Noir (ノワール Nowaru), a 26-episode anime series from 2001, is a story of two young female assassins who embark together on a personal journey to seek answers about mysteries from their past. While at first they seem to be only vaguely related to each other, there are clues and hints given throughout the series that there are more than meets their eyes. During the course of the series, they are lured into more and more traps by a secret organization named Les Soldats ("The Soldiers" in French). The anime draws inspirations and influences from two prominent films by French director Luc Besson, Léon and Nikita. The amnesia suffered by one of the main characters resembles the story of the protagonist from Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity.

It was produced by the Japanese animation studio Bee Train and was licensed for American distribution by ADV Films.

In Japan, Noir was broadcast on TV Tokyo, which is known for strict guidelines, including not allowing blood to be shown. Noir circumvented this rule by stylizing the gun fights. Outside Japan, Noir has been well-received, due to its unusual plots and stories which have a strong European style and flavor. It has been broadcasted in France (by Canal+), Germany (by VIVA Television) and Spain (by La Sexta), dubbed in French, German and Spanish respectively.

"Noir" is also the French word for "black", and noir is a genre of film. Noir takes its title from both of these; it mostly takes place in France and is a fairly serious, dark and violent anime. Noir almost has no funny or comic relief scenes. No character is ever animated with super deformed or over-exaggerated style. Despite the presence of attractive female lead characters, Noir features almost no fanservice (compare this to Najica Blitz Tactics). In Noir, characters' non-verbal expressions play a quite significant role, that it is quite difficult to come to a common understanding of the show.

Noir begins as a fairly generic action anime, but later (with the appearance of Chloe) becomes more psychological. The series has a very small recurring cast, all women. It has been interpreted as having been influenced by the novel Foucault's Pendulum, but it is unknown if this was intentional on the part of the series creators.

In the beginning of each episode, after the opening, a short sequence appears, where Kirika reads a prayer-like poem:
Noir… it is the name of an ancient fate
Two maidens who govern death
The peace of the newly born their black hands protect

The original promotions and DVD covers of the anime has this poem written in French
Le noir, ce mot désigne depuis une époque lointaine le nom du destin
Les deux vierges régnent sur la mort
Les mains noires protègent la paix des nouveaux-nés

In some of the later episodes slightly different versions of this poem are read by each of the other protagonists. Mireille and Chloe each have their own version of it.

Mireille's version:
Noir... it is the name of an ancient fate
Two maidens who govern death
To ward the darkness from the nursing babes their black robes serve as shields

Chloe's version:
Noir... it is the name of an ancient fate
Two maidens who govern death
To the depths of hell's fire their black souls lure the lost children

In the last episode though, the first poem is recited by two of the main characters, signifying the phrase Two maidens who govern death.

Despite the gunplay and a sizeable body count, Noir features no gore and very little blood. Originally a simple consideration for network TV, the DVD release remained bloodless, intriguing fans. It is said this makes the death of many suited agents less troubling, becoming faceless "stormtroopers", popularly termed 'mooks'. However, in limited instances, main characters such as Kirika display blood, perhaps to show their humanity and will over the thoughtless soldiers following orders.

From Wikipedia