Anyone ever seen this anime series?
Produced by Bee Train animation studio, the series aired in Japan in 2001. It was licensed, dubbed, and released by ADV Films in North America in 2003 (I collected all 7 volumes as they came out). It is now licensed by Funimation Entertainment, and it was released on Blu-ray on April 14. I thought it might be nice to discuss it.
The series is about an assassin, a young French-based Corsican woman named Mireille Bouquet, that goes into business with a (supposedly) Japanese teen schoolgirl named Kirika Yuumura, an amnesiac that's as deadly with a gun as Mireille, in order for the two of them to learn more about their respective, hidden pasts. Using the word that Kirika mysteriously spoke upon their meeting, they call themselves Noir, which is apparently a legendary assassin name in the underworld (though long in disuse), leading to no shortage of confusion among the girls' targets.
Most episodes of the 26-episode series are stand-alone, hit-of-the-week type of plots, though there's an over-arching grand plan in place by a secret organization.
Of note is the incredible music by the talented composer Yuki Kajiura. There's an Italian song called "Canta Per Me", apparently Kirika's theme (although I'd never considered any of the songs in the series to "belong" to a particular character). There are also plenty of gorgeous instrumental pieces. The stand-out track, though, is "Salva Nos" (nominally Mireille's theme), a series of female-chanted Church Latin phrases set to pulsing Techno music - with some saxophone, piano, and violin added in for good measure. It's freakin' brilliant (although the electric guitar solo at the end is woefully out of place):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDs_PZaSkFo
This is the girls' "killing theme". When you hear it, you know a lot of people are about to die.
The one negative thing that I have to say is, as lovely as the music is and as beautifully that it complements the gorgeous animation, it make heavy re-use of certain pieces, especially early on.
This series isn't bloody, and it's not all-out action. There are a lot of quiet, contemplative moments. Heck, there's a scene in episode 02 where the girls are preparing dinner and eating it.
There's perhaps a bit too much use of flashbacks (gotta work within the budget, I guess), but it's not too bad.
Anyway, discuss!
Produced by Bee Train animation studio, the series aired in Japan in 2001. It was licensed, dubbed, and released by ADV Films in North America in 2003 (I collected all 7 volumes as they came out). It is now licensed by Funimation Entertainment, and it was released on Blu-ray on April 14. I thought it might be nice to discuss it.
The series is about an assassin, a young French-based Corsican woman named Mireille Bouquet, that goes into business with a (supposedly) Japanese teen schoolgirl named Kirika Yuumura, an amnesiac that's as deadly with a gun as Mireille, in order for the two of them to learn more about their respective, hidden pasts. Using the word that Kirika mysteriously spoke upon their meeting, they call themselves Noir, which is apparently a legendary assassin name in the underworld (though long in disuse), leading to no shortage of confusion among the girls' targets.
Most episodes of the 26-episode series are stand-alone, hit-of-the-week type of plots, though there's an over-arching grand plan in place by a secret organization.
Of note is the incredible music by the talented composer Yuki Kajiura. There's an Italian song called "Canta Per Me", apparently Kirika's theme (although I'd never considered any of the songs in the series to "belong" to a particular character). There are also plenty of gorgeous instrumental pieces. The stand-out track, though, is "Salva Nos" (nominally Mireille's theme), a series of female-chanted Church Latin phrases set to pulsing Techno music - with some saxophone, piano, and violin added in for good measure. It's freakin' brilliant (although the electric guitar solo at the end is woefully out of place):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDs_PZaSkFo
This is the girls' "killing theme". When you hear it, you know a lot of people are about to die.
The one negative thing that I have to say is, as lovely as the music is and as beautifully that it complements the gorgeous animation, it make heavy re-use of certain pieces, especially early on.
This series isn't bloody, and it's not all-out action. There are a lot of quiet, contemplative moments. Heck, there's a scene in episode 02 where the girls are preparing dinner and eating it.
There's perhaps a bit too much use of flashbacks (gotta work within the budget, I guess), but it's not too bad.
Anyway, discuss!
