This commercial break sequence really shows this anime’s age. The story is great though.
A week on ISP problems prevents me from watching Noir earlier, but eventually I did finish it today. With this, I have watched the whole ‘girls-with-gun’ trilogy, although not in the correct order and Madlax being watched before this blog started. Comparison to Madlax and el cazador de la bruja will be inevitable.
Story:-
A professional assassin named Mireille Bouquet received a request from a client that wants to open the ‘door of the past’ with her. Puzzled, she went to Japan to see the client and there, she finds out that the client holds the key to her past when her parents were murdered. To find more information about that, she has no choice but to tag along with the new-found client…
Between the titles in the trilogy, Noir definitely has the best story of them all, followed by Madlax and then el cazador de la bruja respectively. For starters, while in the latter two titles, the main gun-toting female protagonists are paired with partners that are basically useless in battle, here the main protagonist is accompanied by another gun-toting partner that is even more skilled than her. Which means the partner did not need saving from the baddies. I also like the fact that the protagonists did not spare their enemies and will kill them without mercy, which is more realistic if you ask me. For example in a certain episode that takes place in Taiwan, Kirika kills more people in one episode than Nadie (of el cazador) did in her entire series.
The story did not start very well though, because it started too fast for my liking for about 2 or 3 episodes. Only then the pacing settled down considerably and the plot started to develop very nicely. This continued until the ending, which is also done well, although it will do better to be less ambiguous. Character development was also done well, but I do not think there’s anyone who stands out from the rest, although I really like the premise of a dual gunwomen. Generally this anime did not have any weaknesses here.
A dog is taking a nap in the shade. Not really sure why I am taking this screenshot though.
Character Design:-
As a whole, the character design in this anime is decent but not exactly spectacular. About the usual hair color comment, it seems to be realistic, especially if I consider the setting of this anime and the fact that the main protagonist is a Caucasian with the partner is Oriental (probably). Between the titles in the trilogy, the order is reversed, with el cazador de la bruja having the best overall character design, followed by Madlax and then this anime. Although I should also mention that Madlax has the best design from all three main protagonists that featured in the trilogy.
Voice Acting:-
The voice acting in this anime is good, but there is no one outstanding here. Between the titles in the trilogy, the order is still the same as the one in character design section.
Music:-
This anime has excellent OST, but forgettable OP/ED themes. Thus, between the titles in the trilogy, Madlax takes the crown followed by el cazador de la bruja and then this anime.
Our sidekick which is stronger than the main protagonist is looking at her dinner. Maybe it is the secret of her strength?
Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this 2001 anime is decent, and did not suffer from fast-paced scenes. Loses out to el cazador and Madlax respectively though. Meanwhile, choreography is very well done, and only loses to Madlax (which main title character is awesome with skills that eclipsed Mirelle, Kirika and Nadie), while el cazador takes up the third place.
For directing, it do not have the unnecessary frills that el cazador has, which is a good thing, and also scored in terms of realism (the shoot to kill thing I mentioned before, and did not have the supernatural elements that both Madlax and el cazador has) and lack of silly camera angles (I’m looking at you el cazador). The severe lack of blood in this anime where lives is cheap is bugging me a lot though.
Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. The director for the trilogy is doing Blade of the Immortal this summer, and I for sure will watch that series (I read the manga too). Please do not butcher this epic title please, kthxbye. The next anime will be Hatenkou Yugi, a 2008 anime because I think I should give the H2O footprints in the sand a challenge.
More blood would have made this anime more realistic.
