On a sunny afternoon in her Paris apartment, assassin-for-hire Mireille Bouquet receives a strange email from Kirika Yuumura, a young student from Japan, inviting her to "make a pilgrimage to the past" together. Initially thinking the email is nonsense, she changes her mind when it begins playing a song that she recognizes from her youth.
Upon first meeting each other in person, the two are suddenly ambushed by gun-wielding men. While Mireille is capable of fending off the assault, she discovers that Kirika is quite adept in combat situations after she takes out several gunmen on her own. Despite her proficiency at killing, Kirika laments her inability to feel remorse for her victims. In addition, Kirika apparently has no memory of how she came to acquire the skills she possesses or even of her real identity.
Sensing shared history between them, Mireille agrees to team up with Kirika, and together, they embark on a journey to uncover the mysteries of their pasts. Operating under the codename "Noir," the duo's fragile alliance is tested as they begin accepting jobs, each one bringing them closer to the truth of who they really are.
Noir is the first original anime by director Kouichi Mashimo and studio Bee Train, which focused on the "Girls with Guns" sub-genre. It was later followed by two spiritual successors:Madlax in 2004 andEl Cazador de la Bruja in 2007. Together, they are considered to be a Girls with Guns trilogy, even though the three TV series are unrelated story-wise.
A live-action adaptation of the anime series produced by TV network Starz was planned to release in the summer of 2012. But following a two-year hiatus starting in March 2012, the project was canceled in January 2014.
So... I hadn't rated something 10 out of 10 since around 2018 i think. I hesitated. This anime is not perfect. But some aspects of it set a completely new standard of expectations for me... And those were already pretty high in my book. I had noticed this anime a long time ago, but i generally can't handle the drama genre, as this tends to depress me way too much for my own sake. Still, i could handle this one, in the end (just barely). And it was one hell of a journey i don't regret endeavouring. This will probably be a bit long, but...please, bear with me.
Oh, first, i will list the things i felt were lacking in there. That will get it out of the way.
1- First, a rant. Don't set this shit in France if you can't even write a single french word properly. It is irritating (like when even something as simple as "Salon de thé" becomes "Solon dé the"). Hire someone to write the french. And someone to write the placeholder articles in newspapers (random text and headlines that had NOTHING to do with the topic and photos, and oftentimes parts of it had nothing to do with the next one). Being french myself, i can't unread what i read. I notice it in a split second, and this badly breaks the 4th wall. Which is terrible when the rest of the anime gets me on the edge of my seat so much... It is not like you were learning the language and i was trying to help you. This is a finished commercial product, so do it properly or don't do it at all. One or the other, no half-assing. Let's note that "Strike Witches the film" did this properly. You can stop on an image and read the whole articles, and they are the right ones.
2- Character's actions may sometimes be quite hard to follow. This is because, the least one can say, is that this anime is not talkative. I really love that they respect my intelligence (thank you!), but i am not THAT smart. There are oftentimes long, uneasy silences between Mireille and Kirika, and we note that something changed. But we don't know what. In the same way, the beliefs and motivations of one or another may be implied by a situation or a notion, but never really explained. If said notion is equally obscure, things may come somewhat out of the blue. Some may love to be surprised all around, but i like my animes to make sense enough that i understand where things are going and why. This is all the more important that the world here is consistent. It is crucial to be familiar with the various logical threads that articulate characters' thoughts or one may end up missing half the point of the story (and i bet the rather low rating is partly because of that). And this would be a true shame, as the writing itself is stellar here, as i will explain later. Now, it is sometimes difficult to understand what characters think and why they did this or that, but it is still not like we have no clue. It is just that these clues do not come as obvious at all. And sometimes, it may be a bit too cryptic. More on this further below.
3- This anime confused me when it comes to temporality. There is no sense of time passing, no season changes. Which is not something i like. I guessed that the whole 26 episodes happen in the span of a year of so, but i may be wrong. Likewise, the France presented here (oftentimes), is that of the 50's. Names and outfits and cars are outdated. The drab colors and ways often seen seem to pertain to a post WWII setting. But there are cell phones and computers. It seems to me that they used way outdated graphical references to represent the country. And while, here and there, there are surprisingly accurate details, most of it feels like imported from a different reality... And yet again, since it is so obvious to me (being french and all), it becomes distracting (especially, don't wear a mini-skirt when everyone around you lives in the 50's, this is too striking).
