How many people have seen NOIR?

[creeper]

I just finished watching the series NOIR. It was some good stuff. Does anyone know whether the whole soldats thing was based on the illuminati? Kind of seemed to tread in the same waters.

I loved the assasinations. I loved my girl chloe.

Just wanted to see what everyone else that saw it thought

[Mynd Hed]

Funny you bring it up, I just got done watching the first DVD (with the first five episodes) tonight. I hate to be blunt, but I thought it was a waste of good animation. It had some good action scenes and some good music, but it was just way too repetitive and too slow-moving to keep my attention. Was it just me, or did EVERY episode other than the first have a really long flashback reusing footage from the episode before it right in the middle somewhere? It didn't help that the characters aren't really explored at all by the end of five episodes. I guess the creators mean them to be mysterious, but to me they just come across as dull. It feels like they could have stripped away half of the tedious conspiracy-theory stuff and covered everything important in those first five episodes in two-- and if they had, I'd probably be more inclined to keep watching.

[creeper]

Funny you bring it up, I just got done watching the first DVD (with the first five episodes) tonight. I hate to be blunt, but I thought it was a waste of good animation. It had some good action scenes and some good music, but it was just way too repetitive and too slow-moving to keep my attention. Was it just me, or did EVERY episode other than the first have a really long flashback reusing footage from the episode before it right in the middle somewhere? It didn't help that the characters aren't really explored at all by the end of five episodes. I guess the creators mean them to be mysterious, but to me they just come across as dull. It feels like they could have stripped away half of the tedious conspiracy-theory stuff and covered everything important in those first five episodes in two-- and if they had, I'd probably be more inclined to keep watching.

Ya'll dvd people are in for a wait. I watched the whole series in bulk. I guess when you only have a few eps, you hope that they explain something before the last ep. If you watch the series all back to back then everything is freaking awesome. I seriously loved it. Not just the action too. But some of the characters, and their attitudes. I mean some of the characters, just seem totally normal, but damn, they have mad issues. I would definitley say finish the series....but wait until all of it comes out. Remember each ep their trying to get more information on kiriaka, and mirellle's past. They show glimpses of mirelle's past but as she doesn't want to remember the whole thing, and for supsense's sake the audience is teased a bit. Like i said, you don't notice as much when you have the next ep right at hand. But i say don't give up. If pacing is bothering you then you should wait until the whole series comes out. I think the whole series is worth it.

[Dr Kain]

Yes, Noir is an excellent series. I own the whole thing on vcd, and now I'm getting the dvds as they come out. Wait until you guys meet Chloe, she is my favorite character, and the True Noir. lol

[VinceA]

Since I'm watching from ADV's discs I've only seen the first five episodes (although disc #2 is in the processing queue at RightStuf... four more episodes) but I'm enjoying the show a bunch. I wasn't expecting resolution of things or complete character development at the end of five episodes.

[Zechs]

I love this series the charcters are very well done a the action is ok in my book. Yes it gets off to a slow start but it picks up later. IMO it's better than watching a show where their is mad action but very little story. I think it's worth the wait to get to the later eps because that's where they pack a real punch.

[Nick Biped]

My anime club showed most of that series last year. They were the fansubs, though. I thought it was pretty well done myself. I'll admit I found the pacing a bit show in the early episodes, but overall, there seemed to be a good mix of story and action. There seemed to be fairly good development of characters.

Unfortunately, I never got around to seeing the whole thing. Too bad, I would've liked to.

[Mynd Hed]

Trust me, even if I'd had the rest of the series in my hands after watching that first disc, I wouldn't have watched it. I barely made it through the first five episodes. I thought the first episode was spectacular, and then the second episode was just okay, and then the last three had absolutely nothing that I hadn't already seen in the first two episodes. It was the same formula in every episode: the two chicks get a job offer to kill someone. There's a whole bunch of boring political intrigue stuff that I can't understand because I don't know who the characters are and they all speak very vaguely and make references to things that the viewer doesn't know about. The two chicks go to kill whoever it is they're supposed to kill, but it's a trap or they get ambushed or something. The blonde chick says, "It's THEM. Our enemy." There's a really long flashback of a bunch of stuff that I just saw last episode and don't need to be reminded of. The two chicks kill all the people who are trying to kill them, and then kill whoever it is they were hired to kill in the first place. The episode ends.

