The full title is Noein: To Your Other Self (Noein: Mō Hitori no Kimi e) is an anime series consisting of 24 episodes directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda.
Background:
The series is set in Hakodate, a hill city known for heavy snowfall even more intense than Tokyo. According to the director, this was in part why he chose to set the series in this city. The connection with snow and snowfall is an interesting theme in this series. The first episode is titled Blue Snow and this blue snow in the series is actually the visible quanta particles of inter-dimensional travel (more below).
Time Concept:
The series is based on the premise of a multiverse interpretation of quantum physics as explained by the female scientist, Uchida, in episode 11 "Out of Sync". She also calls it the “multiplex universal quadraphonic”. Basically, all matter in the universe is made from an accumulation of what the series terms quanta. Quanta is the most basic element. At this basic quantum level, moment by moment the universe is branching off into infinite possibilities, each one its own dimension. Think of countless worlds with countless selves all lined up, infinite possibilities exist for every decision or action made. Now the series Noein takes this a step further. Uchida explains that you can use the properties of quanta to instantly send large quantities of information. In essence humans could travel between dimensions if they become a “quantum existence”, altering every cell in their body to become this basic data.
Another important concept is this idea that with infinite dimensions there are infinite misfortunes, which is the reason for the current battle that comprises a large portion of the plot arc.
In addition there is the notion of the universal observer. These alternate worlds are in a constant state of flux but their existence is not established until they are observed. A way to approach this concept is to think of it this way: does that tree in the forest exist if you cannot see it? Once you see it, the tree is real. However, before that first sighting, the tree is an idea in your mind. It exists theoretically because there is a forest and trees are in that forest but it is not real for you unless you actually see that one specific tree. It is the same for these alternate worlds.
In the series three dimensions are focused on. There is the main dimension in which the main character Haruka and her friends live, a present day Hakodate. Her dimension however is unstable because of the actions of another dimension, Shangri-La. The character Noein, represented by a floating mask, is the leader of Shangri-La and is attacking other dimensions, absorbing worlds into his dimension. One of these dimensions being attacked is La’Cryma, a dimension that shows one potential future of Haruka’s present time. La’Cryma is advanced technologically but at the cost of their own world. They are forced to live underground as above ground is bleak and unable to sustain life.
With dimensions and time travel it comes down to your perspective as seen in the episode “Precious Person”. An adult Amamiku, the future self of one of Haruka’s friends, explains that from Haruka’s perspective La’Cryma is one possible future that Haruka may one day experience. From the perspective of Amamiku, Haruka and her dimension represent one possible option of the past.
First part of Episode 1 (shows La'Cryma, the Destruct trons, the Dragon torque, the quantum computer and the Dragon Knights fighting):
Initial Events:
The first episode opens with a battle between La’Cryma’s warriors, known as Dark Knights, and these mechanical robot space ships (destruct-trons) from Shangri-La. Shangri-La is a concept of an earthly paradise, originating in the novel Lost Horizon, and is associated with many eastern philosophies. Consequently, these ships look very reminiscent of Hindu deities mixed with designs found in Tibetan Buddhist mandalas.
Karasu standing in front of the Dragon Torque in Hakodate with destruct-trons coming through,
To defend their dimension, the Dark Knights use spin weaponry that destabilizes Haruka’s own dimensions. How this occurs is not very clearly explained but after this initial battle Karasu, one of the Dark knights, is thrown into Haruka’s dimension.
Summary:
As mentioned above, there is a battle raging and among those fighting are these inter-dimensional travelers (the Dark Knights) who jump between dimensions with a blue cord attached. This blue cord keeps them connected to La’Cryma. If the cord is disconnected, they become trapped in one dimension and furthermore would begin to break apart and destabilize, essentially reverting to basic quanta particles. This is because the Dark Knights, as Uchida suggested, have changed their human physiology to enable them to travel between dimensions. They have become what they call Reizu, descriptive data that is stored in a quantum computer on La’Cryma. This computer looks like a golden swirling globe with trails of equations floating around it. They live an unstable quantum existence. If they sever the connection to the computer, the data that makes up their form will eventually be lost.
The Dark Knights are: Fukuro, Karasu, Atori, Tobi, Kuina (whose body is incompatible with Haruka’s dimension and hence he continually looses parts of himself), Isuka, and Kosagi.
In Present Hakodate you have: Haruka and her best friend Yu. Their other friends are Miho, Isami and Ai. Haruka’s dad is a physicist named Professor Mayuzumi who is separated from her mother and lives in Tokyo. Uchida is a scientist working on a government project to create artificial Reizu.
Now to confuse you further: The Dark Knight Karasu is a potential future Yu and Fukuro is a potential future Isami.
Initially Atori and Karasu are hunting for the Dragon Torque, which looks like a giant Ouroboros (a snake biting its own tail). The Ouroboros represents a concept of infinity, the beginning passing through to the end to become the beginning again. The Dragon Torque, appearing as a necklace around Haruka’s neck, is actually a concentration of high density energy, strong enough to protect La’Cryma.
Haruka’s present dimension is 15 years earlier than the present time of Karasu in La’Cryma. La’Cryma needs the dragon torque to defend their dimension against Shangri-La. Now the Ouroboros is connected to Haruka, is a part of her. Haruka is essentially the universal observer in this series. The power of the Dragon torque awakens inside her when she encounters Karasu from La’Cryma and allows her to see other dimensions and other times. She is also able to see a Time Drifter, a man who floats in an out of the series and acts as a guide for Haruka. He explains that sometimes Haruka sees ghosts which are explained as dimensional resonance, like an echo in a cave. These ghosts are left behind when the past and future dimensions have come into contact but have not separated fully yet.
Karasu, initially sent to kidnap Haruka, decides instead to protect her from the other Dragon Knights after the Dragon Torque. In La’Cryma, he lost his dimension’s Haruka, and never quite recovered form the loss and so consequently, wishes to redeem himself by protecting this other dimension’s Haruka.
Another nice bit of symbolism is birds. The Dragon Knights are referred to by the operators of the quantum computer who send them into different dimensions as birds, and they constantly wear these black cloaks that give them the appearance of crows. Crows are often figures associated with death.
The entire series essentially consists of Haruka awakening to her abilities, the Dragon Knights repeatedly attempting to kidnap her and Karasu protecting her. Go here for a more detailed summary of each episode.
The struggle reaches a climax when Haruka and Yu and Karasu are taken to Shangri-la. There we discover that Noein is actually another version of Yu who lost Haruka when they were younger. Unable to reconcile his grief, he set out to destroy all dimensions in order to rebuild a new initial world, one from which new worlds can reemerge.
Haruka is able to stop Noein in part by showing him all the other Yu’s from other dimensions and all the other ways they handled her death.
Haruka and Yu with Karasu's face in the background.
from:www.style.fm/as/02_topics/top_051004.shtml
Themes:
So in Noein, we are presented again with a dystopian future, however, this future is not decided as it exists as only one potential option. Haruka is part of an initial premise found in many anime series: take an adolescent, remove any form of parental oversight, and charge them to save the world. Both Karasu and Noein represent the sense of loss attributed to a multiverse cosmology. Think of the worst day you have ever had, now imagine the events of that worst day happening in an infinite number of variations, an infinite number of "yous" suffering in an infinite number of ways. As you see in "All the Myriad Ways" one begins to question the legitimacy of their own existence, does one even matter when there are infinite copies in infinite dimensions. What is the value of a single life? Now what Haruka shows Noein, who is caught in his own dispair, is that the reverse is equally true. There are infinite worlds experiencing infinite happiness.
Haruka travels not by machine but by her own ability, the idea that inside her is a concentration of Reizu known as the Dragon Torque, that she has been endowed with. She is chosen to be a universal observer, according to the Time Drifter. She has the power to decide what dimension will be a reality.
In a perfect world, we would have infinite amount of time and I could assign you to watch the whole series. However, the three episodes I chose outline the approach to time and time travel that forms this anime series. I do encourage you, if you have time on your own, to watch the whole series. It is an interesting anime and one of the few that is not an adaptation of an already existing manga. Noein was conceptualized originally as an anime series.
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