Introduction
In 2242, the remnants of humanity are forced to live in scattered bubble-like cities across devastated lands. Hiding from toxic rain and hostile lifeforms known as Enders, they survive thanks to a new source of energy from AO crystals. Those tasked with risking their lives to collect AO crystals are called drifters, piloting versatile bipedal tanks with the support of combat androids named magus.
While exploring remote ruins with his exceptionally gifted drifter friend Tokio, prospective drifter Kanata uncovers Noir, a seemingly intact magus in stasis. Although she wakes up by herself, Noir has lost her memories and is of no help in Kanata's work. However, amid an Enders attack, Kanata discovers that Noir possesses remarkable combat abilities. The pair now embarks on a journey to not only shed light on Noir's past but also to uncover the location of Histoire—the mythical city harboring secrets of the world that Kanata has always dreamt of visiting.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
7 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Wewel
This is your generic and cliché trope where the MC will always try to do something for the sake of justice/good but he doesn't have the required strength to do so. His actions related heavily to his feelings, he went straight thru a dangerous situation and always ended up saved by random pedestrians. He's so gullible that you can practically sell him to a slave master, he'd straight up believe that you're giving him a harsh training and he'll overcome it eventually, sigh.
Kanata as the main character had little to none character development on this first season. He shouts at people when he doesn't understand anything that is going on, he closes his eyes like a kid when he is in danger, he doesn't want to be treated as a kid yet he gives his robot the same treatment. Talk about irony eh?…
Read at the sourceeloquentemu
This presents a well conceived post apocalyptic world with great set pieces and environments and enough unique concepts to lay the foundation of a pretty interesting series. However, it pairs that with the most absolutely overused and boring plot one could possibly imagine for such a setting: our hero and an evil organization racing to the key to save humanity culminating in an entirely expected and boring ending.
There are a few genuinely touching moments and when the setting / characters (excluding the comically one dimensional baddies) can shine it's pretty good. If you think you can tolerate the plot and associated nonsense, disappointment and illogical plot devices, it's not a bad one-and-done sci-fi. However, I'd say most should give this a pass... where it shines other series shine…
Read at the sourcei-like-this
Darling in the Coffin.
Synduality: Noir is a futuristic sci-fi anime where the mechs are small and chunky and also require an R2-D2 shaped like anime waifu’s or a butler or even a black guy, in order to function properly. Drifters use these mechs to scavenge a post-apocalyptic setting for treasure and resources to bring back to their human colonies called Nests whilst fighting off weird alien bug things called Enders.
There's not much about Synduality: Noir’s premise that you can point to as original. In fact, now that the season is complete I can say that it's honestly a bit derivative. However, that doesn't change the fact that Studio 8bit did a fantastic job of making the look alive and colourful for a post-apocalyptic setting. The animation is solid and CGI mechs and alien bug creat…
Read at the sourceobamathirdterm
Nothing of note happens in this show. The mix of CG and "traditional" animation is awkward and unappealing. Unnecessary musical performances by an idol-like figure are positioned within episodes at random - this seems to be a marketing stunt if I had to wager a guess.
The partners that accompany each mech pilot are slaves. They might be "robots", but they have zero distinguishing features from their human counterparts except that they are required by some sort of hardware-bound contract to obey their owner's command. Things get even more strange when it is suggested that humans can have sex with these contract-bound characters.
The titular character "Noir" is the main character's co-pilot. An amnesiac, she is about as literal of a blank slate as possible and does nothing for the majority…
Read at the sourceReviewholic
Right after the season when Gundam: Witch from Mercury brought back mecha hype yet again, we get Synduality: Noir, a brand new mecha title of opposite values.
While WfM was a little revolutionary for its big old franchise, Noir is just dead ass generic. No yuri or yaoi in space capitalism, just good old harem with a dense MC in a post-apocalyptic world invaded by aliens, a setting that plagues the mecha genre. The only new stuff that Noir brings to the mecha genre is borrowed from other works. Magus, a humanoid assistant who is bound by contract, is obviously inspired by Fate's Servant and JoJo's Stand. Then it hit me, this is literally Takt Op. Destiny but mecha. Luckily, Noir isn't off-the-rails like Takt Op. Destiny for now.
Cliche done right is no worse than unique done wrong. Despi…
Read at the sourceArkx919
I'm gonna come out and say it. This is just discount Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with a sluggish, meandering setup and a smorgasbord of tropes and character archetypes from some of the more illustrious mecha franchises crudely mashed together. I'm hard-pressed to believe that this show's story and setting was drafted by Hajime Kamoshida of Aobuta fame.
That said, the aesthetics and character designs are quite easy on the eyes. But the character themselves do not get a passing grade, unfortunately. Starting off with Kanata: he's just a run-of-the-mill "got something to prove" main character who stumbles upon a macguffin that conveniently pertains to something his deceased parents were looking into. While I do appreciate his egalitarian outlook on humans and Magus, I can't help but feel disappo…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
Can someone tell me: has the Mecha genre really grown over the past few years? And no, I'm talking about everything else other than those affiliated with the Gundam franchise. In my mind, certainly not.
Mixed-media projects are always a big gamble for companies, especially when they're new ones looking to stamp their reputation from the get-go. One recent example that I can think of was of Square Enix's Deep Insanity project, which was collaborated with Ubisoft, and look at how that turned out: the anime was a douche of an embarassing flop back in Fall 2021; the manga adaptation, which had its own standalone timeline and finished its Nirvana serialisation in March of this year; not to mention that the PC and mobage Asylum game was released around the same time and ended service last Octob…
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