“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is an idiom that is tossed around a lot these days. The stories that reward readers for following it are few and far between. Noblesse is one of those few. Yet among those few stories, only a handful of them are in the position Noblesse is, where it is shackled by its appearance long past its cover, or even its first chapter, yet still manages to keep the interest of the reader. And to my knowledge, Noblesse is the only story where its appearance later becomes a strength of the story, on par with the writing that has
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held the reader’s interest thus far.
Let’s get this out of the way now: the amount of content in the first 10 chapters is minuscule and the art is mediocre at best. The first chapter alone consists of 41 panels and 0 words. There are some pages that have no art on them, just dialogue bubbles. And it would take less time to read the first 10 chapters than it would to read the first chapter in almost any other manhwa.
I suspect the reason many people have dropped the series is because they assumed the entire series would resemble the first 10 chapters. And the people who did read past them probably did so out of boredom rather than curiosity. Their assumption turns out to be wrong, as the art and length in the later chapters are vast improvements over the beginning ones; however, the people who continued reading the story had no way of knowing this, nor is it the reason they continued reading.
A subtle hook lies hidden within the first 30 or so chapters. It takes shape in the form of mystery, and as the reader’s curiosity grows, in tandem the hook slowly trickles down his mouth, waiting to be pulled. It is not until several hours later, when the reader takes his first glance towards the clock, notices the time and collapses dumbfounded, wondering where the time has gone, that he finally begins to understand what he has stumbled upon. A story with one of the best casts of characters in any manga/manhwa.
Noblesse follows the story of Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (or Rai for short), who recently awoke from an 820 year slumber in a coffin. In order to blend in, Rai unwittingly uses his powers to match his outfit with a student’s school uniform and follows that student to a high school. Rai is ultimately sent to the principal’s office, and to his surprise, the principal is someone he knows from his past. The principal is Frankenstein, a man who served as a servant to Rai before he entered his slumber. After a brief conversation, Rai decides to enroll in the school as a way to familiarize himself with the culture. He quickly learns that his tranquil life as a student is short lived when two members of an unknown organization, both of who possess supernatural abilities, begin searching for Rai’s coffin (which Frankenstein has already hidden). When these two members begin killing off civilians as a way to pass time, Frankenstein and Rai realize they cannot stand idly by and ignore the organization any longer.
The supernatural powers, combined with the 820 year slumber and a number of other details in the following chapters, reveal that Noblesse is a vampire story. Exactly what type of vampire story it is, however, remains hidden (at least for a while, anyway). You see, with the hundreds of vampires stories that have come and gone over the years, the word “vampire” can now mean a number of things. On the one hand, you have the ruthless, bloodsucking stone-cold killers who, as Stephen King once put it, “never get enough of that tasty Type-A”; while on the other hand, you have the mopey teenage pretty boys who sparkle in the sunlight and long for the love of unremarkable women. Most vampires stories are quick to tell you where their variation falls between those two extremes; not so for Noblesse. Instead, Noblesse spends its time picking away at what it’s not, and in doing so it becomes a source of curiosity for the reader. Curiosity peaks when the confrontation between Rai and the organization reveals that the vampires seen in Noblesse are not just a variation of the past. They’re something else entirely.
That “something else” is nothing groundbreaking, though, and the mystery alone is not enough to keep readers reading until the end. This is largely due to the plot; it’s both simplistic and formulaic. The story is paced well and doesn’t drag at all; however, it follows a set formula that only varies slightly between arcs. Although there is still an air of mystery in even the most recent chapters, the story loses some of its allure once certain questions are answered, and the people who read Noblesse for the mystery may lose interest as a result. Many others, however, (myself included) will still enjoy the series because of where Noblesse’s greatest strength lies: the characters.
Perhaps the most impressive part about Noblesse is the sheer number of good characters it has. Rai and Frankenstein are both good characters in their own rights, but also good are supporting characters Han Shinwoo and Woo Ik-Han, who are friends and classmates with Rai. At a glance these characters seem to belong to tired and clichéd character arc-types, but closer examination reveals this is not the case. Both have subtleties to their characters which define them through their thoughts and actions rather than their abilities and looks. There are also a few characters whose personalities are unique enough that I cannot point to any other series and say X character is also like this (Frankenstein’s combination of intelligence and loyalty with childish humor and a hint of sadism is one of these personalities). The only real problem in the character department is that there are some lackluster villains, but most of them aren’t around for long anyway.
To sum up my experience with Noblesse, I picked it up to pass the time, got hooked on the mystery and stayed for the characters. The characters are what bring life to the story. Their humor is what kept me interested when the action was slow, and their personalities and experiences are what made me care about the story. They not only made me look past the formulaic plot, but kept me waiting on the edge of my seat to find out what happens next. They’re the reason I can in good conscious say that Noblesse is a great story—one that if you have any sense, you’ll pick up and read.
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Sep 17, 2013
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is an idiom that is tossed around a lot these days. The stories that reward readers for following it are few and far between. Noblesse is one of those few. Yet among those few stories, only a handful of them are in the position Noblesse is, where it is shackled by its appearance long past its cover, or even its first chapter, yet still manages to keep the interest of the reader. And to my knowledge, Noblesse is the only story where its appearance later becomes a strength of the story, on par with the writing that has
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