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For the most part, Kasumi is doing just fine. Her outgoing personality and tomboy antics make the task of alien battle seem natural for her. She may even be enjoying herself! Kumi, however, is not so sure about the whole thing. Her approach to the invading aliens and to the fact that she has been elected to fight them off, is more cerebral than the other two girls. She has many unanswered questions, but has yet to voice them all to the leader of the Alien Party, Ms. Hisakawa. Yuri has not yet achieved acceptance off her role. Her hesitance to acknowledge the Alien Party and her responsibility has put the entire group in danger before and threatens to do so again. She is definitely the one that has the most growing to do.
And then there is Ms. Hisakawa; full of information on the various aliens and possessing an unnatural drive to see the girls succeed beyond the level of other Alien Party groups. But what exactly are her motives, and does she know more about all of this than she is letting on? She seems to care for her three charges, but perhaps it is all a ruse...would she sacrifice them if it was necessary?
Beyond the standard schoolgirl troubles of acceptance, responsibility and fitting in, these girls go through some serious s**t. When was the last time that a shoujo manga displayed images of young girls sprayed with the guts and gore of an alien's belly? Or the same girls standing atop the gaping skull of a giant beast, covered in the blood and brain juice that has shot from the wound? How about one of those same girls, having her arm tore off at the elbow by the clamping jaws of an alien creature? Do you see what I am getting at here? This volume sees a whole lot less of the traditional shoujo plot devices and stylings for some darker and more serious conflict.
Gone also are the themes of traditional shoujo or "magical girl" stories. There is (so far) no unrequited love interest. There is no escape to a fairy land or discovery of a lost destiny. There is simply some 6th grade girls dealing with their position as protectors of the school. Alien possession causes them to attack each other with murderous intentions. Psychic broadcasts cause them to hallucinate and nearly go mad with feelings of isolation and solitude. Alien Nine simply breaks all conventions of expectations and delivers a powerful and unique vision of school life and conflict.
Volume 2 finds the artwork going to a much more grisly visible style, with graphic blood and guts strewn across nearly every page. Combined with the more dramatic scripting this time around, the second book has proven to be more more intense that the first. If any indication of things to come...we are in for a treat.
So in two volumes, we have seen things go from strange to stranger, from frightening to downright apocalyptic, and from uneasy to purely dreadful. What can possibly be next? I will just have to wait and see; and I suggest you pick up the first two volumes and wait right along with me!
-aaron-
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Our
three young 6th graders, Yuri, Kumi and Kasumi, have been thrown head
first into the role of Alien Party defenders. Forced to don
their symbiotic alien helmets, the three must protect their school
from alien forces. But the question that is just starting to
rear its ugly head is, "Will they have what it takes?". 
But
more than just a cryptic leader and a deadly responsibility, the girls
still have to worry about their everyday lives. How will they
live up to the pedestal that the school has placed them on?
And even more important, and looked into in detail in this volume,
is the question: "Can they trust each other?".