Noir… it is the name of an ancient fate
Two maidens who govern death
The peace of the newly born their black hands protect
The story starts off nicely with Kirika waking up experiencing total amnesia. She could hardly remember anything except that she is Noir (at this point, she doesn’t even know what Noir really means). She found herself in a room that is supposed to be hers. In that room, she located her school ID card, a musical pocket watch, a gun and some bullets. From her school ID, she managed to gather that her name is Kirika Yumura, but she seemed to think that the ID is a fake without knowing why. When she stepped out of the building, some men in suits attempted to kill her. Kirika managed to kill them all with the gun she found earlier, without much difficulty.
The other lead character is Mireille Bouquet, a mercenary specialising in assassinations. Mireille read an e-mail she received that requests her to ‘take a pilgrimage to the past’ with the sender. Curious about the message, she decided to meet up with the sender at a deserted construction site. Upon arrival, Mireille found herself hunted down by some armed men in suits, thus she proceeded to eliminate them with a gun she brought along in her handbag. Being outnumbered, Mireille could not fend off her attackers effectively, thus Kirika came to the rescue, taking out the remaining men with no apparent effort yet again.
It turns out that Kirika was the person who sent that e-mail (there is some ambiguity as to how she managed to find Mireille in her amnesiac state). Kirika explained her situation to Mireille; regarding her lost memories and her unusually exceptional skills in killing people. She then requests for Mireille to help her regain her memories. Mireille refused at first but after examining Kirika’s musical pocket watch, she gave in to Kirika’s request. It seems that the watch has something to do with a disturbing incident in relation to the death of Mireille’s family and therefore, Mireille hopes to find out how did Kirika got hold of that watch. However, Mireille will only help Kirika on one condition; she will kill Kirika once she has regained her memories. Being in her profession, Mireille could not risk anyone knowing her true identity and live. Not at all disturbed by the condition posed, Kirika agrees to it, thus bonding both lead characters together.
Noir’s beginning is the most intriguing one thus far. However, the following episodes are rather blend, mainly relating the couple’s daily routine filled with many assassination jobs that they have undertaken while they are pursuing Kirika’s lost memories. With Kirika’s extraordinary skills, Mireille decides to take her along in her missions, thus they will need a new codename to be referred to in the industry. They decided on Noir as their codename, without knowing the true significance of Noir. Their escapades under the name Noir has caused fear to those who knows the true meaning of that word. They also attracted the attention of a secret organisation known as Soldats, which led to more ‘men-in-black’ sent to assassinate the so-called Noir of Kirika and Mireille. Later in the series, Chloe and Altena were introduced to the viewers hinting towards their connection with the true Noir.
I guess I am guilty of having read reviews of the anime prior to watching it. There was just so much hype about Noir, which many claimed was much better than Madlax. Noir is the first instalment to the girls-with-guns trilogy by Bee Train and director Koichi Mashimo whereas Madlax is the second. Being a fan of Madlax, I might have set my hopes too high on Noir. Besides that, I find Madlax’s soundtrack better than Noir’s although they were both composed by the talented Yuki Kajiura. Ultimately, I find Noir rather disappointing and slow-paced (the story can actually be related in 13 episodes instead of 26), but it is still a good production considering that it was aired in 2001. I will only recommend Noir to those who are really interested in the girls-with-guns genre or those who would really like to have a look at the anime that has made an impact on many people of various nations (Japan, France, Germany, Spain etc.).
Characters
Kirika Yuumura – Kirika is a high school girl who waked up one day with a dose of amnesia. She found herself in an unfamiliar place with knowledge that an ordinary girl of her age shouldn’t possess. She is very skilled at hand-to-hand combat and not only is she skilled at using the gun, she can also use any object, such as a fork, to kill.
Kirika’s true identity was revealed at the end of the anime; she was raised together with Chloe by Altena. Kirika and Chloe were trained as assassins who would become the two halves of Noir. Being the more skilful of the two, she was sent out on missions when she is still a little child (around the age of 5?). One of her missions was to kill the Bouquets (Mireille’s family). The reason for Kirika being amnesiac in the beginning was explained as part of a test that she has to accomplish before she can be officially acknowledged as the true Noir.
Mireille Bouquet – She is a well-known assassin around the age of 20 who originates from Corsica. She was approached by Kirika to help her in her quest for her lost memories. When Kirika produced the musical pocket watch to Mireille, she realised that Kirika’s past has something to do with her own past, thus she agreed to help Kirika. Together, they form Noir, taking on assassination tasks while they are pursuing Kirika’s past. However, Mireille’s combat skills are not as diversified or as good as Kirika’s.
When Mireille was young, her parents and brother were killed by an unknown assassin, causing her to proceed into the assassin profession in order to one day, get revenge on the person responsible for her family’s death. When she realises that Kirika is the person she is pursuing all this while, she couldn’t bring herself to kill Kirika, even though she promised to kill her after she has regained her memories. Mireille was however unable to guarantee that she will not kill Kirika in the future, thus prompting to their separation. Not being able to continue living with Mireille is perhaps the main reason why Kirika eventually agreed to become the true Noir with Chloe.
Chloe – Chloe was introduced mid-way into the story as the true Noir. This left Kirika and Mireille stunned as they did not know that the codename they are using has more significance than just being a name that sounds cool. Chloe’s appearance impacted the story greatly as it intensifies Kirika and Mireille’s urge to discover the truth behind Kirika’s past and the name Noir. Chloe’s preferred weapon is a knife and daggers which she uses for both close and long-ranged combat. She lives with Altena in the Manor, a place that resembles ancient ruins and is ‘forgotten by time’. She is very loyal towards Altena, taking on any mission that is assigned to her without hesitation.
Other than Altena, the next most important person to Chloe is Kirika. Ever since witnessing Kirika during the assassination of the Bouquets, Chloe has been admiring Kirika for her skills. It was also her admiration towards Kirika that fuelled her desire to become the true Noir alongside Kirika. Her most treasured possession is a fork that was given to her by Kirika in episode 11. Ironically, it was Kirika and that fork which led to Chloe’s death.
Altena – Similar to Quanjitta’s character in Madlax, Altena’s role is to watch over the proceedings towards Le Grand Retour (The Grand Return). Altena seems to be one of the high-ranking officials of Soldats and is responsible to train and nurture the two maidens that would become the two halves of Noir.
Soldats – Soldats is a crime syndicate that has existed for centuries. The sole existence of Noir throughout the centuries is to perform the dirty work for Soldats. However, Soldats’ influence on the underworld has been decreasing over time. Few people during Kirika and Mireille’s era know of the existence of such an organisation. Their inactivity is probably due to internal turmoil among the high-ranking officials of Soldats. One such turmoil is regarding Altena’s role in the organisation. Because Altena has a huge influence over Noir, she is feared by the other officials of Soldats, thus they have been trying to eliminate Altena’s role in the organisation but have yet to succeed in doing so. Soldats are also known to have control over the Knights of Paris who performs Soldats’ bidding when Noir is not available / in the making.
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