is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series created and written by Ryōe Tsukimura and produced by Victor Entertainment and Bee Train. The series was directed by Kōichi Mashimo, with Yoko Kikuchi, Minako Shiba and Satoko Miyachi in charge of character designs, Kenji Teraoka in charge of mechanical design, and Yuki Kajiura composing the music.
Noir was followed by two spiritual successors, Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja. Together, these series constitute a trilogy exploring the "girls-with-guns" genre.
Outside of Japan, Noir has been released on DVD by ADV Films in North America and the United Kingdom and by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand. After ADV closed, Funimation Entertainment acquired the North American rights to the series in 2010.
Plot
Opening introduction, Kirika's (later with Mireille) voice-over towards the audience:
The series follows the story of two young female assassins, the Corsican Mireille Bouquet and the Japanese amnesiac Kirika Yuumura, who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries concerning their past. At first, they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, but there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there is more going on behind the scenes than at first glance.
In their journey to learn more about Kirika's lost memories and her connection to Mireille, the two form an alliance and begin performing assassinations under the code name "Noir." During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named Les Soldats ("The Soldiers" in French). Les Soldats are a secret organization that has been a part, yet separate group of humanity. It is this hidden group that created and once completely controlled the deadly duo "Noir". Each time that Les Soldats soldiers are sent to kill Mireille and Kirika, it is considered a test as to whether or not the young women are suitable to carry the title "Noir".
Characters
Kirika is a teenage high school girl with amnesia who lives in Japan, however during her journey she goes to stay with Mireille in her apartment in Paris; the only things she remembers are the word Noir and her instinctual killing abilities. When creating the characters for Noir, producer Shigeru Kitayama wanted the image of Kirika to be "sweet and fragile".
Mireille is a Corsican woman born into a powerful crime family. Mireille and her uncle are the sole survivors of a brutal attack on her family, whereafter he trained her to become an assassin. When creating the character for Noir, Shigeru Kitayama imagined Mireille as "a lithe female panther". Mitsuishi, the Japanese voice of Mireille, previously worked with Kitayama on Excel Saga, where she voiced the protagonist Excel; the first thing she was told was that Excel and Mireille are completely opposite characters. In the English dub, ADV Films decided against giving Mireille a Corsican accent so as to avoid confusion among viewers unfamiliar with the language.
Chloe is a skilled assassin who uses throwing and handheld knives instead of guns. Like Kirika and Mireille, Chloe is a candidate to become Noir. Chloe idolizes Kirika for her exceptional killing skills, and she believes that she and Kirika are destined to become Noir together. She is the personal favorite character of Noirs composer Yuki Kajiura.
Altena is the high priestess of the Soldats. She believes that the Soldats have been corrupted by power and greed, and she attempts to return the Soldats to its "original state" by reviving Noir. She lives a medieval lifestyle in a place the Soldats consider as their holy site called "The Manor", located somewhere on the border between France and Spain, where she raised and trained Chloe.
Setting Unlike its spiritual successors Madlax and El Cazador de la Bruja, Noir is mainly about reality's criminal underworld while the later two are about supernatural events. Mireille and Kirika, in episode four, check the profile of a fifteen-year-old student named Rosaly Hammond, discovering that she was born on August 2, 1994. As Rosaly would be turning sixteen, Noir thus takes place approximately between 2010 and 2011.Noir, episode 4 (11:11): When Kirika checks Rosaly Hammond's profile.
Les Soldats ("The Soldiers" in French) is a mysterious organization in Noir. According to Altena, a thousand years ago, a group of people who had survived a bloody war that cost numerous lives, formed a group called Les Soldats to protect the weak and take revenge on the world.Noir, episode 20: Altena tells Chloe about Soldats' history. When Kirika travels to a Soldats' village, she finds out that during the late tenth century, Les Soldats has taken place in every social part of humankind. For example, Soldats were witnessed at the birth of the Greone's mafia family, which was created 200 years ago from the time the series began.Noir, episode 09: "Intocabile Act II". Near the end of the series, Altena states that "Les Soldats" have been consumed by the very greed they once swore to undo, and thus had become like the world itself.
Although the Soldats were founded by a united group, in Noir its members were separated into two groups: Altena's followers and her opposers, the Soldats' Council members. For easy identification, Altena's most loyal followers are include people who dress up as nunsNoir, episode 24: Dark Return. and common villagers who are skilled at fightingNoir, episode 22: "Journey's End". These nuns and priestesses often appear to be ordinary, petite women, they are capable of using guns and other lethal weapons. Altena lives in a manor not located on any map but is near the border of France and Spain.Noir, episode 22: Kirika's conversation with a Soldats' villager. It is known by name "the place which has been forgotten by time". The manor's structure is similar to those of Ancient Greece and Rome. Separated from the manor by mountains, there is a village which belongs to Altena, and their ancient task is to guard her manor.
