Noir

"...take a pilgrimage to the past with me..."

This line of text in an email accompanied by a short sound file are all it takes to change the life of Mireille Bouquet, a most trustworthy assassin for hire.

Noir is a story about an assassin operating out of Paris by the name of Mireille. She's good at what she does and lives a pretty relaxed lifestyle. Until one day, she receives an email from a Japanese student named Kirika. Kirika posesses a link to Mireille's past and though she cannot remember her real name, she is quite adept at killing people. The two ... strike a deal that Mireille will help Kirika recover her past and, because her past appears to overlap Mireille's, kill her when all is said and done. The two begin operating as an assination team under the codename "Noir".

The story itself is quite interesting in that it dives into the histories and mythologies of various organized crime groups (mafia, yakuza, triads, etc.) as well as a variety of secret societies and tries to create a new underworld where one massive organization is controlling them all. All of these connections are laid out as Mireille and Kirika take on more and more jobs in their hunt for Kirika's past. My only complaint is that the story is often bogged down in filler and because of the numerous side-jobs that Mireille and Kirika take up, the story occasionally loses its momentum and degrades to an episodic "girls with guns" show before eventually slapping itself back on track.

The artwork is rather plain and can be inconsistent at times. The first few episodes were fairly well done and the artwork was hit or miss beyond that. The style also seemed to not fit the story in that it was often very bright and colourful when the story itself was taking a darker turn. This sometimes gave the events happening on screen a more cartoonish feel. Another item of note is the lack of blood and gore. It was quite literally "pop-pop" and bad guy falls over dead. Mireille is frequently commenting on how messy Kirika's kills are, but the viewer never sees it.

The sound is actually quite good. Gunshots are accompanied by the sound of shell casings ringing to the ground and small-arms don't sound like cannons. Death grunts are reused a lot, but it doesn't distract too much. The soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura and has some truly excellent pieces in it, from choir, to orchestral, to electronic, to some really interesting tunes that I swear must incorporate every instrument she could find (and it turned out great!). The majority of the score incorporates a music box tune which was the attachment to the email that started the whole story.

Noir essentially only has one main character and that is Mireille. Though the story is about the two women as they wade through Europe's underground societies in search of Kirika's past, the viewer really doesn't learn a whole lot about Kirika. Mireille is the one who grows and learns more about herself through her involvement with Kirika and Kirika seems to only be there as some sort of emotionless plot device. Other characters pop in and out of the story, though their personalities are thin and their roles are small. They typically only serve as either filler or to teach the viewer something new about Mireille.

Did I enjoy the show? Yes. Enough that I've watched it through a couple of times. It's one of those light mystery thriller series that you hang onto for a rainy day. The music and the story make up for some of the inconsistencies in the artwork however, the abundance of filler is the suffering point of this series. Noir could have easily been a 12-episode show.

One of the first anime I have ever seen and one I remember most fondly. Why? Read on and find out.

The story starts off with Kirika who wakes up one morning somewhere in Japan without any memories, she can only remember the name Noir and has with her, a pocket watch that plays a melody when opened. She gets into contact with Mireille who operates as an assassin under the name Noir. They arrange a meeting where they are attacked by an unknown organisation but manage to escape because Kirika discovers that she is also a skilled assassin. Kirika explains her situation to Mireille who ... is at firs reluctant to help but when she hears the melody coming out of Kirika’s pocket watch that brings back the memories of the night when her parents were shot dead by an unknown assassin, she agrees to help her. And so they start working together as hitmen for hire under the name Noir and slowly start to unravel the truth about their pasts.

That is interesting if not particularly original premise and I have to say that the story evolves to become one of the best I have had the pleasure to see. The problem comes with the shows pacing which is truly glacial at the beginning of the anime, as nothing majorly relevant happens during the first ten or so episodes. Each one includes a contract they have to kill and each episode they uncover a new piece of the puzzle regarding their past. This would not be a problem if these episodes were not of extremely varying in quality, one regarding a retired KGB agent is in my opinion one of the best anime episodes I have ever seen, but some of the others are excruciatingly boring, and would be unwatchable if not for the exceptional soundtrack. Later on the pace picks up and moves away from the episodic format to focus more on the story. I also have to say here that the ending is perfectly satisfying and leaves few open threads which is quite rare nowadays.

