Noir: anime review

Title: Noir
Genre: action, drama
Released date: April 6, 2001 – September 27, 2001
Episode: 26
Director: Koichi Mashimo
Animated by: Bee Train Studio
Comment: Who doesn’t like pretty girls with guns and lots of actions? Noir is the code name of the most feared two female assassins with exceptional talents, Mireille and Kirika. They travels all over the world on many dangerous missions and later learn that their lives are manipulated by the secret figure, Athena, who holds the key to their pasts. Every episode provides more than enough action sequences to satisfy any fans of this genre. Thanks to many smart action scenes, great variety of interesting supporting characters and villains, the viewers are constantly entertained and the slow main plot can be easily forgotten. The art direction of Noir is outstanding as the scenery of Europe is beautifully and realistically portrayed. The original soundtrack was probably the most memorable part of this anime. The main theme ‘Salvanos’ kept ringing in my ears for weeks. Certain scenes and flashbacks such as the scene in which Mireille witnesses her parents’ murder are repeated over and over that they are annoying. The animation is slightly below my standard. There are too many still images and the characters’ movements are not very smooth. The producers clearly try to make the anime more children-friendly by showing no blood when the villains are shot or stab but the violence is still obvious since the two protagonist is a merciless killers. Conclusion: Despite some weaknesses, Noir is greatly entertaining with interesting story, well developed characters and beautiful music and scenery.
Rating: B