Noir Hits Stores 2/17!

[CC-sama]

The time has finally come, Noir fans! Kirika and Mireille, the sexy femme fatales and harbingers of death who are collectively known as Noir, are hitting stores tomorrow, Feb. 18th, on DVD. Noir: Shades of Darkness is available as both a standalone DVD release, and as part of an awesome special edition boxset which includes a sweet Noir T-shirt (XL) that will be the envy of all your friends. For a list of retailers carrying Noir , check out ADV’s Noir website at ProjectNoir.com (http://www.projectnoir.com) as well as your favorite anime stores. :)

I snagged my copy the other day and I must say that it turned out to be a pretty sweet release. Nice box, they used the R2 artwork for it. The T-shirt with Kirika on it is pretty cool. And as for the show itself, my film critic's opinion is pretty fond of the series. I saw it about 30 times in Japanese prior, which I wuv, and I actually found myself enjoying the dub a lot... which is rare, since the first language I see it in is the one I stick with. Solid A/V quality, nice art, good music, and lots of mindless killinz. :D I recommend it, personally.

[Karl Olson]

probably will put a order in for it with a couple of other things then by the end of the week then.

[Galaxia]

I really want this....but I'm saving my money...maybe I'll get it in a few weeks :)

[sl4]

How is it with language/blood/sexual stuff? I really want to buy it, but I want to know whether I can watch it during the day or not before I get it. ;)

[RZetlin]

Originally posted by superloud4
How is it with language/blood/sexual stuff? I really want to buy it, but I want to know whether I can watch it during the day or not before I get it. ;)

I have only seen the first episode, but Noir is very stylized.

People are shot and killed in Noir, but no blood is spilled.

I haven't seen any extreme sexual/language in Noir so should be okay to watch in the day.

[Ikwig]

I just saw the first two episodes; stylized is a good word for Noir. The music is great and the plot is shaping up to be interesting, so I'm definitely considering putting this one on my "to be purchased" list.

[Poser Wannabe]

I finally got Noir in the mail yesterday. :) The T-shirt is pretty good looking, but it feels kind of cheap and I'm scared that the front of the shirt will wash off after washing it a couple of times. The image itself is pretty good looking, but with the "speed" lines it looks like a faded shirt. With all the pictures out there, I think they could have picked a better one, or at least one that had both Mireille and Kirika. But for 5 bucks, it's great, so who cares. :D Also it’s size XL in case anyone was wondering.

The Box is awesome, it's definitely more sturdy than the disappointing Evangelion and Gasaraki boxes which was a concern of mine. The box isn't as thick as the Love Hina box, but it's not exactly flimsy cardboard either. The box has Kirkia on one side and Mireille on the other, the images look awesome. I was worried about the box the most and was very happy with it. Here is a link to the images on the sides of the box off ADV's site:
http://www.projectnoir.com/images/beaucoup/box01.jpg
http://www.projectnoir.com/images/beaucoup/box02.jpg

The other extra is a pair of decoder glasses... Which are pretty cheap like those old 3D glasses with just orange lenses. You should be able to find out where to use them. Kind of cheesy, but an interesting extra none the less.

The DVD includes 5 episodes, Production Sketches, ADV Previews, Japanese Promos, and textless op and ed. The only problem I had with the dvd was the language setup. There are only three options, English, English with song subtitles, and Japanese with English subtitles. What if I want to watch English with English subtitles, as I like to do the first time through a dvd? So I picked English and when I tried to change the subtitles on my remote I could only turn the song subtitles on or off. So I just went with Japanese language with English subtitles and changed the language to English with my remote. Not a problem now that I know, but this was the first time I have had this problem with an anime DVD.

I loved the first 5 episodes of Noir, amazing action scenes and great music (I wish they included the OST instead of a shirt but that's another topic. ;)). I think RZetlin said it best by calling the show "stylized". I liked how the show was serious and the main characters didn't have any magical super powers, just two very well trained killers. The dub was decent imo, I liked the VA's for the main characters, and everyone else was so-so. The dub matched the subtitles pretty good and didn't take too many liberties with the plot. I plan to watch it again with Japanese language.