I give every anime series one DVD's worth of episodes to grow on me. If it hasn't done so by then, then the creators haven't done their job-- and their job is to keep me watching. If I've just spent two hours of my life watching a series that can't keep me interested even after two hours to set everything up, I think I can safely conclude that it isn't for me. I'm glad you folks enjoy it, but saying "you have to watch the whole series all at once" isn't going to win me over. Give me a series like Berserk, Bebop, Escaflowne, or the Big O, that can grab my attention in one or two episodes and hold it through the entire series.

[Proteus3]

Personally, I loved Noir. I was captivated by it from the first episode. The music and animation was excellent, and I found the slow pacing and pseudo-French film style of the show to be well-done. I can understand why some people don't like it though (even I got sick of the watch flashback), and if somebody didn't like the first five episodes, I wouldn't tell them to watch the rest because it is pretty much more of the same. The plot picks up past episode 9, but not enough for someone who obvisouly dislikes the show to make a complete turnaround.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

Funny you bring it up, I just got done watching the first DVD (with the first five episodes) tonight. I hate to be blunt, but I thought it was a waste of good animation. It had some good action scenes and some good music, but it was just way too repetitive and too slow-moving to keep my attention. Was it just me, or did EVERY episode other than the first have a really long flashback reusing footage from the episode before it right in the middle somewhere? It didn't help that the characters aren't really explored at all by the end of five episodes. I guess the creators mean them to be mysterious, but to me they just come across as dull. It feels like they could have stripped away half of the tedious conspiracy-theory stuff and covered everything important in those first five episodes in two-- and if they had, I'd probably be more inclined to keep watching.

>>And later on...<<

Trust me, even if I'd had the rest of the series in my hands after watching that first disc, I wouldn't have watched it. I barely made it through the first five episodes. I thought the first episode was spectacular, and then the second episode was just okay, and then the last three had absolutely nothing that I hadn't already seen in the first two episodes. It was the same formula in every episode: the two chicks get a job offer to kill someone. There's a whole bunch of boring political intrigue stuff that I can't understand because I don't know who the characters are and they all speak very vaguely and make references to things that the viewer doesn't know about. The two chicks go to kill whoever it is they're supposed to kill, but it's a trap or they get ambushed or something. The blonde chick says, "It's THEM. Our enemy." There's a really long flashback of a bunch of stuff that I just saw last episode and don't need to be reminded of. The two chicks kill all the people who are trying to kill them, and then kill whoever it is they were hired to kill in the first place. The episode ends.
Exactly. I liked the fifth ep, but I fell asleep during the first four. I just really didn't like it that much. It was, like MH said, the same thing in every episode. Contract, Fight, Sorrowful Killing, repeat. A friend of mine said that he's going to get the series as it comes out, so I'll probably end up borrowing the next DVD from him. If it doesn't improve from the first one, all hope for Noir will be lost in my book.

[Dr Kain]

Noir is definitely not a series for everyone. I love it, and I recommend it, but it doesn't quarantee that person will like it. All that matters though is that I enjoy it. :brak:

[Galaxia]

Was it just me, or did EVERY episode other than the first have a really long flashback reusing footage from the episode before it right in the middle somewhere?

Nope, it wasn't just you -I noticed that as well. It's pretty big for using stock footage...

Like, If I see little Mirielle hug her teddy bear one......more......time......

And why do most of the male characters look almost alike?

The music is pretty cool too - I love "Canta Per Me". It's such a cool song. I'm listening to it right now. :)

I wasn't really thrilled by the first couple of episodes, but I'll give the rest of the series a chance.

Oh, and one more thing I learn from watching Noir...always make sure that you don't leave popcorn kernels lying around the house ;)

[Daughterof_Evil]

I watched the first ten episodes fansub...then fell asleep. It might have something to do with the fact that it was six thirty in the morning and I'd spent the last five hours watching Noir, maybe I'm just a wimp. I thought the series had beautiful animation, an intriguing plot, and interesting characters, but after the first episode they nearly entirely drop the "What and Who is Noir" thing and focus on their individual assassinations. Then they don't pick it up again for about ten episodes, and voila, I'm asleep.

The repetative use of stock footage was also quite irritating. At this point we had some idea about Mirielle's family; we didn't really need to be reminded of it, and the double Intocabile episode really proved to cement any suspicions about what they did. The series, to me, seemed unnecessarily long. I know they were trying to paint Mirielle and Kirika as coldhearted businesswomen, but we really didn't need all those episodes about their assassinations when what we (or at least, I) really cared about was the mystery of Noir itself.

