Customer Reviews

Noein: To Your Other Self

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dimensional apocalypses, quantum physics, and preteen coming-of-age. Not a lot of series could manage all that.

But in fact, the tightly-woven story of "Noein" succeeds in everything it attempts -- an eerie, other-dimensiony storyline with some complex characters and well-placed comedy. The animation is a bit simple, but the story it's wrapped around is complex and well-developed.

As the story opens, Dragon Knights are fighting a Shangri-la ship over a barren landscape. The ship explodes, taking Karasu with it. In Japan, a young girl named Haruka spots him standing on a church spire.

Months later, Haruka goes on a ghost hunt with her pals Ai, Miho, Isami and the troubled Yuu. Then Karasu appears, and identifies Haruka as the Dragon Torque. As he battles another Dragon Knight, the deranged Atori, Haruka finds that she can unintentionally manipulate time and space. And Karasu seems eerily familiar -- turns out he's Yuu from the future.

Soon the town is swarming with Dragon Knights, all trying to capture Haruka -- except for Karasu, who vows to protect her with his life. And when the Knights kidnap Haruka back to their dimension, La'cryma, she finds that their world is OUR future -- a ruined planet being slowly destroyed by the dimension Shangri-la. And her captors are future versions of her friends, Isami and Ai.

Things don't improve much after Karasu manages to whisk her back to Earth, and hides in her spare room. Haruka and her friends have to deal with more Dragon Knights, a quantum physicist, and a mysterious masked figure -- Noein -- wants Haruka for himself. And Karasu has to deal with Fukurou, a future version of Isami -- to keep Haruka safe, he'll have to fight his oldest friend to the death.

To protect her world -- and her beloved Karasu/Yuu -- Haruka will do anything. But she hasn't reckoned with the devious Noein, and the horrifying secret that drives him to unite all the dimensions...

"Noein" is a pretty densely plotted show -- coming-of-ages, apocalyptic battles, personal struggles, and action-packed sci-fi. And the all-too-human characters are explored in detail. All of this is expertly woven together, along with some plot twists that only stop when the story is complete.

Fortunately, it has more than just clever writing -- it's full of exquisitely beautiful visuals (Karasu's healing, Noein's fortress), bittersweet memories, and sweetly humorous scenes (Atori regressing into a childlike state). In a way, the sweeter scenes make the struggle against Shangri-la even more harrowing.

And it's loaded down with action -- lots of high-voltage fight scenes, including kinetic air battles, falling lift cars, exploding buildings, bug-eyed guru-ships invading our world, and some holes in the universe. And though the dialogue isn't exactly littered with quotables, it has some great lines ("Even if we are being killed, we can still pretend it's not happening!").

Most of the characters are given little moments to shine, but the main trio takes center stage. Haruka and Yuu make great protagonists: one is upbeat and kindly, and the other is miserable because of his mother's obsessions. And Karasu is an absolutely stunning anti-hero, whose dark personality is even more striking when you realize that he's a future Yuu who has lost everything he loved.

And the supporting characters are almost as great -- the athletic Ai, flaky Miho, and wannabe tough-guy Isami. These three are totally lovable, and it's painful to see their lives disintegrate in one potential future. And attention is also given to the psycho-turned-amnesiac Atori, the quiet Tobi, as well as Yuu's unhappy mother.

As for the dub, almost all the actors are excellent, and Crispin Freeman is nothing short of phenomenal as the tortured Karasu -- rough, raw, anguished, and sometimes a wee bit tender. The only weak spots, really, are a hammy Bryce Papenbrook and Cindy Robinson with a Southern accent so strong you could smash cinder blocks with it.

Noein has a few animated weak spots, but the storyline is a peerless blend of complex sci-fi, quantum physics, and love. A stunning, harrowing story.

Plot: 8.5/10

Rich in detail and very complex. The idea of different universes existing for every choice, with the you in that universe going down a different path, is truly fascinating.

