that I've been craving for a lot as of late since I've been looking for shows that break the mold of what ... the current industry has become, so I found Alien Nine to be quite thrilling, but in a much more unnerving and unsettling way, which is another style that I've been craving a lot lately. Perhaps the ending of Berserk has finally broken me, but that's neither here nor there.

This anime delves into a lot of themes relating to puberty and the general discomfort and fear of growing up, with some scenes being nice and subtle, and other quite literally bashing you over the head. While this might appear as having a sporadic and uneven tone to some, I think it actually fits the allegory for adolescence quite nicely.

It's also a horror anime in the sense of what I mean when I talk about true horror, in that there is something outside of your control bearing down on you, digging into your weak points and dragging you through some truly dreadful experiences. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that Gen Urobuchi had seen this anime at some point and let some of its themes influence his work on Madoka Magica. This is purely a hypothetical conjecture obviously and I'm not in any way suggesting that Alien Nine had a direct influence on Madoka, but they do seem rather similar to me when it comes to the terrifying circumstances that both casts have to deal with.

However, I do have to knock off a few points for almost wrapping up the ending nicely, but then throwing in a scene at the very end that leaves a gaping hole in the conclusion that desperately needs more content that will never be animated due to lack of popularity.

Much like the story, the characters operate on a much more symbolic level than a logical one, and because there's a lot of implicit meaning behind their actions that isn't openly stated, a lot of what these characters do may come off as irrational and just plain stupid sometimes. I did find Yuri to be an excellent youth protagonist, though a tiny bit annoying sometimes, and watching her struggle with the aforementioned themes, and even just her daily school life, made the peak moments of terror all the more traumatic and unnerving.

The animation is handled by J.C. Staff, and while I'm not gonna pretend that the animation holds of really well (this is an OVA from the early 2000s after all), I am surprised by how much detail went into both the environments and the alien designs. There's also a fluidity of movement that you don't see very often outside of the experimental OVA field and I wish I could see more often in regular TV anime, though I believe it would be more accurate to say that I wish there were more TV anime with darker, more emotional themes and experimental storytelling methods that can push the boundaries of what a visual medium can do. The character designs are fairly simple and do their job in creating unique and memorable characters, but the consistency does leave a lot to be desired. There's also some pretty nasty CG that pops up constantly, which put a big damper on some of the more important scenes.

As for the soundtrack, I've noticed that a lot of the most striking soundtracks come from works that have less of a need to stick to a traditional classical or rock sound, and that is certainly the case with Kuniaki Haishima's work on this anime. There really isn't a selection of words or phrases that I could describe this soundtrack with other than bizarre, with a lot of different styles and sounds crashing together to create some extremely unsettling and agitating tunes, and I will definitely be coming back to this soundtrack in the near future.

Overall, if you're not one to stray from traditional storytelling and dialogue, then you will probably have a lot of difficulties watching this anime, but if you're like me and feel that you can get suckered into this strange world, only to have your heart slump down awkwardly in your chest as the fear and anxiety wash over you, then give this one a try.

I was a bit indecisive about what kind of rating I wanted to give this one, but then I remembered that I completely ignored my dinner just so that I could finish the series, so I guess I have my answer.

Maybe it was ahead of its time since we all think of Madoka Magica as being the series that defined this type of anime but I'm not hugely well-versed in the cute-innocent-girls-being-traumatised-in-the-fight-for-life genre.

Regardless, this is an extremely annoying anime. I guess it takes a lot of inspiration from Evangelion, which also gets under my skin with its specific style during the psyche exploration scenes, so maybe there's that. I do believe that the people who made Alien 9 have confused repeatedly featuring minutes and uninterrupted minutes of little girls making whiny noises as being effective and Edgy™ and/or good writing. It is not.

Reaches a high point when it analogizes adolescent sexual attraction and subsequent assault, but then proceeds to come off the rails when trying to deal with themes of loneliness and the inherent value of sentient life. The same can be said to occur as a result of expanding focus on Kumi and Kasumi, relative to Yuri. That being said, there are a number of tools and concepts that can make for fascinating fiction in series given proper time. This OVA just happens to feel like a bright spark of potential that never really becomes the fire it probably deserved to be.

Quite an interesting and dark series, but has a very annoying lead and pacing issues.

