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...this series puts a lot of emphasis on the style of the animation and story-telling

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NOIR

Shades of Darkness

Review by Kathy "Integra" Elgin w/ Matt Anderson

26 Episode TV series

Company: ADV Films

Running Time: 125 Minutes (5 Episodes)

Region: 1

Rated: R (Graphic Violence and Adult situations)

EXTERNAL EXAM

Mireille Bouquet is a beautiful, highly skilled professional assassin. One day she receives a strange e-mail with a photo of girl and an invitation to “Make a pilgrimage for the past.” Wanting to know more about its origins Mireille agrees to make the “pilgrimage” and meets up with Kirika, a seemingly innocent teenage schoolgirl.

Almost immediately the two girls find they are being pursued by a group of “men in black”. Kirika demonstrates martial arts skills and marksmanship that surpass Mireille’s own abilities. After fighting off their attackers, Mireille confronts Kirika, only to learn that Kirika is an amnesiac, and remembers nothing, but the name “Noir”.

Mireille surmises that whoever is responsible for stealing Kirika’s memories is somehow involved with their attackers. Mirielle believes that Kirika’s true origins are tied to her own past. Feeling she has nowhere else to turn, Kirika begs Mireille to help her discover her true identity and figure out what connects the two of them. Calling themselves “Noir” they open business as a team of hired killers to earn their “daily bread” as they slowly unravel the truth.

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: Noir is beautifully animated and overall the video on the DVD does well to compliment it. The colors are vibrant, the color contrast is good, and the blacks are just as they should be. My only complaint about the video is that there were several scenes where there is slight aliasing of the lines and “skips” in the animation.

AUDIO: For both the Japanese and English language tracks – the stereo quality is excellent. There is a good balance between the volume of the dialogue, the music, and the sound effects (i.e. no need to adjust the volume frequently). The stereo mixing was also impressive. For instance, on the Japanese track, in ep.4, one of the characters enters through a door off screen, and I could have sworn that I heard a real door opening behind me down the hall. That’s pretty impressive.

EDITS: The opening and closing animation have had the Japanese titles replaced with English. No other edits have been noted.

EXTRAS: The readily accessible extras include: Production Sketches (set up as a slide show - broken up by episode, they offer the option of turning English translations of the text on the original sketches by toggling the alternate angle option on your remote – very cool), Clean Opening Animation, Clean Closing Animation, Original Japanese Promos, and ADV Previews.

The DVD also comes with decoder glasses which allow you to decode a cryptic message printed on the back of the production notes booklet.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Noir may not be the most original in terms of story, but it is very stylish. You can tell that the writing staff was very much influcenced by the films Luc Besson and other Noir films. The mystery is interesting enough to keep you interested in learning more about the past of these two characters.

ACTING: I thought the Japanese language track was the better of the two, although I thought both the Japanese and English cast for Kirika and Mireille did great jobs. Kirika was perfect for a character who was supposed to express no real emotions. (Kirika can basically be equated with Evangelion’s Rei Ayanami, in this series – for both the Japanese & English versions).

Both the Japanese and English voice actresses for Mireille were very convincing in portraying a strong, confident, professional woman, which best suits the character. My only complaint is with the supporting cast in the English dub. The French accents for the supporting characters were very inconsistent (if you’re going to simulate the accents, at least be consistent about it, otherwise, please don’t do it at all).

FAN SERVICE: Mireille sports the shortest mini-skirt possible, while Kirika is mostly seen wearing the classic school-girl “sailor” uniform. Also of mention are the multiple times you will see both girls in their pajamas, and you won't forget the gratuitous shot of Mireille in a bikini in Episode 4.

FINAL EXAM

The animation is simply gorgeous. You can tell that a lot of research and time went into planning this series. While there are a few “short cuts” taken with the animation in some spots, they make up for it with the amazing detail in the beautiful backgrounds and character and mechanical designs. I also must mention that Noir is worth repeated viewings for the well animated/choreographed action sequences, particularly for the cool martial arts moves that Kirika displays. This is one worth showing off to your friends.

The biggest complaint about the series is the repeated flashbacks. You can guarantee you will see at least one flashback per episode, and usually it’s the same one each time – either Kirika running from the “men in black” through a bamboo forest, or Mireille’s childhood memory. To say the flashbacks were overused is an understatement.

Also, the music in the soundtrack is very repetitive. It’s good, but you may get tired of hearing the same theme song during every action sequence. Repetition aside, this is one soundtrack that I liked enough that I wouldn’t mind adding to my collection (note to self: must look for Noir soundtrack at next con).

I also would like to draw attention to the style of Noir. It should be said that noir literally means “black” in French. “Film Noir,” or “black film” identifies a style of film-making that is noticeably dark. Usually the stories are associated with “dark,” cynical characters and the stories usually involve crime, or some other “dangerous” topic. Those familiar with the “film noir” genre may notice the use of some camera angles and silhouettes that are staples of the genre.

The creators of the Noir anime have put a lot of these devices to good use in the anime. While they admit in their production notes that they didn’t set out to create a “film noir” anime, they named it Noir because of the style of the anime and dark crime-related story and characters. Needless to say, this series puts a lot of emphasis on the style of the animation and story-telling. As the story unfolds, you never really truly know the characters or their motives, but you slowly get to know them as the characters learn the secrets of their own identities.

I would like to show my appreciation to the character designers and animators for not going overboard on “panty shots” like you may see in most anime. I was grateful to see that they respected the characters and the story enough to not resort to too much “fan service.”

Noir may not be the best anime series ever made, but it’s a good demonstration of what anime can be capable of. Anime connoisseurs may find some elements of Noir to be “generic” when compared with some other series, and fans of French director Luc Besson may notice some scenes that appear to be borrowed straight from his films, La Femme Nikita or Leon, the Professional (Mireille even keeps a potted plant just like Leon’s), but those new to anime may find this series to be a good start to a possible new obsession.

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