エイリアン9

ALIEN 9

OVA

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
4
RELEASE
February 25, 2002
LENGTH
28 min

DESCRIPTION

Yuri Ootani, a girl who has been afraid of aliens, has been chosen to be on the alien party with the class president Kumi Kawamura, whose only intention to join the alien party is to get out of presidential duties, as well as Kasumi Tomine who is perfect at everything she does, including fighting all the aliens that come in their way. But can they defeat a massive alien who has already abducted Kasumi?

CAST

Yuri Ootani
Juri Ihata
Kumi Kawamura
Kaori Shimizu
Kasumi Tomine
Noriko Shitaya
Borg
Ryuusei Nakao
Megumi Hisakawa
Aya Hisakawa
Yellow Knife
Akira Ishida
Miyu Tamaki
Sara Nakayama
Hiroshi Iwanami
Yuuko Sanpei

EPISODES

Dubbed

| | |

Not available on crunchyroll

RELATED TO ALIEN 9

MANGA DramaAlien 9

REVIEWS

seanny
90/100
The moe-meets-horror "Alien 9" typifies its subversive era and preempts today's "dark magical girl" trend

Alien 9 unearths a preadolescent, existential terror buried and forgotten under my decades of adulthood. Though a coming-of-age sci-fi isn’t novel in itself, Alien 9 twists the aesthetics of moe into visceral horror, predating the better-known reference point of Madoka Magica by a decade. In fact, when I first saw Madoka, I took it as a throwback to a more subversive time.

At the turn of the millennium, Mamoru Hosoda’s Digimon Adventure short film, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Neon Genesis Evangelion put a dark, postmodern twist on their respective child-oriented subgenres; the aesthetics of Evangelion in particular paved the way for mind-trip horror fare like Serial Experiments Lain. In this peculiar media culture, Alien 9 emerged, depicting a Japan beset by invasions from a variety of grotesque alien monsters.

Yuri is nominated into the “Alien Countermeasures” squad, tasked to defend her school from attack by nightmarish critters that descend from Giger-esque space pods. She is made to don a helmet-shaped talking alien known as a “Borg”. The creepy, winged Borg can slice anything to ribbons with its hidden blades. Of course, for the 12-y.o. crybaby Yuri, this new and grisly set of powers and responsibilities is an absolute nightmare. It doesn’t help that her squadmates are unapproachably eccentric, and her superior plots to throw Yuri into traumatic alien encounters in service of an ulterior motive. Many battles result in Yuri cowering in terror as her Borg enters a blind killing frenzy.

Though this may sound almost exactly like Evangelion in another form (which it is), it offers a slimmer, focused experience. Evangelion presents many modes and layers over its dozens of episodes, as does the original Alien 9 manga which escalates its Cronenbergian body-horror ideas beyond the breaking point. The four-episode anime adaptation finds an emotional foundation to construct its storytelling upon, adding several lovely dream sequences that give us glimpses into Yuri’s psychological journey.

The anime is unsubtle about the Borg as a puberty metaphor. One day Yuri will fully merge with her Borg into a new being of grotesque power, and though it’s unclear what that entails, when out on patrol they are two discordant minds in one body; one clumsy and the other on point; one caving under society’s impossible demands while the other deadly when triggered. Unable to cope, Yuri finds herself left behind in a world indifferent to her struggle; such is a tween’s miserable existence.

In its portrayal of the tween condition, Alien 9 contrasts its bubbly character designs with jagged ultraviolence, finding a subversive purpose for moe beyond the fetishization of innocence. And innocence is continually set against the shadows of sunset in its dimly-colored world. Tension chords and rhythmic chaos gradually gnaw away at the childlike instrumentation of its memorable background music. The short series is one of unnerving contrasts. Entertainment doesn’t have to make a sophisticated argument when it can make a simple one viscerally. Alien 9 is a cut far above the mundane due to its many high quality elements working toward a shared emotional goal.

Unfortunately, its best episodes are in the front half. The third episode bridge is an obligatory break from the tension — a beach, kimodameshi and summer festival episode all rolled into one — and its finale tees up continuing adventures in, in my opinion, the inferior manga which quickly runs out of things to say. In a perfect world, it would serve only itself and put a period at the end of the sentence in movie-like fashion, but anime almost always plays second fiddle to extrinsic interests. With that truism aside, Alien 9 is still a special production that typifies a special era, with its earnest preemption of the trends of our post-Madoka environment. One should experience the real thing sometime.

Addendum: It’s odd to me that none of the storyboarders and designers of Alien 9 worked on anything even remotely resembling it. I’m reminded of something that Kenji Nakamura once said of his TV horror anime series, Mononoke — after directing episodes of Shinbou’s The SoulTaker and Yuasa’s Kemonozume, he felt it was natural to make something similarly strange. To me, that reinforces how notable works don’t always appear in a vacuum, and informs how I view the otherwise inexplicable Alien 9. That era of provocative anime has long since waned, which is why I took Madoka as a throwback. But trendsetting as Madoka was, even that was too crassly commercial and derivative to inspire anything beyond an era of cookie-cutter clones, or to push middling creators to try things they otherwise wouldn't.

