Themes surrounding vampires has become commonplace nowadays, where readers are accustomed to see the regular school setting, in which protagonists either cope or familiarize themselves with those. Although Noblesse treats the same theme, it does tweak it by taking a somewhat different approach on its themes and interpretations of it, combined with great humour across the board. It basically could be seen as long running gag manhwa surrounding the topic of vampires with great action. What is important to note is that humour is an integral part of the manhwa, and for those who do not like this will not be able to enjoy this work in its fullest; what is more, its main protagonists are not teenagers, but adults.

~Story~

The story of Noblesse is focused on Cadis Etrama Di Raizel, or Rai in short, who after a 820 year slumber woke up to current human society, where mankind has made a huge scientific progress. Upon finding his loyal servant Frankenstein, he decides to learn and consequently blend in the human world in the very school his servant made. Along with his lacking knowledge on current society in addition to his own personality, hilarious situations are ensured. Even with the peaceful atmosphere surrounding him, the world is in fact no safer than the old. Mystery, deceit, blood lust and greed are on the order of the day. I might want to point out that the earlier chapters are in fact quite different from the rest. This means that the first batch of chapters are devoid of hardly any dialogue and with a strange format regarding its art progression; this may lead readers to assume (me included) that it would progress in the same manner, which much to my surprise was not the case.

As stated earlier, the premise of the series is generic and nothing innovative, yet what makes it intriguing is its approach: it utilizes the mystery surrounding its characters and themes to its advantage in order to create an overall atmosphere which makes readers curious on what is to come next. Surely enough, there are three greater factions: the Union, known for their human body enhancements, meant for the protection of mankind. Then there are the Nobles, the "vampires" (not in the traditional sense) if you may, the superior race, and then ultimately there are the werewolves. What is curious is the fact that the Nobles are not painted as the usual villains which is often frequent in the medium; instead a lot of neutrality is involved for the different factions. Deceit, greed and honor are central themes when addressing these groups, which in turn creates a lot of conflict between these.

Action is also a predominant factor in the manhwa: these are generally well executed without the abundance of any "asspulls". From a structural point of view they often play out in a similar way, but what makes them easily enjoyable are the different abilities of the characters, their growth as well as the progression of the battle itself. However, there were times where it got fairly repetitive, as well as characters of minor importance receiving constant convenient upgrades for the sake of keeping up with the plot, and thus not lose importance. Regardless, for the mayor characters this was not case, so it could be overlooked. Now it must be noted that it can be quite tensionless, as it is quite obvious that some of the characters are very overpowered, yet this was hinted at from the beginning, and thus was not a big issue.

Humour is not to be overlooked in the manhwa; it is as a matter of fact of crucial importance that enhances the overall experience. This is done by using the unknowing of the world of several characters about customs on both factions; in addition, the different personalities complement to these situations. What is remarkable, it is able to maintain its quality over the span of the story, in addition to introducing it in the appropriate moments without breaking immersion in the narrative. As mentioned earlier, it has a school setting, yet the only purpose of this is to enhance the comedy as well as delve and flesh out its cast. Speaking of which, school students were sometimes involved in the greater fights, and were rather cliché as it only served to create tense situations in which these dominated the decisions of the cast.

~Characters~

The main cast of characters of Noblesse are in fact very intriguing and interesting, having diverse personalities, especially when concerning the main protagonists Cadis Etrama Di Raizel and Frankenstein, both shrouded in mystery. Character development in general is rather lackluster, yet its fleshing out is well done. Cadis Etrama Di Raizel is a very silent and apparently an emotionless person, yet it soon becomes apparent that this tied to his very own background: he is fact a very cunning and thoughtful person, having experienced both loneliness and discovering friendship. Frakenstein is the servant of the former, and is characterized by his wacky and crazy personality, yet at the same time a very cunning and intelligent person. His absolute loyalty to his master and the cherishing he has to his belongings often creates well suited comedy, as well moments of "badass". In fact, it could be said that these two are the driving force behind the story of Noblesse.

Concerning the other characters, these are far from developed, especially when their motives are considered. The "villains" motives are rather shallow and unexplored, seemingly being one-dimensional antagonists with no real purpose other than to create conflicts between the different factions. To be fair, the manhwa is still ongoing and thus such issues may be explained later on in more depth. Nevertheless, the exploration on the Noble's side was satisfying as it gave introspection into the general culture and thinking behind these, in addition to their motives. There were some little gripes with these, as their own motives and personalities changed slightly according to story progression without a very convincing reason.

Other thing to note are the present student that converge and are in direct contact with the main cast; these are very generic and serve no other purpose than to create unneccessary situations as well as enhancing the comedy. This doesn't mean that there are no characters of interest; in fact, there are quite some with interesting personalities, being either very easygoing ones, excentric, strict, silent or just funny. Other also have the addition of having some intriguing past, including what could be considered one of the main villains of the story - it is really the mystery surrounding them what makes it an intriguing read.

~Art~

The art style of Noblesse is simplistic and not very detailed, which was done in favour to accommodate the full colouring of its work. The different colours used in its schemes and various atmospheres matched well with the narrative. Panel placement was at the beginning quite spacious and a bit immersion breaking, as it gave the impression of being a very slow-paced narrative. Concerning the characters design, there are overall somewhat varied, yet ultimately a bit generic, from a manhwa point of view. What is hilarious at a personal level is the portrayal of Frakenstein himself: a bishonen instead of the looks of an old and weak crazy scientist. Characters expressions are very well done, easily conveying the emotional state, be it either fear, cluelessness, surprise or sadness.

~Enjoyment~

Noblesse was overall a very enjoyable experience with the humour and intriguing main characters that just kept me reading and reading. The fact the approach on it was somewhat different, the gags and action was well executed, was one of the main factors that made it highly enjoyable, It must be mentioned that character-wise it is rather lacking is some aspects, especially when motives of the different factions are concerned. Despite all of these, I highly recommend anyone trying this manhwa out, as it was highly entertaining. However, I would like to add that the comedy can be a hit or miss for some, and thus these can be a hinderance to some.

Thank you for reading.