Ask John: Was Alien Nine a Wise Choice for American Release?

Question:
What do you think about Alien Nine? Do you feel it was right for it to be released here in American (dispite it having some rather disturbing scenes in it, both in the DVD and manga) and what are you thoughts about it?

Answer:
Alien Nine is a tricky title for me to discuss for a number of reasons. Kathryn K. Williams’ well known analysis of the show has sparked a great deal of controversy and speculation; in fact, enough so that it’s almost irresponsible for me to attempt to discuss the series without being intimately familiar with it. Furthermore, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage regarding this particular title because I’m not familiar with the manga at all, and I’ve only seen the animation episodes once each, and then each of them a month or more apart as I saw them as they were released in Japan.

Perhaps I’m just shallow, but I honestly never gave the series too much thought. I saw it as an interesting sci-fi series, and a subtle satire of Japanese culture’s peer pressure and its demands on children to fit in and be respectable, productive members of society. The series definitely contains subtextual sexual symbolism including scenes and themes of penetration and bodily fluids, but I never thought to interpret the series primarily through these instances. I also believe that much of anime is an expression of artists’ emotional condition, an externalization of feelings intended to create a general impression rather than cohesive, linear causality. In other words, I believe that much of the dream logic of abstract and cryptic anime is supposed to simply create a mood, not convey a literal series of events; sometimes anime is weird just for the sake of being weird.

That’s one of the things I most respect about anime. I believe that anime surpasses its origins as commercial art by challenging conventions and proposing aggressively non-commercial, avant-garde and poetic displays. Even the art of Shakespeare and Van Goh was made to be sold, but like much of anime, it includes enough humanism and creativity to be considered “art” rather than “product.” If this personal evaluation of anime may be accepted as valid within a culture that doesn’t universally recognize the artistic value of anime, then not only is the American release of Alien Nine “right,” it’s positively commendable. The domestic release of unusual and challenging Japanese animation including Alien Nine, Nekojiro-So, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kenji no Haru, Boogiepop Phantom, Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna, Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, Utena, and many other similar titles, is a significant advancement in educating mainstream Americans about the intellectual and artistic quality and diversity of Japanese animation, and the art form of animation in general. Not all of these titles are totally successful in terms of film making, nor particularly appealing or even entertaining. But even marginally effective “thinking man’s” anime contribute to the overall increased awareness in America that not all anime is pocket monsters, battling robots, lusty tentacles and big breasted bimbos with bazookas. There is a chance that the suggestive sexuality and violence of Alien Nine may be misinterpreted or taken out of context, but I think that the potential good a title like this can do toward enlightening Americans is at least equal to its potential for controversy. So although risk is there, I think there are enough receptive potential viewers in America to make anime releases like Alien Nine not only acceptable, but preferable.