PLOT: I wasn’t overly impressed by the premise and found the characters irritating – especially Yuri who did not stop yapping for the entire flipping series! But I really liked the atmosphere of this show. It immediately put me in mind of Boogiepop Phantom and the better parts of Narutaru, as Alien 9 can be extremely dark and disturbing at times. At other times I was bored out of my mind (the duration of episode 3 had this effect on me). Its a mixed bag which isn’t really a good thing ... considering this was only 4 episodes – it felt a lot longer due to the tedious pacing. Again I was strongly reminded of Narutaru, which was unfortunately not a good thing. The last episode was strange, disturbing and it felt like nothing was resolved – which further added to my annoyance with this OVA.

ANIMATION: The animation is good as expected from JC Staff – not a fan of the character designs, but I liked the contrast between the cute little girls and the creepy ugly alien designs. The action sequences are smooth and well choreographed, with innovative use of the borg’s abilities.

MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: The OP & ED are not the best – I skipped over them after the 1st listen, but the background music is excellent at creating a good, tense atmosphere. Voice acting was unremarkable throughout.

Overall I wasn’t overly impressed by Alien 9 – granted it was nothing like I was expecting. I was fully bracing myself for a manic, comedic action series when I read the summary – it delivered something unexpected and dark. I would have scored it higher if the pacing was better, there was actual plot resolution and if the characters more likeable.

Alien 9 is one of those hidden gems you find every now and then with anime. It just barely catches your eye, so you pick it up, dust it off, and find an incredible piece of work that has, somehow, against all odds, remained in relative obscurity, languishing with a mediocre reception. I stumbled upon it by total accident as I was looking for a quick watch, and armed with nothing but a brief description I settled in for what I thought was going to be a fun yet average experience. I couldn't have been more wrong. Instead, I got ... Madoka before Madoka. I got a lovingly crafted fever dream about aliens, puberty, and the terrors of growing up. I got Alien 9. Beginning with the story, which is its strongest aspect, it must first be understood as a wild thing that evades intellectual understanding and rational capture at every turn, all while not slipping into the realm of the totally absurd. Building from a premise which is simple enough, where a group of late elementary school girls are tasked with defending their school from regular attacks by monstrous aliens, it builds into something so much more than that. It tackles the psychological burden of growing up, and navigating life as it changes around and within you, regardless of how you feel about it. People look at you differently, you look at yourself differently, and the whole world becomes complicated, and while you understand more of it and develop a real identity for the first time, the less of it seems to make sense, and that fragile sense of self is challenged by difficulties you must overcome. But it's also beautiful, in its own bizarre way, as the worries and uncertainties of childhood evolve into a resolve to be who you want to be. I'd say the tentpole of the story is this, that coming of age dynamic, but it covers a lot more ground within and around that concept- loneliness, depression, anxiety, friendship, social expectations, personal discovery, psychological trauma, defiant adaptation, and so much more. I could go on for hours, really. Its depiction of how scary and uncertain the transition into adolescence can be is uniquely raw and authentic, while its cautious moments of peace and togetherness are simple yet warm and infinitely meaningful. I've seen this piece compared to Madoka Magica, which would come a decade later, and the resemblance is definitely there. A lot of despair inflicted on young girls who are chosen to battle horrible monsters, pushed along by sinister forces beyond their understanding, embodying a subversion of the magical girl genre. However, there is a distinct difference that I believe makes Alien 9 decidedly superior- it feels so much more authentic. Madoka Magica is good, don't get me wrong, but the sheer depths of its edgy darkness feel almost manufactured, like the rules of that world are engineered for maximum grimness, and leaves many of its other themes under-examined. Meanwhile, Alien 9 covers so much emotional and conceptual ground in the space of only a handful of episodes, and in a few words or passing scenes manages to deeply fathom all of its major questions and ideas, leaving a distinct mark upon the viewer. It grabs you, and doesn't let go. Emotions leap through the screen directly into your chest, feeling a direct connection to the joys, anxieties, victories, and fears which unfold before you. More mechanically, the story's episodes feel like just the right length, with a somewhat disjointed pacing that lends itself well to the cerebral aspect of the show. Though, it does leave a lot of things open, and makes one wonder if that was on purpose or just a necessary exclusion to get the anime done on time.

Next, the art is wonderful, combining a cute, emotive style, characterized by the distinctive inclusion of large ears and eyes, with painstakingly detailed backgrounds and alien designs that feel haunting and otherworldly. Its use of color, poses, shot composition, and smooth animation all make the art style and execution feel distinctly timeless. It cannot be understated just how great this looks for an OVA from 2001. In a phrase, it's easy to sit back and get lost in for a while.

