So, i'm still on my no game perode, and suddenly, i remembered an old anime i watched back in 2001, ALIEN NINE. So i search for it on Youtube. Thank's to BelowRadarAnime who uploaded this anime, i can watch it until the last episode. I also downloaded the japanese version, the songs, and here's my review.
Alien Nine is an OVA series produced by J.C. Staff/GENCO and published by Bandai Visual. It based on manga with the same title created by Hitoshi Tomizawa (Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale). Alien Nine tell a slice of life story about three 6th grade elementary school, Yuri Otani (middle red suit), Kumi Kawamura (Left, purple suit), and Kasumi Tomine (Right, pink suit) who voted to be part of anti alien party/crew on their school 'The 9th Elementary School'
Alien? Yes, Alien Nine set in alternative present where human have become familiar with alien since 2002. These animal-like alien land with their space ship and just like any cofused, wild animal, trapped in the city, they attack human. Some of them land on school, that's why human create Anti-Alien Party to catch these aliens (first build on California :P).
Catching these aliens is not an easy job, that's why the crew of anti-alien party wearing a borg, a simbiotic type alien that looks like a helmet. The borg will protect the one that wearing them with their wings-like arms. Their attacking mechanism somehow look just like invisible hands of 'Diclonius' (read/watch Elfen lied) but they use a drill-like cable instead of arms. The borg's protection cost the owner her waste of metabolism (sweat) The borg will lick the owner's back in order to collect sweats (yaiks!)
The story focused on the main character Yuri Otani with her problems with aliens. Being an easily scared girl with habits of easily cry make her so depressed with her job. And not just Yuri, other girls have their own problems. Alien Nine is a psychological thriller with many depressing scenes on it. The story might feel a lil bit too fast ('cause it only consist of 4 episodes) but trust me, it's the greatest 4 episodes of anime i've ever watched. The anime only covered some part of the manga, so if you interested to know more, you can read the 3 volumes manga and the sequel Alien Nine Emulators.
The character design is so unique. As you can see, rounded face with large eyes and thin pupils is not too common on serious anime like this. Another weird thing, they don't have nose :P but, Yasuhiro Irie (character designer and animation director) have a great intention with it. For me, serious anime with girly and cute design disturb me more than serious anime with realistic design like Gantz or Black Lagoon. The animation looks incredibly smooth too (well, short anime usually have better animation than rushed anime like Naruto or Bleach)
The cast doing a very well good job on this anime. I praise Juri Ihata for her unique voice for Yuri (so far, yuri's voice is the cutest ever for me). I love to hear her childish cry. Kaori Shimizu as Kumi and Noriko Sitaya as Kasumi did a great job too. I never say this but the English cast did a pretty good job too. Kelly Ray (Yuri), Deborah Rabbai (Kumi) and Zoe Fries (Kasumi) are great.
*fun fact* Kaori Shimizu give her voice for Little Sister on Bioshock :D
The music is pretty awesome. All three seiyuu sing for the opening theme 'Flower Psychedelic' (this catchy song is so great) while En Avant perform 'Rebirth' for the ending theme. The scores by Kuniaki Haishima are pretty catchy. Some might not fit to add more tension on the scenes but overall it's cool.
Conclusion, Alien Nine is a perfect anime 10/10. It's very short but it will give you this kind of satisfaction Call of Duty: Modern Warfare give you :P i recommend this anime to all anime lovers out there.