Take two female assassins, put them up against an international secret society, sprinkle the background liberally with exotic European locales and unique music, then set timer for 26 episodes. What do you get? An anime series that makes viewers sit up and take notice.

So what is NOIR? The introductory narration of each episode offers this interpretation: Noir is an ancient title bestowed upon two maidens that reign over death, their blackened hands protecting the peace of the newborns. It's a cryptic passage, and its meaning is one of the underlying mysteries of the series.

The story starts when Mireille Bouquet, a woman living in France, receives an e-mail from a Japanese girl named Yuumura Kirika, asking her to "make a pilgrimage to the past, with me." The woman walks away from her computer but stops in her tracks when she hears the musical attachment to the e-mail. (Let this be a lesson to you about opening e-mail attachments! Mireille must have been using Outlook, but I digress...) The music triggered such a response from Mireille that she travels all the way to Japan to confront Kirika. The girl presents a pocket watch that plays the melody from the e-mail attachment and leads Mireille on a chase into a nearby construction site. When the woman catches up to the girl, Kirika introduces herself as "Noir." Suddenly, they are interrupted by gunmen determined to kill them both. Even though she is outgunned, Mireille demonstrates that she is quite a seasoned markswoman herself, but Kirika gives an even more frightening display of her abilities in eliminating the rest of the gunmen.

Kirika takes Mireille home to treat her wound. There, Mireille reveals the results of the background check she ran on Kirika: everything about the girl indicates that her identity was fabricated. Kirika confirms Mireille's conclusions, explaining that she woke up one day with no recollection of who she was, except for a codename: Noir. The only significant items in her possession were a student I.D. card, a gun and the aforementioned pocket watch. For an unknown reason, Kirika is being pursued by an organization, but she has been able to dispatch her pursuers with ease so far. Confused by her new deadly skills and by her lack of moral regret in using her abilities, Kirika sought out Mireille because somehow she knows the pocket watch is connected to the woman's past. Mireille states that she can't allow Kirika to continue living because the girl knows too much about Mireille's true profession as an elite assassin, but she proposes a truce until the two discover Kirika's real identity and the truth behind this secret organization pursuing them.

This quest will lead them on assignments all over Europe, and one of the clues they uncover is a photocopied page of an old manuscript which mentions a group called the Soldats. The name is only the tip of the iceberg, as the full extent of the Soldats is gradually revealed over the course of the series. Unfortunately, the plot moves slowly in the beginning because it appears that Mireille and Kirika, who go into business under the Noir alias, quickly settle into a routine of getting assignments, investigating their targets and then eliminating them. However, the story goes into full swing by episode 10 with the introduction of an assassin named Chloe, who declares herself the "True Noir." Chloe and her mentor Altena add tangible faces to the mysterious Soldats and give the plot a compelling drive forward to its gripping conclusion.

NOIR is the brainchild of Tsukimura Ryoei, who co-created EL HAZARD with Hayashi Hiroki. The thing to realize about NOIR is that it's all about style, especially when the opening credits feature James Bond inspired animation. The series is reminiscent of Luc Besson's LA FEMME NIKITA and THE PROFESSIONAL, but the anime lacks a truly sympathetic element that anchors the viewers to the characters. Like Besson's movies, NOIR features a lot of gunfights, but you hardly feel that Kirika and Mireille are in any danger. When gunmen drop like flies without pools of blood spilling all over the place, NOIR takes on a surreal quality where the shootouts resemble the swordfights of samurai dramas.

The battles feel unneccessary because the outcomes seem foreordained, but they happen anyways because the story formula dictates that they must occur. This is rather unfortunate because it undermines the bond growing between Mireille and Kirika, which could have tied the whole story together. Instead, the series' creators seem to put that bonding on the backburner, placing more emphasis on the enigma of the Soldats until the climax when the question posed at the beginning of the series is answered, "Will Mireille kill Kirika?"

Despite the shortcomings of the plot, NOIR is very pretty to watch. BeeTrain, the studio behind NOIR, delivers some top-notch visuals. Kikuchi Yoko's character designs are distinctive and appealing, and the various international locations provide excellent excuses for a variety of beautiful background paintings. The animation suffers from the limitations of a television budget, but at least BeeTrain put in some effort so that you won't notice the cel count during the shootouts. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the musical soundtrack. Kajiura Yuki's music is actually excellent, but there's a lack of musical direction in using the same piece of music over and over during the action sequences. It seems such a shame because there was enough musical material for more than two soundtrack CDs.

Victor Entertainment, NOIR's distributor in Japan, prices its anime video releases higher than other distributors like Pioneer or Emotion (Bandai), but NOIR is JVC's best deal yet. The video transfer is excellent; the lines are crisp and the colors are vibrant without being oversaturated. There's an added bonus of 16:9 widescreen anamorphic versions on the DVDs. The other DVD extras are standard fare for JVC titles: slideshows of the character and mechanical designs, and creditless opening and ending animation. Starting with volume 8, an interview with a member of the staff and cast is included as well. Although there are only two episodes per volume, most of the volumes were released in pairs, so Region 2 collectors didn't have to wait 13 months for the entire series on video.

Amidst the anime series shown on regular broadcast TV in the spring of 2001, only NOIR stood out. The creators intended to make the series different, and they succeeded very well on that count. Some people may have issues with the characters and the plot, but NOIR is undeniably stylish. Sluggish in the beginning, the show picks up the pace and delivers a story worthy of its visuals, music and voice acting. This series is highly recommended for action fans because the episodes leading up to the climax will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. People who like to overanalyze their anime, however, are advised that the plot doesn't hold up too well when scrutinized (just like plenty of Hollywood action films). Despite its failure at highbrow entertainment, NOIR is still a sophisticated diversion.