In a similar vein, the sound design is masterfully experimental. The voice work is immaculate, with voice acting that makes the characters feel more like actual people instead of just pawns for the designs of the author. They feel seriously authentic, and that is backed up with weeping that feels so genuine that its actually arresting. Definitely some of the realest crying in anime. The sound design goes on to impress with sounds of life that carry physicality and weight, with the meaty thwack of alien biology under a swift blow, or the gentle shuffle of nervous footsteps. Though, all of this auditory excellence pales in comparison with the OST. The music is bold and unlike anything else in the genre, forging ahead with a wanton experimentality, fusing cutesy slice-of-life tunes with the gripping mechanical edge of a psychological sci-fi thriller. It is a feat all on its own, distorting the perception of a given scene through a myriad of emotional dimensions, complimenting and subverting at a whim.

The characters are also incredibly strong, representing the main drivers of the anime as a whole, where the story is determined by their actions rather than the whims of the plot. Their interplay is easy to get invested in, and nobody in the main cast is left wanting for depth or characterization. Beyond an engaging visual design, they are shockingly multifaceted, and are somehow able to embody this three-dimensional complexity over the course of a brief OVA. My favorite characters are Yuri Otani and Kumi Kawamura. Otani feels like one of the most authentic adolescent protagonists in anime, and since the viewer is often inside her head with her thoughts, we get a front row seat to the complex cacophony of debilitating anxiety and a desire to rise above it. She's not some special hero, she's not a secret savant, she's just a girl, a girl who's doing her best in the face of it all. Of all the things in this anime which defy logic and convention, she remains distinctly, almost defiantly, grounded. That is refreshing in a way that's hard to describe, and a surefire formula for a good character. Meanwhile, Kawamura is such a strong character for what her presence says about the story itself. She doesn't get as much characterization as Otani, but by the subtext of her actions, and brief interactions with people outside school, we get a rich portrait of her anyway. Really, that's a testament to how this anime tells its story, and handles its characters. Overall, Alien 9 is a work of art that is criminally underappreciated, but still leaves so many things unsaid. With so many open questions fluttering in the breeze, it may fail to satisfy some people, but if you can appreciate it for what it is, you will walk away with an anime that you can not only feel smug about liking, but also acknowledge as something special, a rare but brief moment that punches far above its weight.

The story line seems really odd, not really explaining much. It starts out counting votes and doesn’t tell us what though the girl that seems to be called most often doesn’t want to be. It turns out that she is going to be part of an alien fighting squad. Now something bothers me about this… why are they having elementary school children dealing with aliens and not adults? Not to mention, a girl who seems to be the weakest link is our main character. The whole time I watched it, I was thinking, Our main character everybody, the crybaby in the back row. She’s a ... very big spaze who seems to just freak out about every little thing.

The characters are all over the place. Yuri is pretty useless, Kumi is pretty much the always the leader, and Kasumi is the little miss perfect. Frankly, they just seem like a very miss matched grouping. And they all have to wear aliens on their head’s called Borgs…. Why am I getting a thought of the Star Trek version of Borg in my head now? Oh ya, because they are pretty much assimilated into the damn alien fighter thing. Oh ya, can someone tell me what the Borg is doing with their tongues whenever their licking the girls backs?

There is a lot of filler in this show it seems, and a lot of it feels like nothing really happens except one or two little things like seeing the personalities that are actually rather shallow. Really, do we need three episodes dedicated to seeing the girl’s personalities when they are so shallow a 5 minute episode would work fine? This is only 4 episodes long, give us something more!

The Animation is alright, though all the characters have a rather round face with no chins or noses when looking at a side profile. The animation sometimes loops a bit. The space ships look a lot like mushrooms instead of actual space ships. Can I ask why everything looks like screws when they show tentacles. The artwork seems a bit like the first Digimon Adventures Movie. It’s just pretty run down.

The Music is alright, though it’s not the best. It could use a little more in order to stand out instead of the odd little things. The Voices are somewhat alright, though some of them seem to squeak. This is the English version that I’m talking about. The girls just feel like they are saying there lines half assed, actually, all the characters are. They just don’t seem to be able to do very good voices. When Yuri keeps saying Kumi Kumi all the time, it really sounds like she is saying ‘kill me’. It’s a bit funny in that aspect.

I haven't read the manga, and it's clear that there's more to this than whatever is revealed in the OVA's four episodes, but Alien Nine is a winsome and subtly troubling depiction of looming adolescence. Using "alien" school invasions as a metaphor for burgeoning puberty, three tween girls with dramatically different personalities are tasked with taking care of these pests by using the powers of their own, symbiotic aliens against them. If the premise sounds like it's suited for a high-flying action series or magical girl show, Alien Nine remains firmly grounded in the mundane, as "alien invasions" are treated like everday occurrences despite their ... potential for death and destruction. Though each episode is jam-packed and feels longer than its 27-minute runtime, it still ends on an inconclusive note of mystery and menace, which I imagine is further developed by the source material, but works remarkably well for this body-horror coming-of-age story.

