This manhwa had great potential. When I first started reading I was very excited to see where it went. The characters were funny, interesting, and mysterious. The fight scenes were passable and fresh enough to interest me. The villains managed to be intimidating even though the main character could destroy them without a second thought.

The main characters are still funny and interesting, but scratch everything else.

Every arc is practically the same (Saying practically is being very generous). I'll lay out how almost every arc after the first few go.

1: Bad guys come for nefarious reasons.

2: They kidnap people, most often the useless kids that hang around Rai.

3: M-21 and Friends go to rescue them.

4: They are beaten after giving it their all and lamenting how weak they are.

5: Stronger person comes to save everyone. Most often Frankenstein, but sometimes others.

6: They do well but still can't beat them.

7: Rai shows up and it's over.

There you go. If you aren't interested in the character interactions or humor that go on during and between arcs then this manhwa has nothing to offer you.

The villains are extremely boring as there are almost no consequences to anything they do. Most of them have the same copy and paste personality. As the series goes on the designs get increasingly stupid, culminating in a blueberry colored Majin Buu werewolf thing that made me exclaim "Wow this is dumb". Here's a few lines you'll hear from just about every villain in the series.

"Haha you think you could possibly defeat me!?"
"Hey you're not bad!" (There's seriously one guy that said this like 10 times in the same fight unironically)
"How could I be losing against someone like you!!!1!"

Then they die.

This may seem harsh but it's annoying to read something and know exactly what will happen next without fail.

Give this manhwa a try, you'll probably really like the first few arcs like I did, but try not to expect much more than that.

This is actually pretty rare in a shounen.

Usually, when starting a fight or meeting a new adversary, the typical protagonist is lagging behind at first, then he(she) is on the verge of destruction and despair and it seems that, really, this time, everyone is going to die, THEN he(she) gets a flash of inspiration and discovers a whole new and brilliant technique/sees his(her) nakama in great danger, and loses it, thus gaining super anger-related strength/lets some random philosophical principle resurface from the dephts of his(her) heart, and it gives him(her) peace of mind and the power to crush the villains, etc, etc.

HERE, the male lead is unbeatable from the start (pretty much godly, in fact) and each ennemy that comes at him (underestimating him, of course because that's a lot funnier!) miserably fails...
Well in its own way, it's quite refreshing. Sometimes it's good to just be the epic undisputed overlord.

Concerning the art, the plot, the (other) characters, and the rhythm, it's all nice, other reviewers have already sung the praises of all that, I agree about most of it.

And maybe it's also due to the outstanding efficiency of both the author (fast writing) and the scanlators (fast releases), but this is COMPLETELY ADDICTIVE, really.

(PS: I realized I may seem bitter in my description of typical shounen. Don't get me wrong! I love shounen. Not all are like that, and when they are, I love it! I was just exxagerating a bit to make my point. ^^)

... Last updated on November 15th, 2011, 1:10pm

Johnjimco nails it. And the art, too. 90% of Noblesse is fight scenes, and they are ALL drawn the same way. There is never any strategy, the two characters fighting are never in the same panel together, and they never physically connect. There is never any landscape around them, and they never interact with any objects. They just fly around in poses in the sky above a perfectly featureless, flat landscape. Here's a fight scene:
Panel of character A swinging his arm in a big "whooshy" motion.
Panel of character B looking surprised and thinking something boring, like "He's strong!" or "What is this power?"
Panel of character B whooshing somewhere, presumably toward character A.
Panel of character A blocking and going "ugh."
This goes on for dozens and dozens of pages - and STILL the fight isn't over. Because the characters have to take turns getting beat up and almost losing and then randomly powering up. You know they have powered up because the character design suddenly gets exponentially more stupid looking, and because it's the other character's turn to have a jillion panels of blocking and going "ugh" and getting whaled on and wondering, "what is this power?" - until it's THEIR turn to power up - and on and on we go. Makes DragonBall Z look like Vagabond.

The story became repetitive and predictable , the art did change and the plot is the same over and over , bad guys appear they kidnap the innocent children and our heroes defeats them in all the 6 seasons , and the annoying thing is the kidnapping the children , it became a habit that maybe the authors don't know another reason to make our heroes and villains to clash .

season 6 ended and the last battle was again another kidnapping , but the thing that was different this time was


... Last updated on June 24th, 2014, 5:08am

I had started reading Noblesse back when it didn't even have an official English translation, and decided to finally finish the series now that I have the time. And now that I've finished it, I find that I have a lot to say lol.

The Good:

The characters can be a lot of fun. There's a reason why the trope of "foreigner enters a strange land" is so popular. It's great to see how Rai interacts with humans and learns about them. There are complaints that he is a "boring" character, but I find that he's just a quiet person who is kind despite being burdened by responsibility. In my opinion, the best parts involve Frankenstein. