In the end, I enjoyed Noein. Just, what was it I saw? In part, Noein is a mindfrag anime, using quantum physics and that cute theory that all possibilities exist all the time in their own separate dimensions as decoration. The details of the quantum-p babble really aren’t important to grasp (but good side quest material), because the show provides action and human drama to carry it all forward and doesn’t collapse under the weight. Really, it boils all that theory down to a human level. Keep an eye out for each other to help each other, that we share an important role in developing the lives of people we care about.

American sensibility tends to believe the individual is the sole proprietor of the self and tends to find theories that give power to the gaze of the other in determining the self as hokey, if not outright bullshit. I think other people do play a role in determining people. We all know somebody who just wasn’t getting it and then they moved away and you meet them a couple of months later and they’re completely different person who has everything together. There are any number of explanations for this, but isn’t it in part because they had the freedom to impress a different self upon people who haven’t set them as a dirtbag? Think about those who reinvented themselves when they go off to university vs. those who stay home.

In Noein, this sort of thing is most simply shown through Miho and Atori. If it wasn’t for Miho’s adamant belief in the new Atori, the new Atori would never take hold and he would still be the psycho that Tobi expected him to revert back to. Sure it’s heavy handed and overly simplistic, but Miho through her view of Atori validates the change giving it strength to become real. In a way, Miho prevents Atori’s negative possibilities, which goes back to the common wisdom of surrounding yourself with good people helps to keep you on the right path.

I didn’t mean to get sidetracked into that and I’m sure I’ve butchered what it’s really saying.

Even though the consistency of the artwork varied quite a bit (didn’t they use character model sheets?!?), the animation during the fight sequences had amazing movement, fluidity and choreography. Body slams, air assaults, and their weapons pack great energy and movement. From the first few seconds of Noein we’re treated to some holy crap that’s freaking cool as Karasu and the other Dragon Knights take down a Shangri’la vessel. The way he drops from the sky and runs along the surface and then dives in to bust up the airship deserved a rewind. The design of Shangri’la airships were fantastic. I love the Indian design cues of those things. Most of the fights throughout share that same sense of kinetic blast force energy and intensity that some of the sketchy rendering can be forgiven. Noein’s musical score ratchets the action sequences up a lot.

I also think the way they used the normal everyday, almost slice of life, portions of the show to feed the sci-fi action mindfrag brought the theory portion of it home and made it accessible. It made me care.

Actually, I think I’m running into the same problem other bloggers have had coming to the conclusion of Noein. There’s so much I want to say and overwhelmed by how to go about talking about it.

English Dub by Media Concepts

As much as I enjoyed Melissa Fahn as Haruka and found Eddie Friarson fantastic as Atori, for the last volume I watched Noein first in Japanese instead of English first. It wasn’t due to the scripting or even the casting, as I think the voices are a good fit for an English adaptation, but what felt like a lack of direction. The English dub seemed to lose some steam and lacked urgency in some key moments in spite of some very good performances among the primary leads. At times it felt as if the actors weren’t in the flow of the story, which I attribute to a direction problem. It’s quite a marked difference from the previous volumes. I even went back to previous volumes to double check to see if it wasn’t just me and time affecting my perception. The dub definitely felt more together in the first four volumes. In the end though I think it’s good enough for those who are only watching this in English to stay there and enjoy it, but for dual language viewers like myself it might not be.

Parting Shot

One of the obstacles to watching Noein was an obnoxious release schedule that saw three months in between dvds. Since I finally have all the dvds, I think a marathon might be a good idea. A show this good is worth a rewatch, there’s an awesome story and some great fights to watch. It’s good to see something ambitious have the strength to finish out in style.