The main characters are exceptionally well developed and show constant growth throughout the anime. The pasts of the main characters are slowly unraveled before our eyes as the story progresses through the use of flashbacks that reveal more every time you see them. We also have a great view into the world of professional assassins as we follow them on their path and see what kind of dilemmas they have to face. Besides Mireille and Kirika there are only two more characters that have any serious significance in the story and they only show up in the second half of the show, so as to not spoil anything, I will only say that they are also well fleshed out. There still is a thing I cannot understand an that is why do they chose names for the characters that the voice actors are unable to pronounce correctly, but that is not a problem exclusively in this series but for every anime that features foreigners.

The soundtrack has to be the best I have heard in a anime up until now. It manages to capture the happening on screen and helps us get through the slower portions of the anime. Even if you do not watch the show I would strongly recommend that you look it up and give it a listen. The opening is in my opinion the worse music in the whole anime and even then it is not particularly bad, it is just that I am not a fan of ALI Project and their style of music.The ending I found much better, it is a calm, quiet song by Arai Akino and while not fitting the anime itself is nice for calming you down after a turbulent episode. Also if you like the ending Arai Akino has several albums that are surely worth a listen. I am a bit divided on the visuals as I really disliked the character art at first, but later I got used to them and they did not bother me at all. You can clearly see they had a relatively small budget as the animation is really static at times with little to no movement, but such points are again salvaged by the sountrack. The backgrounds and scenery are done masterfully and there are more then a few moments where I was really taken aback by the vistas. Also the art manages to convey the location which is very important in a series that is happening all over the world. One thing I have to say is that the anime features no blood at all and on a few occasions that is quite distracting and confusing.

All in all Noir is a fabulous anime, but it has it’s fair share of shortcomings so it deserves an 8 in my opinion, but it could get an even higher score had the pacing been a bit better and there would have not be so many filler episodes. So if you are looking for an anime with a good story and soundtrack but the slow pace is not a problem then Noir is the anime for you.

I find this Anime's storyline to start out quite slowly.
However it does eventually pick up and it gets really good.
It depends on the taste of the person watching it.
If dubbed their voices are rather quiet and it might seem rather dull
To some of it's viewers until you see the fighting and/or pick up more on the storyline.

Patience maybe needed for this anime.
You mainly focus on the lives of Kirika and Mireille.
However there are 3 Noir canidates and the other is a girl named Chloe
whom cares a lot for Kirika.
...
For those who do not like two girls kissing,
There is a bathing ritual between Chloe and Kirika
In Episode 25, skip that until they start dressing.
I find the fighting quite good in this anime.

The music is very well done and has a great soundtrack.
Mireille is very good at planning things.
Also Kirika is very good in assassination tactics also.
So there is action and it's quite good.

Bee train is known to not show much blood in their girls with guns trilogy.
Noir was the starting point of that.
I think it was very good at it's time and even now.
I watched the subtitled and the Dub.

The Japanese voice actresses for the three canidates
have very good careers and great recognition.
If it means anything to anyone.


Kotono Mitsuishi, was not only Mireille but she was well known as Sailor Moon or Usagi Tsukino the main character, Juri from Revoluntionary girl Utena, Hancock Boa from One Piece and many more.

Houko Kuwashima, was not only Kirika but Kagura in Azumanga Daioh, Fon Soi in Bleach, Medusa Gorgon is Soul Eater and many more.

Aya Hisakawa, was not only Chloe but Ami Mizuno in Sailor Moon, Retsu Unohana from Bleach, she even remained in the other two animes in the girls with guns trology: Limelda Jorg from Madlax, Jodie Hayward from El Cazador de la Bruja.

