History Anime / Noir

* KungFuJesus: [[spoiler:The True Noir are a particularly dark and disturbing twist on this trope, protecting the weak by killing the strong.]]

* CoolGuns: Kirika was given a Beretta M1934 because they didn't want her to have "the James Bond gun". In reality, a Beretta M1934 is vastly more reliable and a lot less complicated than a Walther PPK.

* HeroicBloodshed: Cited by Creator/BeeTrain studios as one of the main sources of inspiration for this series: Just switch Creator/ChowYunFat and Creator/DannyLee from ''Film/TheKiller'' with Kirika and Mireille respectively and you'll have a Creator/JohnWoo film starring beautiful girls. Or WesternAnimation/TheBoondockSaints.

%%* PeekABangs: Silvana.

* Mouthscreen

* Mouthscreen]]

* OffModel: The show's low budget really shows at times, and it's very clear when different animation teams have done episodes. How Mireille's hair was drawn, in particular the shape of her bangs and how long and how much of her forehead they cover, seemed to shift a lot depending on the animation team.

* {{UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades}}: It's very subtle. In one episode Kirika and Murielle are hired by the [=GIGN=] to do some off-the-record dirty work. In another, Kirika befriends a former member of the French Foreign Legion.

* MoeStare: Rosalie Hammond in Episode 4 and Fake!Kirika in Episode 1. This expression is [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory symbolic of innocence about to be shattered]] in ''Noir.''

* CryCute: Kirika.

* BadassAdorable: Kirika is an almost perfect example of one. She is a cute teen girl who also happens to be one of the best assassins around. Mireille, although very pretty, doesn't quite make the cut, being neither as approachable nor [[{{Woobie}} in need of a hug]] as her [[PseudoRomanticFriendship partner.]] Chloe is more of a LittleMissBadass, what with her having a [[KnifeNut vaguely nasty streak.]]

* BloodlessCarnage: Specifically, despite all the gunplay and Chloe's status as a KnifeNut, the most blood we see is from Kirika's bullet wound in Episode 7. The bloodlessness is really odd in some circumstances. This was the result of the original TV network on which it aired only allowing a limited amount of blood, and the production team initially planned to add it back once it was on DVD, but decided they liked the effect and changed their minds.

* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: As one fan put it: "Kirika isn't a ninja, she is a witch."

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Most characters have natural hair colors. And then you have Chloe, with her violet PeekABangs, for whom the CurtainsMatchTheWindow, no less. Intoccabile also has blue-gray hair.

* TokenYuriGirls: Kirika and Mireille are not shown being physically intimate, but they share a bed (episode 8) and by the end of the series are emotionally dependent on each other. Also, Chloe exhibits a rather warped (and mostly frustrated) desire for Kirika.

* BadassAdorable: Kirika is an almost perfect example of one. She is a cute teen girl who also happens to be one of the best assassins around. Mireille, although very pretty, doesn't quite make the cut, being neither as approachable nor [[{{Woobie}} in need of a hug]] as her [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship partner.]] Chloe is more of a LittleMissBadass, what with her having a [[KnifeNut vaguely nasty streak.]]

* SchoolgirlLesbians: [[spoiler:Chloe's affection for Kirika, though it's one-sided.]]

** Mireille's potted plant is reminiscent of Leon's in Film/TheProfessional.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Absurdly Sharp Student ID Card, in this case.

* AlmostLethalWeapons: Very, ''very'' {{averted|trope}}.
* AmazonBrigade: Altena's priestesses.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Kirika, from Episodes 21 to 25.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Kirika and Chloe.

* BringOutYourGayDead: [[spoiler: Chloe.]]

* CheerfulChild: Young Mireille.
* ClickHello

* DarkenedBuildingShootout: Episode 3.
* DarkMessiah: [[BigBad Mistress Altena]] rejects the legacy of the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, and Sexual Revolution. She thinks that the best way to get the rest of the world to stop "overflow[ing] with wickedness" (which, in the show's moral universe, it obviously is) is to [[spoiler:kill everybody, because people can't sin if they're dead]].

* DramaticWind

* FallingChandelierOfDoom: Episode 3.

* TheGunslinger: Mireille.

* GunKata: Thrown into the mix as well.
* GunsAkimbo: "Cold Blooded Killer: Part 2."

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mireille and Kirika.

* HonorBeforeReason

* ImprobableAimingSkills

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Kirika.
* LaserSight

* MagicSkirt: Especially Mireille's.

* MiniDressOfPower

* MultinationalTeam: Sort of.

* PeekABangs: Silvana.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: While made in 2001, internal detail indicates the series is set around the year 2010. Not that it's actually noticeable and overall it seems fairly contemporaneous.

