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At a typical elementary school in Japan, yearly chores are being distributed. Yuri and 3 other students are chosen to be the beneficiaries of the alien hats for the year. Alien hats?! Yuri's sentiments, exactly. Despite her misgivings, she and her classmates must round up stray aliens that have escaped from a crashed spaceship -- with the help of the alien hats, of course.
While visiting her grandparents on a remote island, Shiina Tamai, our young protagonist, inadvertently finds a strange star shaped creature, which she names Hoshimaru. This creature, while seemingly harmless and unusual, holds many secrets. As Shiina and her new friend Akira soon find out, their creatures are much more than they seem to be...and against their will, they are thrown into a dangerous and hostile situation of trying to save the world from others who would use their dragonets to enslave it.
Without revealing too much of the plot, it is hard to say why these two anime are so similar. Let it be enough that anything that you may find remotely cute or charming about the series' nonhuman characters will not last long. These are two very, very creepy anime.
I want to thank the other users here for making the recommendation between these two series. I saw Narutaru a few years ago, and love the darkness of a seemingly innocent series. I didn't think anything could come close to giving me the same feeling, but Alien Nine hit the spot!
Neither series is for the faint of heart, and do not be decieved by the cute animation as these are certainly not for kids.
Both series are based around kids getting power through a creature/alien becoming partners with them. Starting out looking at their lives, friendships and then their "discovery", both series soon take a turn to the darkness.
Don't expect anything to be explained at the end,just enjoy the openness that allows you to fill in the blanks yourself.
If you enjoyed Alien Nine, i would bet on you enjoying Shadow Star Narutaru.
Both shows use deception to trick the viewer, while at first seemingly cute and nice, both are in fact very dark.
Both shows deal with the emotional and psychological pain of mere youngsters, forced into using bizzare alien beings.
Where Narutaru is much darker than it's frog headed counterpart, Alien Nine certainly isn't easy going.
Both end without much explanation but do carry on from thier respective Manga, if your looking for a taster in the wierd, one of these shows will be for you.
Both series have children who have strange relationships with alien like creatures to protect the world. Alien Nine is "slightly" more light hearted than Narutaru but both will leave you wondering what on earth you are watching. Check one out if you liked the other.
Kids + violent alien creatures, both a little psychologically perplexing and disturbing. Hoshimaru is a lot cuter than Yuri's borg, who is actually kinda creepy. Or maybe you'll find it the other way round. Alien Nine is heavier on the wtf factor, but Narutaru has the better characters. If you liked one, try the other for something similar but just as unique.
Both series are about cute young girls and their alien "friends." The odd thing about watching these two anime is that there is a lot of information they don't tell you. The big questions are never answered in either making you ask yourself, "what the fuck was that?" Both of these anime are based on larger written works that hopefully fill in some of the gaps that were left in the animated narrative. While not following exactly the same plot, both of these are psychological mind rapes of a similar caliber.
While transporting bio-weapon lifeforms, Agent DD, member of an alien police force, is forced to crash land on Earth. Amidst the chaos of the crash, a bio-weapon escapes and DD is forced to fight it, while accidentally activating a Liberus, a liquid battle suit. Tsubasa, a shy girl, unwillingly comes into contact with the Liberius and is thereafter forced to fight for the survival of Earth.
Alien Nine and Figure 17 both tell the tale of a young girl who ends up having to join with a symbiotic life form and defend a given area from aliens. Each follows the development of this girl as she attempts to come to terms with the new life this means for her.
Although Alien 9 is a much more in-your-face kind of headf**k, there is definitely something dark about Figure 17.
Alien 9 features a group of schoolgirls forced to team up with some frog like alien hats to defeat some nasty extraterrestrisal baddies. Figure 17 is a much more developed show, and focusses on the relationship between the main schoolgirl and her battle alien.
Both shows have a sugary sweet exterior, with a very dark inside. Don't be fooled be the cutesy animation style, be prepared for some sci-fi/horror.
Alien Nine and Figure 17 share both common ground in the story (young girls forced to fend off aliens, with the help of an alien), as well as in the deceptively cute at-a-glance appearance hiding the fact that in reality they're both somewhat darker stories.
But while Alien Nine took the school setting and often comedic situations, Figure 17 sticks to a serious path.
They have a very similar theme of little girls fighting aliens. Although, Alien Nine has kids a little older while Figure 17 is much more appropiate for little kids. But yet, the characters have appretices to help them fight aliens on their adventures and conquer their fears of aliens or enemies.
