Noir Complete Series Blu-ray Anime Classics

Girls with guns. Good action, no sex (+++) Graphics are O.K. Great soundtrack. The soundtrack alone is worth the purchase.
Two female assassins team up and are relentlessly attacked by an unknown organization. The plot slowly reveals itself as the episodes progress. I'll give this 5 stars or better.

Girls with Guns in a classic sense. I'll give it props for action and for being a classic. But to be honest, the mindless action gets boring after a while, almost predictable like an 80's arcade game. The animation is way sub-par, very dated, and has very little detail to it. The audio is all over the place, with sound effects loud and one of the main characters always mumbling. This is one of the few series I've watched where I've given it more than fair chance to hook me and it never did. Like it's more detailed, better animated offspring "Canaan", this series lacks good writing, and could've been great, but wound up settling for mediocre.

This series is recommended if you're looking for an action series where the 2 primary leads are female and the fighting scenes are done without nauseating gore. The musical soundtrack is excellent and adds to the series. I enjoyed the series as it first establishes the relationship between the 2 leads before building towards the final battle.

I will admit, this anime is easily one of my all time favorites. The depth with which it explores its characters and their motivations is easily what makes it for me. It's an action series, but it also takes the time to immerse us in the lives of Mireille, Kirika, Chloe and Altena, so that we become invested in their choices and their struggles. Even small details are paid attention to and given significance, like the plant in Mireille's apartment that Kirika cares for. This makes for a tense and meaningful climax at the end of the series, as each character struggles to realise what is truly important to her. The music is phenomenal, and there is no shortage of beautiful animated scenery as Mireille and Kirika carry out their assignments throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Looking for an awesome anime with awesome female leads? You can't go wrong with Noir.

Noir's average story and action are supported by it's interesting characters and stellar soundtrack. I enjoyed the slow burn of the first half of the show, and seeing how the characters reacted to the various twists and turns of the plot, which it jumped the shark in a few places.

The action was pretty entertaining, but there are rarely stakes, and the choice to make this a mostly bloodless show is baffling; it didn't need copious gore, but dozens of people are dying, a little blood would add to the gravity and help alleviate the cheap feeling of it all.

The soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura deserves special mention; it elevates the proceedings to a higher level, even the silly parts.

The special features are nice, even though the interviews with the cast are mostly just old puff pieces to promote the show. The sock-based parody short was charming. Picture and audio quality were great.