(L) Noir

[Yuiichi]

Noir... one of the first anime (other than stupid american TV anime). The thing that i liked the most was the character development. The way that they did it, you got to know the characters little by little, and ended up liking them more and more.

And i must agree, the OST for Noir is excellent... i especially love the celtic vibes that they sometimes feature ^_^ Now thats my kind of music!

[JoeStoppable]

Dude Chloe ALL THE WAY!!!!

I was a little mad that she had to die . But there can only be 2. The way she died was freakin tight too. Using the fork that Kirika gave her. I think someone already said that, but yah i just wanna say it again.

No one was tougher than Chloe, she didnt even use guns. The one side story with her and that one general in the mountains. That episode was dope. It showed her more compassionate side. Her granting the old mans request to leave his body guards alone, and than taking revenge on the guy who tried to kill him. She was freakin awsome.

But than again, who on Noir wasnt awsome. EVEN THE NUNS at the manor were freakin awsome, the one with the bullet proof armor. DOPE!!!!!

[Ambience Blue]

NOIR = IMO one of the best series ever created.

I absolutely loved everything about it, from the drama to even (the sometimes overplayed) action. A wonderful meld overall, I had both OSTs playing in my stereo for months. I'd read about it in Newtype years ago and had forgotten about it until I picked it up about a year ago. One of my Top 5, eheh.

[Innotech]

I collected the whole series. all 7 volumes. Completely worth every penny IMO.
As for the ending, they purposefully left it ambiguous as many shows do. It really depends on how you see it, metaphorically or literally as to what your take on the ending is. I side with the metaphorical view.

[JoeStoppable]

Originally Posted by Ambience Blue

NOIR = IMO one of the best series ever created.

I absolutely loved everything about it, from the drama to even (the sometimes overplayed) action. A wonderful meld overall, I had both OSTs playing in my stereo for months. I'd read about it in Newtype years ago and had forgotten about it until I picked it up about a year ago. One of my Top 5, eheh.

I totally Agree with you. Its in number 1 position for me. Actually for me its Chobits and Noir are tied. Noir is up by a little bit. I mean the thing putting it a little bit above chobits is the OST. Noirs OST is best ost in the world. I still listen to it. I got it when it came out and I'm still listening to it.

All fans of Noir are freakin Awsome in my book.

[yslee]

Originally Posted by Shigan

Try to not see Noir as an action and it will become a lot more enjoyable. I actually did the same thing, I thought it was going to be a girl-pair shoot-up a la Gunsmith Cats thing, and MAN did that change when I dropped the action idea.

Noir is firstly and lastly a drama. If you want a andreline pumping action fiesta, go Samurai Champloo or the one with a maincharacter named Vash the Stampede instead.

As much as I had love to write all my love for this show here, I'll just devote the energy to my stories instead ^^

It was hard to ignore the action.. I wouldn't have mind if they cut it out, but to place such terribly done action sequences really had me going "huh?" quite a few times.

Besides, given the genre and the direction the show took, a good dose of action simply had to be done.. else it'd be like Star Wars without the lightsabres.

Basically my complaint is that the action scenes were just so unconvincing and lifeless most of the time. Hard to suspend the disbelief when watching the show when that happens!

[Koboshi38]

Allot of people in this thread have complained about how allot of the action is believeable.. And I agree with them.. However it doesnt bother me because this is anime.. I Mean Really Most anime doesnt have believable fights At All. They always have people with Amazing Swordsmanship Skills Or magic powers etc. its kinda like a Hong kong action Movie Sure the action is fun but its normally not realistic and hey thats just the way anime is and that is also what makes it so much fun

[Ambience Blue]

Originally Posted by JoeStoppable

I totally Agree with you. Its in number 1 position for me. Actually for me its Chobits and Noir are tied. Noir is up by a little bit. I mean the thing putting it a little bit above chobits is the OST. Noirs OST is best ost in the world. I still listen to it. I got it when it came out and I'm still listening to it.

All fans of Noir are freakin Awsome in my book.

Rawk awn, buddy XD Noir owns. Actually, one of my suitemmates says he doesn't like it, but then agian, he's never liked disjointed, episodic series, so I'll give him that much. As for the OSTs, I was addicted to both of them for eons. If nothing else, I'll watch anything by BeeTrain for music alone.

[Trax]

Madlax' OST gives Noir's a run for its money, but ofcourse that's also from BeeTrain. I like em both. Both series too, for that matter.

[Fellini 8.5]

Originally Posted by JoeStoppable

Actually for me its Chobits and Noir are tied.

Personally, regarding the time I spent watching a Chobits episode; well, let's just say I want that half-hour of my life back...

.
.
.

Just kidding! Everybody likes different things for good, valid reasons.

But... but... Chobits??

(okay, I'll stop teasing now!)

Regarding Yuki Kajiura's music, I watched a couple of episodes of My Hime, and while you could tell it was her stuff, it just doesn't have anywhere the impact that you get out of the Noir/.hack/Madlax soundtracks. I read in the Noir DVD inserts that Mashimo uses her music tracks as unique characters in and of themselves. I've noticed in his older stuff he'd been experimenting with that back then, as well. That's why it's always so in-your-face. In My Hime, it's just, well, soundtrack. Background.

[MartAnimE]

He, he, he... I've just made my first "induced to watch noir" victim It's this guy I've just met... We're talking about our artistic interests in a class and I happen to mention animation as an interest... I've noticed he said something along those lines... he's not really into anime but he got curious and I've tried to explain the basics of it all in, like 1 hour... before he knew it I had convinced him to watch noir as the best thing ever made in terms of anime in my opinion. I lend him noir dvd 1 and all the OSTs (he got a little that I was carriyng all that stuff with me... yes I was planning it all along, just in case )and now I'm expecting his feedback on Monday...

[Mashimaro]

Great series, good music and cute girls. The story is..not that bad, could be better. Chloe all time fav!

[Ambience Blue]

Originally Posted by MartAnimE

He, he, he... I've just made my first "induced to watch noir" victim It's this guy I've just met... We're talking about our artistic interests in a class and I happen to mention animation as an interest... I've noticed he said something along those lines... he's not really into anime but he got curious and I've tried to explain the basics of it all in, like 1 hour... before he knew it I had convinced him to watch noir as the best thing ever made in terms of anime in my opinion. I lend him noir dvd 1 and all the OSTs (he got a little that I was carriyng all that stuff with me... yes I was planning it all along, just in case )and now I'm expecting his feedback on Monday...

Well, I hope it's a success. It's quite the fantastic show, and in terms of anime, definitely a must-watch. I don't know if it's something that would appeal instantly to someone who doesn't have much previous experience (for those ppl, I always recommend Cowboy Bebop), all the same, it has a definitively "un-anime" quality that makes it rather attractive, I guess.

[Shigan]

Are you sure? Noir can be a bit... "heavy" if you've actually never have watched anime before, especally around the first ten episodes (which doesn't make them bad in any way, ep6 is... *bawls*). I usually recommend Princess Mononoke as a first try, since it appeals to a lot of people, not only as animation but also as a movie.

Here's a feeble attempt to keep this thread going:

Which was your absolute favorite episode and *why*? (double eps can count as one)

[MartAnimE]

Originally Posted by Ambience Blue

it has a definitively "un-anime" quality that makes it rather attractive, I guess.

Exactly, if I wanna impress someone with an anime I have to show something that could be generally considered high quality, not just high quality for an animation... Besides, if you wanna give a good first impression don't go showing any cliched fanserviced silly comical anime (not that's anything wrong with that, but people unfamiliar with this might just find it stupid )

Originally Posted by Shigan

Are you sure? Noir can be a bit... "heavy" if you've actually never have watched anime before, especally around the first ten episodes (which doesn't make them bad in any way, ep6 is... *bawls*). I usually recommend Princess Mononoke as a first try, since it appeals to a lot of people, not only as animation but also as a movie.

The guy have seen some anime before but he kinda only watch what passes on tv here in Portugal... anyway, he was the one who asked me about it so I guess he kinda apreciates the style in general and wants to see more (and better) of it... and I just tought noir had it all (story, music, looks...)

Originally Posted by Shigan

Which was your absolute favorite episode and *why*? (double eps can count as one)

That's a tough one let's see... hah... I really can't choose episode 1 was just so perfect (especially the first part before the comercial break) everything was so well cordinated (talk, music, dramatic silences, action, art) this fell of mistery and drama that kept me close to the screen, I was stunned, I had never seen anything so... perfect! I had to see it several times before downloading episode 2 to make sure it was real
Actually I could write in detail what I liked about every episode, there's always something, I have no least favourite episode nor anything I could consider a filler I really liked episode 6's "Prince Myshkin pops his head out of a paper bag" moment. Episode 11 (Mad tea Party), Episode 13 (the end, it's so beautifully sad)... I'll stop for now since I can't realy decide I guess I would have to consider episode 1 my "more watched" episode...

[Mashimaro]

The chloe based episode. She is my absoloute favorite character.