4- The lack of blood. Yes, there is no blood whatsoever, except in one important occasion (for storytelling purposes). Below, i will describe how important it is to grasp the weight of killing someone in order to fully grasp the characters' struggles. I know this anime is already pretty dark as is, but adding blood and visible injuries wouldn't have hurt this at all. That would have made the horror of the situation much more relatable for most of us.
Now, let's go with the proper review. Once again, i will pass on the purely technical aspects. I am into arts and always were. So i will only tackle the technical matters when it is necessary to back up a point in relation with the form or substance or the link between the two.
First, the writing. I was looking for a contrasting anime. "Young girls with guns" was pretty much that. I was always interested in the tension one can find behind the idea of 'corruption of innocence'. I believe one can write very strong stories with such contrasting concepts, and "Noir", as well as "Madoka" perfectly exemplify why i have thought so for much longer than i want to admit here (kuso jiji). Granted, you take the topic seriously and don't try to spoon feed the most shallow possible take on this to the masses... because in this case, it becomes cringe, obviously.
And so, the story is strong, the ambience is strong, the characters are strong, the concepts and worldbuilding are strong... But i don't recommend this to kids. This is very clearly an adult series. As i said above, there is a lot of silences in there. Those who mistake this for an action series are those who really didn't get what it was all about. It is a character centric tragedy with some action sprinkled onto it for flavour. The two main characters spend the whole 26 episodes being torn apart by contrasting feelings and aspirations that are so strong that they don't exactly understand it all themselves. But when love cohabits with resentment, a simple exogenous-induced imbalance showing up on top may birth jealousy. And none is clearly shown or said. But these explain the actions or inactions of the characters, as well as their interactions. I suspect that some may think that not much happens most of the time, that the first 17 episodes are empty enough that you should watch them for the action... And that is so very wrong.
The whole 26 episodes are fully packed with relevant moments. There is not a single filler scene in the whole running time. While some may like the gunfights, it is important to never forget, from the very start, that again, this is not a kid show. This fighting and killing takes, very logically so, its toll on the characters, and this from the very beginning. One needs to always consider what it means to kill people. What it means to be the one pressing the trigger, and what it entails of responsability and how crushing it is to consider that time can't be reverted and that what has been stolen can't ever be given back. Sins never die. The characters here are painfully aware of all that, and they go on with their life anyway, trying to make some sense of it all and solve the dark mysteries of their past that hold them back, further nurturing the abyss they are engulfed into. Absolute despair is a recurring theme, as you would imagine. And the characters (Kirika most notably) are psychologically tortured to a point where it is insane. Know that THIS here is the core element of the whole series, the thread that links all episodes together and that is the very stake of the ending. In the first place, this is the very reason why this is called "Noir". As the name suggests, "Noir" is about very dark things: corruption, despair, and sins sins sins. Guns fights create more sins and hence, more despair. Which fuels the whole story. If you start this and consider it as a fighting shounen like "One Piece", honestly, don't watch this. That would be so damn disrespectful to this respect-deserving masterpiece that is "Noir".
Indeed, at the time of this review, "Noir" is rated 7.28. This is beyond shocking. Because let's face it, the writing is well-nigh perfect. The pacing is perfect for its purpose, as i said, there are no fillers. The delivery is perfect. The storyboard and color use had me drooling at times. The direction had me pausing and rewatching scenes because they were so masterfully made. The music, while not always perfect, is great, and a few of the main themes of the series had me almost crying on still images... Due to the sheer beauty of it all. The beauty that is born when you put the perfect OST onto the perfect scene, composed by the perfect director. Not all scenes are like that, but a lot are. But speaking of the director, let's talk a bit about how the whole thing is made.
It seems to take inspiration from a french genre, called "film noir" (possibly a choice in relation with the title, or maybe the opposite, and the title was chosen because of the french cinema genre, hard to tell). A lot of images really remind that kind of asthetics. And overall, a lot of the shots, angles and editing are evocative of the 7th art. Obviously, the director (founder of Bee train) wasn't young and he clearly made something that resembled him rather than providing fan service. What a relief he did. And honesty, this is full of personality and character. Inspiring and immersing. You see the trends of the time showing here and there, and some older trends coming sraight from the 90's, but overall, this is not this bland, crisp trends we see today, where you can't even differentiate styles anymore beyond character designs and color palettes. The use of light is really something, too.