Some writers feel a need to repeat ideas over and over. As if they alone are capable of understanding them. The irony here is that too often it is the writer that is in dire need of understanding what it is they are trying to say. What starts out with an amazing concept rapidly devolves into a seemingly endless rinse/repeat cycle.

The synopsis is misleading, so I include one here.

Alien Nine's world has us introduced to sixth grade students that are either selected to be, or elect to be, alien fighters-in-training. To assist our future heroes, living (alien) creatures are attached like helmets upon their ... heads. These creatures are symbiotic in that they protect our young trainees from harm while also living off their human waste (sweat, dry skin etc). It should be noted that this Anime is NOT for children.

What's a character driven story without conflict? Nothing. Without character development? Nothing. Here we have character in abundance. In fact, our lead character is terrified of aliens! Great so far! So, viewers, what would one expect in terms of development? You guessed it! Does it happen? Even a little?

The first episode had me intrigued. Here was an idea that could have just exploded with adventurous hi-jinx insofar as both story and characters...but got stuck, nay mired upon a one dimensional theme of preadolescence. It became as though the writer was intent to drive a thumbtack with a sledgehammer repeatedly until all sense of original purpose was lost in the devastation.

Truly a missed opportunity. It's so easy to see the metaphors, the allegory that could have been explored; as indeed the action potential! There is exceedingly rich material here that was never mined. Sad. Thirteen episodes easily. Sigh.

Alien Nine is certainly worth a watch for originality alone: Great characters (initially), interesting world/setting. Beyond that, there is little to recommend.

I was not prepared for this roller coaster - and it is a roller coaster. It's not the best, life-changing roller coaster that you've ever been on. It's a lot like a wooden roller coaster at a tiny, local amusement park that probably hasn't passed safety inspection in a few years. Rickety, probably not constructed properly, may have some missing tracks but the paint job looks good, and even though you were so terrified you almost soiled yourself by golly you had a lot of fun(?). Like the best roller coasters, it's best the first go-round when you have no previous knowledge of what to ... expect. I won't give any spoilers, but please, if you want to enjoy this anime at it's fullest potential, do not look anything up before you watch it or read the original manga.

On to the actual scores.

Story: 6/10. There is clearly something missing. This OVA series only covers about half of the manga, so when it ends you feel a bit cheated. However, it is intriguing, and it does make you crave understanding of this strange little world.

Art: 7/10. I already like cute art, and I'm a huge sucker for cute art in a horror/scifi context. I almost said it was original before remembering that this premiered in 2001, and they were probably trying to emulate the kids' shows of the day in design. However, it's still enjoyable, and I love early 2000s anime color palettes.

Sound: 10/10. This may come across as overly high praise, but the sound design on this show was phenomenal. The soundtrack is appropriately cute and creepy, with plinking piano and synth keys combined with off-key and minor chorded choir hums. It is absolutely terrifying.

Character: 5/10. Due to time constraints placed on a four-episode OVA, you don't really get to spend that much time with each girl. A lot of exposition is dumped onto the viewer so fleetingly that sometimes it's hard to figure out what's going on in each girls' head. I became surprisingly attached to Yuri, which is odd considering how much I usually dislike cry baby characters. However, in the context of Alien 9, you really sympathize with her tears. Her world is insane, creepy, and sending out little girls to fight dangerous aliens. I'd cry too, Yuri. There's not a lot of actual development, and if I was scoring only that I'd give it about a 1. As a character *study*, particularly a study of Yuri, it's very fascinating. You follow her dreams and fears so closely that you empathize with her deeply, but that's a disadvantage by the time the fourth episode comes a knockin'. By then, you don't care about the characters in more peril the way you should, and Yuri is practically pushed to the sidelines. I'm sure this is done more fluidly in the manga, but in the OVA, it's not executed very well.

Overall: 7/10. I enjoyed this anime. I'd recommend it to anyone who has about two hours to kill and a love for all things unsettling and creepy. It's not very well fleshed out, but it makes for an interesting little journey into a world that's not quite right. Listen to the soundtrack. Read the manga if you want something "tastier". But check this out if you have the time and the desire for this type of show.

Alien 9 mixes the mundane with a creepy, psychological horror twist. The short, 4 episode OVA series follows three young school girls who are tasked to join an exclusive club for capturing alien lifeforms invading planet Earth. Armed with zero knowledge, rollerblades, lacrosse sticks and their very own body juice sucking alien buddies, the girls are thrown into a cruel new life.