I have to mark it down a little because of the slow pacing and unexplained elements of the story. However, I'm sure someone who has a better understanding of quantum physics would add 0.5 to this rating.

Characters: 9.7/10

Watching the main characters develop in Noein is different than in any other anime I've watched. You see how they *possibly* look and act in the future throughout the show (sometimes even more than one possible future version), which creates thoughts and shows the characters from different angles.

My favourite characters were not the main two (Haruka and Yuu), my favourites instead being Ai and Isami. It's both funny and cute seeing them try to hide their feelings for each other as the series progresses, Ai being a fiery red/orange-head and Isami being your average male - Unable to pick-up on signals. Isami's character is probably my favourite due to the future versions of him shown.

The only real bad character point I can think of is Yuu's character - He gets quite annoying with his attitude. The annoyance is worsened by slow plot progression.

Art / Animation: 9.5/10

I can't rate art and animation accurately since I know nothing about it.

Noein looked amazing and fairly unique to me from the moment I first saw it. The start of the show showed that it obviously had quite a big budget, combining CG with excellent art and animation. The show kept up the high quality visuals until the end, although the less important episodes didn't get the attention the more important ones did.

Sound: 9/10

I'm probably being quite harsh here - The soundtrack is outstanding. The the choral battle/action music really gets you excited, the dramatic music does its job, the cute/funny music is fun to listen to... It's all great. My only reason for not rating higher is because there aren't too many tracks I'd want to listen to when not watching the series.

Total: 9.2/10

All in all, an amazing series. This is a series every anime fan should watch.

This box set takes the five individually released DVDs and puts them into one package. The first four discs contain five episodes, while the fifth disc contains only four.

The first disc was the best when it came to bonus features. The second and third disc had decent features. The fourth and fifth discs, however, were a disappointment. It felt like they put too many special features on the first disc, and then ran out of features and were forced to repeat a feature from the first disc.

The series itself is very well done, and I would recommend this box set. For fans of Noein, this is definitely the way to go get the full series. Instead of having to pay $90-$100 to pick up all five DVDs individually, you can purchase this box set for about $40.

I love the subject matter of this series - and in its exploration of the subject, Noein really stepped outside the boundaries of many anime series.

The problem with taking on such a complex idea is that it becomes difficult to avoid plot holes and keep the series concise. There were definitely moments where I thought "oh, cool - this is a very interesting turn of events" but there were also many moments where I thought aspects made no sense even in the structure of the world they set up. Some significant characters could have been developed more and others could have been left on the sidelines.

The English dub can sound a little over dramatic, but it's tolerable. The animation is different from many anime, somewhat odd, but fitting for the nature of the series. The series is not bad, but you have to be willing to let some things slide - I can do that pretty easily with a cheesy romance comedy anime, but for some reason SciFi that wants to be taken seriously has a more strict set of rules to live up to.

If you're into SciFi Anime - "Dennou Coil" is a similar series to Noein that explores alternate dimensions through the eyes of children, but Dennou Coil has a pretty solid grasp on the world it created and very few (if any) plot holes.

I'm going to review the product, not the series (although the series is amazing) - just a heads up. This boxed set is absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, whoever packaged this knew what they were doing, which is a refreshing break from most anime boxed sets. I don't regret a single penny spent on it. It's got a fresh, stylish look - very color coordinated, and the design elements work well. The dvd menus are very impressive, very professional. The audio and subtitle options are great. The special features are also quite admirable. I'm pretty hard to please, but every time I look at this set, I feel instantly satisfied. Make it a purchase!

Despite being an anime fan, my tastes tend to be within a certain niche; a familiar type of storytelling that lets me get into the show a lot more easier. As such, a horror series like Hellsing or Hell Girl might not reach to me as quick as something like Fate/Stay Night, Chrono Crusade or the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Noein's more of a sci-fi drama with action peppered throughout as opposed to an all-out fight series like you'd be expecting. This is a series that's meant to get into your brain and make you think rather than just offer simple thrills and despite a couple of flaws, the show was still fascinating in the end.