"Grant us peace and save us from the enemies. Save us, God"

Story: 7
There is nothing screaming more loudly "thriller" than a series about professional assassins. But do not imagine a mindless action and long monologues. The mystery is built on down to the ground action, with no supernatural elements. However, there are few quite impossible outcomes of the situation. The tropes used (amnesia, unfinished sentences, looking at the eyes) can sometimes become boring and for a gun series it moves unusually slow. But once, you get into the story, you can really enjoy it, exactly because those tropes. The story stays open for the most ... episodes, but in a way that enhances the mystery without losing the linearity provided by the action. Understanding the mystery requires thinking and the the pauses really leaves time for the viewer to think. If you want a series that provide you with everything you need to know, this is not a series for you. Missing just a few lines of otherwise rare dialogue can make the difference between a good story and boring story in this series.

Art: 8
The art is surprisingly good for the year the movie is produced. While the shadow lack of transparency, the buildings and the walls have very tiny details like cracks and individual bricks, the trees have separate leaves, the paved street have separate stones. Most of the series from that time lack of such details. However, it is clearly that use of computers to put the drawn frames together is minimal, which makes the art even more amazing.

Sound: 10
The music selected for the series is nothing less than masterpiece. This is kind of music that can make a boring scene where the characters looks at their eyes, or flash back scenes you already seen to bring emotions. The music can even prepare for action or make you feel sad or unnerving even without watching the screen. It is a kind of OST, that must be downloaded and listened after I finish the series. However, be aware that music taste is subjective and if you do not like opera/classical style music, this might not apply to you.

Enjoyment: 9
The enjoyment of this series could be great if you get it. The first time I started the series I was a little distracted, so I almost dropped the series. Apparently, skipping just a few seconds each episodes might convert the enjoyable series into boring one. Thinking and attention is essential for enjoyment of this series. But once your attention is within the movie, it will provide a very nice and different way to enjoy it.

Overall: 9
This is a series I will definitely remember (mostly about the music). The story implementation and overusing on certain tropes makes the series a little bit short of masterpiece, but it is a great anime to enjoy.

Noir is a pretty cool anime, which had the potentially to be totally flipping sweet. Unfortunately there isn't really enough plot or thematic variation for a 26 episode series, and after a while the show begins to feel repetitive. Some gruff-voiced crime boss guy will be introduced, and then Kirika will look all forlorn and be like watashi wa...dare???, and Mireille will be like ooh look a pocket watch, this really takes me back to that time when--and then this awesome song with operatic vocals will start playing which is their cue to start shooting dudes, and at the end there will usually be a ... standoff wherein two parties point guns at each other and lock eyes for a long time while the camera pans slowly across their inscrutable gazes, and those are pretty much the basic ingredients for an episode of Noir. Don't get me wrong, Noir does all of these things well, with a nice sense of style. There's generally a lot of thought put into the framing of the action sequences so they don't get too redundant, and the vibrant international locales (brought to life with lovely background artwork) provide a rich atmosphere.

But despite these surface touches, the actual substance of each episode doesn't vary a whole lot. The few episodes which attempt to introduce new ideas stand out as highlights, like that one with the Russian KGB guy trying to atone after being responsible for an ethnic cleansing. If all of the episodes had been as layered and complex as that one, Noir would be the aforementioned "totally flipping sweet" masterpiece it could have been. But ultimately the show plays it safe, content to strike the same notes and cover the same thematic ground repeatedly. As much as I like what Noir does, I would have liked to see it do more, to reach farther and go deeper.

The ending still managed to give me the chills though. I didn't realize how invested in Mireille and Kirika's friendship I'd become until the last few scenes, which are pretty gut-wrenching. Their relationship is the heart of the show and the reason why it succeeds as more than just an exercise in style. They really do make a good team.

Noir (2001) is an anime original story helmed by Studio Bee Train. Key staff include Koichi Mashimo as director, Yuki Kajiura as composer, and ALI PROJECT doing the opening theme. It is the first in Bee Train's "girls with guns" trilogy. As for a synopsis, you can look at it yourself cause it's time to get on it.

At first viewing, Noir seems rather unimpressive. The narrative at first seems like your typical episodic storyline with each episode featuring a new hit for Mireille and Kirika to accomplish. The direction also seems incredibly flat, with a ton of exhaustingly slow camera pans that show up ... 10+ times an episode. And even though it works in the shows favour for the most part, the incredibly slow pacing and self-seriousness of it all can be draining at times. However, Noir's strength relies almost solely on it's thematic depth, along with a kickass OST by the kickass Yuki Kajiura.

