Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
congogrindcore
I personally, and I believe most folks coming across this today, first discovered this show as a comparison to Madoka Magica, which happens to be one of my favourite anime. Looking a bit more upon it, I saw tags on anidb such as "Rotten World", "Deconstruction", "Tone Changes", "Gore", "Horror", and "Angst". That was enough to get me hooked.
Alas, this anime was not what I was advertised. Which would be fine if the plot was decent, but it's not.
If I had to keep this short and simple, I would say that Alien 9 has a lot of ideas that could've been great but execute them extremely awkwardly, resulting in a frustrating viewing experience and overall a pretty bad end product.
Ootani Yuri is a terrible protagonist and extremely annoying. All she does is cry, and not much else. I don't want to…
Read at the sourceAtsunome
Wasted potential.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t think this anime explained its main plot elements nearly well enough to warrant a higher rating, which is a real shame since I was hoping this would be a potential 7/10 or 8/10 upon seeing the second episode. So many questions are left unanswered, and the sheer amount of completely wasted time (all of episode 3, A.K.A. a full quarter of the runtime) in an already short series was infuriating beyond belief.
This OVA started off with amazing potential in the first two episodes, before completely throwing it away for a filler-like third episode which was so desperately needed to develop the plot amidst the already strict time constraints. Explanations which seemed to start moving along just stagnated, leaving a hopelessly bitter taste in my mou…
Read at the sourcerooster_
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 inconcl…
Read at the sourceonepunchlee69
I really enjoyed Alien 9. So much so that I felt compelled to make it my first review on MAL, to defend it against its unmerited (in my opinion) low score. Its oddly cut-off ending and shortness aside, Alien 9 has a tone to it that is completely unique.
The characterizations are very simplified, but that feels like a symptom of the genre and shortness of the show. I tend to like "crybaby" protagonists like Shinji (NGE) and Yuri Ootani because they don't allow viewers to skim over the emotional weight of the events happening to them. There are definitely a few frustrating moments where Yuri is frozen with fear or indecision, but this serves to keep the viewer from simplifying her down to a hero. She's just a 12 yr old girl who was given a scary, gross, and isolating job by adults who refuse…
Read at the sourcekickindirt
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.
Read at the sourcechrissy_poo_too
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…
Read at the sourceemberreviews
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…
Read at the sourceDenpa_Pope
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…
Read at the sourceceilingotaku
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…
Read at the sourcezeo1fan
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.
Read at the sourceNeverKnowsBest26
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…
Read at the sourcemilo77
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…
Read at the sourcespyrocoot
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…
Read at the sourceLadyMillenia
Alien 9 is kind of a predecessor to Madoka Magica - 3 girls battle aliens while facing their various psychological problems. Problems arise because some situations are very traumatic, and some aliens can actually know human's innermost desires and use them to manipulate the girls.
But Alien 9 isn't even close to Madoka Magica for several reasons. The setting is given thin development - where are these aliens coming from? Why must elementary school girls fight them? Who is the teacher? etc. Likewise, the story feels a little... incomplete. As if it were meant only to advertise the manga.
Also, it's unfortunate how annoying the main character Yuri is. Here is my old reaction to Alien 9:
"A potential-packed premise and solid storytelling crash and burn due to an off-the-charts annoying pro…
Read at the sourceCaraniel
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 fel…
Read at the source5camp
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 se…
Read at the sourceangelsreview
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…
Read at the sourcezawa113
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…
Read at the sourcedeath24
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…
Read at the sourceangelgurl4416
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 A…
Read at the source