Two beautiful female assassins travel the world accepting assignments to kill various culprits, and at the same time, having deadly traps set against them by their own employer. In the business of life and death, trust and loyalty are definitely two lines that shouldn't be crossed. In this action packed anime, Monica Rial and Shelley Black loan their voices as the roles of Mireille and Kirika, two maidens of death who have nothing in common except one thing: they're both emotionless killing machines. Mireille Bouquet is one of France's most revered killers who will wack anybody for the right price. Up until now, Mireille hasn't had a reason to care or a reason to depend on anybody but herself. All of that changes though when a beautiful young Japanese girl shows up asking Mireille for help in finding her identity, as it turns out that Kirika is an amnesicac with no memory but has the skills of a very dangerous woman. Mireille agrees to help Kirika, as she feels that Kirika may hold they key to unlocking a mystery to Mireille's own past. The two set up shot in Paris and begin two work as a hit squad code-named Noir and their journeys take them to the chilly land of Moscow to the beautiful land of Sicily. As the girls take down their targets and get some serious bigtime pay, they draw closer to the truth behind Kirika's sudden amnesia and the truth behind Mireille's banishment from her home in Corsica years ago as a child. However, a dangerous organization called the Soldats doesn't want the girls uncovering the truth about anything and even goes as far as to send one of their own, a young girl named Chloe to silence them. Now the men and women of Soldats who swore a mysterious oath to watch Kirika and Mireille's back are now eager to put a bullet in them. The two girls will have to learn the difference betweeen being a target and being a shooter as the Soldats start closing in and Mireille decides that it's time to go gunning for revenge. In the end, the girls will learn the difference between trust and loyalty as they enter a dark world where watching each other's back is the only way to stay alive. On first appearance, Mireille Bouquet would strike the most vigilant eye as nothing more harmful than a beautiful young woman who spends her afternoons in the markets of Paris; shopping for groceries and riding to and from her loft apartment on a moped through the cobbled streets of charmingly rustic neighborhoods; a perfect disguise for one of the most deadliest assassins in the world.<br/><br/>On first appearance, Kirika Yumura would strike the most vigilant eye as nothing more harmful than an innocent young girl, living a school girl's life in Tokyo, Japan; another perfect disguise for another one of the world's most deadliest assassins.<br/><br/>The only real difference that sets these two apart is that Mireille stands out as a woman who's never had the obsessed questions of her past answered, while Kirika is literally unable to remember her past.<br/><br/>The only clues that Kirika has ever had to her missing memory are the ones that have now forced her to seek out Mireille's help. Resigning herself to the fact that their lives are inextricably linked, Mireille is forced to team up with this mysterious and dangerous stranger in the hopes of finding the answers she's always sought, while at the same time helping to recover Kirika's lost memory. From this point on it becomes only a matter of time before their quest takes them deeper into a world of dark conspiring forces, savagely intent on bending these femme fatales to their own will and at any cost.<br/><br/>As the first installment of a seven disc collection, Noir: Shades of Darkness is an impressive debut that succeeds through a combination of consummate storytelling, beautiful art and a praiseworthy soundtrack. Audiences will walk away feeling compelled to make space in their DVD library for the entire series. I recently purchased this series and having now watched it all I must say I have no regrets. The story was fairly action packed from start to finish. The earlier episode were individual stories for the most part, but later episodes follow a story arc that was hinted at in the opening episode.<br/><br/>In the first episode solo assassin Mireille meets Kirika, an amnesiac who is even more deadly than she is. It is apparent that the two are some how linked as Kirika has a watch in her possession which belonged to Mireille's murdered parents. Mireille tells her that they can work together until Kirika's past is revealed; then she will kill her. The episodes contain a lot of shooting but we almost never see any blood which means this series isn't too gory for younger anime fans. Just under half way through the series another assassin is introduced; the mysterious Chloe who becomes a recurring character who appears to be connected somehow to Kirika.<br/><br/>While the animation isn't the best I've seen it is still pretty good and the music is great. The only weakness of the series I found was the over-use of flashbacks although it wasn't enough to spoil it. Given that the protagonists are girls in miniskirts it is surprising that there is no fan service to speak of, even the one scene that involves nudity is done in a non-gratuitous way that doesn't really show anything. I'd certainly recommend this series to anybody who likes animated action which doesn't include unnecessary comedy moments.<br/><br/>These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
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