‘Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions characterize the great.’

‘Noblesse’ is a web manhwa co-written by the two Korean authors: story Son Jae-Ho and illustrator Lee, Gwang-Su. The story begins exactly as it should begin in any good shounen manga/manhwa: with the awakening of the main character; Cadis Etrama Di Raizel literally rises from the coffin, after no less than 820 years of sleep. It is easy to guess, that our protagonist is a vampire. Yet, in the world of the manhwa, his kind is known as Noblesse. Our hero wakes up in an abandoned building in South Korea, all alone and immediately gets out. You can imagine what Ray's reaction was... he did not even think about it. The vampire is surprisingly ‘cold-blooded’, not used to being surprised. And so, wandering around the city, he accidentally stumbles upon the Ye Ran High School. And who would have thought - the headmaster of this school is none other than the obedient servants of his vampire Excellency, Frankenstein. Frankenstein immediately decides to accept the master in his school and to tell everyone that he is an exchange student. And then the story begins…

As the story develops, more and more often you are starting to think - is it really what South Korea is like? Ordinary students are either hackers or masters of hand-to-hand combat. There are many mutants prowling around the city, all of them without exception are members of a certain ‘organization’. On top of that, behind the scenes, there is the lord of the Noblesse race and new opponents appear faster than they can be killed. And it is not a bad thing. What I mean is that you will not have even a second to feel bored. Interestingly enough, the characters of ‘Noblesse’ are not just some copypasta from the more famous ‘vampire’ manga like ‘Hellsing’, ‘Blood +’ and others. In fact, the manhwa introduces us to a completely new and unique world that has not been featured anywhere else yet. As for the characters, we have: an ordinary Korean schoolboy, ‘modified people’, and, well, of course, vampires. Their ‘tribe’ kind, however, is different from what we know. The local ghouls do not drink blood; ‘ Noblesse oblige’. (Meaning that nobility extends beyond mere entitlements and requires the person who holds such a status to fulfill social responsibilities.) According to the story, Noblesse have always protected and led people to prosperity until the mankind began to see them as a threat. After all, they were way too strong, so that the humanity started seeing them as enemies. This is the reason why we see them that rarely.

For those who are used to the Japanese manga, the style of this manhwa might seem a bit unusual. The differences start from the reading order, and end with the background that are not as detailed as in most manga. On top of that, when you start reading the manhwa, it looks… bad. However, after a while, the art will begin to improve and it is going to be okay. So, give it some time, do not drop it immediately. All in all, what can be said in conclusion? Those who watched, or planning to watch the anime, which is utter garbage, I highly recommend you to read the manhwa for you to understand the story and the characters better. I am not going to tell you something like ‘it is going to be the best manhwa ever,’ however, one simply cannot deny the fact that this manhwa is quite good and unique. All I can recommend you is to read it little by little, do not rush it.