Most of the show seemed entirely dedicated to portraying themes of human error and lack thereof, emotion, fate (I can't really delve deep into the use of fate in Noir as that would involve spoilers), etc. Instead of typically building characters and story, Noir uses the characters and story to create a rich thematic atmosphere that was thoroughly impressive. Of course, this was mainly captured by the two main leads, Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura.

Mireille, while a competent assassin, is also shown to have a life beyond that. She is often shown gazing outside store windows that have interesting fashion, eating and drinking at cafes, etc. Despite this, she is normally a great assassin. However, it is well captured that her higher emotional capacity gets her into more situations that her partner, Kirika. Kirika is often depicted as a much better assassin physically and mentally, using her surroundings and her smaller stature to her advantage. Opposite to Mireille, however, that seems to be all she really knows how to do well, and lacks a lot of the emotional capacity that Mireille has.

These two work off each other incredibly well. While change in both of these characters happen, there are no big eye-opening moments that develop these characters. It's the slow buildup throughout the runtime of this series that allow these two characters to grow, and in turn creates a fairly simple yet empowering way to show off the themes of emotion and human error.
Kirika and Mireille in terms of personality are pretty uninteresting, however, and aren't the most memorable of characters because of it.

As was mentioned before, Noir contains a lot of single-focus episodes, and although they seem pretty run of the mill at first, they too all connect to the main themes of the show. Most of them focus on either Kirika or Mireille seperately, and almost exclusively shows one or the other being challenged to keep their emotions in check when handling their jobs. While the stories themselves are contained, the influences they have on the characters remain throughout the length of the series.

The anime enjoys revealing bits and pieces of its story throughout its runtime, and as such I can't get into the main villians without large spoilers. The villians are interesting, if not very captivating. They add a feeling of mystery and tenseness to the show that was very much needed to keep the show from feeling boring.

With that being said, as much as I can praise this show for being thematically rich, the themes themselves provide little to the actual enjoyment to the show. A lot of it is how the themes are presented, but a lot of credit has to go to Yuki Kajuira. Her soundtrack added a lot of emotional mood to the show. My favourite songs are easily Canta per me and Salva Nos. Another thing of note is Kajuira's brilliant usage of the choir track in Salva Nos. Salva Nos is normally used for the action scenes, but sometimes the choir part of Salva Nos will be used in different ways to create different moods. Sometimes it will be used without any accompaniment from instrumentation in more sombre moments, and in some moments the choir track was edited over itself, if that makes any sense at all. You would just have to watch the show to get what I mean, most likely.

Another thing that is relatively surprisingly good was the dub. I personally prefer watching dubs when shows are not explicitly set in Japan, even if there is a tradeoff in quality. Luckily, the tradeoff was very minimal if at all. Everyone's performance was very subdued, which fit the tone very nicely. This is probably my favourite performance by Monica Rial (Kirika), who I normally find grating to the ears.

One quick mention in the sound department goes to ALI PROJECT. I'm only mentioning them cause I normally despise ALI PROJECT. The 'Another' opening theme is probably my personal worst opening theme ever. However, this is one of the better openings I've heard in a while, and easily the best I've heard by ALI PROJECT. Like the voice actors, ALI PROJECT's vocals are toned down quite a bit here, so I don't need to subject myself to awful high pitched ear-destroying sounds for 26 episodes.

I could go on and on about the art and animation about Noir, but in short, its the worst part of the series by far. The background art is pretty nice, but the character designs and the colour palette is all very bland. The action scenes are pretty stiff too, and would be more of a detriment to the show if Kirika wasn't such a total badass. Even though tons of people die, barely any blood is shown, and in the first 10 episodes of show, muzzle flashes weren't even shown when a gun was fired. And as previously mentioned, the direction is for the most part completely flat, with the main offender being the copious amounts of slow camera pans that put me to sleep.

