Rating: 
Summary: Buy the Soundtrack Instead
Review: Absolutely BEAUTIFUL music from Yuki Kajiura, who also did music for Hack Sign. Noir is all style and some substance. The concept is cool, but it goes downhill quickly after the first episode. It is unbelievable that they can gun down hordes of men and not get scathed. The action itself is stylish and unique, but again unbelievable. And why are the main characters only women? There are enough over-sexualized women power fantasies for boys to watch. If you want to see a cool and stylish action anime, buy Read or Die instead of 26 episodes of Noir at $20 a DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: NOIR, often misunderstood but very substantial
Review: NOIR, A word that means many things. In this case, its a series that you are thinking of starting to collect. I have a few requirements before you buy. First, you have to know what Film Noir is. Its in the dictionary, and its a style of movie or television that confuses many people. All of the bad reviews (3 or below) have to do with not understanding this style. Noir aired in Japan at 1 a.m. It was intended for adults because Anime is often an adult pastime there. 80% of the substance of this series is shown through dramatic camera angles and the ACTIONS of the characters. In a standard episode, Kirika says very few lines....you can count them on both hands in most cases. Its story line is also very complex. While they are trying to find out who is trying to kill them, you have to realize that they have to eat too (to the person whining about "why are they assassinating people?"). Thier profession is killing, so they occasionally need to do a job and buy food. I'm rambling. The key is understanding what you are buying. This is a show in a style that may take getting used to. Once you're used to it, you will love this show. In fact, while waiting for each subsequent volume to come out I often rewatch and suddenly pick up on something I didn't see before. Don't let that scare you away. This story is not worth missing if you read the back of the first disc and like what you see.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good....
Review: This anime is kind of hard to judge. The first episode blew me away with all the action sequences and the absolutely fantastic music but then as it progressed, the episodes just began to d...r...a....g.... and go so freaking slowly. Its not that they weren't interesting but they were dragged out so unbearably long that I found myself zoning out many times. So, this is the only way I can think to judge it. Music- Fabulous! I absolutely adore it! Its beautiful and eerie and really kicks up the fight scenes. Probably half the reason I like the show. Background designs- Its beautiful! Totally beautiful and detailed backgrounds. The cobblestone buildings and roads, the sky, everything is totally gorgeous. Action scenes- When they're there, the fighting is great. Its edge of your seat stuff and very impressive. Character designs- eh, a bit plain in my opinion. Pretty much like a lot of other animes I've seen. But the characters are colored nicely. Plot- Okay, I think I'm missing something here. The younger girl, whatever her name is with the short dark hair, wants to find out her past. Right. So she goes to the Blond girl Mirelle. Now, they have to go on random assassination attempts for what reason? I don't get it! How the heck is assassinating these people, when I don't even know who they are or how the heck they're related to anything, going to bring back that girl's past? What are they doing!! Yes, I like the action sequences but half the time, I dont' have any idea who they're fighting and what it has to do with anything! Argh! English dub- everyone's voices are pretty decent. I usually find myself watching the dub if its good, and the sub if it isn't good. However, the younger dark haired character's english voice is awful! She sounds like she's making her voice as high pitched and choked up sounding as possible. Ugh, she sounds like she's going to cry all the time. The sub is much nicer. Her voice is soft without being whiny and very pretty. Character developement- The first episode intrigued me with the two main characters. I wanted to know more about them. But after the episodes progressed and I was left with slow moving story, flashbacks that are repeated over and over and over again, I just didn't care anymore. They just show too little human emotion and I can't seem to get attatched to them. How can you care about characters that don't care about... pretty much anything? So truthfully, they could both drop dead and I wouldn't exactly be traumatized. Might make it a little more interesting to tell you the truth. Overall, I'd have to say if I continue this show it'll be for the art, the music, and the few fight scenes that are great when they're actually there. However, if it continues to drag like this, I'll probably just give up.
Rating:
Summary: worth checking out, even if anime isn't your usual thing
Review: "Silly caricatures with gigantic eyes and frame rates of about 2 per minute, almost like watching a slide show with really bad narration." That's how another customer summarized his attitudes toward anime before Cowboy Bebop. I haven't seen enough anime to agree with the points he makes about "silly caricatures" or "bad narration," but I can understand about the frame rates. If a character is supposed to be running, I'd like to see them moving within a background, instead of standing still while the background sorta moves. (And I'd like the background to be more than a few colored stripes.) I might be biased because of Western animation (although I've read that the stereotypical anime BIG EYES comes from Disney) but the *animation* of anime isn't a style that I like. Then again, I don't think we're often exposed to the best of what anime has to offer (Pokemon, Dragonball on the Kids WB, for example). A lot of the anime I've seen has been sparse (particularly the backgrounds), occasionally overexposed/washed out, and eclipsed by a shower of flowers and feathers. I like my animation less dreamlike and more realistic. That said, I loved the Miyazaki film Spirited Away. I didn't care much for the story, but it was the most gorgeous animation I'd ever seen. It was fluid, not choppy. And it had tremendous depth and color. I thought: more like this, please. So while shopping with a friend who is a big anime buff, I happened upon the DVDs for a TV series called Noir, which looked pretty promising. I don't mind reading the occasional fantasy novel, but any anime involving dragons, magical kingdoms, or Teens With Enchanted Weapons doesn't immediately appeal to me. Noir seemed totally grounded in realism and I liked that. It doesn't have an unfamiliar premise. Think Long Kiss Goodnight with Geena Davis. It's about a pair of female assassins, and one of them has amnesia. Kirika, the small, quiet one, learns that her life as a student, and the people she knows as her parents, are fabrications and that the only truth is that she has a talent for killing. She turns to the assassin Mireille, who agrees to help Kirika uncover her past, only because they themselves are being targeted for extermination. But when everything is said and done, Mireille tells Kirika she is a liability and she'll be killed. Kirika says she'll be waiting for that day. The reviewers say Noir is too depressing and lacks humor, but I disagree. It's supposed to be weighty and powerful, not a fun-filled, slapstick-laced romp. The humor is infrequent and subtle but it's there. I get a lot of amusement out of the way Mireille uses her sexuality to disarm her male opponents, then easily dispatches them. And there is humor in the way Mireille is so casual and matter-of-fact about her profession. The animation is gorgeous for the most part. No issues with frame rates. It's not choppy. And since Noir is set all over the world, there's plenty of variety in the backgrounds. The reviewers also complain that quite a bit of animation is recycled episode to episode. This is because Noir is a TV series and it's less expensive to pad each episode with old footage. It's never more than a minute per episode, and it's always an appropriate mood-setting flashback. The recycling is not a huge detractor in an otherwise great series. Special mention must be paid to Kajiura Yuki's music. It's got grand, operatic vocal cues that are just breathtaking: "Canta per Me," for example, which is one of two cues that drives the action/fighting/shooting (the other being, "Salva Nos"). There are a few thumping techno beats. Lots of cute string/woodwind melodies for the European scenes ("Romance," "Corsican Corridor") and somber but beautiful piano tunes ("Solitude by the Window"). Plus, a cool pop/rock song for the intro ("Coppelia no Hitsugi") and a sweet song for the end credits ("Kireina Kanjou"). A very eclectic, ethnic mix (each episode even starts out with a Gregorian chant). To conclude, I have found Noir to be the best looking, best SOUNDING, and most provocative animated series I've had the pleasure of watching since Batman Adventures. And since Batman Adventures is regrettably not on DVD yet (not in any type of comprehensive box set, anyway), Noir is definitely worth checking out, even if you're like me and anime isn't your usual thing.
Rating:
Summary: Noir is a fun ride
Review: I've only seen the first 15 eps of this series. The first couple of DVDs I felt were great action, animation and atmosphere, even if using a somewhat formulaic duo( soul searching amnesiac and assassin). However, the series seems to get repetitive after that, varying little from "we get contract to kill some corrupt person" or "kill them before they kill us". The "kill bad people only" idea seems to be the method the creators use to make NOIR's killing seem justified. The characters don't seem to develop beyond their assassin persona (though Kirika seems to struggle more with killing than Mirielle) which makes it difficult for me to care about them. Then again, I've only seen the first 15 eps. Still, it's a fun ride I don't mind riding more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Repetitive and uninspired.
