From the first scene, Yuri (the first girl I talked about) will whine about not wanting to be the one designated to beat up aliens in her class. In the next scene she will complain and whine to her best friend about how she's unqualified for the job, and that she doesn't want to do it. If you ever think she'll stop moaning and whining and suddenly start heroically busting out the moves to beat up aliens in a badass manner, I'm here to tell you that Alien 9 is not that kind of show. Yuri will not suddenly become a badass: instead, the proceeding scenes will also include her sniveling, bawling, and feebly whimpering yet again about how she REALLY doesn't want to beat up aliens. Did I tell you that Yuri receives the most screentime of the three girls, so you'll see her going through that same pattern about 4 times in every episode? If you don't want to see that, then stay the hell away from Alien 9.
Now, if you managed to get beyond that initial barrier, you'll find that Yuri's constant whimpering and crying, while aggravating to listen to, is not only justified, but the circumstances that led up to that point are worth a deeper look into.
The point is that Yuri is too young and immature to decide things for herself. Constantly crying and whimpering is not how you solve problems, and it is especially not how an adult should act if they want to be treated like one. Her constant whimpering, her inability to speak her mind, and her extreme dependency on Kumi all hint towards her relative emotional immaturity. Out of the main cast, Yuri is the furthest from being a responsible adult, and thus she is treated like an incapable child. She doesn't get to call the shots, her parents and teachers do, because she's such a kid.
Said emotional immaturity and inability to control her fear is why Yuri is the target of the most gory and violent scenes throughout the show. The sheer fear she feels toward the aliens is fueled by her instinctive repulsion towards them for how absolutely disgusting they are. How they lick her back for nutrients, how she constantly gets soaked in alien blood, how she's constantly being threatened to become Swiss cheese by the invading aliens. The scaredy-cat is the best target for pranks and horror shows, since they're assured to give the most reactive responses. Was there any other reason Luigi got a horror game for himself, but not Mario?
While I did mention horror, Alien 9's aliens honestly aren't that scary, and look more like badly drawn versions of Digimon. The Borgs look like a very wrinkly Patamon with CG wings, and the invading aliens attack with tacky black and white CG drills and tendrils, like they're out of a PS1 game. Hell, everything looks cutesy. The girls don't have noses and gigantic eyes. Everything is painted in slightly flushed out, but still bright, colors. Anything that emphasizes horror loves to operate in the dark, but Alien 9 has the girls fighting aliens in broad daylight. It's less scary and more uncomfortable. The horror aspect is only truly emphasized when Yuri faces the aliens, and when the show depicts how raw the terror she feels can be.
All that I've mentioned above is in the first two episodes, and I've only talked about them so extensively because they're the more interesting part of the show. The next two episodes go into the other two girls, and due to the divided screentime the show does not have enough time to cover them both: frankly speaking however, there's not much to talk about when one of the girls' biggest defining trait--nay, quirk--is saying "Nya!" every one of four lines like she's some kind of Pokémon. The last two episodes don't go anywhere.
We have some dream sequences, and some more scenes of the girls cowering in fear, and then the show just...ends. It ends while hinting at a potential episode 5 that never came to pass. Wouldn't you know it, Alien 9 is yet another member of the 'read the manga for the rest' crowd of anime. For what it's worth, the manga ended and also got a sequel called Alien 9: Emulators, so if you love these 4 episodes and want more there's plenty of stuff to read to satiate yourself.
Unfortunately, unlike the manga, Alien 9 the anime is incomplete and inconclusive, and was given far too little time to even begin to explore its own themes and characters, let alone familiarize them to the audience. The subpar production value and the lack of elaboration on its own world and internal logic will further detract many people. If you don't know what you're getting into, the chances are that you'll be disappointed. If you're into uncomfortable mindfucks, then maybe this is the show for you.
