The anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series Noir

Noir (anime)

is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced in 2001 by the Bee Train animation studio. Kōichi Mashimo directed Noir, it was written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and the soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura...

was directed by Koichi Mashimo

Koichi Mashimo

is a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department...

, written by Ryoe Tsukimura, and produced by Bee Train

Bee Train

, commonly referred simply as Bee Train, is a Japanese animation studio founded by Kōichi Mashimo in 1997. Since their involvement with Noir, .hack//Sign, and Madlax they have a strong following in the yuri fandom for being involved in series portraying strong female leads with speculatively...

. It follows the story of two young female assassins who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries from their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there are more than meets their eyes. During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named Les Soldats .

Noir initially ran from April 6 through September 27, 2001 on TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 in Japan and was released on DVD and VHS in 13 compilations, each containing two episodes, by Victor Entertainment

Victor Entertainment

is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...

 between July 25, 2001 and March 21, 2002. After giving hints, announcements, and retractions for almost a year, ADV Films released the series in English in seven DVD compilations, the first containing five episodes, the others containing three or four episodes, between February 18 and October 28, 2003. Prior to that, the first episode was included on the DVD insert of the January 2003 issue of Newtype USA. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is distributed by Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...

, who released a Region 4 DVD box set containing the complete series on February 23, 2005.

The series makes use of two pieces of theme music

Theme music

Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

. by ALI Project is used as opening theme, while by Akino Arai

Akino Arai

is a Japanese singer, song-writer, and lyricist, best known for her works in anime such as Outlaw Star, Noir, Macross Plus, and many others....

 serves as ending theme.

Episode list

Releases

Japanese VHS and Region 2 DVD releases by Victor Entertainment

Victor Entertainment

is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...

Volume		Episodes	Release date	Ref.
	Noir: Vol. 1	1–2	July 25, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 2	3–4	August 22, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 3	5–6	September 21, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 4	7–8	October 24, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 5	9–10	October 24, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 6	11–12	November 21, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 7	13–14	November 21, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 8	15–16	December 19, 2001
	Noir: Vol. 9	17–18	January 23, 2002
	Noir: Vol. 10	19–20	January 23, 2002
	Noir: Vol. 11	21–22	February 21, 2002
	Noir: Vol. 12	23–24	February 21, 2002
	Noir: Vol. 13	25–26	March 21, 2002

English and Japanese Region 1 DVD releases by ADV Films

Volume		Episodes	OCLC OCLC OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...	Release date	Ref.
	Noir: Shades of Darkness	1–5	99807560	February 18, 2003
	Noir: The Hit List	6–9	99813075	April 8, 2003
	Noir: The Firing Chamber	10–12	99816397	May 13, 2003
	Noir: Death Warrant	13–16	52850346	June 24, 2003
	Noir: Terminal Velocity	17–19	54530836	August 5, 2003
	Noir: Cloaks and Daggers	20–23	54530917	September 16, 2003
	Noir: The End of the Matter	24–26	53959191	October 28, 2003