Noir - Shades of Darkness (Vol. 1)
by Matt Greenfield, K?ichi Mashimo
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DVD details
Actor: Christine M. Auten, Jason Douglas (IV), Mandy Clark, Melinda DeKay, Victor CarsrudDirector: K?ichi Mashimo, Matt Greenfield
Brand: ADV Films
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language); English (Unknown); Japanese (Unknown)
Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Adv Films
DVD Reviews of Noir - Shades of Darkness (Vol. 1)
DVD Review: noir- open for business
Summary: 4 Stars
Noir is an adventure series based around a French hit woman named Mireille and a Japanese school girl named Kirika. Mireille is capably living under her own terms when she received an e-mail from a girl in Japan that lures her east believing there may at long last be the answers to the murders of her parent years ago.
What she finds is Kirika a young girl with a false past and no real knowledge of where she came from but with phenomenal killing skills. In her possession is a pocket watch identical to one Mireille's father had before his murder. As gun men proceed to try and murder both women they agree to enter into a partnership to try and find the clues to Kirika's past in the hopes it will lead to the mystery behind the murder of Mireille's family. The name of their new company? Noir, a name in the underworld that has been used by assassins for years.
Like many anime this series starts out well but around the middle there are some serious problems with consistency. Beyond the fact the good guys seem capable of the `one shot, one kill' school of gun play they regularly face bad guys with lousy aim. The real problem is that by the late middle of the series it's not true to its own self logic. That makes it hard to stick with it. By the end it recovers but it's a struggle to get there when earlier you want to yell at the characters for being so stupid.
There is also the problem too often with anime set in Europe that there are cultural elements the Japanese just don't get and it is jarring. Like a Catholic funeral mass that seems like a corporate cheer and the fact that in the Pyrenees Mountains, the peasants seem to play bagpipes! AND extras on the DVD's are, at best, pretty lame.
On the first disc we are given the basic lay out of the characters and a few sample adventures of how they earn their living as assassins in Paris. These are good stand alone tales and set the pace for the series laying out the characters' abilities and style.
This is really good if you like anime. Nothing new but it's entertaining.
DVD Review: Very Impressed
Summary: 5 Stars
Iv'e been watching anime for a while now, and I have to say after viewing many amazing series(Examples: Gankutsuou, Kino's Journey, paranoia agent, cowboy bebop, Elfen Lied etc, etc) to be perfectly honest Noir ranks up there right with the greats, this is a truely A-List title.
Firstly I would like to say that before watching Noir I wasn't really expecting much, I had read quite a few negative reviews stating that it was very slow moving and that it was difficult to pay close attention to, and I only have one thing to say, I'm sorry but... Noir is only slow if you have the attention span of a cockroach; this show is not slow at all. Look, just because something isn't happening every two seconds dosn't mean a series is slow, it just a little mellow, thats all. The plot moves at a perfectly fine rate, unfolding into a very interesting story, and theres plenty of action. Not only that but the initial start of the backstory begins as early as episode three, which I was glad to see. This provided me with enough intrigue to actually become very excided about what was to happen next. Also why is everyone complaining about Kirika and Merielle (sorry if thats wrong)not being likeable? For one thing their both assassins, the amount of sympathy your supposed to feel for these characters early on is very questionable. Another thing, who cares if Merielle and Kirika are not exactly what you would call the big hero protagonists, to tell you the truth I'm getting so tired of these little goody two shoed, annoying, emo little good doers running around every anime you see (*cough* *cough* Edward Elric). It's much more interesting to have the main characters this way, it provides more intrigue. And I think they are both extremely likeable.
I would also like to say that Noir, visually, is quite a treat. The show is absolutely gorgeous, backgrounds and all. The only thing that bothers me a little bit is the lack of blood when the people are shot, it just looks sort of awkward sometimes, but it's very forgivable, at least when the people get shot it's realistic, which is something.
On a final note the english dub here is excellent. The VA's for both Kirika and Merielle are excellent, and even the background characters who all speak with accents are suprisingly pulled off very well, they all did an excellent job.
So overall I would say that you should all definitely check Noir out. Like I said I didn't think it was slow at all, but yet the plot may not appeal to everyone. Try borrowing it from a friend first, or rent it, or download it if you can, but if you like, mature, sophisticated anime, then don't miss this title.
DVD Review: Astounding anime
Summary: 5 Stars
I must say I was quite impressed with this anime. Everything from music to story to characters, this is a definite masterpiece series. I learned about this anime after watching some previews from my Full Metal Panic DVDs. I figured this one looked good and I decided to give it a try.
Since it's only Vol.1, it's difficult to put the whole thing in words. Mystery is the theme of this anime. So much of it that it gets baffling at times, but once again, it's only Vol.1, so don't expect answers right away. You have two female characters, one from Japan and the other from France, who are skilled at killing. The Japanese girl has no memory of her past, all she knows is that she is very skilled at killing. The French woman is a professional assassin, renown for her ability to kill without much evidence left behind. They band together under the name Noir, which seems to strike fear into the hearts of people as it is a well known organization. The only thing that bonds the two females together is a silver pocketwatch that plays a sad melody when opened. Mireille, the French woman, has seen the watch before, but why and why does Kirika possess such a thing? Mysterious...
