The Anime Cafe Bulletin Board

[RainyDay]

Alien Nine


Directed by Jiro Fujimoto

Reviewed by Julian Gaitan A.K.A. RainyDay*



The insane producers of Excel Saga have come up with a new show called Alien Nine. It looks like an OAV but I am not sure..most likely it is one.


EPISODE ONE


Yuri Otani is a young 12 year old girl that has just entered the sixth grade. It is her last year of elementary school before the big world of Junior High School. Yuri has just been selected to be an Alien Fighter. Basically her job is to capture and not kill Aliens that appear in her elementary school. She is part of the Alien Force team that consists of Kosumi Tomine , who is a natural at capturing the Aliens and she actually volunteered to be part of the team. The final member of the team is Kumi Kuwamura and she is a natural leader she is very intelligent and is the leader of the Alien Fighter Force. Their supervisor is a strict teacher by the name of Megumi Hisakawa who seems to be hiding something. Along with their symbiotic helmets they protect the school from everything.

The episode itself is just about the girls and the team. We learn about thier special talents. Yuri does not want to be a fighter and she is very scared most of the time. This is a good episode for introductions. Not much with story but with laying a decent bedrock for us to rest upon as the rest of the OAV plays itself out. I cannot wait for Episode 2.


EPISODE 2


Yuri has now been doing this Alien Fighter job for the last four months. Even though she is much more experienced with it, she is still very afraid of the aliens and is trying desperately to keep her sanity while going against something that is scares the living day lights out of her. On April 29th an Alien Ship lands and it appears to be empty. This is troubling to the team and to the supervisor of the team. That same day three young boys, who seem to be in a trance pull out Aliens that are similar to the symbiotic alien helmets and go and try and attack the Alien Force team. One of the tries to kill Yuri and this causes her to cry very hard. The next day is Yuri's 13th birthday and the team along with Yuri's best friend throw Yuri a birthday party. They have their fun. Meanwhile the Supervisor Megumi Hisakawa is having dinner with a girlfriend and we find out that she is an alien. The following day Yuri is assigned to feed all the alien captives that the school has. The three boys who had the aliens on their head follow her and they attack her, but she strikes back...oh does she ever,


Episode 2 is a good one. It is full of mystery and suspense. It seems a little weird but it is Noir film nonetheless. Noir meaning that it is a dark film filled with a bunch of who done its and what the hell is really going on. We see real character development with Yuri, Kumi and Kasumi.


EPISODE 3


The school year is half way done and it is time for the girls to go on their summer vacation. This episode is a slow one. I mean it is not boring, but their is hardly any alien action as opposed to the last one. The four girls have decided to stay at Kosmumi's summer home. Their they have fun at the beach, they play truth or dare, they go see fireworks they do all the preteen stuff. On arriving back to school the three girls are back at it. Capturing aliens and working as a team. They receive new symbiotic helmets. Pretty much they go back to the normal routines. Then a gigantic alien lands on the roof and Kosumi is curious...maybe a little too curious.


I liked Epispode three. It was fun to the girls hang out and have fun for a change. It is starting to get suspenseful and it left a major cliff hanger.


EPISODE 4


Yellow Knife is the villain in the most astounding anime episode that I have ever seen. He is a giant creature that uses your mind as his weapon against and attacks with a serious anger. The three girls Yuri, Kosumi and Kumi have all been victim in this extremely psychological final episode. The alien uses the emotion of loneliness as its primary weapon thats leaves us with a final battle like no other.


I was taken aghast by this final episode. I thought that I had purchased a tame and cute Science Fiction/Drama/Friendship Anime. But it is so not that. The final episode is extremely violent and very very disturbing. All I gotta say is watch the credits and you will know what I mean.


I high recommend this anime. Worth its weight in gold.



DISTURBING





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