Noir ( Nowāru) is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura. The DVD version was released by ADV Films in North America and the United Kingdom and by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand.
The series follows the story of two young female assassins who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries from their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there are more than meets their eyes. 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).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.
PLOT
The series follows the story of two young female assassins, the Corsican Mireille Bouquet and the Japanese amnesiac Yumura Kirika, who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries concerning their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, 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 Yumura's lost memories and her connection to Bouquet, 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 Bouquet and Yumura, it is considered a test as to whether or not the young women are suitable to carry the title "Noir."
CHARACTERS
- Kirika Yuumura (Yūmura Kirika)
- Kirika is a teenage girl with amnesia; 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". She is voiced by Hōko Kuwashima in the Japanese version, and by Monica Rial in the English dub.
- Mireille Bouquet ( Mireiyu Būke)
- 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". The voice actor for Mireille is Kotono Mitsuishi, who had previously worked with Kitayama on Excel Saga, where Mitsuishi voiced the protagonist Excel, while the first thing she was told was that Excel and Mireille are completely opposite characters
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- Chloe ( Kuroe)
- 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 believes that she and Kirika are destined to become Noir together. She is the personal favorite character of Noir's composer Yuki Kajiura. She is voiced by Aya Hisakawa in the Japanese version, and Hilary Haag in the English dub.
- Altena ( Arutena)
- Altena is the high priestess of the Soldats. She believes that the Soldats have been corrupted by power and greed, and 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. She is voiced by Tarako in the Japanese version, and Tiffany Grant in the English dub.
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