Noir: Frequently Asked Questions
By Illusion

In this section I will attempt to cover some of the important questions that I often hear asked about Noir. Obviously, this is just my opinion, whether or not the director intended it to be so is an entirely different matter. But after some feverent discussion on various Noir forums, I believe the majority of Noir fans agree on certain matters here.


Question 1: How come there is no blood whenever someone is shot?
Answer: This is probably what people always pick on when they are trying to criticize Noir. Some people say that it is because it was shown on TV so they had to edit some of the scenes a little. Even so, it was shown on late night cable (2.00am Friday mornings, if I can remember correctly), so most of the little kids should have gone to bed. Rather, I believe the lack of blood is an intentional thing by the director, Kouchi Mashimo. 

First of all, not everyone who is shot/killed is blood-less. Mireille's family bled a lot when they were assassinated, and you also see Chloe's fork laced with her blood after Kirika kills her. And Mireille also bleeds when she is grazed by bullets. It is not just mere coincidence that only certain characters bleed. In Noir, blood is a sign of humanity. That's why whenever you see Mireille, Kirika or Chloe taking out Soldats men or the Knights of Paris or people they have been hired to assassinate, you never see blood. It's indicating that these people, especially the Soldats, are cold, and unfeeling. Certainly not all the people that Mireille and Kirika assassinate are cold and unfeeling, a good example being Yuri Nazerev. But he is probably the only exception besides Kirika. Yes, it's true that I have never seen Kirika bleed in the series either, not even after she was grazed in the head by a bullet by Chloe, or when she was shot in the side by Altena. But we all know that Kirika is one of the only characters in the series that possesses humanity. This therefore leads me to conclude that blood not only represents humanity but also atonement and repentance. Mireille's parents bled because they were killed for protecting their daughter, so in a sense, that was the way they atoned for serving the Soldats. Chloe was just a mislead child that longed to be friends with Kirika and also Mireille at one point, and the viewer can't help but feel an deep pity for her. Despite the many murders she committed, including an attempted one on Mireille, in the end she accepted Kirika and Mireille being the "True Noir", and this was her way of letting go. Mireille obviously has a lot of feeling within her, and is very capable of loving. She just shut herself up after the murder of her family and became an assassin. But you really see her beginning to melt as she and Kirika grow closer, and you know that she was never really cold. As for Kirika, she was a child without a past and she felt isolated from the world. She didn't bleed at first because she was unaware of what she had done in the past and therefore was unable to atone for it. It was only after she decided to accept her sins as Kirika Yuumura and not as Noir, that humanity flowed back into her and this is when we see Mireille and her walking into the night, illuminated like a beacon of light.

Yuri Nazerev creates a paradox for the series. Earlier in episode 6, as Mireille is explaining to Kirika about Nazerev's past and how he as a former KGB member slaughtered hundreds of Tartar's, she also comments that although he now wanders the streets like a saint he can't escape what he did in the past. Kirika's expression is sad, as we later realize that an unconscious part of her mind is recalling what she did to Mireille's family. If what Mireille says is true, than for her she could never make it up to Mireille. This is why later in the series, when Kirika finally remembers what she did, Kirika demands that Mireille kill her as she "can't atone for it". Mireille is unable to do it, which shows that deep down inside Mireille does believe that she can forgive Kirika. Because if she couldn't, she herself would never be able to escape the countless murders she committed as Noir. And here we see a change in the girls' ideals and that is why they will be able to bleed later on. As for Yuri, he could have bled all the way into the bed, as the camera doesn't show him after Kirika shot him.

On the other hand once, in episode 18, when Kirika stabbed the Soldats man sent to assassinate Mireille, you see his blood lacing the wheel pin of the toy truck. I don't think this represents his humanity in this case and was just done because the director just wanted to show the audience that Kirika had stabbed him and he was dead. He wasn't an important character at all, so I see no point, from a director's point of view, to infuse him with humanity. Whatever the reason was for the director deciding not to make all the characters bleed, I am very glad that he made that decision because I'm not sure if I could put up with a show who's message and story was buried under the splattering of blood on the screen. Instead, Kouichi Mashimo displayed his true talent by weaving a story without the excessive use of blood and created one of the most stylish and beautiful animes ever. After all, Noir is ultimately a story of light within darkness and the ability for everyone to move away from their sins, not a story promoting murder.