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graze
80/100
An exquisite juxtaposition of slice-of-life and horror (spoiler free)
Alien 9 is about an elementary schooler’s reluctant encounters with aliens, some of whom protrude uncontrollably from their head. Their mentor is an ambitious, playfully mysterious young woman who may or may not have her protege’s best interests at heart. So far, so FLCL, right?

But what if instead of FLCL’s Naota, Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion was the protagonist? Instead of a preteen trying to seem older than he is by feigning disinterest, we have a cry baby who frequently balks when they’re called to action, deeply aware of their shortcomings compared to their peers and struggles to find their inner strength?

However in Alien 9 the entire main cast are young girls and women (with the widest moe faces I’ve seen this side of Nichijou) who encounter disturbing horrors… so maybe it's more accurate to call it proto-madoka? - make sure to check out this excellent review.

I think my fumbling attempts to describe Alien 9 using a complicated, multi-series analogy does it a disservice. As its cult fandom will attest, Alien 9 strikes a unique tone.

Take, for example, the animation. Alien 9 is the rare case where traditional 2D animation and 3D CGI work together effectively. Usually the use of both is awkward, an unconvincing attempt to create a seamless world. In Alien 9, the obvious difference between the two mediums heightens the alien nature of the alien limbs that exist as the only CG animation in this 2D world.

Or if we examine the score, which is unusual and often experimental, frequently discordant yet somehow soothing. There are instruments commonly used in children’s music lessons: recorders, xylophones, bells, even a kazoo amongst the sounds I could identify. These are used in dissonant but thoughtful ways that evoke a nursery-like, or at times circus-like atmosphere, giving us a distorted sense of innocence with terror lurking just beneath the surface. Mixed amongst these tracks are electronic-based pieces that wouldn't be out of place on a 90s Massive Attack album.

As a protagonist Yuri Otani is quite frustrating. More often than not she’s crying, with an almost permanent look of discomfort and terror, anxious to the point of pain. She’s afraid of everything, big and small, being attacked or just being alone. Your mileage may vary on whether you find her passivity and anxiety annoying, but regardless you do feel sympathy for her. I often found myself reflecting on that feeling unique to childhood, of an insurmountable task of momentous proportions that you have no choice of whether or not you must do it. You may not even have the concept of saying no, or taking charge. A painfully real character who struggles with her own weakness.

Juxtaposition emerges as a theme throughout Alien 9, from the 2D/CG animation, to the score and the genres (slice-of-life and horror). More instances of this that I love are in the ED in which the anime characters are placed on to live-action photographs, and lyrics from the theme song are both sung and spoken by the voice-actors at the same time, overlapping in an atmospheric way. All of this builds to a singular take on the terrors of tweenhood.

At only 4 episodes it’s a short binge-able watch, but I spread it out over the course of a week, savouring each visit to the exquisitely unique Alien 9 world.
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TheGruesomeGoblin
100/100
"My life has become a never ending nightmare from which there is no waking." -Yuri Otani, 12 year old alien fighter.
Alien 9 is a 2001 OVA adaptation of the manga of the same name by Hitoshi Tomizawa brought to us by the studios J.C. Staff and Genco. I personally had very little knowledge of Alien 9 prior to first watching the OVA and I would recommend that if you are interested in it, to just go ahead and watch it without reading this review. Because this is just one of those series that I think the less you know, the better.

Before I delve into the specifics, I’ll hit you with the ultra short version. I fucking love this series. I did know going into it that it was tagged as horror, but I really didn’t imagine it was going to be as effective as it was.

THIS IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A FULL SPOILERS REVIEW. WATCH/READ ALIEN 9 RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T. ALSO ~~ALIEN~~ GORE WARNING.

Heaps of Horror

Impossibly, Alien 9 somehow struck through and pinpointed some of the exact flavors of horror I love all while on the surface not appearing to be horror. If I’m being generous, I want to say my thoughts upon reading the description and seeing the cover were something along the lines of

“Well okay maybe the aliens have a good and creepy or monstrous design.”

Which if by itself would have been cool but you know, creature designs aren’t everything. What I wasn’t expecting was how creepy the world building was going to be. Like there’s something really upsetting about how all the characters beyond the main protagonist are acting.

It’s way creepier if not only do these monstrous and horrifying aliens exists, but humanity is perfectly aware of their presence and treats them as normal.

If anything, in this world, it’s odder to be upset by or fearful of them… and that’s where I primarily drew the horror from.

And yet somehow in this universe, Ridley Scott was still allowed to make his disgusting anti-alien propaganda movies. Ugh.

Yuri Otani

I haven’t quite felt genuinely as bad for a character as I did for the protagonist of Alien 9 in a while. Merely an elementary schooler, Yuri Otani drew the short straw or rather was sold out by her entire class and chosen to join the “Alien Counter-Measure Party.”

