Still totally enamored with
Alien 9. I first watched it many years ago -- at an anime convention, actually, back when it was still commercially unavailable in the United States. Looking back, it kind of amazes me how much I missed.
I mean, yes, there's a lot in it about puberty. Let's get that out of the way right off. I used to joke that it wasn't a "lesbian subtext" in
Utena -- it was the text itself.
Alien 9 is the same way. It's even in the opening theme -- surely I can't be the only one who found that "my body that's begun to change" line a little incongruous? I missed a lot the first time I watched the show, but I didn't miss that.
And I certainly noticed the ultraviolence. The manga's built on these cute girls being forced to fight like animals -- the combat is gory, often desperate, and it often has terrible consequences. Kumi loses an arm fairly early on, and that's the least of it. (She gets better. . . sort of.) The anime's not as brutal, but you can still see it.
No, actually, what I didn't see when I was younger was just how well it all flows together. Yuri's life descends to the nightmarish in fairly short order, but we see every step and it all flows in a natural way. That's the thing that makes
Alien 9 a real classic, rather than a cheap shock anime. It's not just genre mashup. It's not even primarily a deconstruction of the magical girl series. It's a surprisingly touching coming-of-age story, and I've always had a weak spot for that genre. Back then, I just kind of accepted the show as it came, without thinking about it. Now I see that it really is beautifully paced.
The dream sequences are also incredible. People don't often mention them, but they're elaborate, disturbing, and
way longer than you'd think possible. It's not
Perfect Blue -- you know when she's dreaming -- but you keep expecting the next cut to be Yuri waking up, and when it isn't, there's this very effective feeling of being trapped and cut adrift, just like Yuri. It's hard to explain. These kinds of verbal explanations are always unsatisfying.
words from chris, 2010-10-27 01:49:35, los angeles
