Noir: The Complete Series

Anime creator Ryoe Tsukimura's 2001 series—virtually an homage to the operatic gunfighter spectacles of Sergio Leone (an imitation done well, for a change)—was immensely influential in promulgating yarns about winsome girls with deadly guns. Daughter of a slain Corsican crime family, Paris-based Mireille Bouquet works as an elite assassin-for-hire under the generations-old trade name Noir ("black"). Mireille is sought by Kirika Yumura, an amnesiac adolescent mysteriously endowed with Jason Bourne-style reflexes and talents for killing. Mireille agrees to team up with Kirika on lethal Noir jobs, while trying to uncover Kirika's enigmatic past and her connection to an ancient and dangerous secret society, and what ties her to Mireille. Once the truth is revealed, murder will be threatened in order to protect Noir's secret identity. Much of the narrative revolves around terse standoffs and near-mythic shootouts, although the series never wallows in gore, and it eschews fan service. Presenting all 26 episodes in a dual-language Blu-ray edition, rated TV-14, extras include episode commentaries, interviews with both the Japanese and English-dub cast, music videos, and a live-action parody performed by the American actors using sock puppets. A true anime classic making its high-def debut, this is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)