The purpose of which is to capture any aliens that show up on the grounds of the school. Yuri Otani very much did not want to join. She did not volunteer herself, literally the rest of her class wanted no part of it and thus collectively threw her under the bus. She wanted to join even less when she found out that she would be required to wear a hat while fulfilling her Alien Party duties.

The hat of course being a sentient alien capable of conversation and also understanding the ~~host~~ wearer’s thoughts and feelings. And these hats or Borgs rather, feed off of the DNA of their wearer. They consume the DNA through tongue like appendages which lick the naked bodi--okay holy fucking shit this is creepy.

For the record, as I must underline this, this would still be horribly creepy even if the characters weren’t elementary schoolers. Or if they were male.

“Okay, everybody. It’s time for extracurricular activities, NOW PUT ON THIS TALKING SENTIENT ALIEN HAT THAT IS GOING TO LICK YOU WITH TENTACLES WHENEVER YOU BATHE.”

So whereas in a bunch of other horror series, I would have been frustrated as shit with a character like Yuri, I completely sympathized with her. Like no shit she doesn’t want to have any part in this. Of the other Alien Party members, you have Kumi who while not exactly thrilled about being in the Alien Party, has accepted her duties as a member. And there’s Kasumi who seems bizarrely skilled at capturing and handling the aliens.

So they’re continuously having to try and get Yuri to pull her weight in their team or trying to get her spirits up because she is constantly on the brink of having a panic attack due to how fucking scared she is of these aliens. Then after a particular traumatic experience with the aliens and summer vacation begins, Yuri starts having nightmares of just even returning to school.

And pretty much all the adults including her parents are frustrated with her. You have to go to school! It’s a part of growing up! YOU WERE ~~BULLIED BY THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR CLASS~~ FAIRLY ELECTED TO DO THIS.

Joining the Alien Party has quite literally made her daily life a living hell because whenever she’s in school she’s constantly worried that the alarm is going to go off and she’s going to be forced to go and capture some nightmarish alien creature. When in actuality, all Yuri wants to do is complete her schoolwork and spend time with her friend who isn’t in the Alien Party.

Meanwhile, this horrible horrible pro-Alien teacher who is leading the Alien Party’s all like, “okay Yuri, I’ve seen this in plenty of works of fiction. I’m going to purposely put you in a spot of trouble and you’re going to undergo character development and use your Borg which will help you overcome your fear of the Aliens!”

...Oh.

I guess just forcing someone to get over their fear only works in fiction. Whoops!

...I feel like an absolute monster because I was basically almost cheering at this scene. It's just so good. From Yuri just finally suffering a complete mental break that like even Kumi and Kasumi telepathically felt even though they were nowhere near to her when she was slaughtering literally every single alien they had captured.

"No, Otani-san. Don't kill the aliens. Don't be scared of the aliens, you'll get used to them."

"No, fuck you. They're scary."

"Okay fine, I'm gonna make you go feed them alone and send a bunch of boys controlled with other alien hats to attack you."

"Okay, I'm going to fucking murder all of the aliens all while hysterically crying because my life is terrible ever since I got put in your goddamned pro-alien group."

"Oh, you little shit... do you even have ANY idea of how much trouble I'm going to be in with my alien employers??? I mean uh... KILLING IS WRONG NO MATTER WHAT. HUMAN OR ALIEN. PLEASE STOP KILLING MY ALIENS, THOUGH. I'M GONNA GET FIRED GOD DAMN IT"

The Aliens

Also, did I mention how cool the aliens are? They’re genuinely horrifying and just absolutely disgusting. Like I just think about that scene when Yuri’s going alone into where the school keeps all of the captured aliens caged up and the room is even purposely kept dark and… it’s just so great.

The entire concept of the series would immediately fall right on its face if the aliens didn’t look truly horrifying. And that’s not even to say that there are only aliens that are mindlessly aggressive.

There’s one that shows up in the final half of the OVA called Yellow Knife that just gets dropped right onto the school’s roof and then starts psychologically dominating one of the girls telepathically and it’s fucking terrifying.

Then you have the other alien hats that a couple of boys "randomly" find and start putting on that makes them feel really happy as it takes control of their minds and makes them go attack Yuri and her Borg. Even when they get freed of them once, they realize that life sucks when you don’t have an alien parasite literally hooking its way into your brain.

I’ll always find dumb blunt horror of someone just lunging at the viewer with a knife fun, but it’s nothing compared to like witnessing a person’s behaviors and minds be altered or taken control of by an external force.

And I just typed that sentence about a series where all of the characters are elementary schoolers.

Conclusion

The only true negative thing I have to say about the Alien 9 OVA is of course it’s only a partial adaptation of the manga (which I will now assuredly finally read the rest of now that I’ve finally done this review). But that’s not really a flaw that’s worth dwelling on.

As a fan of horror, whenever I encounter a genuinely good anime with even a scrap of horror (let alone if it’s actually good) in it, it literally feels like coming across gold. In this case, it was of course gold that I had already previously been told of but chose to hoard for as long as I possibly could.

Alien 9 is a 10 out of 10.

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