NoeinGrade: B-Studio: SatelightWriter: Hiroshi ŌnogiGenre: Adventure, Sci Fi, RomanceFirst complete run: 2005-2006Regular episodes: 24Noein: To Your Other Self is an extremely well-intentioned anime that for me fell short of the mark. The show inhabits a universe where parallel worlds (an infinite number of past and future timespaces, to import the anime's quantum motif) tangibly exist. This makes for an interesting twist because many of the main characters exist in both high school and adult forms and can actually converse and fight with their other selves thanks to the show's laws. Noein's plot, in fact, is so Sci Fi heavy, the arch villain is actually a timespace which is pugnaciously devouring other timespaces.This anime, which sounds so fascinating in theory, failed at implementation. The plot is not very carefully delivered especially early on when it's easy to get confused between different characters. So, I spent many of the first episodes feeling confused. Then the show gets very technical with its sci fi lore and quantum physics allusions, which left me bored and in a haze through much of the show. Noein's first episode introduces a pretty interesting version of sci fi combat that diverges from the giant robot theory substantially. But the rest of the show has too much talking, specifically jargon-driven discourse, and too little ass-kicking. The visuals were similarly unpolished, incorporating 3D elements at times but in an embarrassingly clunky display for 2005. Likewise, the vocals and score were nothing to write home about. To its credit, Noein's ending was far superior to the endings of many anime which are much better than Noein, in my opinion. But the anime, which was created for animation, squandered its creative origins with genuinely dull screenplay.
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