On top of the aforementioned line, even the viewer is mostly clueless regarding lore and background info. Almost nothing is explained and the viewer is supposed to come up with conclusions themselves, which will certainly divide enjoyment among viewers. Personally I found the series ... handling the mystery in an interest piquing way.

The characters are a mixed bag. We have the crybaby Yuri who is clearly ill-suited for the job, the level-headed and reasonable Kumi and the bratty yet hyped for her new job Kasumi. Despite Yuri's constant crying being fairly annoying, I still appreciated the characters feeling flawed in a realistic way.

However the series isn't without issues at all. The biggest problem is that it's way too short. We barely established anything by the time it's all over already. And to make things worse, it ends on a huge cliff hanger which basically demands you to check out the source material if you want any kind of closure.

Although the short runtime did probably help in one side of the series, the art and animation. Despite being over two decades old, it still looks great and has some really impressive, fluid animation mixed in the action scenes. Even the small use of CGI doesn't feel jarring and actually adds to the eeriness of the alien lifeforms.

Overall I still enjoyed the series. I just really wish it was longer because it could have been amazing. As is, two hours just flew by watching the whole thing. Recommended for anyone not bothered by a sudden stop and wanting an interesting horror experience.

This is an Alien World, Otani Yuri simply lives in it.

"Deconstruction" is an often used buzzword that people usually use to describe anime that subverts their own genre tropes and logic in favor of a more "realistic" (Though it often ends up being some sort of romantic pessimism) system.
Alien 9, however, excels at it quite naturally.

Alien 9 is an experimental story, and the fact that some of it's elements don't have hidden meanings behind them only makes it more experimental: It is, more than anything, a story that you must "feel" in order to grasp.
We follow Otani Yuri, a fairly unpopular middle-school student with ... a single friend that ends up forced into the school's task-force of dealing with aliens.

Aliens, in this world are at the same time "a part of life", but also something "exterior": For something that is so recurrent, we never see any institutions or structures made to deal with them, yet at the same time their presence is never seen as unnatural. For someone 40 years ago, having most of humanity's knowledge at the palm of their hand would've been a world-changing event, nowadays we simply call it "having a smartphone", for most people, having to move to a safe shelter after hearing sirens might seem like a nightmare, for some, however, that's simply a weekly occurrence.
Yuri is essentially "us", the viewer, one that is weirded by the weirdness of an unnatural world where no one seems to see a problem, she's the girl that actually sees the king naked when everyone else sees him fully clothed. This constant juxtaposition leaves us, just like Yuri, with a sense of "uneasiness".

In a certain scene, while an alien tries to dear down a classroom door full of grade-school children, clearly distraught and frightened, they are assured by their teacher that there is nothing to fear. That teacher isn't hiding her fear, she deals with the entire situation with a robotic lack of sentiment: If that is the difference between a small child and an adult, then Yuri never left being a child.

Yuri's story is one of solitude, is one of being abused by the world around her, and one could even see her as being analogous to someone with a neurodivergence. We are constantly exposed to a world full of shade, of silence, full of empty places that give us a liminal feeling (And he directing really sells that compared to the manga), Yuri is like the Chosen One in the Matrix, but what good is a Chosen One if every human in the Matrix knows of their situation, accepts it, and lives side-by-side with the machines?
We might feel that there are constant implications that there is some sort of conspiracy at bay, that the world isn't normal... but alas, there is none, that world is how it is: Sadly the anime doesn't cover it, but as the manga passes the reality never changes, yet Yuri is still able to find happiness on small things and have some of the normal experiences of a teenager, she still has do deal with aliens later in her life, but now she isn't the little child that couldn't even move, frozen in fear, but rather a girl with friends that simply doesn't like her job, a true incarnation of "It doesn't get easier, you just get stronger".

Aliens are everywhere: They're your neighbor, your classmate, your boss, your friend. Yuri can't accept that reality, and thus gets constantly lambasted and yelled to "just suck it up" and that "it isn't too bad", yet Alien 9 is also rife with empathy, from when Kumi and Kasumi are forced to share Yuri's feelings of crippling fear and dread, to when, during the vacation episodes, we see Yuri's paranoia even when nothing is there, preventing her from simply living a normal life. This is galvanized by the choice of having Yuri be voiced by a 11-12 year old on her first anime voice-acting role ever (Ihata Juri), while Kumi's (Shimizu Kaori) and Kasumi's (Shitaya Noriko), despite also being at the start of their careers in anime, were 6-7 years older, in contrast with Alien characters, that were voiced by older more experienced seiyuu at the time. Pure coincidence? Maybe, but if so, then it was a welcoming one.

