Noir: The Hit List (Vol-2)
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: Project Noir
Episodes: 6-9
By Jeffey Couto

Introduction

It’s been several months since I saw volume one of Noir, so I thought now that some time has passed it would be perfect to revisit the underworld of hired assassins and see where the story takes us this time around and whether some of the enigmatic background stories of Mireille and Kirika are revealed.

And so I loaded Noir: The Hit List into my DVD player…

The Story

"The mysteries deepen as professional assassins Mireille Bouquet and Yuumura Kirika, now working together under the code name “NOIR”, ply their chosen trade even as they search for the mysterious link that connects them. Is there someone out there who already knows? And if so, is it the same mysterious person—or people—who’ve been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with them since they first met?". -- ADV's Noir Page

Review

Volume two of Noir contains four episodes, with the first two being self-contained stories and the last two containing one continuing storyline. Episodes six and seven proved to be in the same vein as episodes three to five, each showcasing a different assassination job for Noir. The last two chapters on the DVD however, offer a story that begins with the completion of another assignment for the team, but eventually takes them to new places we haven’t seen them in before as Mireille must confront someone from her past, in what turns out to be a more personal affair.

After seeing chapters one through five of this series I ended up loving its concept and overall production. The stories in those episodes although mostly self-contained laid out the framework for how and where Noir operated in the underworld of hired hitmen, however this was done without much time given to character or backstory development.

The episodes in volume two while not much more revealing than the previous ones do begin offering more pieces of the puzzle and bringing forth clues to our heroines’ past, which somehow seems to be conencted. They also accomplish a better job at examining Mireille and Kirika’s evolving relationship on a professional and personal level, especially in episode seven, “The Black Thread of Fate”.

During this particular story Kirika is injured when a target who she thought was taken out shoots back at her, causing a large injury and a lot of bleeding. As she leaves the scene her student ID card from Japan falls from her pocket giving the assassinated dictator's people the clue they need to hunt her down. Upon learning of this mistake Mireille begins to wonder whether she should just proceed solo or take her chances with Kirika, which leads to a dramatic moment as she contemplates whether to shoot her companion or not. What happens next puts our leading heroine to the test and gives us an interesting glimpse at her feelings for Kirika, all without much expository exchanges or inner dialogues. Getting a character’s feelings across in this minimalist fashion is very difficult, which is why it has always been something I enjoyed an applaud, especially when it is carried out effectively as was the case here.

The last storyline in this DVD takes us back into Mireille’s past as she must confront someone whom she met at a younger age and who she is very afraid of, which from everything we’ve seen up to this point in the series is very uncharacteristic of her. The final confrontation between her and the Intoccabile is by far the highlight of this DVD.

I think it would be fair to say that I enjoyed the quality of the animation more so than I did with volume one. While “Lost Kitten” was a bit too dark and brownish for my taste the rest of episodes in this release featured some beautiful and colorful backdrops with a lot of international flavor to them, especially in the Intoccabile storyline. The action scenes as before are rather impressive, well framed, and fun to watch, especially once the music kicks in.

Speaking of the music, I need to get the soundtrack to this series. I think I enjoyed some of the BGM just as much as I did the artistry of the animation. If you are a collector of anime CD’s this is one series whose CD’s might be worth hunting down and adding to your collection.

Now what about the DVD package? With volume two the following episodes are included:

Episode 1: Lost Kitten
Episode 2: The Black Thread of Fate
Episode 3: Intoccabile Acte I
Episode 4: Intoccabile Acte II

Extras t include several production sketches, clean versions of the opening and closing sequences, original Japanese promos for the series, and previews of other ADV Films releases. There is also an insert with some production notes that prove to be an interesting read, especially after you watch the DVD.

Conclusion

Beautiful animation, brilliant action scenes, pulse pounding music and stories that draw you in. What else can you ask for? Once more I highly recommend this series to all anime fans.

I eagerly look forward to seeing volume three.

Jeffrey Couto