I know some people may have been avoiding Noir because of the hype it's been getting, but I'm very glad I listened to it. The extras are ok, like I said before I would have rather had the OST than the T-Shirt. But for $5 more the extras are perfect and the special edition was worth it imo. Overall I loved the first DVD of Noir and I highly recommend it. :)

Originally posted by superloud4
How is it with language/blood/sexual stuff? I really want to buy it, but I want to know whether I can watch it during the day or not before I get it. ;) There is no blood in the first DVD. There is only one scene where I can remember blood and it was only for a second. But Noir is however very violent. A lot of people getting shot, stabbed, and so on, but no blood is shown. As for sexual stuff, Mireille is the only thing that comes close, she wears a very short skirt most of the time and in episode 4 she is in a bikini (but only for like a minute :p). There are no panty shots, giggle counters, etc.

I don't know if you could watch it during the day just because it does have some very violent scenes. The rating on the DVD say's 15+. But that’s a question only you can answer, hopefully you got enough info to get that answer. ;)

[Batmex]

Any well known ADV actors in it, for Example, Tiffany Grant or Amanda Wyinn Lee?

[Zach Logan]

I love ADV Animes, ill get it when i can, i saw the first episode with Newtype USA, ill see it when i can

[Batmex]

Originally posted by Gogeta
I love ADV Animes, ill get it when i can, i saw the first episode with Newtype USA, ill see it when i can

I might get a bit off topic but ADV got two great animes comming up:

Go Nagai's Mazinkaiser and Masami Kurumada's Saint Seiya, the later was a HUGE hit in latinamerica and Europe, and ADV knows how to do great dubs.

[sl4]

Originally posted by Poser Wannabe
There is no blood in the first DVD. There is only one scene where I can remember blood and it was only for a second. But Noir is however very violent. A lot of people getting shot, stabbed, and so on, but no blood is shown. As for sexual stuff, Mireille is the only thing that comes close, she wears a very short skirt most of the time and in episode 4 she is in a bikini (but only for like a minute :p). There are no panty shots, giggle counters, etc.

I don't know if you could watch it during the day just because it does have some very violent scenes. The rating on the DVD say's 15+. But that?s a question only you can answer, hopefully you got enough info to get that answer. ;)

Yeah, that should be fine. Thanks for the help. :)

[Poser Wannabe]

Originally posted by Batmex
Any well known ADV actors in it, for Example, Tiffany Grant or Amanda Wyinn Lee? I copied and pasted this off http://www.projectnoir.com:

Mireille's English language counterpart is Shelly Calene-Black, who has played the roles of Mao Daidoji in Princess Nine, Cleao in Orphen and Dr. Reiko Amagi in Steel Angel Kurumi.

Kirika's English language counterpart is Monica Rial, who has played the roles of Miharu in Gasaraki, Izumi in Princess Nine and Hyatt in Excel Saga.

Altena's English language counterpart is Tiffany Grant, who has played Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ryoko in Martian Successor Nadesico and Misaki Matsuya in Excel Saga among many others.

If you want more, here is a listing of all the dub voices:
http://www.crystalacids.com/database/series/noir.html

[Karl Olson]

I'm probably gonna get Noir today. I would have got it yesterday, because I did spend 4 hours at the local anime store conversing with Kyle Pope (you know, the edit list guy at animenewsnetwork.com, who I had actually talked to at that store before, I just didn't know who he was) about anime, but I left my debit card at home, so I couldn't get it. Today though, I get paid, so I'm going to get Noir and the Haibane Renmei soundtrack.

[Batmex]

Originally posted by Poser Wannabe
I copied and pasted this off http://www.projectnoir.com:

Mireille's English language counterpart is Shelly Calene-Black, who has played the roles of Mao Daidoji in Princess Nine, Cleao in Orphen and Dr. Reiko Amagi in Steel Angel Kurumi.

Kirika's English language counterpart is Monica Rial, who has played the roles of Miharu in Gasaraki, Izumi in Princess Nine and Hyatt in Excel Saga.

Altena's English language counterpart is Tiffany Grant, who has played Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ryoko in Martian Successor Nadesico and Misaki Matsuya in Excel Saga among many others.

If you want more, here is a listing of all the dub voices:
http://www.crystalacids.com/database/series/noir.html

WHHHHHOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tiffany Grant! YES
Monica Ryal(aka Ms. Hyatt from Excel SAGA!) YES

I might get this once my budget recovers.

[KingKoopa]

As of now, it's filling the gap Hellsing left, but if it doesn't live up, I'll look for something else.

[Ajax]

I just rented it today. I saw part of the first ep. a long time ago and seemed pretty good.