Not much else to say about the more technical side of it outside of compliments:
*The directing makes so certain scenes have more "gravitas" compared to their manga counterparts.
*Kuniaki Haishima's OST feels unique and memorable.
*The aforementioned nice use of shade, silence and emptiness.
*Nice use of CG that doesn't feel at odds with the rest of the animation.
*Fairly distinguishable artstyle.
*Smart use of surreal visuals (Sometimes paired with a bit of body horror) to convey it's psychological feeling.

Just bear in mind that it's an incomplete story that only covers 14 chapters of a 30 chapter manga with a seven chapter sequel, so you'll have to read the source material if you want to know how it ends.

Kids placed in dangerous positions bearing great responsibility has proved a hugely popular premise over the years, 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' and 'Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica' being but two examples. It is surprising, then, that 'Alien Nine' hasn't shared anywhere near the same success as the aforementioned two. A shame, as although 'Alien Nine' hasn't had the same backing and remains incomplete, it's still a unique, unforgettable experience. One reason that people come away from 'Alien Nine' disappointed is that they aren't sure what to expect, so before I continue I need to get this out of the way.

Despite its cheerful OP and cute character designs, ... 'Alien Nine' isn't an innocent slice-of-life. The imagery is very disturbing and the events that transpire are quite frankly horrifying. The girls are constantly at odds with life-threatening alien encounters and bizarre mind-rapes, generally resulting in the main character sobbing into the ground. For all its merits, 'Alien Nine' is not an easy show to watch.

Now without further ado, onto the review!

The first voice we hear in 'Alien Nine' is that of a student counting votes. “Ootani-san, Ootani-san, Ootani-san...”, are the words spoken as our distressed protagonist, Yuri Ootani, looks on. It turns out the votes are to decide who joins the Alien Party, a club concerned with capturing aliens. Unfortunately for Yuri, the result is unanimous. Joined by fellow sixth graders Kumi Kawamura and Kasumi Tomine, they form a symbiotic relationship with their Borg and set out to capture aliens. Little else can be said without giving spoilers, but ultimately 'Alien Nine' is about how kids react when forced to grow up.

What most sets 'Alien Nine' apart from similar shows is its distinct atmosphere. Young girls are expected to deal with ghastly aliens, yet the narrative treats this as if it's normal. Regardless of the fact that Yuri is clearly not cut out for the job, she receives little sympathy from her friends, parents or teachers. In fact, her struggle is trivialised by comments like, “you can skip classes and get no homework, right?”. Even the music and cinematography seem to be against Yuri. The only ones who can see just how wrong everything is is the audience, who are helpless to influence the outcome. It's a peculiar atmosphere, but wholly effective.

Another interesting quality of 'Alien Nine' is the number of different ways it can be interpreted. It can be viewed as a scare allegory for growing up, an anime about overcoming sexual abuse or even taken on a literal level. Those who fear that 'Alien Nine' is mere shock value can lay to rest those concerns, as this is a mature story immersed in symbolism and disturbing imagery.

Unfortunately, 'Alien Nine' suffers from being incomplete. The OVA only covers 14 chapters of the manga and while plans were announced to make a sequel it has been over 10 years since, so the chances we'll ever get one are unlikely. Consequently, background information and certain character motivations are missing, and after everything the characters endure there is no emotional pay-off. While scans for the completed manga can be found online, it lacks the atmosphere that made the anime an interesting viewing in the first place. A shame, as if any anime deserves a sequel it's 'Alien Nine'.

Moving on, a big part of what makes the story successful is the characters and how they react to the situations they are put in. While the cast isn't huge it works to the anime's advantage as little time is wasted on unimportant side or tertiary characters. Given the focus is mainly on Yuri it would make sense to begin with her.

Of the three members that encompass the Alien Party, Yuri is the one most averse to capturing aliens. She is the least capable member, oft breaking out into tears when confronted by a problem. While her incessant crying may grate on some, it's important to bear in mind that Yuri is a young girl who's been forced into things she clearly isn't ready for. The torment she endures is incredible, yet she receives little sympathy.

The second member, Kumi, is perhaps the most interesting. In contrast to Yuri's over-dependence on others, Kumi is very self-reliant. Her father died when she was four years old, so was forced into becoming independent at a young age. Kumi had previously been student president for a number of years and her motivation behind joining the Alien Party was so that she no longer had to help other kids deal with their problems. Ironically, this is exactly what she ends up doing for Yuri upon joining.