However, mediocre art and animation can't really put a dent in an otherwise really good anime. Normally, thematically rich shows like these have a hard time keeping myself enjoyed all the way through, and despite that, I probably would have liked this show considerably less if Yuki Kajuira didn't deliver such an amazing score. And while the extreme focus on thematic depth took a toll on the actual characters and story, it only amounted to a slight negative. Overall, while a large group of people probably won't enjoy Noir as much as I did, I still have to give it a pretty high recommendation. At the very least, listen to the soundtrack once, and I'll be fairly happy.

few people like animes like noir , like it its highly selective or was specified for certain type of taste , its events move on slowly , it concentrates on the characters thoughts, beliefs and then actions . the relation between the tow girls is unique . outer look of it is tow assasins on a work career , but the inside its another story , its not like any other anime i've ever seen , thats why it stuck in my memory .

while neither the story, nor the animation are anything to write home about, the soundtrack is excellent and the background art for anything that is not supposed to be animated is, while often overlooked, absolutely fantastic. landscapes, buildings and furniture always looks gorgeous, surfaces without texture and copy-pasted elements are the exception rather than the norm, which makes nearly every background shot worthy of being framed and put on display.
sadly the great quality of the background art makes the less than stellar animation all the more jarring as the stark contrast between elements that are animated, and ones that are not, are impossible not to ... notice.

I'm fairly new to the anime genre and Noir was the second series that I have watched. The story overall was good. It dragged on a bit with flashbacks. I'm not a fan of flashbacks, in television. I feel that if you watched the series you should know what happened. Near the end of the series it finally got to the heart of the story and that's when it got interesting. The action was pretty good, except there is no blood. I thought the lack of blood took away from it. The main characters were moderately developed a little more background would ... have been nice. The "villains" weren't developed at all which brought the story down. It had a conclusive ending that I was pretty satisfied with. If you like your anime with a concrete storyline that is pretty easy to follow, with plenty of girl power then you would like Noir.

This anime really pulls zero punches in letting you know that its main cast are completely no good, unlikeable psychopaths even just in the first couple of episodes. Admittedly I want to go back and watch more of this show sometime because I felt it was leading into an interesting mystery storyline but man this show just felt downright gross to watch sometimes, not because of any gore or hardcore violence, but because of just how lacking in morality every single main character in the show is. Yes, I'm certain that's the point and it's part of a message the author was trying to get ... across but wow, watching this show just felt dirty. Some of the music was pretty good and I liked the diverse selection of firearms portrayed in the show, and the character designs are pretty cute despite how hard the characters are to like.

Edit:
I finally actually watched this show and woah it actually kicked major ass. Incredible action sequences, intriguing mystery plot, and beautifully edited scenes to say the least. I'll probably add more to this review later.

This show stands out in it's field. There are no male recurring characters and no sexualization of minors. If you're looking for femme-led shows, that should be enough for you to start watching. Before you do, you should know that this series can't be binge-watched. It's from an older time, and matches the noir atmosphere to the format. Each show has extended, minimalist flashbacks to the previous episode that are tedious if you just watched it 7 minutes ago, instead of the intended 7 days ago. Towards the end of the series you'll probably feel the urge to binge, but if you can resist it's ... great.

The premise is a pair of female assassins taking jobs and digging through a criminal underworld for clues to each of their pasts that seem to be intertwined. One protagonist suffers amnesia and preternatural skills -- Jason Bourne vibes. It takes place in late 90s/early 00s: there are rare cell phones, a fax machine, and minimal internet; there are no smart phones or darkweb.

Episodes 1-9 are "adventure/destination-of-the-week," plot driven ep. 10-26. I found the first 9 slow on my first watch-through, but later I appreciated their sparse-ness. There's slow character development, but it leads to the best ending in a TV show I've seen yet.
Highlights include e16 "The Cold-Blooded Killer pt 2," the side trip in e12 "Assassination Mission," and the fight scene in e03 "Assassination Play."

This show doesn't have explicit girl love romance, and the implications are late and on the mild side. Somehow I love it for that: it displays a wide range of emotions and relationships two women can have with each other without falling into -dere tropes.

