Noir

Le noir, ce mot désigne depuis une époque lointaine le nom du destin. Les deux vierges règnent sur la mort. Les mains noires protègent la paix des nouveaux-nés. (French: Noir. It is the name of an ancient fate: two maidens who govern death; the peace of the newly-born their black hands protect.)

Status

Anime: complete. (26 episodes)

Thoughts

Noir is definitely not a bad story, but it's definitely not a good one either. For me, it's kind of in that weird place where you aren't really sure what to make of it and thus feel extremely neutral about it.

Well...I will admit that the invincible nature of Kirika and Mirielle, combined with the fact that the series doesn't address their questionable morality (does no one raise an eyebrow at all the deaths they cause?), gets a bit irritating, and the initial slow pacing doesn't help matters. But the series has its moments - the "Lost Kitten" episode is an extremely good one. I wasn't particularly sympathetic to the characters, viewing Noir as a primarily plot-driven anime, but your mileage will almost certainly vary on this one - I can imagine a lot of people swearing by Kirika and her cuteness as she cries.

It's not an anime I would recommend to anyone, but it's not an anime I wouldn't recommend either. Make of that what you will.