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Chloe.]]

* VillainsOutShopping: Altena is mostly seen in the beginning of the series... picking grapes, writing letters, and taking walks in the sunshine. This has the effect of making her ''more'' creepy than the previous mafioso punks and thugs.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Most characters have natural hair colors. And then you have Chloe, with her violet PeekABangs, for whom the CurtainsMatchTheWindow, no less.
** Intoccabile with her blue-gray hair.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Most characters have natural hair colors. And then you have Chloe, with her violet PeekABangs, for whom the CurtainsMatchTheWindow, [[PurpleEyes no less]].

Between the various emotionless contract killings that keep food on their table, Mireille and the amnesiac Kirika (who is a deadlier assassin than Mireille herself) delve into their own pasts, even though Kirika eventually begins to doubt whether even her own name is true. Discovering one confusing lead after another, they soon find themselves plunged into a dangerous world of both organized crime and international conspiracies spanning centuries of history. At the end, they will discover who they are, what they mean to each other, and the secret behind the name "Noir."

* [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Absurdly Sharp Student ID Card]]

* AlmightyJanitor: The most ruthless, efficient killing machine the world will know is... A [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Japanese schoolgirl.]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds With abandonment issues.]]

* AncientConspiracy: Les Soldats, who are more or less an organization of [[spoiler: [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] that have made their mission to defend the weak by killing the strong for about a millennium.]]

* ArcWords: "Noir... It is the name of an ancient fate. Two maidens who govern death."

* TheAtoner: [[AntiVillain Nazarov]] in "Lost Kitten," who decades ago used his position as officer in a ''gulag'' to [[spoiler: massacre members of an ethnic group that wiped out all of his own people [[SoleSurvivor except him.]]]] Now he's an anonymous good Samaritan for the poor.
* BadassAdorable: Kirika is an almost perfect example of one. Mireille, although very pretty, doesn't quite make the cut, being neither as approachable nor [[{{Woobie}} in need of a hug]] as her [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship partner.]] Chloe is more of a...
** LittleMissBadass: What with her having a [[KnifeNut vaguely nasty streak.]]
* BackToBackBadasses: Kirika and Chloe slaughtering Les Soldats foot soldiers [[strike: stupid]] dedicated enough to try and surround them.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Kirika, from Episodes 21 to 25.]]

* BrokenBird: ''Everyone,'' but especially Altena. In some circles this is considered ''Noir'''s CharacteristicTrope.

* CoolGuns: Kirika was given a Beretta M1934 because they didn't want her to have "the James Bond gun". In reality a Beretta M1934 is vastly more reliable and a lot less complicated than a Walther PPK.

* ContractOnTheHitman: Happens frequently, but very explicitly in Episode 3 where they are lured into a trap with a false job. [[spoiler: It's actually a BatmanGambit by Les Soldats to make them the best.]]
* CreepyChild: More than one, but especially [[spoiler: the teenaged Lady Silvana.]]

* CryCute: Kirika-chan. Awww poor baby.
* DarkActionGirl: Mireille, Chloe, Lady Silvana, and Kirika (both her normal self and her [[spoiler: "True Noir" mode]])

* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler: The True Noir become veritable saints in the eyes of Soldats' followers: Holy Warriors on a crusade to destroy injustice in the world... By ''any'' means necessary.]]
** And then there's [[spoiler: Altena. She rejects the legacy of the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, and Sexual Revolution; [[DeliberateValuesDissonance this is good.]] She thinks that the best way to get the rest of the world to stop "overflow[ing] with wickedness" (which, in the show's moral universe, it obviously is) is to kill everybody, because people can't sin if they're dead; [[AndThatsTerrible this is not.]]]]

* DissonantSerenity: [[BigBad Altena]] takes this to new heights. No mere EmotionlessGirl, she has an aura of gentle motherliness and [[TheHighQueen regal tranquility.]] Her theme music is among the most powerful, least melancholy pieces in the entire soundtrack, and an exercise in [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic undiluted awesome]] at that. Did we mention she is the BigBad?

* EnfanteTerrible: Kirika, Chloe, and [[spoiler: Silvana.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The two maidens shown on the watch and in the opening bear a resemblance to Kirika and Mireille. This proves important in the finale.
* FriendsRentControl: Averted, and also justified. Mireille's apartment isn't too implausibly large for Paris and only has one room with a divider between the bedroom and living area and a galley kitchen, and it's heavily implied that she's fairly wealthy from her inheritance, assistance from her Uncle Claude (who lives in a friggin' mansion) and from the jobs she gets, which are implied to be fairly high priced for assassinations. If anything she's probably living ''below'' her means.

