Noir: Shades of Darkness (Vol-1)
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Project Noir
Episodes: 1-5
By Jeffey Couto

Introduction

The subject of today’s review was a great reminder to me as to why I love animation as an artistic medium. When done properly and in a unique style like is the case with Noir, there is no other format that can convey a great story as beautifully as the animated format does.

The Story

"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". -- ADV's Noir Page

Review

I've never seen this series before nor have I really heard a lot about it, except that it had some great action scenes. So going into it I had not real expectations on what I was about to watch, story-wise and/or animation-wise.

The story begins in Paris, France as we follow a young woman on a moped as she heads back to her apartment. Here, she finds a mysterious message waiting on her computer from a young girl named Kirika Yumura, who resides in Japan. We then shift settings and travel to Japan where Mireille tracks down Kirika in an abandoned industrial complex. Unfortunately a group of armed men has also tracked down the young girl and quickly begin hunting her down along with Mireille. This situation forces the two protagonists to fight together against the group of men and eventually to forge a rather uneasy alliance in order to learn why Kirika's memories have been taken away from her and why she is so well-versed in armed combat and tactics.

After the first episode helps set things up for the characters and their still enigmatic origins, the following 4 episodes shift into a series of mostly self-contained stories that each deal with a different assassination case or job. These serve mostly to develop the relationship between the two girls and show us why Noir is considered a top-class assassin around underground circles.

There are so many things I loved about Noir that it's hard to list them all. Personally I found that many aspects of the production including the animation, soundtrack and art were right-on, forging a very well-rounded anime package.

The first thing that really caught my attention and which really drew me into the series initially was the variety of settings in which the story takes place. Our heroines reside in Paris, France, which by itself gave the show a unique feel and colorful backdrops as Kirika and Mireille traverse the city and sit down to have drinks at the local coffee house. They also travel to other locations as required by their hit jobs, which during these five episodes made for an interesting change from episode to episode. The artistic realization of these settings is of the utmost quality and really help make Noir a stand out anime series.

The second thing that really caught me by surprise was Noir's stylish direction! This series definitely has a unique creative direction, which made it a real pleasure to watch. The way the characters moved in key action sequences, the framing of certain scenes using a variety of angles & perspectives, and the superbly realized soundtrack all add up to one hell of an anime experience.

Story-wise this DVD volume serves mostly as an introduction to our protagonists. While we do see some briefs hints of their past, this is mostly left untouched. It's obvious that there is some type of connection between the two girls, but just what that might be is left a mystery for us to ponder for now. I thought this was a great way to start off Noir as it provokes curiosity and drives us to pay closer attention to what is being said and what is shown to us. I suspect there is a lot more to Kirika & Mireille's past than is alluded to in these first 5 episodes.

As far the DVD itself goes this is another high-quality anime package that features the first 5 episodes in the series including:

Episode 1: Maidens with Black Hands
Episode 2: Daily Bread
Episode 3: The Assassination Play
Episode 4: The Sounds of Waves
Episode 5: Les Soldats

Some of the extras that come with the DVD include several production sketches, clean versions of the opening and closing sequences, original Japanese promos for the series, and previews of other ADV Films releases.

Conclusion

I really loved Noir, more so than I could have ever anticipated! As I said at the beginning of this review it was a great reminder of why I love this medium and as such I cannot recommend it highly enough! Really look forward to seeing volume two of this fantastic series!

Jeffrey Couto