reverie

I was wondering if anyone's familiar with this series and what their thoughts are on it. I've seen the first episode, and while a little slow, seems like it could possibly be interesting. I'm still dipping my toe in the anime world, but I figure with Media Play closing, it's a good time to pick up cheap stuff to try out, and this title looked interesting...

Houstondon

It ranked high in the http://www.dvdtalk.com/features/002257.html top anime list for 2003 and there are numerous reviews of it in the review database.
Reviews:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=5567 through
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=8469

It's a great show and if you're getting the discs cheap, you're a lucky man.

mifuneral

The first ep is not an entirely inaccurate sample of the series as a whole. Though there are some episodes with fairly good action, most of Noir is slow paced. It involves a mystery that unravels as the series progresses.

I think it's kinda interesting and has some nice music, but is ultimately disappointing. Shows like this are great excuses to get into Netflix.

tonyc3742

Interesting. I couldn't get into Noir, maybe because it started a little slow, and maybe I was just burned out on 'tough spy girls with a secret' anime.
I also didn't really want to mentally commit to another 6 or 8 disk [or whatever] series.
I agree, however--Netflix or BBO is made for this kind of thing. I've worked my way through lots of series, anime or tv, that I would not have bought or re-watched, but am glad I watched once.

kakihara1

I agree with dtcarson and mifuneral, the show was a dissapointment drawn out like crazy but still stylish. It's a rental as far as I'm concerned.

If you don't have SAC then you should get that if they have it and you haven't seen it, it's much more entertaining or if you like the girls with guns angle you can't go wrong with gunslinger girl.

I'm into the comedy side of anime mostly though Azumanga Daioh, Shuffle, Love Hina, Chobits that sort of thing so don't take my opinion on the action stuff too seriously.

Sweet Baby James

It's worth it if you can get it cheap. This would have made a good 13 episode series, but at 26 episodes, there's way too much repetitiveness. However, the show does have good production values and I did enjoy the Chloe character who showed up at the half way point. For a beginner such as yourself, I would greatly recommend another ADV thinpak series-Full Metal Panic!. It does have a mecca element to it, but it's a great blend of action, comedy and characters that you truly care about. A great resource for info on anime series is www.animenfo.com . They have user ratings and a top 200 based on those ratings.

GHackmann

Personally, I recommend just buying one disc and watching it in a loop 6 or 7 times. It's much cheaper than buying the whole series, and you get pretty much the same experience.

Seriously, though, I can't recommend it for more than a rental, unless you're a fan of the "girls with guns" kind of show. It got extremely repetitive, especially towards the end, and they basically padded the length of the series by adding lots of lengthy (and usually unnecessary) gunfights. It's definitely not the worst thing to ever be committed to DVD, but I don't personally have any interest in ever watching it again.

reverie

Hmm.. not glowing reviews all around! I finished up the one disc I picked up, and I'm actually still not sure if I like it or not! It is fairly slow, but that's not what bothers me, it's the constant flashbacks showing the same things over and over again from the first episode. I may pick up the second volume if I can find it and see where that leads me.

Reading the review in Houstondon's post though, I have to disagree with one thing. The picture isn't great all the time. Sometimes, when there's faster motion, there looks to be (not up on proper terminology, sorry) a bit of digitized lines with it.

Is the "girls with guns" thing a big anime thing? Just wondering since a couple people here mention it. And kakihara1, what is "SAC"?

All in all, not the worst $8 I've spent. If by chance I do land up liking it, at least I've got a box for it too! Thanks for all your comments (more welcome too!).

tonyc3742

Full Metal Panic was much more accessible and enjoyable. It did have an overriding plot, but the episodes stood alone as well. It definitely has a lighter tone, so that was more attractive to me as well.

GHackmann

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Highly recommended, especially if Media Play has cheap copies.

Sweet Baby James

You do know that there is a thinpak box set for this series? DDD currently has it for $60, so it would be $48 whenever their next 20% sale comes around. Definitely cheaper than picking them up one at a time and it also takes up a lot less valuable shelf space.

reverie

No, actually I didn't know! Well, hmm.. decisions, decisions.. Is the box as sturdy as the bigger one? I'll put it in my wish list and go from there I guess. Thank you for pointing that out!

If I see "Full Metal Panic", I'll pick it up. And I did see a "Ghost In The Shell" copy or two and would have picked it up since I've heard lots of good talk, but the discs were all loose in the one package, and the other box was pretty well crushed.

Josh Z

I like the show a lot, but I find it plays better if you watch each episode separately with some time between rather than watching them all back-to-back. Each episode is basically like a mini-movie, with the following episode being a sequel that recaps a little of what happened before getting on with the new story. Watch one ep a week with that in mind, and you may get more enjoyment out of it than zipping through the episodes like a normal TV show.

This sounds like it may be a hardware problem.

reverie

Well, I did land up picking up "Noir" Vol. 2. If I like it from there, I'll just get the DDD set at a future date.

I also picked up "Full Metal Panic" Vol. 3 (it was the only one the had, but I figured I could still get a flavor of the show) and a show called "Mermaid Forest". I actually kinda like it so far through the first two volumes. I just checked out the reviews here, and I do agree the three episode/little extras per disk sucks.

So I guess I'll see where these lead me then!

Maxflier

Yes, it's certainly my favorite type of anime series, but i guess it's not for everyone.
I haven't gotten around to watching Noir yet though since i keep putting off getting the rest of the discs. May end up just picking up the thinpack.