I’m pretty much at the nexus point with Noblesse, which might not be a bad thing as it’s almost half over anyway. It seems very unlikely IWGP is going to stick around (some sputterings of life, but altogether just too poorly executed) so there’s nothing to pair it with. The thing is, I really like this show – and I suppose it’s time I stop looking for ways to convince myself I’m wrong. Sometimes the zeitgeist misses the boat on a series, and I’m starting to think Noblesse may be one such case.

The complicating factor here is that even if I do like it, this is a series that doesn’t obviously lend itself to blogging. It’s quite a straightforward show, at least so far, and doesn’t seem to invite much interpretation. While the characters are distinct and well-crafted (they’re the best part of the show for me) the humor and action are pretty direct. That’s not to say things aren’t going to get more complicated as we progress, but paradoxically I kind of hope they don’t – it’s that directness that makes Noblesse so appealing.

One element of Noblesse that is rather fascinating is that it’s hard to tell who the protagonist is, or even the main character. Tashiro has a Shounen Jump protag air to him, but Rai is the title character and obviously the top dog. Even Regis spends a lot of time as the POV character. But if you asked me, it seems like M-21 has the most protagonist-like arc so far, even if he’s a notch below some others in total screen time. His redemption story is actually the spine of this first arc, and he’s the one who’s been connected with almost everything that’s gone down on-screen.

There hasn’t been a ton of battle in the first four episodes considering that this is a battle manhwa but that changes this week. Shark’s abduction of the kids has amped things up considerably, and it’s put both M-21 and Regis in a difficult position. Their hands are tied (literally in Regis’ case) because of the threat of harm to Tashiro and Manabu, not to mention that M-21 thinks he’s close to fulfilling his promise to M-24 is he sticks to his deal with DA-5. Complicating things further is that both Tao and Takeo have formed a personal connection with the kids (and they’re the softies of the group anyway).

There’s a sort of gradual build here, with the whole totem pole of combat ability put through their paces. Tashiro is tough by human standards but no match for any of these freaks. M-21 eventually intervenes to stop Shark from killing him, but he’s no match for Shark even before the latter ingests D. Then Regis has had enough, and he frees himself and joins the fray just in time to save M-21. Shark is no match for him, even after the D. But that prompts Krantz to join the fray himself – in the process revealing a very disturbing secret about D. Even Regis seems to be overpowered by him after he ingests Shark. Meanwhile, Seira and Hammer are duking it out in the lobby and Frankie and Takeo are going at it on the roof.

The elephant in the room here is Rai of course, and I don’t see how we can’t assume he’s the strongest of the lot even if we haven’t seen direct evidence of it. He hasn’t gotten involved in any conflicts yet but Rai is the MacGuffin here, and we may be about to see if he’s worth all the trouble everyone on both sides has been going through for him. Maybe Rai is about to show us that he’s actually the main character of Noblesse after all, and not just the guy in the title?