Review: Noir, vol. I: Shades of Darkness (Kouichi Mashimo, 2001) Man, everything about this twenty-six episode series (the vol. I DVD encompasses the first five) screams "must-own" in concept. Imagine an anime version of Leon with a full-series limited edition release packaged in a coffin. I lusted after it without having ever seen it, so I figured before shelling out the cash, I should probably rent the series and see if it would hold up under repeated viewings, or whether I'd be shelling out for a fifty-buck piece of 3-D artwork. Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the case. There's nothing overly special about he animation here (although some of the backdrops are stunning), the plot is overly simplistic (which the writers tried to make up for by making the characters' histories convoluted. Oh, boy), and do we really need THAT much repetition of certain frame sequences? No, no we don't. I'll stick with watching Leon and Akira back to back and thinking mournfully on what could have been. **
Rating:
Summary: A great start...(4.5 stars)
Review: Noir is the tale of two female assassins whom by some strange twist of destiny end up working together. In the introductory installment, we are drawn into the mysterious past of "Noir", the assassin with no memory. When she teams up with Mireille, they reinstate the archaic assassin "Noir" as their operating codename. Together the two seem an awkward pair, a teenager and an experienced gun for hire, similar to Leon: the Professional (and yes, I too agree with a previous reviewer that the plant the two share in their abode is a direct copy of the one in Leon, with respect to its symbolism). But more than a rip-off, it is an hommage to the great Luc Besson film. One can find numerous references to great thrillers and film noir nostalgia, mostly in the attitudes of the characters that appear from episode to episode. And glory, glory, what a magnificent soundtrack this series has! It's not quite as fitting as Cowboy Bebop's, but it works well. Unfortunately, as many have noted, the use of flashbacks is a bit overabused, and for that reason I give this first installment a 4.5, instead of a perfect score. Furthermore, the followup DVD #2 (Hit List) takes the flashbacks to an even worse extreme and makes for little new content (besides the slight backtracked and then sidetracked development of Mireille). Even so, I highly recommend any fan of anime check out Noir - Shades of Darkness. It has style, it has grace, it has a lot going for it. I can only hope that the later installments rekindle the sense of wonder this first wonderful installment had in spades.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent anime series
Review: Though this is supposed to be for the first DVD in this series, this review reflects the entire series. "Noir" is currently my favorite anime series, and one I highly recommend to fellow anime lovers, those interested in finding a good introduction to anime, and those who love great stories and characterization. Many reviewers argue that "Noir" is style over substance, but they couldn't be more wrong. "Noir" is style AND substance working harmoniously together to produce an engaging and satisfying drama that takes the viewer on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Subtle characterizations, a story of epic sweep, beautifully rendered backgrounds of exotic locations, and haunting melodies (a fabulous score by Yuki Kajiura) all combine into something unique. The series follows assassins-for-hire Kirika Yuumura and Mireille Bouquet as they seek to uncover the secrets of their past. For Kirika the past is a blank slate; she has no memories of who she is or where she comes from. Mireille, on the other hand, has never been able to forget her traumatic childhood. As they begin to find the answers to both their pasts, deadly forces try repeatedly to ensnare them. The centerpiece of the series is the deepening relationship between Kirika and Mireille. Their relationship is depicted subtly and is open to interpretation, and there is a noticeable lack of "fan service" in the series, which sets it apart from other works of anime in this particular sub-genre. ADV Films is releasing this series in a seven DVD set. The DVDs feature anamorphic wide-screen versions of the episodes, 5.1 audio, and both the subtitled Japananese and English soundtracks. Do yourself a favor and watch the series subtitled. The Japanese voice actresses give wonderfully nuanced performances. There are also a few extras on each disk, including easter eggs. They are also selling the first DVD in a box set with a tshirt. The market share for anime in the US is still woefully small, so DVD prices are often much higher than for other releases. "Noir" is one series that is well worth having in your collection if you're an anime fan. Buy it, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Noir is fantastic. I was completely blown away. One of the best stories I have seen in a long time with lots of good character development.
Rating:
Summary: A good premise that goes nowhere
Review: I have to admit that when I sat down and saw the first four episodes of "Noir," I was electrified. It's got all the elements of a first-rate story: tortured characters, a mystical prophecy, and a dark conspiracy that seems to haunt every aspect of their lives. The animation is also admirable, and the dark, haunting music (a blend of choir-like techno) is perfect. And it even has an interesting "Godfather"-like appeal to it -- after all, these are hired killers we're cheering for. We've left pretty soldiers of love and justice far, far behind. But that's the problem, I guess. "Noir" has all the right ingredients -- but someone forgot to stir the pot. "Noir" never really comes together. It lags tremendously, and I got mighty frustrated waiting for that two seconds of plot exposition that might (or might not) come at the end of an episode. Pehaps it would have been better in a OVA format, but as a 26-episode series, it's simply boring. A basic episode will consist of: Mirelle and Kirika receive an assignment. It's well-nigh impossible to complete. They go in and shoot people. Against all odds, they triumph. One of their dying victims gasps out a few crytic riddles about the "true nature of Noir." End credits. There might be the occasional guest appearance by Chloe, but that's about it. They manage to pull everything together, of course, by the last few episodes, but by that time you're bored and wondering if there's really any point. (I actually had a friend who watched the first six of so episodes, then jumped to the last four by accident. She was suprised to find out she'd missed sixteen episodes in between, because she'd followed the ending just fine.) While this approach doesn't always misfire -- "Utena" manages to carry it off -- that's usually because the creators entertain us by exploring the relationship between the main characters, and who they really are. This is difficult in "Noir," since Kirika has approximately two expressions overall ("asleep" and "awake"), and Mireille, while a sassy lady, spends most of her time in a Pavlovian-like reaction whenever that darn watch falls open. Not exactly stunning cinema. Overall, it's a good job gone wrong.
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