This is considered the first in the Bee Train animation studios' "girls with guns" trilogy, the others being Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja (The Witch Hunter). It's the most realistic/least magical of the set. It also has the slowest pacing, with El Cazador being the most modern paced. The others have more explicit Girls Love/yuri themes, but also come with problematic hetero relationships.

This is a pretty decent anime.

One of the more notable things about it is that, although there are many action scenes, there is very little blood. Whether that bothers you because it makes it seem fake, or if that relieves you because you dislike blood, there you have it. Cleanest action scenes I've ever seen.

The story is pretty good. It held my interest. And the few side stories that were introduced were interesting and touching in their own ways as well.

The art is alright. The backgrounds were really nice. And the music was a little better than I expected it to be.

I've seen this anime ... both subtitled and dubbed. I prefer it dubbed. The dub is actually pretty decent, so if you want to watch something where you don't have to read along as you're watching, this is a good choice for that.

"Noir. It is the name of an ancient fate. Two maidens who govern death. The peace of the newly-born, their black hands protect."

Noir is the first in studio Beetrain's "Girls with Guns Trilogy," a tragedy and thriller, with a slow pace and a focus on a small cast of characters. It's an emotional, exhilarating series with an underlying sadness and an amazing dynamic between its main pair.

Mireille is a professional assassin, taking up the mythical name of Noir for a job and promptly receiving a message and sequential meeting from Kirika, who asks her to take a Pilgrimage together to discover their respective pasts. Kirika ... is a girl suffering from amnesia, upset with and trying to understand her ability to kill and her lack of perceived feeling in doing so with ease. Mireille joins her to find out more information about and avenge her parents' death.

From the start, there is an underlying tension to their partnership. This tension and the shifting trust in the relationship between them makes this anime. Kirika and Mireille work amazingly well with each other, in spite of the very clear contrast in their characters, dispositions, and reactions. Their growing relationship working as partners is what makes this anime, more than any other aspect.

The story provides creative, intricate, and realistic gunfights that are amazingly choreographed and exhilarating and have high tension and stakes. Both Kirika and Mireille are frequently in trouble and far from averse to danger.

This series has no blood, but it is very violent and the main characters especially, are ruthless in their killing, even with reservation and internal conflict occasionally complicating their kills (which in certain episodes can have the emotional weight built up incredibly, knowing that they don't want to do it). I'm not one for gunfights and intense violence and frankly, I was incredibly hesitant about starting this series, but I found myself incredibly invested anyways.

The plot is intricate, engaging, and constantly makes you second guess the workings of the cult-like religion of the soldates - the center of the mystery propelling Kirika and Mireille's motivations, and the mysterious, tragic pasts of the two.

Kirika was a character I instantly related to. There's a prevailing sadness to her and it aches. Mireille, I found harder to connect with, but she was equally compelling, and while I didn't always understand her, I empathized with her. She's more closed off and up front than Kirika. I won't get too far into character, because that's one thing I really love about this series.

Chloe, while a bit out-of-sorts with the rest of the cast, is an amazing addition, which complicates and shifts the chemistry and relationships of the main cast about midway through and poses as a compelling attachment to Kirika's character and her past and a very interesting contrast to Mireille. She's a fun, mysterious, and threatening character, but equally tragic in her own right and provides her own emotional weight to the character dynamics.

I watched this series because of Yuki Kajiura, my favorite composer. And oh my god, is it some of her best work! This is one of her most hauntingly beautiful and memorable scores she has ever worked on. It's lush and vivid and tragic, personal, and creative, but just so haunting in its choir. She used Italian in Kirika's theme for what I consider her magnum opus and her most hauntingly beautiful piece (and one of her most tragic). Noir was effectively what kickstarted her career, made her famous, and cemented her signature style. Salva Nos is the piece that plays the most during the gunfights, similarly haunting, but with heavy techno and metal layered with a hauntingly catchy and blood pumping Latin choir. Kajiura's compositions are incredibly layered, with so many diverse styles that she mixes together perfectly, all with its underlying haunting feel. It's a mix of orchestral pieces, techno/electronic sounds that seem almost magical and incredibly diverse next to the orchestra, haunting choir, slower soft instrumentals, religious feel, and an abundance of different cultural sounds and styles outside of that that really bring the locations, action, characters, emotions, and underlying tragedy to life.

