Noein

Noein: To Your Other Self (ãƒŽã‚¨ã‚¤ãƒ³ ã‚‚ã†ã²ã¨ã‚Šã®å›ã¸, Noein: MÅ Hitori no Kimi e), also known simply as Noein, is a science fiction anime television series directed by Kazuki Akane and produced by Satelight. The series has 24 episodes which comprise a complete storyline.

The English version was produced by Manga Entertainment.

Plot summary

Fifteen years in the future, a violent pan-dimensional war is taking place between the two dominant "time-spaces" of the universe: La'cryma (a possible future of our own world) and Shangri-La (another possible dimension fifteen years after ours intent on the destruction of all space and time). The key to stopping Shangri'la's invasion and saving reality is a mysterious object known as the "Dragon Torc" (ç«œã®ãƒˆãƒ«ã‚¯>, RyÅ« no Toruku). La'cryma's elite military force, known as the "Dragon Cavalry", is sent through space and time to find it. In one possible present, twelve-year old Haruka and her friend YÅ« are contemplating running away from home when they meet a member of the Dragon Cavalry named Karasu, who is a possible YÅ« from the future. La'cryma believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque, but Karasu vows to protect her rather than sacrifice her for his home dimension. Other than the Dragon Cavalry, Haruka is targeted by the mysterious Noein, the entity behind Shangri'la who is intent on bringing her into his timespace to end all universes.

Noein is set in the Japanese port city of Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido. The animators took great care to recreate a lot of the details of Hakodate like its buildings, port and environments look exactly like the actual city.

Concept

Noein employs a conception of time as a dimension that resonates with other "timespaces." Haruka's Dragon Torc, which affects this relationship, takes the shape of an Ouroboros.

Noein makes use of several interpretations of quantum physics, particularly Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, which views the universe as branching off into an infinity of possible states of varying probability. It also draws from the Copenhagen Interpretation, which suggests that an observer or measurement is important in determining the decoherency of the probability. In the anime, Haruka possesses "supreme observer" status in the multiverse, thus enabling her to determine the sole outcome of an event just by "observing" one of the possible futures of the event. These themes also underpin an existential ideology that permeates the anime.

In one episode, Uchida candidly explains to her bodyguard KÅriyama the paradox of SchrÃ¶dinger's cat, whereby a cat is ambiguously suspended (exists in a "superposition") between life and death until observed. This act of measurement forces the cat's existence to "collapse" into one of the two possible states. She also mentions Albert Einstein's famous remark, "God does not play dice."

While the Many-Worlds Interpretation implies a divergence of timespaces, the anime also includes a possible future in which timespaces converge, an end the series' chief antagonist, Noein, works to accomplish.

Name

The word "noein" means "to shake" or "to tremble" in Coptic, while in Greek "noein" (Î½Î¿Îµá¿–Î½) means "to perceive", "to observe" or "to think."

Characters

Distribution

SCI FI began airing Noein in the United States as part of its Ani-Monday programming block on June 18, 2007.
In Australia, Noein was first broadcast on free-to-air-TV on ABC2 (the national digital public television channel) from 7:30pm on Tuesday 21 August 2007, and concluded on Tuesday 29 January 2008. Repeat airing began from 6:00pm on Sunday 26 August 2007, and concluded on Sunday 3 February 2008. Repeats began again, airing double episodes from 12:30pm Sunday 10 February 2008, and concluded on Sunday 11 May 2008.
In the Philippines, TV5 started its broadcast on November 10, 2008.
In Italy Rai 4 started broadcasting the series free-to-air in September 30, 2012.

Cast

Principal voice actors (Japanese)

Saeko Chiba - Ai Hasebe, Amamiku
Keiji Fujiwara - KyÅji KÅriyama
Takako Honda - Kosagi
KÅhei Kiyasu - FukurÅ
Rikiya Koyama - Kuina
Haruka KudÅ - Haruka Kaminogi
Kenta Miyake - Takuya Mayuzumi, Isuka
KÅki Miyata - Isami Fujiwara
Mai Nakahara - Yukie Nijou
Kazuya Nakai - Karasu, Noein
Kaori Nazuka - Miho Mukai, Lily
Sayaka Ohara - RyÅko Uchida
Akemi Okamura - Asuka Kaminogi
Ryoko Shiraishi - Tobi
Ken'ichi Suzumura - Atori
Fujiko Takimoto - YÅ« GotÅ
Atsuko Tanaka - Miyuki GotÅ
Shunsuke Sakuya - Makoto Shinohara

Principal voice actors (English)

Richard Cansino - Kuina, Tsuyoshi Fujiwara
Lara Cody - Miho Mukai, Tobi, Lily, Yoshi's Mother
Dorothy Elias-Fahn - Ai Hasebe, Amamiku, Mariko Mukai
Richard Epcar - Noein, KyÅji KÅriyama, Male Others
Melissa Fahn - Haruka Kaminogi
Eddie Frierson - Atori
Crispin Freeman - Karasu, Noein (unmasked)
R. Martin Klein - FukurÅ
Steve Kramer - Takuya Mayuzumi, Isuka, Time Drifter
Yuri Lowenthal - YÅ« GotÅ, Makoto Shinohara
Mona Marshall - Asuka Kaminogi
Bryce Papenbrook - Isami Fujiwara
Cindy Robinson - RyÅko Uchida, Yukie Nijou, Kosagi, Asuka's Mother, Female Others
Ellyn Stern - Miyuki GotÅ

Additional voices

Sherry Lynn - Miyuki's Mother
Michael McConnohie - Professor Sasaki
Derek Stephen Prince - Doctor (ep 23)
Stephanie Sheh - Emi, Aya Maeda
Kirk Thornton - Crowd Member (ep 24)

Crew

English staff

Keith Burgess - Script Consultant
Richard Epcar - Voice Director

DVD release

In North America, the series was released on five Region 1 DVDs, the last released on September 18, 2007. In the United Kingdom, the first three volumes were sold individually, while the last two can only be purchased as part of a series collection. On the 22 September 2007, a complete box-set of the whole anime was released in the UK.

Music

The two Original Soundtrack are composed by Hikaru Nanase

Noein Original Soundtrack Vol.1 / LACA-5460
Noein Original Soundtrack Vol.2 / LACA-5491

Opening Theme:

Â«Â IdeaÂ Â» by Eufonius

Ending Theme:

Â«Â Yoake no ashiotoÂ Â» (å¤œæ˜Žã'ã®è¶³éŸ³) by Solua

References

External links

Official Noein website (English)
Official Noein website (Japanese)
Noein at Internet Movie Database
Noein (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia