Noein

Noein: To Your Other Self (ノエイン もうひとりの君へ), also known simply as Noein, is a science fiction anime television series directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda 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 one of the possible futures, a violent battle using fictional technology takes place between two "time-spaces": La'cryma, a possible future of our own universe, 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 is a mysterious object known as the "Dragon Torque" (竜のトルク). A group known as the "Dragon Knights" is sent through space and time to find it. In the present, twelve-year old Haruka and her friend Yū are contemplating running away from home when they meet a member of the Dragon Knights named Karasu, who is a possible Yū from fifteen years in the future. Karasu believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque, but vows to protect her rather than sacrifice her for his timespace, La'cryma. Other than the Dragon Knights, 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 details of Hakodate, its buildings, port and environs look exactly like the actual city.

Concept
Noein employs a conception of time as a dimension that resonates with other "timespaces." Haruka's Dragon Torque, 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 Kōriyama the paradox of Schrödinger'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" (νοεῖν) means "to perceive", "to observe" or "to think."

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.

Principal Seiyu

 * Saeko Chiba - Ai Haseba, Amamiku
 * Keiji Fujiwara - Kyōji Kōriyama
 * Takako Honda - Kosagi
 * Kōhei Kiyasu - Fukurō
 * Rikiya Koyama - Kuina
 * Haruka Kudō - Haruka Kaminogi
 * Kenta Miyake - Takuya Mayuzami
 * Kōki Miyata - Isami Fujiwara, Isuka
 * Mai Nakahara - Yukie Nijou
 * Kazuya Nakai - Karasu, Noein
 * Kaori Nazuka - Miho Mukai, Lily
 * Sayaka Oharu - Ryōko Uchida
 * Akemi Okamura - Asuka Kaminogi
 * Ryoka Shiraishi - Tobi
 * Ken'ichi Suzumura - Atori
 * Fujiko Takimoto - Yū Gotō
 * Atsuko Tanaka - Miyuki Gotō

Principal Voice Actors

 * Richard Cansino - Kuina
 * Lara Cody - Miho Mukai, Tobi, Lily
 * Dorothy Elias-Fahn - Ai Haseba, Amamiku
 * Richard Epcar - Noein, Kyōji Kōriyama, Male Others
 * Melissa Fahn - Haruka Kaminogi
 * Eddie Frierson - Atori
 * Crispin Freeman - Karasu, Noein (unmasked)
 * R. Martin Klein - Fukurō
 * Steve Kramer - Takuya Mayuzami, Isuka, Time Drifter
 * Yuri Lowenthal - Yū Gotō
 * Mona Marshall - Asuka Kaminogi
 * Bryce Papenbrook - Isami Fujiwara
 * Cindy Robinson - Ryōko Uchida, Yukie Nijou, Kosagi, Female Others
 * Ellyn Stern - Miyuki Gotō

Additional Voices

 * Sherry Lynn -
 * Michael McConnohie -
 * Derek Stephen Prince -
 * Stephanie Sheh -
 * Kirk Thornton -

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.