The Soldats' Council are the people who disagreed with Altena's decision to bring back the True Noir by means of a ritual called the Grand Retour. The Council contains five members,Noir, episode 26: "Rebirth". and one of them, Remy Brefford, invites Mireille to join their ranks, and he has an office in a building in Paris.Noir, episode 23: Mireille attacks Brefford's building.
Men in black suits are often sent by the Soldats to try to kill the Noir candidates, but the faction affiliate of these men is unclear. Altena successfully manipulates everyone in the group, and she particularly targets the three Noir candidates Chloe, Kirika, and Mireille. She hides her true agenda from the Soldats, even her most trusted advisers, until the end. Altena led the Soldats to believe that she wanted Chloe and Kirika to be the True Noir, to enforce the will of the Soldats. However, she believed that Mireille and Kirika would enact her true plan, to destroy the Soldats. Altena's plan was not fully successful because Mireille did not target the Council at the end of the series.
Noir Noir is the French word for "black". In Noir, it is known as the name of the two maidens who govern death. Pictures and sculptures of the two maidens can be seen on Mireille's father's watch and on Soldats' churches. To the underworld, it is known as the "One Thousand Year" darkness of Europe. According to Altena's story, when the Soldats went under, two hands were left on the surface, so their ancient task is to retrieve the two maidens known as "Noir". The ritual to become Noir takes place under Altena's manor, an underground temple in the style of ancient Greek ruins.
Throughout the series, the only three candidates for "Noir" are Mireille Bouquet, Kirika Yuumura and Chloe. Of all the three, Mireille was the only who was predicted to be neglected, and Kirika probably is the only who can turn into True Noir.Noir, episode 24: Altena's conversation with Borne.Noir, episode 22: Kirika became True Noir after witnessed the assault on the village. When one has fallen, the remaining two shall become Noir.
Production According to the director Kōichi Mashimo, he envisioned Noir and Madlax as part of a trilogy exploring the girls-with-guns genre, and soon after the release of the latter, he confirmed having plans to produce the third installment, which would later become El Cazador de la Bruja.
For Mireille's personal sidearm, Mashimo wanted a gun with "a more modern image", therefore the production staff decided on the Walther P99. After considering several compact pistols, including the Walther PPK and the Glock 26, for Kirika's personal sidearm, the Beretta M1934 became the weapon of choice, because of its "classic, European feel" that suited the premise of the series' story. Because of the organization's premise, European guns were chosen for the members of Les Soldats. The assassins in black suits that are sent after the protagonists throughout the series all carry the SIG Pro 2340, which at the time of production was the newest model of its line, while other members were given increasingly older weapons, depending on the member's rank.
According to producer Shigeru Kitayama, Kotono Mitsuishi's voicing of Mireille was a continuation of the working relationship they had from creating Excel Saga, where Mitsuishi voiced the protagonist Excel.
Media TV airings and home video
The 26 episodes of the Noir anime series initially ran from April 6 through September 28, 2001 on TV Tokyo in Japan and was released on DVD and VHS in 13 compilations, each containing two episodes, by Victor Entertainment between July 25, 2001 and March 21, 2002.
Victor Entertainment has remastered the series from its original 35mm elements and released a Blu-ray Disc version on February 19, 2014 in Japan.
Soundtrack Like many of studio Bee Train's other works, the Noir soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura, accompanied by primary vocalist Yuriko Kaida, secondary vocalist Yuri Kasahara, and Kajiura's band See-Saw.
The series makes use of two pieces of theme music. by Ali Project is used as opening theme, while by Akino Arai serves as ending theme.
Victor Entertainment published a single and three original soundtrack albums for the series. "Coppelia no Hitsugi" was released as a single on May 23, 2001. The first and second soundtracks, called Noir: Original Soundtrack I and Noir: Original Soundtrack II, were released on June 21 and October 3, 2001, respectively. The third soundtrack, called , was released on November 7, 2001.
International release and distribution After giving hints, announcements, and retractions for almost a year, ADV Films released the series in English in seven DVD compilations, the first containing five episodes, the others containing three or four episodes, between February 18 and October 28, 2003. Prior to that, the first episode was included on the DVD insert of the January 2003 issue of Newtype USA.
Following the closure and restructuring of ADV Films in 2009, the series is now licensed by Funimation Entertainment, which is currently known as Crunchyroll, LLC in North America, and re-released the series as a part of their Anime Classics line on August 9, 2011 along with the Blu-ray release on April 15, 2015. The series is also available for video streaming on both FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll.
Potential live-action remake A possible live action feature based on the anime series has been planned for development by the cable television network Starz. Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Legend of the Seeker) are the executive producers for the project. Stephen Lightfoot was serving as executive producer and writer but was replaced by Sean Jablonski.