Impressions....

ahh... short and sweet.. although this is one series that definetly needs to be longer.. it has no goddamn ending... the little 4 episodes spans over about a year, but there is no ending.. the plot is ongoing.. nothing ends in the last episode but one out of numerous missions... sure the mission delved into the characters psyche and played.. but that make for some dramatic conclusion ??... it reminds me of the end of Final Fantasy VIII ... there is nothing climatic about the ending.. and i do want more...

but besides that i think this series gets alot less credit than it deserves... the series is based around main character, Otani, who is now voted as the classes Alien controller.. an Alien Controller captures invading alien who come to this planet for some reason.. and more specifically, the come to just this school... sounds fishy to me... an Alien Controller is issued a Borg, which is a more docile alien and helps the humans fend off these harmful aliens...

Borgs only help out the humans so that they can feed off the selected Alien Controller... now for some reason these alien controller are only girls ages 12 and 13 years old... the story begins with Otani's final year of primary school... the Borg feeds off the girls by licking their naked backs ... which adds to Yasuhiro's theme of parasites... this theme goes throughout the series with the borg and the girls.. but also adds a little toward the mysterious teacher, principal, and some of the girls' personal lives too...

I love the music of this anime.. such a beautiful combination of piano and orchestra.. reminds me totally of Saga Frontier II and Legend of Mana.. beautifully composed... it really brings the tone of the series to a mystic and foreshadowing level while still keeping it playful... during some music sequences the animation merely complement the music as a story is told...

now as for the animation... its ok... the animation itself is completely computerized, much like FLCL... all drawn with wacom tablets fused into computer graphics, shaded and colored accordingly.. it looks nice.. the screw spines the borgs use as weapons are completely 3d animation... modeled and animated like spikes flying through the air... it looks ok ...

the thing that kinda bothers me though is the art because it is not artistic... the art does complement the rest of the animation and music so as a whole it works very well... but the art is very simplictic and its the same throughout the entire anime... it totally reminds me of Charlie Brown... Otani crys alot and also worries alot, so her mouth resembles those sqwiggley lines that are used so often in the Peanuts daily comic...

i personally do like this series, and i think it should get more credit... it completely centers around Otani and her anti-social attributes... she grows as a person throughout the series.. she is taught arrogance, friendship, devotion, inginuity and above all else.. fear... she is far too dependent on others to get by, and to end the series they really should have given her more confidence in her own abilities, rather than not...

so i do recommend you take 2 hours out of your life to watch this little treat Yasuhiro Irie came up with... but like most anime, it could be alot better.. and that is why you should probably read this manga, instead of watching the anime...

- Dyre - 10.07.02