* GunFu: Kirika-chan's elegant and deadly primary style of combat, with a lot of...
* GunKata: ...Thrown into the mix as well.

* HeroicBloodshed: Cited by Creator/BeeTrain studios as one of the main sources of inspiration for this series: Just switch Creator/ChowYunFat and Creator/DannyLee from ''Film/TheKiller'' with Kirika and Mireille respectively and you'll have a Creator/JohnWoo film starring beautiful girls.
** Or WesternAnimation/TheBoondockSaints.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mireille and Kirika. If it isn't LesYay to you.
* HiddenEyes: Kirika [[spoiler: as her "true Noir" personality begins to re-emerge.]]

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: [[FridgeBrilliance Justified by Altena's goal.]]

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: The show ends with two thematic gunshots, right after the last view of Kirika and Mireille stumbling about wounded. Still, the shots sound exactly like those made by Kirika and Mireille's guns, which were specifically recorded from real versions, making them very distinct from the generic pistol sound used for the {{mook}}s. Since both guns were gone by that point and couldn't have been used, fans generally accept the theory that this was symbolic more than an indicator of this sort of ending.]]
** The official art accompanying the Blu-Ray release shows [[spoiler: Kirika and Mireille several years older, which indicates that they indeed survived.]]
* KillerOutfit: In the first episode, Kirika grabs a mook's tie and snaps his neck with it.
* [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Kirika and/or Mireille is About to Shoot You]]: In much of the artwork.
* KnightTemplar: Altena, to the point that [[EvenEvilHasStandards the rest of Les Soldats think she's dangerous.]]
* KungFuJesus: [[spoiler: The True Noir are a particularly dark and disturbing twist on this trope.]]

* LovelyAngels
* MafiaPrincess: Mireille used to be one; Silvana could very well be described as one.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Almost all of the {{mooks}} seen are men, and the few female villains tend to be a lot tougher and harder to take down. A level of FridgeBrilliance when you take into account Altena's plans.

* MythArc
* NoNameGiven: Kirika, despite being called Kirika throughout the entire show, actually has no definite name. This is discussed a few times in various episodes, and it's not even known whether she truly has a name or not. All that is known about her name is that when she finally came to, she found a student ID card with her picture and the name "Kirika Yuumura" written on it.

* NunTooHoly: Les Soldats nuns.
* OddFriendship: [[FriendlySniper Amiable,]] savvy, and cynical Mireille Bouquet and the [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesiac,]] [[TheQuietOne near silent]], and more child like Kirika Yuumura.

* OminousLatinChanting: When the choir starts singing "Salva Nos," rest assured that the body count is about to skyrocket. Bonus points for the chanting actually being in [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Latin.]]

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:Altena's reason for villainy]].

* SchoolgirlLesbians: [[spoiler:Chloe's affection for Kirika, though it's one sided]].
* ScrewDestiny: Mireille near the end of the series.

** In a bizarre digression in the second episode, when Kirika is chopping vegetables in Mireille's kitchen, she's wearing an apron with... uh... the Music/WuTangClan symbol on it. We're... really not sure why.
* SilkHidingSteel: Altena. She's very beautiful, motherly, soft-spoken, sincere about what she believes in - but considering ''what'' she is so dedicated to, she's also ''creepy as hell''.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Holy shit, '''Mireille'''. ]]

* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: [[spoiler: Well, only TWO True Noir actually... the "loser" of the contest is considered completely expendable in the grand scheme of Soldats' AncientConspiracy.... poor Chloe.]]

* TriggerPhrase: "Receive the final guidance." ''* gunshot* ''

** Also, in Episode 6 a current newspaper article about the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush 2000 Presidential Election]] is visible on the screen.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Again, Kirika.
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Chloe.]]
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Do you enjoy digressions into the history of the Mafia, ethnic minorities in the former USSR, the nature of sin and redemption, how to make wine with medieval technology, all sorts of AuthorAppeal about the Catholic Church, and more? If so, ''Hamartiology: The Anime'' is the show for you!
* VillainsDyingGrace [[spoiler:Mireille decides not to kill Altena in the end, though Altena forces Kirika's hand. And then, dangling over the LavaPit, Altena sacrifices herself to throw Kirika into Mireille's reach.]]

** And while she's one of the protagonists, the first thing you see of Mirielle is her out in sunny Paris, doing her grocery shopping and motoring back to her apartment on a sunshine-yellow scooter. Then you look over her shoulder as she opens her e-mail. For her job. As an assassin.

* WhamLine: "The person who killed your parents, though I do not know her real name,is currently known as... [[spoiler:Kirika Yumura]]."

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Kirika. [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Holy shit, Kirika.]]

** Also Intoccabile with her blue-gray hair.