There’s not a whole lot that’s notable about Noblesse, if I’m honest (apart from being probably Production I.G.’s cheapest-looking series to date). But one thing I could say with certainty is that among all the shows I’ve blogged to completion in my decade of doing this, few have stretched the bubble so close to the breaking point. In a stronger season I almost certainly wouldn’t have made it to the end. I’m not sorry I did and I do maintain a certain affection for it, but Noblesse kind of limped across the line if we’re being honest.
There’s a fundamental flaw with the core premise of this series, and it unfortunately involves the main character. We’re told repeatedly from the beginning (before the beginning if you count the OVAs) that Raizel is the strongest being in the world. That it’s not even close. That not even any of his fellow immortals can hold his jock. And the last few episodes pretty much go about demonstrating that. Which is, you know, kind of boring. With the earlier battles there was a certain uncertainty factor that made them interesting. Once Raizel got involved, that disappeared.
In fact, I would say that on the whole Noblesse is a better series when Raizel isn’t the main character. I noted several weeks back that this was a series where the role of protagonist could be kind of hard to distinguish. Yusuke was kind of protag-like, and for a while it was M-21 who most filled the role. Raizel is by definition boring in a fight, but he’s also not all that interesting outside of one. He’s not annoying or anything but his deadpan schtick works better when he’s reacting to others, not carrying the narrative himself.
For these reasons mainly the final arc for the anime was comfortably its weakest. I get why I.G. felt they had to do it, but Noblesse was so much more when it was a school life series with paranormal elements. What made the series distinct was that tonal variation, and it’s quirky sense of humor. As a shounen action series it’s frankly about as generic as they come. And that, unfortunately, is a pretty good summation of the final arc. There were interesting individual story elements but collectively it was fairly bland and predictable.
Even here the most lively moments were the rare comic ones, like Regis getting dwarf-tossed into the throne room. As for Raskreia and her whole daddy issues thing, well, who cares really? Raskreia may have been a victim of circumstance (and deception) but we saw nothing that would make one believe she was a good leader. Since there was no chance Raizel was going to inflict any permanent damage on anybody there wasn’t much suspense about how things would turn out. The only uncertainty was whether Gejutel – who was the most interesting of the clan leaders by miles – would actually decide to enter eternal sleep voluntarily (as indeed the old lord did).
These single-cour adaptations of long-running manhwa are beset with obvious problems, and Noblesse as a 13 episode series is no exception. I’d like to see more of the nichijou stuff, but it would eventually have to build to something. I think it’s clear that Kami no Tou, by comparison, has a much grippier premise and far more intrigue – which makes its abortive anime run all the more galling. Still, I enjoyed Noblesse for what it was, albeit mostly the first nine eps or so. There’s something genuinely likeable about this series and its cast, and there are worse reasons to watch a series than that.
