ALIEN 9
Aliens are attacking! Quick, call the Marines! The Men In Black! The... sixth graders?
Review by: Craig "Why the hell did I watch this?" Norris
Length: 4 episode OAV
Genre: Sci-fi, drama
Watched: 1-4, subbed
I knew there was something wrong with this anime the second I started watching it. You don't send three pre-teen girls to deal with dangerous alien invaders. You send Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith (or, if it's ID4, just Will Smith will do). The fact is, there's a lot wrong with this title, not the least of which is the insurmountable amount of disbelief that must be suspended in order to take this seriously. Granted it took only two hours to watch, but that's still two hours I could have spent watching VHD Bloodlust, or Rear Or Die, or something else much more worth my time.
Plot synopsis: Yuri Otani has just been chosen by her sixth grade class to become a member of her school's Alien Party, which hunts down and captures the aliens that regularly infest the grounds. She is joined by fellow sixth graders Kumi Kawamura and Kasumi Tomine, as well as symbiotic aliens called Borg that assist and protect them. Under the tutelage of Alien Party organizer Megumi Hisakawa, it's up to these three schoolgirls to keep their classmates safe.
Artwork: The artwork is very deceptive. When I first saw screencaps of it, I was under the impression that it would be a comedy due to the style. The characters look very stylized and almost SD, which does not at all fit with the serious, sometimes somber mood. The eyes and ears are too large, and the total absence of noses make it very hard to take this OAV as seriously as I know I should. Backgrounds are average, as is the use of color. Maybe this style would have worked with another project, but definitely not this one.
Music: This is another highly deceptive aspect of the show. The opening is bouncy j-pop, accompanied by visuals that seem like the harmless everyday hijinx of the Alien Party. The ending theme is a bit more subdued, but still fails to capture the mood of the series. The in-episode music is a bit more successful, but the tracks lack a certain tone-setting power. It's not that the music is bad, it just doesn't fit. A common theme throughout the whole production.
Characters: One saving grace of this OAV is the very real characters and the fantastic emotion that they show. Yuri is about as reluctant a hero as there has ever been. She is very unsure about her abilities as a member of the Alien Party, and outwardly shows her anxiety and fear. Knowing this, Megumi tries to push her harder than the other girls, but she does not respond well to the added stress. Kumi seems to be the most mature of the three, and has the most serious attitude. She is strongly dedicated to helping others, a main reason why she volunteered for the position. Kasumi is the most gifted of the party, often pulling off near suicidal stunts to capture an alien. She is overflowing with energy, and sees the Alien Party as a sort of game. Megumi oversees the Alien Party and is responsible for the development of the three girls as hunters. She sometimes makes the girls take unnecessary risks, and often seems to know much more than she lets on. It's a shame that such great emoting was wasted on an otherwise lackluster anime.
Plot: Like I said before, you do NOT send sixth graders to fight aliens! That alone makes the plot too unbelievable and contrived. Even aside from that, it doesn't really work very well at all. We don�t know where the aliens come from or what they are, and we're left in the dark about Megumi's agenda. So in the end, it's a bunch of unanswered questions haphazardly glued together with an overdose of angst. And instead of being done successfully, like in End of Evangelion, it most decidedly is lacking.
CHICKS!: They're sixth graders, and they have no noses. END OF DISCUSSION!
Overall: This OAV was unimpressive in so many ways. Its biggest failing was that it suffered from one hell of an identity crisis. The production values were more suited for framing a comedy series, while the content tried to be more morose and depressing than Grave of the Fireflies. Because of its split personality, it seems very sloppily done. Not to mention all the unanswered questions we get left with. Though it is somewhat unique, unless you're really in the mood to completely waster two hours of your life, I simply cannot recommend this title at all.
IN A NUTSHELL
+ Unique
+ Fantastic emotion
- No cohesion of components
- Too much suspension of disbelief required
- Many plot points unresolved
Rating: 3/10
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