This anime also has some incredibly beautiful hand-painted backgrounds. The story takes place across the world in various countries (mainly European) and the anime takes advantage of that in art and music.

Noir is a tragedy, feeling heavy, emotional, contemplative, fast-paced in its action, but slow and steady in its plot and character development.
If you love slow, character-driven shows in a tragic, beautiful storyline with hauntingly beautiful music by Yuki Kajiura, then Noir is for you. This really is such an overlooked anime and it most definitely deserves more praise and attention.

After Noir, the other two entries in the "Girls with Guns Trilogy" are Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja. If you like Noir, you'll like them both. Madlax is more whimsical and the character writing is far below Noir's (the voice performance is also incredibly bland and monotone compared to Noir's). If you're really into this series and only then, I'd recommend Madlax, but otherwise I'd recommend skipping it and instead watching El Cazador de la Bruja. El Cazador de la Bruja is a more fun, lighthearted adventure, still with the tragedy of the other two, but far more optimistic and upbeat throughout, while being honestly pretty emotional and with a pair with similarly amazing chemistry. It's closer to the quality of Noir than Madlax is, but I don't think either series can really get there. I also feel like El Cazador de la Bruja is the perfect way to close the trilogy and its themes with its more optimistic tone that feels right in line with the hopeful/optimistic points found interspersed through the tragedy of the other two. Noir and El Cazador de la Bruja are available to watch on Funimation and all three are available for physical purchase from Rightstuf.

Note: I am writing this review several months after completing the show.

[i]Noir[/i] is a difficult anime to review, much less discuss. It appears to have had a small budget, been released into obscurity, and hardly remembered in the 22 years since it started airing. The title makes it somewhat difficult to research as well, since searches tend to return results related to Chat Noir for some reason. In fact, I consider myself rather blessed that I happened onto the show at all.

To cut to the chase, yes, I recommend this show. It's fun, intelligent, and soulful. It has a number of flaws that I'll get ... to, but what a prospective viewer should really consider is that this show is [i]dated[/i]. I don't know much about anime, but from what I've seen, I get the general sense that action anime released pre-2010 were given much more of a license to wander and to be much more thoughtful (see the works of Shinichirō Watanabe and Hideaki Anno, for instance). [i]Noir[/i] takes this to the extreme. Not only is the main plot neglected for many episodes, but within each episode there are often shots that linger for no specific purpose and very stiffly animated fight scenes that indicate to me a small budget or rushed production time. In any case, it is worth noting that the rather intriguing premise of this odd-couple assassin duo does not get fully explored until halfway through the show.

Onto some other cons. As I said, the animation can be very rigid. The fight scenes are carried a lot by the music, as the combatants will use illogical tactics in fighting one another and a lot of the action is obscured or conducted out of frame. There is the sense of drama, but if you aren't immersed in the characters, story, and setting, then the action will not excite you at all, because without those elements to support it, the action falls rather flat - aside from some cool moments. The story itself is... rough. I actually prefer a lot of the earlier standalone episodes because they have simple but emotional plots, usually involving the targets that Kirika and Mireille, the protagonists, are contracted to kill. The overarching plot of the show honestly makes very little sense, and although it offers an interesting conflict, the execution is drawn out and ham-fisted to say the least.

But oh [i]man[/i] did I [i]feel[/i] this anime. The soundtrack really is phenomenal, and the art style often lends itself to some pretty shots. The people who worked on this show understood companionship and loneliness really well, and it shows in the way that individual scenes and even entire episodes are crafted. There's an overwhelming sense of melancholy that pervades throughout the show, even in the happy moments, as the protagonists try and fail to establish human connections. It's something that I think is explored really well in the era of visual media at the turn of the millennium: a feeling of isolation, of the end of history.

So, all this being said, I do recommend [i]Noir[/i] to the vast majority of viewers, as, despite its faults, it offers something I found to be very unique and memorable. Go in with low expectations and allow yourself to slip into the world of the Noir duo. It's a special one.