Now, the direction doesn't stop at the aesthetics. It is about conveying something properly, more than simply showing stuff like untalented directors tend to do. And here, yet again, "Noir" aces it. I will illustrate what i mean... I will use for reference the shocking (to me) episode 24. Because compared to previous or following episodes, episode 24 is a very seemingly neutral presentation of a change in situation. There are no grand music, no great effects, no creative use of colors to set ambiences, no great drama, in short, this should be a seriously meh episode meant to prepare the next one. But this episode made me so damn uneasy, i took more than a hour to finish it. At each scene, i had to pause, and take my head in my hands and say: "this is perverse". And mind you, i am ready to bet whatever you want that more than 90% of those who watched didn't notice what the director did here. Simply said, each and every scene, while recounting a story pretty normally at first sight, is punctuated by expectations subversions. The whole episode felt heavily dissonant, like nails on a blackboard, as if something were constantly amiss. And this is genius direction because this was exactly what this episode needed: this uneasy feeling that something is amiss, the goosebumps you get when something is not right and shouldn't be but still is. How did the director manage, through little details, to instill this unease while depicting such random, usual scenes that shouldn't have borne much weight?
Before giving a few examples of that, it is necessary to remember that it is episode 24. At this point, we have a heavy luggage of investment in the series, we came to expect various things from it, and we adhere to in-world logic and norm. So, while my examples may seem to fall flat for you, remember that it will bear a different weight and meaning once you have watched the 23 prior episodes. So, a few examples: 1) at this point, there is a change in a character outlook. It is a change that the spectator will lament and hope for it to change again soon. It is a very small, but a very dark, ugly, and sad beyond belief one because full of meaning. And then, one character that stumbles upon it suddently makes an enthralled expression and just utter: "Beautiful". 2) At this point, a certain antagonist is absolutely unsufferable, while at the same time, being the nicest character in the whole series... And while we want to see the biatch suffer, and while Kirika seems pissed at her, the next image, they cuddle with each other. 3) Kirika notices that a place smells like blood. Chloé tells her that countless people were killed there, and that... Kirika was there too. We want Kirika to manifest her disgust, her shock, or at least, something like a little sadness. But Kirika simply answers... "This here is my home, right?". Well, you get that kind of dissonnant element in every scene, every 60 seconds or so.
Very usual and unoriginal situations that would call for a stereotyped and shallow answer but that end up bringing the exact opposite, in a way you absolutely don't want to see. Seemingly normal conversations that pretend to ignore the past records between the characters and how damn inappropriate they are as a result... And that's the thing. Done again and again, this is what creates this unsettling, stiffling feeling. The director doesn't simply add episode after episode mechanically, trying to sprinkle things that proved efficient with otakus previous season... No, he does the opposite, and i love him for that. And it is this guy who handled the whole thing. This is a real guarantee.
The drama is heavy starting from episode 20, but while i sank "Hibike Euphonium 3" recently for its abusive amount of forced drama, nothing in "Noir" is forced. Because the characters are who they are from the start, drama naturally unfolds. Evolution and change may happen, for better and for worse. No excessive melo is made out of nothing like in Hibike 3. This is the opposite here: little drama is made out of a lot... To the point that you can't not realise how abnormal the characters are. Yes, they are killers, pro killers. And oftentimes, they look like it (and other times, they look like the traumatised young women they are). And at times, i felt estranged with Kirika: "How the heck can you simply go on with that? Killing is seriously your job, right?" i would think. They simply have that tragic an existence. And the director shows it to you in an actually subtle way, using various means to transmit their unease and suffering that is not about screams, tears or anything. Messed up environements, sound thrills in the background, angles shots that would normally have asked for nomal ones, palette, or the choice of making the shot at night to project deeper shadows, etc. Because, despite what you may believe, characters cry very little in there. Actually, Kirika shows little of anything, and Mireille is cold as ice. So, they may have little exterior reaction to horrible things they go through. But these things are well there, and you can't unsee them. I bet you will cry several times more than them. And again, the masterfull OST plays a major role in there. When the drama works so well that you don't even need to emphasise it for it to take the spetactor by the guts, you can tell that it is masterfully done. Again, the complete opposite of cringe "Hibike 3".
The core musical themes are used at all the right moments. They don't try to be original about it. If a scene deserves an emotional track, it will be used, period. It is no joke, this OST (sounds 'like' italian and latin, mostly, which is refreshing and SO much better than everything in yet more loosy english) is a massive atomic bomb, because on top of being exceptional, it is used properly on an anime with actually deep, ambitious and excellent writing. Producers wouldn't risk producing 26 episodes on such an original anime that is not even tailored for the masses, these days. Still, the mix of these elements is what makes already fantastic scenes so crushingly impactful. If you want a taste of the OST, go to YT. Write "Noir anime OST". And try two of the main themes... "Canta per me" (sing for me) and "Salva nos" (save us). Imagine that with such a series. Let's just say that it is a perfect example of how an OST can do or undo a work. In this case, this OST brings the whole thing to completely new heights. I love the choirs, i love the cello, but what i love even more is that those are properly recorded musical performances, as opposed to most of the shit we are served these days. This has already become one of my favorite OST of all times, and i can even listen to it outside the anime (which i am doing right now, a cello piece called "Sorrow"). Obviously, them using an accordéon is definitely a damn plus, too (since it is typically french, and most of the action is set in France).
It is worth noting, too, that Bee Train and its founder (the director of Noir) are dedictated to the arts. More and more these days, i lament the fact that money rules everything. And the Arts are dying on the altar of corporate greed. Arts is culture and culture is civilisation. A place where culture has died is a place where civilisation is in a fast decline. I have said that countless times already, but this is all a plague that comes from the over-reliance on money in the USA and Hollywood and that contaminates the planet as a whole with cultural rot, since it stiffles the competition of smaller projects dedicated to a vision more than bottom lines. Bee Train, now basically dead due to the retirement of its founder (again, the director of "Noir"), was one of the last bastions in Japan that put 'Arts' well above bottom lines. It is not about taking a popular IP and milking it, like TOEI. It is not about making low risk LN adaptations based solely on the themes and trends the source material exploits, with hopes of financial success, like most studios do these days with "isekai" and such. It is not about finding a successful concept and banking on original works based on those with extremely stiff and pre-formated direction, like ACTAS does (notably with the decent "GuP"). It is not about selling crisp animation with no proper substance, like KyoAni seems to do more and more. "Noir" simply is the result of a vision.
As often in japanese works, characters' emotions are what spur the story forward, and hence, emotions become the basis for storytelling. How do we make the viewer understand that? Many japanese works excell at that, in their own way. "Skip Beat" manga is a masterful exemple of that in my opinion, although in a completely different genre. "Noir" takes a more cinematographic approach, all the while making good use of the animation support. As i said, it is not talkative. So what does the director do? He uses ambiences to tell of emotions, and hence, ambiences become storytelling.
There is a thread in the "Noir" forum where someone explained how he felt the music was overbearing and prevented him from focusing on what happened on screen. I believe this is the result of bad habits created by all those stereotyped works with barely any artistic value that proliferate these days like a flu, and create new, ever lower standards for what many people come to call 'quality' (generally, it is about easy accessibility and production values more than anything else, which is plain depressing). You know, this obnoxious "don't tell, show" thing that has corrupted every artisitic expression possible. No, it should be more about "convey, no matter how, just make sure it strikes a chord". Music may be a way to convey things. Arts, colors, camera angles, and even the state of their environement (clean, chaotic, for example) can talk of a character's mindset. Just remember this when you wonder why the heck did Mireille not clean a bit her appartement after it was stormed by assassins and put into a chaos. This is because the resulting chaos in which Mireille then evolves is a perfect translation for her inner turmoil and seething contradiction. Not once will Mireille state anything in this regard, not a word. Not once will she utter some important words. Behind her composed mask, she is torn apart by conflicting feelings, and with no words or expressions, we have to rely on ambiences to understand what this is all about. This is how "Noir" is done. And it is not as accessible as your last shallow hit on MAL that so many people hail as a masterpiece when it is really the result of a purely financial expertise on how to profit from the crowds, with no dedication whatsoever to Arts. This trend doesn't make the future of japanese animation appear all that bright. I wished i still lived in a world where people would watch "Noir" and understand its values. But here we are. "Noir" is rated 7.28 and "One Piece" is at a stunning and unbelievable 8.73, despite how atrocious it became over the years............. Makes me want to cry for this anime media i used to love so much.
Story 9: If only it was a bit easier to understand the characters actions at times, i may have given it a 10. Not because it is perfect. But because this is the perfect story to tell with this anime. Or rather, because this anime presents this story in a perfect way.
Characters 9: Same reason as above. Very strong and believable characters, despite the hard to believe premise. Sometimes a bit hard to understand, partly due to the lack of exposition, but they totally fit their environement. Still, for the sake of the setting, they seem to have an otherworldy capability to endure suffering. But i won't remove points for that, since if they hadn't, this would have devolved into a tear-jerking melodrama, which is not something i can handle. And what is more, that would have undermined the whole 'assassin for hire' concept, since you can't exactly have this kind of character cry their balls out all the time. At the same time, this doesn't mean that the characters don't suffer a lot. It is simply that they don't show it much. Worth noting is that "Death Note" is my archnemesis of an anime. The one i hated the most out of all those i watched. I simply couldn't relate with Kira and couldn't stand neither him as the MC, nor the story that focuses on him getting away all the time. This was not the case here. This is not another "Death Note".
Sound 10: I already tackled the OST. OP and ED are good. The sound department is fantastic. The sound of the guns being fired have proper weight, which was so important to convey how heavy the responsability it is to wield a gun and aim it at someone else. These are guns, not toys. And they don't feel like toys here. Even the rest of the sound effects is really good. There is not a single bad thing there.
Visuals 7: Quite frankly, i prefer the animation of this era compared to the recent one. There is more 'movement' in there, even if it is a bit less crisp and detailed at times. Whoever has studied arts like i did will understand what i mean by 'movement' in a still image. It is much more dynamic. And overall, it is easy to see that in 2000, this was a high budget anime. A lot of animations (sometimes uselessly detailed ones), and hand painted backgrounds that were detailed by the time's standards. All are not great, but a lot are. Still, this is hand painted, so, this is not as crisp as a 3D one we see these days. But yet again, i am unsure the old ones are so much worse considering how bland they feel nowadays (again, from an artistic point of view). Some drawings are shaky at times, obviously, which is sort of a trademark of the era. But overall it is nice and cohesive. Let's remind here that the fights are well animated, but this is no "Shingeki no Kyojin", the fighting is in support of the story, not the other way around. And so, i feel like the action scenes are generally of great quality. I truly enjoyed them all.
Enjoyement 9: I can't find the motivation to watch animes much anymore. And so, i can't even say how happy i am that i found "Noir" to hook me for the first time in a long while. It was a real journey.
Overall 10: Not only did i highly enjoy this, but i can already tell that "Noir" will join the ranks of the animes that are etched in my very soul after 2 decades of watching them: "Gunslinger Girls", "Juuni Kokuki", "Haibane Renmei", or "Cross Ange" are amongst those, too. Obviously, i am on the older side now, so you won't find run-of-the-mill action shounen anywhere here. It is probably an important factor to consider in order for you to determine whether you will like this the way i did, or not.
Don't expect to see a shounen action, this is not what it is (for the best). Expect a mature story and a mature storytelling with a lot of pauses and silences that let the unsaid settle in (never boring to me), even if the characters are young. Don't expect a pure action anime, expect instead a drama with action and what i consider to be a satisfying end (for once). I can only see two categories of people who may dislike that: as i said above, those who are still at school, since they are probably not the target for that. And add to that those who have a very high level of emotional IQ (like me). The later may have a hard time, taking the characters' suffering as theirs (like i unwillingly tend to do, like a damn sponge), but if i could watch it without sinking into despair, most probably can ^^' . More than anything, enjoy what you can while you can.
Overview: "Noir" is the first of a trio of action anime created by studio Bee Train. Known together as the "Girls with Guns" trilogy, these well-liked but obscure anime series helped to popularize the genre of the same name. Out of the three, "Noir" has aged considerably poorly in comparison to its younger sisters, with most of the things that set it apart being either superficial or just plain outdated. The good news is, however, is that "Noir" does succeed in more traditional ways, with a complex, if confusing story, good action scenes and great music, all of which combine to make an entertaining, if...not exactly memorable start to the trilogy.
Story (7.5/10): Much like all the "Girls with Guns" anime, the story centres around two very different girls. In this case, those girls are a pair of assassins- a Japanese amnesiac girl named Kirika Yuumura and a Corcisian woman named Mirielle Bouquet, who is haunted by a painful past. After meeting each other via strange circumstances, the two form an assassin duo known as "Noir" and embark on a personal and increasingly dangerous journey to uncover the mysteries behind their pasts, with Mirielle vowing to kill Kirika once she remembers who she is. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of strange individuals, many of whom are connected to their pasts, including the assassin Chloé, who quickly takes an interest in the duo and claims to be the true "Noir".
The story starts off simple enough, being a mostly episodic affair where Mirielle and Kirika accept jobs from unknown contracts and assassinate various targets. However, while their first targets prove to be no challenge at all, it's not long before they start encountering figures who are worthy of their skill and last for more than just one episode. And while it may seem rather annoying at first that the series is showing you flashbacks of what happened EARLIER IN THE SAME EPISODE, the reasoning behind this quickly becomes clear i.e. the story is casting those particular scenes in a different light due to what has been revealed since. The series in general is very good friends with the word "clarity", with the flashback to Mirielle's past in particular becoming more and more detailed as time goes on, with the most crucial detail not being revealed until towards the end. The story does a fine job at keeping the viewer guessing, and by the time the big twist finally comes, I was more than a bit surprised, in spite of all the hints I was sure the series had given up until then.
Unfortunately, as the series becomes more complex, it also becomes highly convoluted, a problem it shares with its sister series "Madlax", only to an even greater extent. This is due to the fact that it heavily depends on the viewer's knowledge of things like hamartiology (the study of sin) and the history of the Mafia, things the series doesn't even bother explaining to the viewers. As such, I was left confused on several occasions since I have little knowledge of either of those things, especially since I outgrew religion before I even exited my teens. In addition, the episodic format of the series tends to work against it at times, with a good few of the episodes being pretty forgettable and adding little, if anything, to the story. Even "Cowboy Bebop" succeeded in making almost all of its episodes feel important to some extent. "Noir", on the other hand, has no such strength. Nevertheless, the story does manage to hold itself together surprisingly well, especially when the primary plot takes over completely, which is a good thing since quite a few other categories fall pretty short.
Art & Animation (6.5/10): "Noir" first aired in 2001- exactly two decades ago at this point- and in that time the series has aged VERY poorly. Not only does the art have plenty of rough edges, but there are many shots where the colors are very dull, with the character models having often minimal detail. And, much like "Madlax", there isn't a scrap of blood to be found during combat, which in a neo-noir story about assassins and corruption is absolutely jarring. In short, this series looks even worse than "Madlax", which is already a fairly low bar to clear.
Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): While "Noir"'s soundtrack is definitely good, it is unfortunately one of Yuki Kajiura's weakest efforts, if not her weakest full stop. While there are some great tracks to be found, you may find you've heard it all before if you're familiar enough with her work. The opening "Coppelia no Hitsugi" is good enough and fits the tone of the show well, but the ending theme is very forgettable and I skipped it every time after listening to it once. On the other hand, the voice acting is very good. Monica Rial's performance as Kirika starts off fairly wooden and one-dimensional, which probably isn't helped by her not having many lines, but she does improve as the series goes on, especially towards the end. That said, my favourite performance would have to be Shelley Calene-Black as Mirielle, who manages to do every part of the character very well from start to finish.
Characters (6.5/10): I'll start with Kirika. At the start of the series, she knows pretty much nothing about herself, with her entire journey being a quest for identity. All that's really known about her is that she's got terrifying assassin skills and is able to kill a lot of people without ever feeling sad, something that deeply disturbs her. She was obviously designed to be a moe character, and while the series does a good job at keeping her sympathetic, there are times when her innocence is more annoying than adorable, which probably isn't helped by the fact that a good chunk of her dialogue is limited to saying Mirielle's name. Seriously, she barely speaks, especially during the early episodes, and yet she says "Mirielle" so often I practically lost count. On the flipside, she's a total badass, being able to take on scores of enemies without breaking a sweat, not only with guns, but with seemingly harmless items too, almost like a female Jason Bourne. Overall, I can say that I liked her overall, but I do wish that she could have been developed a bit more, since I felt she didn't really change much even after gaining her memories back.
The other of the main duo is Mirielle, who I actually found myself preferring over Kirika. Unlike Kirika, Mirielle's skill is on the level of normal person, albeit one who is very good at her job. What she lacks in skill compared to Kirika, however, she makes up for by being the brains of the duo i.e. she's the one who researches their targets and makes the strategies during their assassinations. While she's not likable at first, given her threats to kill an amnesiac girl once she remembers who she is, she does soon prove herself to be a lot more warm-hearted than she appears. This becomes especially evident when we meet a figure from her past, who represents what Mirielle would be if she truly were a heartless killer. In fact, considering everything she suffers both before and during the series, I actually found myself feeling more sympathy for her than I did for Kirika. To top it all, while their relationship starts off as purely professional, Mirielle does eventually grow to care for Kirika in her own way. Just don't expect her to ever admit it, or at least not to the person herself.
Besides the main duo, another noteworthy character is Chloé, who is an assassin like the protagonists and claims to be the true "Noir". Sadly, she's a lot more difficult to talk about, being one of those mysterious types. Pretty much the only things I can say about her without spoiling anything are that she's got a connection to the protagonists, she's of similar skill to Kirika and that she fights with knives instead of guns. One problem I had with pretty much all of the characters, however, is that they tend to be slaves to their occupation, with their actions almost never being brought into question, which is particularly odd for a series that tries so hard to force grey and gray morality. I couldn't help but feel that the characters would be a lot more compelling if they were ever to stop to think that maybe, just maybe, they DON'T have to kill this old man who has long since paid for his crimes and is no longer a threat to anyone just because they were told to! Out of all the characters, only Mirielle outgrows this fatalistic mindset, and even that's only to a certain degree.
Enjoyment (6.5/10): As you might imagine, "Noir" is not only a dark series, but a seriously bleak one too, given that the protagonists are assassins who kill people on a regular basis, sometimes those who don't even deserve it, and many episodes tend to have very bittersweet or tragic endings, even more so than "Madlax". There are a few moments of genuine happiness or humour sprinkled throughout, but they are few and far between, and overall the series pulls no punches in regards to how unglamourous the life of an assassin is.
Overall: "Noir" may have been the most successful of its trilogy upon initial release, but after watching all three anime, I would consider it to be the worst, largely thanks to the dated visuals, somewhat underdeveloped characters and superficial morality. It's overall aged pretty poorly, which I consider a testament to film noir in general going out of fashion over the decades. Overall, I would say that if you're a fan of film noir or girls with guns, you should give this one a go, but if you're not, you're better off staying away.
It's been too long since i last saw Noir and for some reason my taint was itching to have a go at it for a 2nd time after 19 years and if i'm honest i shouldn't have made this fatal mistake cause what i watched with my innocent eyes and rose tinted galsses back then....Let's find out, shall we?
Noir, for starters, is part of a trilogy of animes themed as Girls with Dild.....Oh it's not that kind of deadly device...Girls with frying pans then? No not that either..Oh yes of course, silly me. It's Girls with Guns (and Roses)..And as was the case with band...this anime is also overrated. Sure the members look cool and smoke and have flashbacks from drug use and managed to get a hit or two here and there but the deeper workings are quite a different story...And if that story was interesting or even deep i think i could manage but a big fat "fuck you" was in the air.
Deep in the dark pits of the kingdom of Hades 2 girls and a cup...Oh i can go on all day with that shit and it will be more interesting that what's about to follow. So for real now ok? The story starts with Mireille Bouquet who is a killer cook in Paris.
-What does she cook then, Dion?
-Her special dish is cheese with wine and surrendering to the enemy like any Frenchman would do! That and pasta garnished with bored blood of her enemies.
But her peaceful days in Paris watching lame French movies and hanging garlic on the walls were about to end.....As a Japanese girl named Kirika Yumura appeared from the TV set wanting her memories back..Nah just fucking with ya..She sent a Tinder request..Ok ok don't hit me in the head mate i'm gonna be more retarted than usual...She sent a weirdly worded email and for the life of me i can't fathom how and why after reading that email she decided to meet with Kirika but she did and the music cued and they danced to the end of love with some other assasins who tried to kill them?! and that's how this holy alliance was born..With pain, blood, sweat and bullets.
Sounds interesting doesn't it? I mean girls, guns, Paris...What could go wrong?
Let me start with the opening song cause that's what hits you first in every episode after all. It's a bizzare one this..It's like whoever wrote it was described how "Arthur's Farewell" sounded through the phone and the end result was some techno beat mixed with Japanese pop mixed with French fries and espresso. And if you sit there and think that this unholy mix shouldn't be here...You're dead right, i too was waiting to hear some epic sort of orchestral track or at the least something that would insinuate adventure and murders not fluffy dogs and candles in the shower. But in all honesty this song fits the series like a glove, in the sense that expectations from reading the story or from the 1st episode quickly turned into a boring trash can fire instead of a full blown collapse of the civilization as we know it....And that's not all as the song ends IN EVERY FUCKING EPISODE we get a little narration about some occult stuff (Imagine the opening narration from Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast track but way more boring and with way less emotion in delivery).
But we'll get to the songwriting later on, but for now let's move on to the actual series and what you should expect after a very enthralling 1st episode.