Speaking of music, .hack's Yuki Kajiura has produced the music for this anime. For those of you who watched .hack, Yuki's realm of music is techno/opera, a combination of genres that isn't exactly unheard of. After watching the first volume, you might be tempted to go get the soundtrack (I was).
I would give this anime a try if you're looking for something a bit on the dark and intriguing side, I recommend Noir. It does mean black in French after all.
DVD Review: A Bit of a Yawn
Summary: 3 Stars
From the descriptions I read of "Noir," and the sleekly designed black DVD, I expected something cutting-edge and urban. To my disappointment, there is nothing sleek and urban about Noir, except the name.
Professional assassin Mireille works in Paris, taking jobs via e-mail. Mireille is stereotypically blond and blue-eyed. Her character design looks like it is from the 1980's. She meets a strange girl with amnesia. This girl kills without effort. Mireille teams up with the girl (known as Noir) because Noir has a strangely-designed pocket watch which Mireille remembers from her past. But Mireille tells the teen, "We'll work together, but then I'll have to kill you." Yeah, riiiiiiiight.
It is hard to have sympathy for either character, as they kill many people without heart. I can understand Noir a little, yet she committs an extremely heartless act in the fourth episode. Mireille is a heartless b**ch.
The backdrops of Paris are good. Obviously the art staff worked very hard. It is a shame that this DVD, containing five episodes, is full of repetitive music and flashbacks, which repeat themselves endlessly in each episode.
I will keep watching because I want to find out the mystery, but I will not be recommending this series to my friends.
Extras include production art sketches and Japanese promos. The art sketches are flowing, so you don't have to keep clicking for the next one, which is good, because there are a LOT of sketches.
DVD Review: whole series-slightly over-rated
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading all the positive reviews, I saw/got the series, NOIR.
As reviewers correctly pointed out, the lack of blood & perfect shooting was a let-down. I did not have a problem about not seeing blood from the gunshots ie I dont have blood-lust I guess, but the real problem was that both, especially Kirika, are super-human crackshots. There was no backstory to explain this prowess.
I'm sorry but practicing shooting tight groups in underground does not constitute super-killing maching status. As least neo & trinity are in a make-believe world to be able to pull their feats & ELEKTRA was a ninja. Especially when you 26 episodes, you could afford to show what training these "girls" receive to be such in-human shooting skill.
ALthough this may appeal to girls & the female persuasion, but all the victims were 95% men. I don't have a problem w/ girls & guns as I love rally vincent/Gunsmith Cats[which is why I picked up this series] but the taiwan episode where Kirika just wastes a number of hitmen just 10 ft or less without them getting a shot was the last deal-breaker for me.
The coloring style was Saturday morning style which I could did not stand MATCH the dark elements of the story. I disagree that that the animation was top-notch[top-notch is ghost in shell].
Chloe, another true noir, was dressed like a low-rent NEO/goth reject which I found completely not believable at all.
Another weakness is why the need for super-assassins by the soldats. This theme also subtly another mark against men & pro-feminist tint in the series. If you had read any Robert Ludlum novels, there is a rationale explations why organizations need super-assasins ie take over the world etc.
I grant you that the theme of being a super-assassin mentally is really the heart of the story arc behind NOIR but they do not show how they physically become super-assassins to be a truly outstanding anime consider they have the luxury to produce 26 episodes.
SO you are a gunsmith cats/elecktra assassin fan, do you think NOIR will give you a fix of plausible super-hero women. NOIR is more fantasy for girls under 17.
Description of Noir - Shades of Darkness (Vol. 1)
A mysterious email; a haunting melody. Professional assassin Mireille Bouquet's world is knocked askew by an unnerving contact from a young amnesiac, Yumura Kirika, whose killing skills are as deadly as Mireille's, and whose missing memory may unlock the mystery of Mireille's life as well. With their pasts inextricably linked, Mireille conditionally admits Yumura into her confidence. In uneasy partnership, the two-as NOIR-face a conspiracy that quickly calls on all of their lethal resources. It is a journey through the darkness, searching for a truth that they know will mean their deaths.In Paris, professional assassin Mireille Bouquet meets emotionally shattered Kirika Yumura: neither woman can remember her past, but they're both extremely good at killing people. (Kirika doesn't even look--she just points the gun and fires and her victim falls.) The two women form a partnership as "Noir," but after a couple of murders for hire, they realize someone is trying to kill them. The mysterious Soldats seem to be everywhere, so it's kill or be killed. The only recurring characters in Noir are amnesiacs, who are essentially blank slates and therefore not very interesting. Director Kouichi Mashimo may set a new record for repeating footage in an animated series--some shots crop up three times in a single episode, including portentous images whose significance is more apparent than real. The result feels like a watered-down combination of Gunsmith Cats and Serial Experiments Lain. (Rated 15 and older: violence, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon
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