Search - Noein: To Your Other Self - The Complete Series, Vol. 1-5 on DVD

To thine other self be true

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 11/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A decent box set for Noein

Lesley Aeschliman | Enumclaw, WA | 02/06/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Complex Universe... x100

Aion | England | 02/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Noein - interesting, but too complex for the time alloted.

DynomiteWins | Costa Mesa | 06/03/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."