The final member, Kasumi, is your typical “Ms. Perfect” archetype. She's an exceptionally high achiever that does everything with aplomb. Given Kasumi's archetype she does takes a back seat position to Yuri and Kumi, so she isn't quite as interesting. However, her relationship with her brother is a significant point in the latter episodes and adds another dimension to her character.

Outside of the main three, there's their teacher, Hisakawa. Despite her kind demeanour, there's a constant sense that there's more to her character than she let's on. Unfortunately, because 'Alien Nine' is incomplete we don't get to learn much about her. There's also Miyu, Yuri's best friend and the only character seen with the main three during their leisure. Her role is to provide Yuri with emotional support during the early episodes, but otherwise she isn't seen much. Finally there's the Borg, the aliens that sit atop the girls' heads. They aren't awfully involved, generally just mirroring their partners' personalities, but they do have their moments. Overall, the secondary characters do feel a bit under-utilised, but given the length of 'Alien Nine' one can't really complain.

The biggest issue surrounding the characters derives from 'Alien Nine' being an incomplete adaptation. It was made with a sequel in mind and without it the characters can come across as one-dimensional. There is little backdrop and what character development there is is scarce. The characters therefore feel inorganic. That is, they feel more like tools to drive the story forward rather than real girls. Consequently, it is harder for the audience to relate to and sympathise with the characters. One can't be too harsh on 'Alien Nine' for this as it seemed there was going to be a sequel, and had it materialised then this most likely wouldn't have been a problem. However, as it is it proves a weakness.

On the technical side of things, 'Alien Nine' was produced in 2001 by J.C.Staff, a studio renowned for its moe character designs. Unlike other seinen titles being released at the time, 'Alien Nine' decided against a realistic art style and instead opted for cute character designs. This deceives people into thinking it's simply another innocent slice-of-life, but the reality couldn't be further from the truth.

The girls' light, round faces with cute, disproportionately sized eyes and ears are contrasted with the dark, grotesque, insect/amphibian inspired character designs of the aliens. It's a very effective juxtaposition as it makes the events that transpire so much more disturbing.

The colour palette used in 'Alien Nine' is impressively varied. Light blue skies and purple leaves are used to paint an idyllic image of school during Spring term while the dark and grey of the alien storage room reminds us not to let our guard down. Lighting is also used to great effect – foreboding early on that 'Alien Nine' isn't what it initially seems.

For all the stick that CGI gets, 'Alien Nine' gets it spot on. The drills that extend from the Borg are genuinely terrifying and don't feel at all out of place. There isn't a huge amount otherwise, but what little there is works to the OVA's advantage.

The cinematography in 'Alien Nine' is instrumental in creating its unique atmosphere. Everything is filmed in a way that makes Yuri appear completely helpless. Low angles are used to make the aliens more intimidating while a variety of other creative camera angles are used to great effect. A special mention also has to be made for the brilliantly shot dream sequences. They felt like something you'd see in a Satoshi Kon film, and I mean that very much as a compliment.

Overall, 'Alien Nine' is a visual delight, easy on the eye and instrumental in creating its atmosphere, but what about the audio? Does it meet the high standards set by the art? Short answer no, but the sound in 'Alien Nine' still has plenty going for it.

The OP, 'Flower Psychedelic', is a comically cheerful track not unlike something you'd hear in a kids' anime. Its lyrics foreshadow what 'Alien Nine' is about, but musically it's nothing special. By contrast, 'Rebirth' by en avant is much more in key with the cruel nature of the show. It's a slow, sombre song with reflective lyrics sung over piano work - a fitting note to end each episode on.

'Alien Nine' has a variety of BGM, some subtle and some blunt. Woodwind and brass instrumentals are used often while computerised beats can also be heard now and again. Despite not being a very memorable OST, it is aided by the brilliant music direction. For example, in the first episode the Alien Fighters attempt to capture their first alien. What should be terrifying is treated as fun and games because of the playful music that accompanies it. Soundtrack dissonance is pivotal in creating the unique atmosphere felt in 'Alien Nine'.

Judging the quality of voice acting in a foreign language is never easy, but it sounded competent to my non-fluent ears. The Alien Fighters sounded as sixth grade Japanese girls should and did a good job of bringing them to life. Hisakawa's Seiyuu (who, incidentally, shares the same name as her character) did a good job at having her appear overtly kind, yet suspicious. However, I'm on the fence regarding the Borg. They didn't sound like aliens, but whether that's what 'Alien Nine' was going for I don't know. I haven't seen the English dub, so I can't comment on that.