Question 2: When we see Kirika killing Mireille's family, they look about the same age. So how come now Kirika looks so much more younger than Mireille?
Answer: When Kirika goes to assassinate Mireille's family, it looks like she is about 4-5 years old and Mireille is 7-8 years old. At present time, when they formed Noir, Kirika is 16-18 years old and Mireille is around 20. The age gap between them still remains the same (around 2-3 years). The reason why Mireille may look much older than Kirika can mainly be attributed to race. It is a well-known fact that Europeans naturally mature faster and look older than Asians. In this case, Mireille would have been forced to grow up even faster than normal children since her parents were murdered and she had to learn how to fend for herself. Kirika, however, remained in school (until Mireille came to get her, that is) so she is more familiar with youth. The age gap between Mireille and Kirika is not that large at all and correlates to the time when they first met. The director did not stuff up here.

Question 3: What is the nationality of Chloe? How about Altena?
Answer: It is not made clear in the series what the nationality of Chloe is, but it is possible that she is of mixed blood (i.e. Eurasian). If you look at her eyes, they are similar to Shao Li/Heartless Assassin's, which suggests that she maybe has some Asian blood in her. She is probably not Japanese though, as animators have a tendency to give Japanese girls the biggest eyes possible (e.g. Kirika) and the rest of Asia smaller eyes. Since Chloe grew up at the Manor, and her name is rather western, it is also possible that she also has some European blood in her as well. Therefore, we can conclude that Chloe is Eurasian.

As for Altena, it is not mentioned in the series what exact nationality she is either, but we know that it is a European country that was war-torn in the middle of the 20th century. We know this because of the flashbacks Altena had had of her as a child walking in a desolate and burning town where she was picked up by a foot-soldier and raped. Some Noir fans speculate that it is probably Yugoslavia, but then Europe is a large place and and a lot of those places were once involved in wars.

Question 4: When was Noir set?
Answer: The audience is made aware from the beginning that the story is set in the "near future", but they are not explicitly told what year exactly. Well thanks to an extremely perceptive person who left a message in my guestbook, I am now aware that the director actually left clues inside the show itself to let the viewer deduce the actual year in which Noir was held! If you pay attention in episode 4, there is a scene where Kirika goes to Mireille's laptop late at night and looks at the information regarding Rosaly Hammond, the President's 15 year old daughter. There we see her birth date is 1994. Since Rosaly is having her birthday soon, we can assume she is turning 16 in the year in which the story is told. With a bit of maths, we can easily work out that Noir is set in the year 2010! Thanks to Claire for directing me towards this information! ^_^

Question 5: What is the meaning of the gunshots at the end of episode 26?
Answer: The rant by Vallen can help in that question: Click. To summarize in my own words, the gunshots do not indicate that Kirika and Mireille have been shot. The first shot is from Kirika's Beretta, while the second shot is from Mireille's Walther. It would be pointless, from the director's standpoint, to have them killed off moments they had overcome the darkness in their hearts and begun their journey into light. That is, moments after they had chosen to truly live.

Rather, we can read the gunshots as a way of farewelling both the series and Noir. In the duration of the gunshots, we see the cracked pocket watch lying on the ground. The pocket watch is Mireille and Kirika's link to their traumatic past, and also, in a sense, the start of their partnership as Noir. The gunshots, paired with the image of the cracked pocket watch, could represent them letting go of their past, and the death of Noir. Not the death of Mireille Bouquet or Kirika Yuumura, but rather the death of their job as assassins. So in other words, Mireille and Kirika did not die, but their murderous and sinful profession did, and this allowed them to move on.

Question 6: Is there going to be anymore of Noir beyond the 26 TV episodes?
Answer: There have been many, many rumors suggesting that a Noir sequel is in the works, and being pushed forwards by ADV Films. However, I believe that they are nothing but that. Rumors. Kouchi Mashimo himself stated that although a lot of people were asking for a sequel, he felt he could not give into their demands as he didn't want to expand on an ending that was conclusive enough. I really respect him for that, as there are a lot of producers/directors out there who would milk a series for all its worth. The decision itself is wise as well, as I personally agree that Noir has a very conclusive ending, and to extend on something like that would destroy it. I wouldn't mind a prequel or alternate storyline, though.  However, there are currently no plans for any further tales involving our favorite female duo, and until I hear it from Kouchi Mashimo's own mouth, I'm not believing there will be.

Got more questions? Please email me at illusion@japan.com or leave a message in my guestbook.

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