Noir

About Noir

Noir (ノワール) arrives as an action anime by Bee Train (2001), and the premise is easy to summarize. At its core: Mireille Bouquet is a professional assassin, and a very good one at that. But when she follows up an e-mail from a young Japanese girl named Yumura Kirika, inviting her to take "a pilgrimage to the past", her life becomes even more risky than it already is.

From there, now, with a haunting melody invoking the memory of an event long past, Mireille and Kirika decide to work together to find the truth about a thousand year old organization that has controlled both of their lives since before they. The only clue in their search, the only thing Kirika remembers about herself, becomes their working codename: a name designating a long-lost fate, of two maidens who reign over death--Noir.

As an action title, fight choreography, pacing and sound design carry much of the weight. Kirika Yuumura (Houko Kuwashima) and Mireille Bouquet (Kotono Mitsuishi) are two of the characters you will meet early. If you count yourself among viewers who like fast, high-impact fights, put it on your list. The run is 26 episodes in total, so you know what you are signing up for.

Production & Appeal

Bee Train is the studio behind Noir, and its direction shapes everything from character design to motion. Because it leans on action, fight choreography, pacing and sound design carry much of the weight. At 7.1/10 it earns a solid reception, a safe pick for fans of the genre. On the casting side, Houko Kuwashima voicing Kirika Yuumura gives the lead role a recognizable voice. Released in 2001, it competed with that season's other new series for attention.