Kirika Yumura and Mireille Bouquet are Noir, top female assassins for hire. Noir is also the name of an ancient legend which states that the ‘peace of the newly born’ is governed by the black hands of two maidens. The series alludes to the two maidens being Mireille and Kirika.
Kirika is a natural born killer, cold and unemotional, able to assassinate her targets even under extreme pressure. But her flawless killing skill is also her biggest source of agony, the inability to feel sad after each hit. Mireille on the other hand achieved her professional skills through hard work and training.
The juxtaposition and duality of themes keeps coming up in this series – Kirika is an amnesiac assassin, searching for her past, Mireille is trying to abandon hers. An icy blond, Mireille is an accomplished assassin in mini-skirts and high heels while Kirika dresses like a conservative school marm. Kirika is also a houndog of a girl – she would be top choice for Hush Puppies’ mascot if the basset hound ever retires. Never trusting each other, Kirika and Mireille forge an uneasy alliance but their fragile relationship is tested when they become the target of another mysterious assassin.
All these make for tantalising anime prospects – an ancient myth weaving its way into the backdrop of contemporary France through the hands of two female assassins. Their world is a dark one filled with icy and cold-blooded vengeance, mystery, drama and action as they battle unseen enemies and their own pasts.
However, the reality is Noir not as big as it builds itself to be – the result is less inspiring than expected. There are some great ideas but they are rendered into a limbo due to a lack of a well defined purpose, stagnating the well meaning and excellent action set-pieces. The lack of urgency and grandiosity [well at least in the first 5 episodes] makes it very easy to dismiss the NOIR legend story device as meaningless hogwash. Ultimately, it seems that much attention was lavished upon the backgrounds [which are stunning] and animation [which is superb] but the story development drew the short straw.
That is not to say that Noir isn’t a watchable anime, indeed it is and it’s one that will grow on you but whether or not it is memorable will be highly subjective and dependent on what tickles your anime bones. Stylistically, although coming across more Euro 70’s glam cool [see the opening credits with its James Bond female silhouttes] than noir it is still very alluring. The much lauded soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura is very good indeed, the opening song is one of the catchiest in a long time. The liberal use of techno-opera to elevate the tension and mood is effective if a little overused throughout.
I have to remind myself that this is only the first 5 episodes of 26. In that light, although not quite hitting the top mark, it nevertheless promises a lot of potential in the rest of the series.