Noir

... then this series would be it.

the story centers on Mireille and Kirika. Mireille is the sole surviving daughter of a Corsican crime family and has become an assassin to pay the bills. Kirika is an introverted Japanese girl with no memories of her past and an inexplicable talent for extortionary violence. (you will *never* look at schoolgirls the same way again after you've seen Kirika in action!)

they adopt the codename 'Noir' and set to business taking bids from gangland for contracted assassinations, developing a reputation as killers to be particularly feared.

but as the story goes on, both girls come to realize that the name 'Noir' has history all it's own: a dark legacy that links both Kirika and Mireille together in ways that could never have imagine...

look past the obvious hyper-cute character designs (both Mireille and Kirika are *very* easy on the eyes), mind-blowing action sequences and a soundtrack that absolutely keeps the adrenaline pumping, you'll find things very rare in anime of this genre: a story with an actual purpose and very well-written characters.

'Noir' is anime that ain't anime. if you get the chance to watch any episodes, grab it.

you won't regret it.

On first appearance, Mireille Bouquet would strike the most vigilant eye as nothing more harmful than a beautiful young woman who spends her afternoons in the markets of Paris; shopping for groceries and riding to and from her loft apartment on a moped through the cobbled streets of charmingly rustic neighborhoods; a perfect disguise for one of the most deadliest assassins in the world.

On first appearance, Kirika Yumura would strike the most vigilant eye as nothing more harmful than an innocent young girl, living a school girl's life in Tokyo, Japan; another perfect disguise for another one of the world's most deadliest assassins.

The only real difference that sets these two apart is that Mireille stands out as a woman who's never had the obsessed questions of her past answered, while Kirika is literally unable to remember her past.

The only clues that Kirika has ever had to her missing memory are the ones that have now forced her to seek out Mireille's help. Resigning herself to the fact that their lives are inextricably linked, Mireille is forced to team up with this mysterious and dangerous stranger in the hopes of finding the answers she's always sought, while at the same time helping to recover Kirika's lost memory. From this point on it becomes only a matter of time before their quest takes them deeper into a world of dark conspiring forces, savagely intent on bending these femme fatales to their own will and at any cost.

As the first installment of a seven disc collection, Noir: Shades of Darkness is an impressive debut that succeeds through a combination of consummate storytelling, beautiful art and a praiseworthy soundtrack. Audiences will walk away feeling compelled to make space in their DVD library for the entire series.

ok, having gone through my freshman year at Arizona and watching the new shiz over at TASS, i must say Noir stands out as one of my favorites that i have seen out of the new stuff (other recommendations: X, hellsing, vandread, love hina). i was looking foward for the first episode to this series because the name sounded cool at first. after watching the opening theme, listening to the music throughout the first episode, and seeing how the plot was unfolding, i was blown away. this touches anime in a way that i have never seen before. i would definately say this series rivals cowboy bebop and trigun combined! if you're looking for gun fights, girls, lots of killing, and one of the most electrifying soundtracks, see this, period

Although the artwork in Noir is not a style I prefer with its triangle chin and noses, and over-sized eyes, the strengths of this anime are its story and its ability to leverage emotional impact. Without difficulty this could have been fit into less than half the number of episodes that are on the seven DVD volume set since each episode reveals only a small part of the mystery, with frequent near-term and long-term flashbacks.

Mireille Bouquet is an assassin for hire that works alone, at least until a mysterious Japanese girl who has lost her memory shows up. She knows herself only as Kirika Yuumura, which she assumes to be a fake name. However it is obvious from the start that she is even more lethal than Mireille, who reluctantly takes her as a roommate because an artifact that Kirika possesses, a music-box watch with an iconic emblem on its cover that looks like a state seal more than anything else. The watch once belonged to Mirelle's father, who was killed with the rest of Mireille's family for reasons she has never learned.

To make her position clear, Mireille promises Kirika, "when all of this is made clear, I will kill you." Kirika accepts this without protest and even something akin to what appears to be relief. "I'll be ready," she says.

So the girls are in the business together, with the leggy, blonde Mireille in the lead and Kirika doing most of what she is told. Although I am no expert, but it would seem to me that if you are an assassin and you continually get into pitched gun battles with dozens of better-armed foes it might be a sign to question whether you are doing it right. Even if you always win. Mireille's favorite working outfit is a scarlet blouse and black miniskirt with a slit up to the waist, which looks good but is hardly practical. Kirika dresses less flamboyantly but you have to wonder just where do those girls carry all those extra ammo clips? Further, if your life depends on your anonymity why would you go about your work dressed so conspicuously? The music track is slick and sophisticated, but it gets ruined by repetition. The first few times you see action scenes with the themed aria, a Latin verse or two that feels like it has religious overtones to it, it works. After the 20th action scene with the same track playing you want to shut it off. The bad guys are almost always virtually lining up to get shot, being such bad shots themselves I suppose they want to get it over with. For all of that the fight choreography well done and fun to watch.

None of this ruins what is the real point of Noir, and that is the relationship between Mireille and Kirika and their mystery, with the introduction of several other strong women characters along the way. There is no sex or even simple nudity anywhere in the plot, which is a shame because although the writers obviously thought it would either cheapen the production or perhaps distract the story, it would have given more opportunities to break up the repetition that drags on too long.

This is a decent show, lets just get that out of the way. Its crisp, stylish and occasionally beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed it, however whats frustrating is there are a few simple things it could have done to make it excellent. The basic story is that of Mirielle and Kiryka, a young woman and a teenager who are highly trained assassins. Kiryka, the teenager, has severe amnesia and cannot remember anything about herself, her past or how she can kill so easily. The only thing she know is the name Noir. She tracks down Mirielle and finds she has some connection to her from her past. They agree to team up until the figure out Kiryka's past as the assassin team known as Noir.

The fight scenes are excellent technically, the animation is crisp and top notch and the things these two women can do with a simple handgun is astonishing. However the major problem I have with the fights is the utter lack of blood. Now I don't need blood to enjoy a movie, but the complete lack of blood throughout the entire series (save one seen that the repeatedly flash back to) makes the gunplay seem almost sterile. Just a little blood here and there would give the gunfights a more visceral dangerous feeling. Also some people might take issue with the fact that the gunfight are very James Bond-esque, meaning the protagonists fire 3 shots and you swear 5 people fall, while the so called crack troops the often come up against can't seem to hit anything but air. However if you are able to suspend your disbelief as is necessary when watching anime you probably won't find much of a problem with it.

Another problem I had with this series is the constant use of flashbacks. I don't mind flashbacks when they are important to the story but do we really need to watch the same scene six times? It gets to the point when the director must have been a few minutes short on the episode so they decide to flashback to the same scene again. Also sometimes during the middle of the series it begins to drag a bit. There are times when its slightly boring and slow moving but its not that bad. The English dubbing is fairly good for the most part though some of the English voices seem slightly sedated. The music is haunting and beautiful if somewhat overplayed. All in all its an entertaining series though not on the same level of style as Cowboy Bebop or the same level emotionally as Evangelion.