In conclusion, 'Alien Nine' is more of an experience than anything else. It's a difficult show to watch, and I'm still not sure whether I enjoyed it, but the fact it still lingers in my mind is testament to how much of an impact it made. The biggest thing working against 'Alien Nine' is that it's incomplete, but if you can overlook that then it's a good investment of one's time. As long as one knows what to expect from 'Alien Nine' then it's usually a fulfilling experience.

Here ye, here ye; Lion Tamers gather 'round!

Another review, to be had. This time "Alien 9"

It is clear that I am choosing to watch less than stellar anime's of late. Alien 9 is another of these pieces, although not for the reasons most people would suspect. I am sure most other reviewers have spotted the weak characters, the poor plot development, the idiotic stance of a middle-school administration; et al.

But to miss the most important aspect of the shows' potential; by the actual writers themselves, leaves us all in a state of shock.

First though, I wish to speak about some of the aspects that bother ... me the most.

1). Plot
Let's see if I understand. Middle-school children are set up in teams, to eradicate aliens. Most of which are bent on the mind control of Humans. The children selected, have no say in the matter; regardless of any individuals' emotional strength of character.

The school administration all appear to have some connection to aliens, and it is not that far a stretch to suggest that every one of them, in this particular school; are all partially Borg hybrids.

Good aliens/bad aliens. Somehow I don't see a difference. All of them are bent on mind control of Humans; including the Borg (interesting symbolism linked to the notion of the STNG Borg character, biologically different, but similar intentions; and that is to subjugate other species).

The stated notion that the various types of aliens don't like each other and are trying to destroy each other; does not play well. We never see one individual alien make a lethal attack upon another alien, of any type whatever. The only true homicide that occurs is during a an actual anxiety attack within Yuri Otani; when during a serious crying fit, brought on by stark, raving terror; she forces her Borg to not only annihilate all aliens within easy reach, including the ones in the storage area, but also all the Borgs as well. Including her own.

This of course, makes even the new Borg clones nervous. But somehow, all the Borgs continue, as if nothing happened of note. Interesting that the Alien Hunter Teaching Advisor, Megumi Hisagawa; created the medium and produced the seeds, to create the Borg clones herself.

All of these details are ignored as long-term plot points, while the story (what there is of it) drones onward. We are supposed to be nervous about the feelings of each individual student. We are not supposed to get involved in the actions of virtually every one around the students.

2). The Music.
The only music in the 4 episode OVA is one single song. Count-em, one. No inter-scene music, no ED, nothing. The one song it has, is not very good, and is a true whiny piece. It matches the whining of Miss Otani perfectly. The only good thing about it is that it is played at the beginning and at the end, and does NOT intrude upon us again, for each episode.

3). Character voices.
Most of the dub-english voices are adequate. But I am tempted to point out, each of the student characters should have responded by not merely teary-eyed crying; but outright shrieking terror. The japanese and english speaking actors should have mutiny'd and brought about this change. It would have strengthened the plot, and set up the story as a true horror story.

4). Artwork.
Lackluster, nothing special. Nothing to take away as special.

5). Enjoyment.
None possible. Had the story plot went in a better direction; Alien-9 would have stood as a first-rate horror science fiction. But no soap. This story completely missed the mark, in almost every story point. No excuses, the creators had almost 2 full hours to establish the entire scenario. They succeeded in completing the scenario they wanted. It was very bad.

The scenario that should have become obvious; is that the only struggle present was the notion that the aliens (of all types) were trying to take over the whole Planet of earth, by controlling virtually every Human they could get their hands on. Invasion of the Body Snachers (with a alien struggle for overall dominance), in plain sight. All the basic parts were there; the forced training to combat aliens, the close contact with aliens the soldiers needed to combat said aliens, the possible hybridization of Humans to part Borg; etc. Everything was there.

Except a story.


And so, dear readers; we are left with an anime written a long time ago, when plot was more important than the available artwork. Remember this was made in 2002, where most artwork was not very good. That means production values were mediocre, perforce. But examples like "Princess Mononoke"-1997 proves that it could be done.

The only thing this anime had, was the potential for a good story. A horror scifi is not uncommon; but for so much of a great anime to be put into this one, and then not deliver the goods; in such an outrageously bad fashion, is bluntly unforgivable. Again, the creators had 2-hours of film. Most live-action movies are shorter than that.

No forgiveness possible.

For the first time, I have rated every part of Alien-9 with a 5 (Mediocre). So that is my final score; a 5.