I understand, however, that those filler episodes built the characters, so I'm not totally against them. I can never be too against women with guns.

Cool action, though, just not something I needed to be watching when it was late night/early morning and I couldn't care a flying freak about anything but sleeping. If I watch it again, fully awake and caffeinated, I'll probably enjoy it more, especially since now I've read all the spoilers and know that I dozed off right when it was getting interesting.

[raykremer]

The anime club here has been showing the fansubs this year. I already bought the first DVD.

[Mynd Hed]

Also, one other thing bugs me-- the dark-haired chick (I'm sorry, I can't remember any names in this series) would every once in a while say something like, "I can kill people... but I can't feel sorry for it...." while CRYING. Does this make sense? So she can kill people, but she can't feel sorry for killing people, but she cries because she feels sorry that she can't feel sorry for killing people? What?

Anyway I'm sure my constant bashing of the show is getting pretty annoying for the many of you who enjoy it, so I'm going to quit now. Sorry, I'm usually not such a jerk about the shows I don't like, I just had really high expectations for this one after seeing the first episode demo on the Newtype DVD.

[Daughterof_Evil]

Also, one other thing bugs me-- the dark-haired chick (I'm sorry, I can't remember any names in this series) would every once in a while say something like, "I can kill people... but I can't feel sorry for it...." while CRYING. Does this make sense? So she can kill people, but she can't feel sorry for killing people, but she cries because she feels sorry that she can't feel sorry for killing people? What?


Kirika. Her name was Kirika.

I kind of think that the non-sense of it was the point. She's kind of sad because she's missing this huge part of her psyche, this empathy thing. So, really, she's crying for herself.

[EscaflownePilot]

The series has received such varied opinions that I'm not too sure whether to try it out or not. The one thing it has going for it, based on what others have said, is that it's a nice change of pace from the typicall action anime. I love series that take their time to build up the characters and plot because I find it has a much bigger impact in the long run. If, of course, it's done in an interesting way. In many cases, a series that starts from the get-go with nothing but sensless fight scenes I get turned off.

On the other hand, many complain about the sensless use of stock footage. And simply based on the sheer number of complaints of the pacing make me worry...

I still plan on buying the first volume from ADV just to give it a shot since the people who do actually like the series really do like the series alot.

[Mynd Hed]

I'd at least give it a try if you can rent or borrow it, hunt down a copy of the Newtype with the first episode demo on it (the February episode if I recall correctly) or otherwise get a chance to check it out without plunking down the cash for the first DVD. Noir seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it animes, and those are almost always worth a look at least. And this one DOES have some things to recommend it even for those (like me) who can't get into it-- I LOVE the animation and character designs, and it's got some really good music too (even though they repeat the same songs a little too often for my tastes).

[Zechs]

The series has received such varied opinions that I'm not too sure whether to try it out or not. The one thing it has going for it, based on what others have said, is that it's a nice change of pace from the typicall action anime. I love series that take their time to build up the characters and plot because I find it has a much bigger impact in the long run. If, of course, it's done in an interesting way. In many cases, a series that starts from the get-go with nothing but sensless fight scenes I get turned off.

On the other hand, many complain about the sensless use of stock footage. And simply based on the sheer number of complaints of the pacing make me worry...

I still plan on buying the first volume from ADV just to give it a shot since the people who do actually like the series really do like the series alot.
I agree I like stories that focus on more than just action and this series did it. I liked the fact you got to know the charcters it made you feel more for them. Al in all you'll either like Noir of hate it.

[lostrune]

I just finished watching the series NOIR. It was some good stuff. Does anyone know whether the whole soldats thing was based on the illuminati? Kind of seemed to tread in the same waters.

I loved the assasinations. I loved my girl chloe.
Just wanted to see what everyone else that saw it thought

Style over substance.
One should only watch it if one likes the style enough. But one should be careful not making the mistake of looking for deep meanings into it.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Pretentious french wave ripoff. Style for style's sake, experimentation for no reason other than to feel "cool."

It would have been better if they just went all out and made the two leads definitive lesbians, Bound-style. At least then they might have been able to go somewhere with their relationship. It's obvious they wanted to go there, but didn't have the guts to actually try it.

You're better off with Sailor Moon S' Uranus and Neptune if you want the same characters but better character development.