Alien 9

Back in early-2013, Hanabee Entertainment was still brand new to the Australian anime industry. Having not had their doors open for more than a year and only just begun distribution in the country, this was their chance to make a mark in the industry. While bringing some big name series including Toradora and Bodacious Space Pirates to store shelves, the company also positioned themselves as a publisher of the unique as well. This showed strongly with their DVD release of Alien 9, a series that has been out of print in North America for some time and holds a niche appeal.

[blockquote]The last year of elementary school, and it sucks.[/blockquote]

Holding no relation to the popular Alien media franchise Alien 9 follows a young sixth grader named Yuri Otani who wants her last year of elementary school to be as normal as possible. This isn’t the case however when she finds herself forcibly enlisted into the schools “Alien Party”, and must work alongside fellow students Kasumi Toumine and Kumi Kawamura to capture any rogue alien that enters school grounds. Asides from being equipped with “high tech” tools including inline skates and lacross sticks, the girl’s must wear a symbiotic life force known as a “Borg” on their heads, which protects them from harm in return for quite literally licking the sweat from their backs.

Quite a lot happens during these four OVA episodes; we see the girls tackle different aliens, watch Otani face her fears about a job that almost anyone would be apprehensive about doing when only 12-years old (or older for that matter) and see each character receive a sufficient amount for the series’ length. These four episodes deliver what could be considered a sufficiently sized arc, however by itself leaves the viewer with many more questions than answers. Unfortunately the OVA episodes were originally released in Japan between 2001-2002 and since then no further production has been commissioned. Therefore it is likely that unless you read the original manga, you will never get to see the real reason behind the alien invasions or receive answers to many questions that pop up while watching.

Surprisingly from the cover artwork and light-hearted music (Most notably JPOP opening theme “Flower Psychedelic”), Alien 9 is far from being a cheery series. There are a few typical anime moments including half an episode dedicated to a beach trip and a festival, however these light hearted moments are offset by some surprisingly intense moments and eerie looking/acting aliens. These are complemented by animation and design quality that could be considered ‘Above Average’ for an anime series from the early 2000’s.

Ultimately my overall grade has to reflect the fact that a viewer is only receiving a snippet of an overall story that will likely never be told, which isn’t an issue exclusive to older anime. Yet this shouldn’t entirely detract from the experience that Alien 9 offers viewers overall – four unique and unusual episodes that are well paced and developed. I can’t understand why Hanabee Entertainment decided to acquire the rights to this, but there are no complaints from me about their decision.

For a closer look at scenes from this anime, take a look at the original English dubbed trailer below:

[utube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4jMjAN0u8o”]