Noir  Recommended
Publisher
ADV
Director
Koichi Mashimo
Production
Production IG, TV Tokyo, Victor Entertainment
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2001
Noir Volume 1: Shades of Darkness
By John Huxley
20th May 04  Episode Summary WARNING: may contain spoilers Episode 1: Maidens with Black Hands Receiving a mysterious e-mail, the assassin for hire Mireille Bouquet is intrigued enough to fly to Tokyo from Paris to meet the stranger. There, outside a construction site she meets a young girl who holds a decorative pocket watch which, when opened, plays a tune. Before they are properly introduced, both Mireille and the girl are attacked by men in black suits. Eliminating as many as she can, Mireille is surprised to discover that the girl is equally capable of killing as her self. Between the two of them, they dispose of the men as quickly as they came. Returning to the young girls' house, Mireille probes her as to why she has a fake identity; Kirika Yumura, a high school student who's parents have left the country. Kirika reveals that she woke up in this house with no memories and no clue as to her true identity except for her student ID card and the musical pocket watch. Hoping that Kirika will prove useful for her own needs, Mireille agrees to help her. Episode 2: Daily Bread Back in Paris, the two assassins begin their first job as the newly formed Noir. They must kill both the leader of a terrorist organisation and the director of the French anti-terrorist unit. The two have been leaking sensitive information and someone wants to silence them. Asking no questions, Noir move in for the kill. Episode 3: The Assassination Play Grieving the recent death of her affluent husband, the widow hires Noir to hunt down the prime suspect, the entrepreneur Albert Dux. Ambushing him in his newly acquired hotel seemed like a good idea - until Noir realises they have been caught in a trap set by Dux himself. But who would want Noir dead? Could they be connected to Kirika's past? Episode 4: The Sound of Waves The action moves to the exotic south American country of Ulgia. After taking in some sun, Noir head off to eliminate their targets; key members of a group planning a movement against the small country. Concerned, the organiser of this movement orders the Ulgian army to capture Noir. Finding instead a young girl, the army lower their defence...big mistake... Episode 5: Les Soldats In an effort to obtain information on the people who hired Dux, Mireille enlists the help of a trusted ally. When her aide is killed, Mireille's only clue is the wine bottle he left for her in a bar. Further inspection reveals several clues pointing to St. Galan's church. What could they possibly find there that was worth killing to protect? Volume Review The first episode of Noir gives away very little. All we know for sure is that there are two assassins: one veteran with a mysterious past and one rookie with amnesia. And trust me, that's all you'll know for a long time. Although we are treated to a few glimpses of Mireille's past and tenuous little information about the shady organisation pulling the strings, by the end of episode five you'll be none the wiser. If Noir were to simply to rely on it's overarching plot it would surely fall flat on it's face. Not only is the pacing dreadfully slow, it isn't particularly interesting, either (although there is definite room for improvement). No, what kept me watching Noir was the action. From the first episode we are treated to some fantastically directed action scenes that incorporate close combat, gunplay and plenty of rational thinking. You see, the action in Noir is more than just simple combat. The whole scenario around which the action revolves is what makes the combat so exciting to watch. This is highlighted in episode 3, where the girls find themselves cornered and outnumbered in a hotel casino. Using popcorn Mireille found, Kirika places it on key locations on the casino floor, alerting them to the unknowing guards' location. It is this kind of lateral thinking that makes the action all the more thrilling. It's a good thing each episode serves up plenty of action, otherwise we'd be left with a rather dull anime. The characters are fairly deadpan at this point; neither Kirika nor Mireille are particularly dislikeable, they just don't show us enough of themselves. They are very pretty, however, and the artwork and animation is more than good enough to highlight their finer qualities. The backgrounds and settings are also very nicely painted and each location ha Noir is perhaps the most realistic anime I've ever watched. And to its credit, it was every bit as exciting as shows featuring giant mechs or magical powers. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who's had their share of the fantastical and want something a little more down to earth.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English subtitles, Japanese and English audio, Production sketches, Clean opening and closing, Original Japanese promos, ADV previews.
Notes: Not a DVD full of extras, you might think. But the sheer volume production sketches more than makes up for the lack of a high feature count. These are presented in a show-reel format with the option to translate the original Japanese notes in to English by using a different camera angle. There are many sketches for each episode ranging from costume to set designs, right down to the props. The second thing that makes up for the lack of features is the four-page insert. Unlike many other ADV inserts it has interviews and editorials on Noir which contain all sorts of interesting information on the series. It also has a strange red square at the bottom of the last page which looks like one of those puzzles where you have to place a red filter over it to decode it. I couldn't find any red plastic lying around, so this is only a hunch...I'm probably going insane! Still, a decent DVD.
-- John Huxley 20th May 04
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