Noir

Dark series about a woman with a past, a woman who can't remember the past, and the secret that could destroy them both. The music is breathtaking, and the plot is winding and unpredictable. It's anime for people who didn't think they liked anime. Great stuff.

... 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.

This show is great. Every Anime fan should have this in his/her repertoire. But please, they could have skipped Mirellies flashback scenes, they very annoying when they pop up now and then. Other than that, I have to say: Just watch it!!!

Noir is an anime set in the near future. Mireille Bouqet is a young girl who happens to be one of the most talented assassins in the underworld. One day she receives an e-mail with the name of her next target: Kirika Yumura. The e-mail has an attachment phrase, "Join me on a pilgrimage to the past." and a melody that was playing from a music box (Mireille's fathers watch) when Mireille's parents were killed. Mireille, whose parents were killed by a mysterious assassin, and Kirika, a girl who has no memory of her past, eventually team up together as assassins.

Noir is a remarkable anime. It has a lot of focus on the story, and the creators take their time to tell it. You don't see any funny sequences in these series, you see the characters hold on to whatever small hope they have left in their life, and you see the two main characters do their job in cold blood and an empty look in the eye. After watching a couple of episodes, I found it hard to take a break away from Noir. It has so much atmosphere, and the feelings of the characters really got to me. The main story has some interesting twists and turns, and at some points it really surprised me, and I never really couldn't be sure that the things I new wasn't going to turn around on me.

If there is anything I should complain about, it should be the flashbacks that you see through the whole plot. They just appear too many times, but in my opinion they bind the story together, and I liked them because of their "Noir"-style, so it really isn't such a big deal.

Noir has great animation all the way, a good plot, some interesting side-stories, and a kick-ass sound track that I regularly listen to on my computer. People who like action-packed anime may get a little bored watching Noir, though.