Haruka Kaminogi is a normal girl in school while her friend Yu Gota has been feeling down lately since his mom has been making him study frequently to prepare for exams and even going as far as to bar him from going out with his friends. While the 2 are out late at night along with 3 other friends, mysterious strangers appear and they all seem to want Haruka. Turns out they're from the dimension La'Cryma which resembles Haruka's timeline in the future while one stranger, Karasu, might be Yu in the future. With talk of needing the "Dragon Torque" and the mention of another dimension known as Shangri-La, Haruka and Yu have to save their dimension as well as all others in existence.

While the plot might sound confusing and the concepts of quantum physics, multiple dimensions with infinite possibilities and time travel might make your head explode, don't fear since the series is actually rather easy to understand once you're in the thick of it. Unlike most shows (Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain anyone?) where you probably won't understand it even if you saw the entire series, Noein is just simply revealing its cards a bit at a time rather than obscuring them and making you wonder what it is you saw. It's even got some themes that are actually quite touching and make for good discussion points so the head messing isn't just for fun.

One thing I will say though is that this is a series where patience helps while watching. This isn't the kind of show where each episode will have a battle scene in order to keep you from changing the channel in boredom and not to mention several episodes actually deal with ideas of adolescence, planning for a future you have no idea what it would entail and the growing pains of expectations at a young age. When the fight scenes do kick in though, they are as cool and unique as they come and they become welcome to the show's pace though some might not like they're a little bit scattered and only showing up at a more sporadic place.

Instead of shows like from Gonzo or shonen titles like Naruto, the animation is in the realm of being unique if only because it's vaguely familiar of something you must've watched before but there's something different about it. Noein though is indeed a beautiful show with top transfer and while the use of CG is still noticeable as in other uses in anime, the 2D artwork works quite well and when things get a bit intense, the animation changes to a bit more artwork style with more thicker lines and kind of resembles the Kid's Story short from the Animatrix. The show also has a fantastic store with some pretty good opening and closing numbers but as usual the extras are rather pitiful. The usual textless openers and trailers (despite volumes being released over a period of time, it's still the same trailers included) and a little featurette spread out over the 5 discs. While I'm aware that anime features than to be sparse, it's also something to actually buy something with little added.

While I probably wouldn't have it on repeated viewing anytime soon, Noein didn't waste my time and actually kept me interested throughout so I say give it a shot; never know, might just like it.

Clearly, the animation industry in Asia has a pulse on North American audiences. Noein is another winner from Manga.com that comibines futuristic fantasy, with adolescent angst.

The La'Cryma and Shangri-La are battling for supremacy, and the Dragon's Torque stands between them. A young 12 year old girl, Hakura, possesses the Torque unknowingly. The complete 24 episode battle takes you up, down, left, right, and through a mangatastic experience like no other.

Highly recommended.

www.manga.com

Tim Lasiuta

I don't really have much to say about Noein other than that it was one of the best anime series I have ever watched (and trust me, I have watched many). The concepts behind the series are deep and thought-provoking. The characters are well-rounded and deliver surprises time and again. The only thing I would say about the series is that I wasn't terribly fond of the style it was drawn in, but visuals are secondary to the quality of the other aspects which in this case is phenomenal.

Buy this anime. It does not deserve to be overlooked.

Noein was an interesting anime series but not as erudite as one would think with a series that has elements of Quantum theory , multiple universes and the like - still an entertaining series though .
=)

This show is fantastic. I won't go in to details about why I think that - there's enough other discriptions here to inform you. Suffise to say, that I believe this is a must watch and underappreciated film. These guys don't have the recognition of Miyazaki's Ponyo or the high bunget of Avatar, but falls squarely between the two. Ok, that might not be the best decription. If you like mindtwistingly good sci-fy with amazing graphic conception and enthralling drama spiced with hues of humor, look no further.