Reception
On Anime News Network, Zac Bertschy gave the story a grade of A and the art a grade of B+. Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies praises the OVA's pace and interesting character designs, stating that "although this looks at first like a cute, child-friendly sci-fi tale, it's actually a scare allegory on what it means to grow up".
The anime entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction notes that the show's story "story creates a pervading sense of unease [and paranoia], with much of what happens clearly intended as a metaphor for puberty. Despite its dry tone and the clean art style, the show can be disturbing, with rape and incest metaphors as well as body horror. This was a memorable, surreal and too short series". SFE also criticizes the anime adaptation for ending abruptly, which the author's entry finds "frustrating [but] not unique in anime adaptions of manga".
Further reading
References
External links
- Official anime website
- Alien Nine (anime) at Bandai Channel