Naota Nanbada is a boring young boy who leads a boring life in a boring town. His older brother has left for America, and the closest he comes to any excitement is when his deadbeat dad has too much sake. But things change one day when a bizarre girl zooms up to him on a scooter and smacks him in the face with her guitar. What's more, once Naoto returns home he discovers that this strange woman has arrived ahead of him and moved in! Not only does she constantly engage in perverted activities with Naota's father and flirt with the young man himself, but she also claims to be an alien who is searching for the ‘Pirate King.' Now, Naota must learn to live with this new intruder, deal with an odd government agent who sports exceptionally large eyebrows and the mysterious Medical Mechanica, and come to terms with the fact that there are a variety of robots and weapons emerging out of his head - amongst other things. Perhaps boring wasn't so bad after all...
Furi Kuri is such a great anime. But aside from that, it stays with the same feeling as Alien Nine. It's also just as random and weird. If you liked Alien Nine, you will LOVE FLCL.
Both of these animations explore the experiences of adolescence and coming of age, by the use of fantastic, surreal and absurdist metaphor. However both do so in very different ways.
While Alien 9 looks at the bodily changes of girls entering puberty, FLCL deals with adolescent changes in male psychology, including the sadness of loss, and existential angst.
Rest assured that these ideas are deeply buried within an array of absurd and fantastic chaos! Not quite the very dark sense of humour we find in Alien 9.
Aliens and middle schoolers; two things shared by Alien Nine and FLCL. Even though everything else about them is different: plot line, emotional effect, art syle, etc., it's hard not to draw the obvious parallel between both.
Both of these anime involve a young protagonist who was just minding their own business when they got stuck with an alien. The themes in both anime are a bizarre twist of growing up and learning to deal with the world. Both anime involve some fabulous headgear, and both step into the realm past bizarre into mindf*ck. If you want anime where nothing is what it seems and reality took a vacation, watch both of these.
In the future, a devastating event known as Second Impact has destroyed Tokyo as we know it, giving rise to Tokyo III - a city under siege by mysterious lifeforms known only as Angels. Mankind's only line of defense are the Evangelions, a set man-made machines piloted by a trio of fourteen year-old teenagers, Rei, Shinji, and Asuka. The fate of Japan and the entire world now lie with these three children, though they might not have the power to save the most important thing of all: each other.
School children forced to fight aliens. Neon Genesis Evangelion puts the children the the Eva's while Alien Nine gives the children Alien hats. Whinny characters and a physiological feel to them both. If you liked one you'll like the other.
There are many similarities between Evangelion and Alien 9. In both students forced to fight against strange unknown enemies that seem to connect with humans on a subconcious level. The weapons used, have more to them then you'd think as well. Main characters are also similar, scared/cry easily types. There is also a mind f@*k factor that both have. If you liked Alien 9, then I'm sure you'll like Evangelion as well.
Neon Genesis Evangelion and Alien 9 are surprisingly similar. Both feature a main character who is forced to fight aliens. Psychological aspect is also heavily present in both of them as there are plenty of inner monologue, focusing on the struggle the main characters go through.
If you liked one, the chances are that you will like the other as well.
Whine, whine, whine - pretty much all you'll hear from the protagonists. Shinji and Yuri fit the child-soldier motif and are the least helpful of their trio of alien fighters. Both anime twist reality, have several layers of plot, and involve way too much alien fluids. If you're looking for an anime to twist your brain into a pretzel, look no further than these two.
When a group of children discover a strange cave at the beach, their lives are forever changed. Inside they find a hide out filled with computers and a man named Kokopelli who gives them a curious offer: to participate in a special game in which they save Earth from fifteen giant monsters. To defeat the invaders, he will give them a powerful mecha of black armor. The children eagerly sign the contract, name their new weapon Zearth, and must now take turns to pilot it; but the 'game' is in fact all too real and the consequences of battle become the stuff of nightmares. With no option to cancel the contract, is there any way to stop the game before it is too late for all of them?
Both shows are a good mix of very good sci-fi, action and a subtle blend of dark humour.
I like shows that aren't afraid to play with the psyche, and Bokurano and Alien Nine achieve this with aplomb. Don't expect a happy, feel good ending from these shows, as they are both ominous and foreboding
Bokurano and Alien Nine both share the concept of children placed in situations where they must fight against otherworldly opponents and shows the effects that such battles have on those involved, from the children themselves to the adults that take care of them. Bokurano is more character-driven on the whole, but both are still emotionally wrenching series.
Alien Nine and Bokurano are two series which set themselves apart with their characters--they feature children who are forced to grow up fast when put in dangerous situations. In the former, young girls are assigned to eliminate dangerous aliens who are attacking their school; in the latter, a group of kids must engage in dangerous mecha battles in which death is guaranteed. As dark and twisted as these anime sound, though, I wouldn't say they become perverse or over-the-top in an offensive way.
