Dammit, this is not the first time that anime which finish on New Year’s Eve have fooled me into thinking they were ending a week earlier.  It’s always nice to get a free episode of course, but it always annoys me to go through an ep expecting a conclusion only to find out I’ve gotten it all wrong.  The last few minutes of such a viewing are almost always an onrush of puzzlement (and if I really care about the series, panic).

My hope is that with another week to play with, Noblesse will have a chance to slot back into irreverent mode before it’s done.  There’s still an awful lot to get through though, seemingly.  Things in Lukedonia are a right old mess, with Gejutel about to be given the big Ambien and centuries-old teenage clan leaders fighting each other all over the place.  Regis is matched up with Karias (though overmatched would probably be a better description) while Rael faces first the modified trio, then Frankenstein.

Rael is an annoying little putz, I’ll say that much – it’s no wonder the Lord (who’s pretty annoying herself) sent him to his room for a decade.  Once he calls up his soul weapon Grandia he’s way too much for the modifieds even after their T2 shot – though it turns out that it’s only half a soul weapon.  Their father split his in two and gave half to each of his sons, though why I’m not sure – Regar is the eldest, and seems far more formidable and level-headed than his brother.

All this plays as pretty routine if I’m honest – if the whole series had followed this basic formula, I doubt I’d have stuck with covering it this long.  None of this is poorly done – just not especially riveting.The post-credits scene saves the day, though – “Wrong Room” is just another example of how Noblesse is at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously.