Noir

10 reviews - 41.5 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (4.2)

10. Global Frequency

Leaps and bounds ahead of run-of-the-mill girls-with-guns anime, Noir combines fantastic design, music and atmosphere with an interesting story that belies its style-over-substance reputation. Mireille Bouquet, a Corsican assassin whose parents' murder still haunts her, receives an email from Kirika Yumura, a young girl whose proficiency at killing surpasses Mireille's own. The two embark upon a journey to discover Kirika's past and her apparent connection to Mireille. Things get interesting when they come into possession of a parchment hinting at the existence of a secret society, dating centuries into the past, known as the Soldats - the forefathers of worldwide organized crime.

Noir has style to spare and a coherent and innovative plot. I have only two problems with the series, and while they may seem minor, they do become severely distracting. One is the lack of blood. Noir has an insane body count - but not a drop of blood to be found. It's somehow unsettling to see a man die without the common courtesy of a bullet-hole and a little claret. The other is the ease with which the villains are dispatched. Mireille and Kirika take out fifty armed goons in a matter of minutes. Disposing of generic hired muscle with the greatest of ease is all well and good, but when the higher-echelon killers are introduced - the Three Saints, the Knights of Paris and the Soldat High Priestesses - they go down just as easily. The series is at its weakest during battles in which we lose sight of the protagonists' mortality, and it happens often enough to detract from what is otherwise an enjoyable and unique anime. It's an odd mix of episodes that disappoint and awe in turn (though the second half is uniformly impressive in every respect).

9. YanYan

Noir has been a popular Anime series in Japan and it's obvious why Noir has gained so many fans. Noir may have its strengths, but there are some flaws in this wonderful series as well. To create a general summary of the plot, Noir is about a highschool student named Kirika in search of her true identity. Kirika is helped by Mireille, an elegant and beautiful woman to help recover Kirika's past. Along the way, however, more and more unusual events occur leading the two women deeper into their true destinies. It's quite an interesting plot isn't it? But to say the least, the pace of the story is slow. Noir makes up for this by creating some interesting plot twists along the way. The animation and visuals for Noir are fluid showing action scenes in which Mireille and Kirika pull off some wild stunts. The characters and landscapes used are absolutely fantastic, but at times the art can get a bit mediocre as if the artists seem to get tired of drawing. You've heard some weak points of this series, but what makes Noir so unique is its music. It's immediately noticeable that a HUGE effort was put into creating the soundtrack for Noir. The music can get anyone in the mood, and it's amazing how effectively it is embraced in this show. Music is a large part of this series, ranging from songs such as Aka ta Kuro, Canta per Me, and so on. I loved the songs from the show so much, I even spent the time to buy the 3 CD soundtrack. It's well worth it. To conclude, Noir does have it's weaknesses, but it also has its strengths. Some may find Noir bland, others may find it absolutely interesting. It's up to you to decide how this show fares against other series.

8. Iodine

A popular title that looks at the partnership of two deadly female assassins: haunted, beautiful Mireille, and the amnesiac teenaged Kirika. The pace of the story is extremely slow, and much of it is extremely introspective. It doesn't help that there isn't much dialogue and what is said is often infuriatingly obtuse. A lot is left up to the interpretation of the viewer, an idea that has both its good and bad points. The first few episodes do a great job of setup while showing off the duo in action. Unfortunately, the ambiguity of the exposition is kept up throughout the entire series, with the same repetitious foreshadowing at every turn. The ending is more or less over by the time we get to it, and there is no real sense of resolution to any of the events. Still, the series makes good use of its mysteries and the lovely French atmosphere is positively addictive. The development of the relationship between Mireille and Kirika, which is central to the series, comes through smashingly as well.

The designs mirror the writing - lovely, but minimal, while the animation is extremely static, but used effectively. The gunfights are plentiful, but tend to depend on quite a few visual shortcuts that don't always deliver. Note must be made of the lovely score, which tries very hard to fill in for absent dialogue with moderate success. Ultimately, it's the style of the show that's the main thing to watch, in a moodier, more contemplative action series that still gets its point across, despite the obvious flaws.

7. Hybrid

Well if you get a young female assassin named Mireille Bouquet that has a mysterious past, a even better assassin named Kirika, guns, another mysterious assassin with purple hair named Chloe, and finally another mysterious lady called Altena, you simply get one of the most lavish and stylish anime in recent years. Well from the get go, Noir is simply style over substance. The settings and backgrounds of the show are simple beautiful and stunning. The music of the show is simply fantastic and catchy. Well, that's all that Noir has for it, but what the show did lack was character and plot development and poor story pacing. If they was another flaw of the show it would have to be the constant appearance of seeing the same flashback scene over and over again, during the first 10 episodes. However during the halfway mark of the series when Chloe makes her appearance, the main plot of the show starts to be told and doesn't slow down towards the very end. Despite some small minor issues that I had with this show, I would recommended that you go and see this show, but in the end this is one show that you will either hate or love. Recommended.