And what you should expect is massive amounts of yawn and saliva hanging from your dirty cheeks. Every single episode is the same formula of 2 girls meeting bad guys, boring action scenes happen, everyone dies a miserable death except for our main duo rinse and repeat and there you have the first 10 or so eps of this anime. GOT THAT? 10 eps full of mostly watered down Hollywood action scenes and when i say watered down i mean right down to the last detail. I mean people get shot so logic dictates that some blood should poor from the dead asshole's....Holes...Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen as this series with assasins and whatnot is as soft as toilet paper with bears on it. Good for your dirty ass cheeks not for your entertainment.
And this was standard practice for Bee Train studio at the time. Nice looking anime with superbly sounding stories full of glamour and style let down by horrible execution. The characters themselves are as dry as the vagina of a whore who's as coke'd up and drunk as Charlie Sheen. Sure some lube will do the work but the fact remains that after 5 mins your dick will look like you dipped it in a woodchipper and it was ugly to begin with. And if that wasn't bad enough they made the monumental decision to take it slow with the story. So slow in fact that it reminded me of the time i drove a Zastava and if you don't know how slow or dangerous that car was google it and experience the horror. And some may make the point that in these first 10 or so eps the main duo formed a bond or some shit...Even Romeo and Julieta's bond didn't take that long to develop and that was back in the dark ages for fuck's sake..Are you honestly gonna sit there and tell me that in the span of 10 filler eps they couldn't cram anything else or even tell the story in a tighter way in half the amount of eps?
Enough of that let's talk animation VA music etc. Animation for the most part was solid with good use of dramatic lighting and shadows. The constant change of enviroments made for some very nicely animated backgrounds, cities, mountains and whathaveyou. The characters themselves were pretty standard -if not low par- apart from moments where things got a bid dark and the faces looked like i drew them but there were definitely some corners cut. 3 words for ya,Panning, stills and flashbacks galore. Flashbacks alone made for 10% of each episode and if that doesn't scream repettitive and saving a penny or 2 i don't know what does. Flashbacks do play a role here, mind you, but not when you use it 40 times more than you should.
Which leads me to the fight scenes...And oh boy do they look and sound rubbish..Every fight has the same epic song throughout the series and after the first 3 times it becomes so tiresome that at some point i found myself muting the scenes and playing Spice Girls in the background which instantly made it 70 times better..Also the series draws inspiration from the worst Hollywood films and drags the hell out of the fight scenes. Imagine every scene where the bad guy aims at the protagonist shouting that he will kill him..KILL THE FUCKER what are you waiting for? And what the hell is this with all the "dramatic" looooooooooooooong pauses? How many dramatic pauses are enough before you actually come out and say that this shit is ridiculous..But the worst Hollywood sin of all..Bullets flying but not one seems to find shelter anywhere near the protagonists and that was made worse by the fact that the blond hot chick who is an assasin of the highest caliber....Pretty much stands around getting shot at, getting surprised she is shot at and pretty much being useless and Kiriko the ugly midget does all the hard killing. If you weren't told she was a pro you'd think she was there by accident!
The second half at least was a tad better but that's like saying bleeding from the abdomen is better than bleeding from the neck. It was also faster than a Zastava but not by much and there are some big reveals about the girls' past and a secret organization called "the Soldats" who are like an ancient mafia like thingy..But even with these revelations the story itself combined with these bland characters did no good at all for the greater picture. And if speedy was what i thought about the 2nd half you should watch the end and be amazed at how this 26 FUCKING EPISODES MARATHON managed the 4 last eps were shit was hitting the fan. Honestly the ending was so rushed it was like watching Nascar on meth and i have to wonder why? Why the fuck have 10 filler eps going on about absolutely nothing and when it mattered the most fuck it up on a galactic scale?
All in all this anime that impressed my young dumb self 19 yrs ago, now bored the fuck out of me. I can't stand here in good faith and tell you that for nostalgia's sake this anime was great cause it wasn't in the least. Animation on a strict budget, music that while was nice-ish was overused to the point of mental breakdown, story that could be but never was, boring and almost non existent dialogues between the characters and characters bland and paper thin..So no sorry, i'm not gonna suggest in the least that it was something better than broderline mediocre.
Wanna watch it? Go ahead and do just don't say i didn't warn ya.
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According to Hollywood Reporter, US pay TV company Startz is developing a live action remake of anime Noir. The executive producers are Sam Raimi ("Spider-Man&q...read more
We're supposed to want the hero to succeed, but there are times when the bad guy has a good reason to be bad. We know you're secretly rooting for these sympathetic anime villains.
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