[Ambience Blue]

Originally Posted by Shigan

Here's a feeble attempt to keep this thread going:

Which was your absolute favorite episode and *why*? (double eps can count as one)

Every one. I can honestly say that I didn't have an episode I didn't like. Tho the action got a little cliche after a while, every episode built on the next..

Spoiler for the progression:

First the duo own up French political opposition parties, then Middle Eastern terrorists, and the Intoccable (and the Cosa Nostra- dam#!). When things don't seem like they can get any bigger, they blast away a militia, bury the Triads, and leave worldwide political agents quivering in their boots. To finish off the series, they go to the very root of it all with Les Soldats. If that isn't epic, I don't know what is...

Noir just does such an amazing job in its genre as a thrilling mystery-drama-action series that one can't possibly ask for more. IMO, Madlax tried to follow up on that legacy, but couldn't really keep up (not that I should know much, since I stopped watching by episode 20.)

[Fellini 8.5]

Originally Posted by Ambience Blue

IMO, Madlax tried to follow up on that legacy, but couldn't really keep up (not that I should know much, since I stopped watching by episode 20.)

Ooh, you stopped one short of the show taking a dramatic twist... Give it another chance when the DVDs come out; I bet a more consistent translation and a better picture/sound quality will open it up a little.

With Noir, I can't really name a favorite episode either. Nor can I name a least-favorite episode. That's part of why I'm so fascinated with it. It works even better in a home theater environment, with everything taking up your field of vision, and the subwoofer thumping with every Walther report.

Originally Posted by MartAnimE

I lend him noir dvd 1 and all the OSTs (he got a little that I was carriyng all that stuff with me... yes I was planning it all along, just in case )

While I've done my part evangelizing the show and getting my friends hooked on it, I don't think I've resorted to actually carrying it around with me... So a bit of is well deserved, I think! (teasing... )

...and it does make a very good crossover for those who don't really watch anime, but aren't averse to it -- after all, I'm here now, aren't I? I went from "maybe watches a Miyazaki film now and then" to "combs through forums and fansub lists looking for scraps of anything that might be good" obsessive Bee-Train fan in a mere 6 months. All thanks to Noir.

[Shigan]

Aaah of course, I didn't think of the continuosity (?) of this particular serie, my bad. ^^;

Noir has a couple of astonishing moments where BeeTrain proves themselves the dramaturgical geniuses they are, if working under a good producer/director (since I'm not that sure about Avenger). Maybe favorite moment/s would have been a better question.

As for me, yeah, episode 6 was a breaker...

Spoiler:

With Kirika standing over Nazerev's bed in the end, first watching and then aiming the gun at him. There's a beautiful poetic justice in this scene. A pair of sinners like they know they are, one at the end of is life soon to be dealt by the other, one looking in the face of someone who might not entirely be so different from herself, ultimate knowing that they may be heading the same way. And lastly, Kirika placing back the photo beside the bed, somehow, I got the feeling of that it was also here Mireille's true respect for Kirika began.

Three sinners, one in his death, one in deepened sin and one gaining respect for another. And all the three of them, maybe reaching just a little more of understanding in between. Stunning.

Ep21...

Spoiler:

Mireille leaving Kirika standing in the cementry, failing to fullfil their promise. Probably the cruelest scene in the whole anime. Mireille in her emotional shaken state, making the fatal mistake of abandoning Kirika, leaving her to believe that she truly have lost everything, therefor more or less instinctively returning to the manor and straight into Altena's plans.

Ep25...

Spoiler:

Chloe's explosive reaction due to pented up jealousy and rage over what she believes is betrayal. What more is there to say?

Multi Eps...

Spoiler:

Actually, the flashback that made us tear out our hair in the start. ^^ Odette Bouquette's last words, merely a mother's last desperate attempt to ensure her daughter's safety. Ironically to maybe what she could have hoped for then, they really did save her daughter, as also brought Kirika back from the brink.

And of course, a lot lot more...

[Fellini 8.5]

Originally Posted by Shigan

Noir has a couple of astonishing moments where BeeTrain proves themselves the dramaturgical geniuses they are, if working under a good producer/director (since I'm not that sure about Avenger).

Same director... Koichi Mashimo. Bee Train is his company Different scriptwriter, though.

Avenger has been growing on me. Rewatching helps a lot. I'm hoping an "official translation" clears up some of the ambiguity from the fansubs.

Back to Noir -- yes, absolutely the "moments" really make it. Plus the way they build on each other. One "moment" I thought about recently:

Spoiler:

In the "Remaining Flower" episode; Mireille is walking across the street. Slowly. Slower than everyone else. So slow that the light changes before she finishes crossing, and all the cars honk at her.

Well, that didn't really spoil anything, but, well, y'know...