6. Yogi

Noir is the story of four women trying to find their place in their life. Each one of them has been profoundly shaped by events in their childhood and is trying to come to terms with it and move on. Not all of them are able to do so, and are destroyed in the process. This also is a story of friendship and how hope can exist even in the midst of darkness and sin.

The characterization is quite good in the series, with even the "bad guys" being very believable and sympathetic characters in themselves (this does not account the many nameless men in suits which perish on a regular basis.) The animation quality isn’t that good compared to modern titles. The story is told in a slow, subdued tone. The music is quite excellent ranging from J-pop to Latin choirs. Despite the rather large body count, only two people bleed in the entire show.

5. Leliel

A real breath of fresh air. Noir's story follows Mireille Bouquet, a young assassin, encountering an amnesiac girl for whom killing seems almost instinctive. The two delve into their past and kill more mooks than a Hong Kong blood opera in the process. The show is fairly episodic in nature, following an 'assassination of the week' format while the main plot gears up. Some nice visuals. As might be expected from the content, there is an unusually high mortality rate; despite this there is almost no blood to be seen. The sound effects are good, particularly on the ever-present firearms. The music is the key; Noir is set to one of finest soundtracks in anime, a brilliant Mediterranean themed composition by relative newcomer Kajiura Yuki. Copperia no hitsugi and Kirei-na kanjou, OP and ED respectively, are the only letdown, but the other vocals are excellent. Insert theme Canta per me is a beautiful mix of strings with Italian vocals, while action song Salva nos boasts Latin chants in a techno track. And it works. The entire package is an unusual mix at times, but it always works. Slick and stylish, Noir hits all the right points; a great reminder of why I got into this hobby in the first place.

4. cron

Noir follows the story Kirika Yuumura as she contracts an assassin Mireille Bouquet to find out Kirika's true identity. From this point on we follow the discoveries of Mireille's past and the involvement of the secret organization Soldats in both of their lives. Kirika joins Mireille in her business and both are now known as NOIR. As mentioned by weasl, this series is total style. The series takes place in France most of the time and it definitely takes style queues in environment and music. The action scenes have some high points (the popcorn!) and their low points of repetitive loads of Soldats minions that seem to die in hordes. The animation is decent and lacking in scene detail but it's nice and seems to almost a clean computer animated series. The story is lacking in content there is enough suspense and depth get the viewer from gun fight to gun fight with the occasional interesting twist. The music is great and very enjoyable but some fantastic songs are overplayed (example the pocket watch song (Melodie), and the main battle theme (Canta Per Me) (fantastic)).

3. dios

Noir is the sparsely told tale of two female assassins, set not so much in our world as on its dark underbelly. The presentation of the show is striking: extreme close-ups and long silences are common, combat is stylized, and the director is not afraid to draw out a scene to make the most of the evocative music, but as the show progresses it becomes clear that Noir has a story to tell as well. Character development comes in small steps, but that's because the characters are emotionally stunted, and they do manage some really moving scenes amidst all the gunfights. If you're looking for realism Noir isn't a great choice, and the slow pace can be off-putting (they take far too long to introduce the important third character, for instance), but otherwise it's a stylish and sophisticated action show.

2. Tempy

Noir follows the assassins Mireille and Kirika as they carry out missions in France and all over the world. At first the show is quite episodic. Noir has average backgrounds and decent character designs and animation. Yet it compensates these with cool scenes and an excellent soundtrack. The music is probably the best thing in Noir with varying tracks ranging from soothing classic guitar ballads, lively France-influenced guitar and accordion duets, poignant music-box tunes, to techno-like beats with Latin singing. It's not until almost halfway when Chloe appears that the show gets on track to develop the main plotline. That when things really start becoming intriguing, though it doesn't necessarily means it gets better. For all its cool scenes, there is still quite a lot to complain about. Mireille and Kirika are good assassins, but sometimes it just gets a bit unbelievable. Probably because the enemies suffer from Stormtrooper(TM) syndrome. They shop at the same clothing store, and they can't aim. Fights never get to be really interesting; the only good battle doesn't occur until episode 25. Eventually it seems the reason for all the bloodshed is quite contrived. Though for a violent show like this, with nearly 200 deaths (wild guess, it's a *lot*), there is hardly any blood. I suspect it's because it's edited for TV broadcast. There's a rumor of a director's edition, which might possibly change Noir quite a bit, if only for the added blood. Anyway, despite its failings, Noir *is* a cool show, with enough intrigue, cool action bits, and moments of poignancy and melancholy to keep you watching.

1. weasl

Simply put Noir is style over substance. Issues like story and character development are minimal, with the bulk of the show composed of beautiful visuals, excellent action sequences and a great soundtrack that sets a rather unique mood. Our story follows Mireille and Kirika a pair of talented assassins with a mysterious past, who operate under the code name Noir. The majority of the episodes follow the pair as they perform various hits, and fight it out with other assassins and crime syndicates. As the story progresses the web behind the mysterious pair begins to unravel, and we get a look a the deeper picture as well as the origins of the Noir code name. Action anime fans take note, with it's level of style and well pulled off action sequences this one is a great watch.