YMMV / Alien Nine

• Awesome Music: The ending song, "Rebirth", a ballad song that effectively reflects the lonely nature of the story.
• Les Yay:
  • The scene of Kumi embracing Yuri on the bus stop, and musing on how they'll "always be together," carries some implications.
  • Possibly Kasumi towards Kumi by the end of Emulators, which causes her Face–Heel Turn.
• Nightmare Retardant: Some of the otherwise disturbing aliens in Emulators, seem like they're wearing luxurious "wigs".
• Once Original, Now Common: This probably was one of the first manga to combine a cute art style, and seemingly normal, fluffy premise into a horrifying, and depressing thriller, but one must wonder if any kind of newer, more complete adaptation would even be able to compete in a post 2010s market, considering since the manga ended, things like Elfen Lied, Gunslinger Girl, Made in Abyss, and most notably Puella Magi Madoka Magica (and its many imitators) have come out... This could lead to modern audiences considering the story's twist as fairly pedestrian.
• Paranoia Fuel: Exactly how much control do the invaders have over human society? Do humans still retain at least a slightest bit of authority, or do the invaders secretly control everything? Is there still something as a normal life?
• Squick: Oh boy, where do we start:
  • The entire premise of coupling and fusing with an alien creature you know literally nothing about. And at a very young age. Along with the implications of irreversibly losing your humanity.
  • The out-of-nowhere school-wide physical exam scene with a shady male doctor measuring little girls' bare chests. This is also a case of Values Dissonance, since school-wide physical exams are very common in Japan.
  • The sight of the Borgs' bottom which actually makes contact with the girl's head is very visceral.
  • Then there's a scene of the Borgs licking the girls' backs with their Overly Long Tongues.
  • When Yuri's first hunt goes awry and the target alien is squashed, spraying its entrails all over Yuri. Before that, in the manga, there is a panel of said parasitic alien latching onto a man's face, piercing it with its tendrils, and suck nutrients out of him. You can clearly see the tendrils burrowed under the man's skin.
• Ugly Cute: The Borgs at times.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Don't let the cute art style and cheery-looking covers of this series fool you. Despite the young main characters, Pokémon-like monster designs, and initial appearances of a slice-of-life-esque series, this manga and its anime adaptation, are basically a horrific allegory on the meaning of loneliness, and how scary growing up can be. They're filled with heavy violence, grotesque imagery, nudity, and alcohol use. There's also a lot of horrible things that happen to the girls, who try to fight the aliens attacking their school.
• The Woobie: Yuri, by a lot. She spends most of her time in the manga and the OVA series, sniveling about how scared she is, and how she doesn't want to deal with the aliens.

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