Following the excitement for mecha anime renewed by Gundam: Witch from Mercury, Synduality: Noir emerges as a fresh take on the genre, offering a contrasting vision.
While Witch from Mercury offered a breath of fresh air for its established franchise, Noir is utterly derivative. It forgoes the potential for spacefaring LGBTQ+ relationships in favor of a tired harem trope. The protagonist is the typical dense character we see in countless post-apocalyptic mecha stories involving alien invaders. Noir fails to innovate within the genre, borrowing heavily from others. Its "Magus" system, a contract-bound humanoid companion, feels like a copy of Fate's Servants and JoJo's Stands. It's basically Takt Op. Destiny with giant robots, thankfully without reaching the same level of absurdity.
Even though Noir uses familiar elements like stock characters and skimpy outfits, it's still entertaining. The art and animation are impressive, especially the mecha battles done in 3D. The characters, while typical, behave more maturely than their age suggests and their funny exchanges make them endearing.
The story unfolds one episode at a time, focusing more on introducing new characters than advancing the plot. It's unclear if things will become more serious and fast-paced later, but so far, season 1 is a fun and light introduction.
The Synduality project, particularly its anime Synduality: Noir, has generated some buzz. The anime uses the character Noir to introduce the world, but despite the involvement of well-known creators, it's not particularly groundbreaking in the mecha genre.
So, does part two fix the issues of part one? Yes, kind of. But it's not perfect - it still has its ups and downs.
Noir's a double-edged sword for her allies. Unraveling the truth about the Type Zero Magus and its origin in a place called Histoire has caused problems for everyone around her. This hidden location is key to a sinister plot by the Ideal group, led by Weisheit Blaurecht. He opposes a future with Maguses and aims to wipe them out. Ideal's creation and its followers are just tools for his plan.
Only his close friends, Macht Ewigkeit and Licht Alter (Tokio), are aware of his horrifying goal. Despite having their own Maguses (Macht with Schnee and Licht with Mouton), Licht ultimately defects because of his conscience. This is how he and his Magus end up in Rock Town as a double agent for both sides.
Meanwhile, Kanata's meddling in Noir's mysteries has been a source of trouble. While his hero complex was a pain in Part 1, he's grown more determined in Part 2. He wants to stop Ideal and Weisheit's vision of a human-only world. With Ciel's help, his goal is to fix Noir and make her a true Type Zero Magus.
The animation quality remains good (studio 8-bit) and the large cast is still there. The story reaches a major turning point, with characters risking themselves to save loved ones. The music in the first part ("Part 1") felt more impactful for setting up the series, even though the artists for the opening and ending themes switched places in the second part ("Part 2").
Overall, I wasn't impressed by Synduality. Combining different media types (mixed-media) is challenging, especially for video game companies like Bandai Namco with many existing franchises (like Scarlet Nexus). Mecha anime haven't been particularly innovative lately, even when paired with a video game. This is the case with Synduality: the anime just aired, and the video game (Synduality: Echo of Ada) comes out right after, even though they have different stories.
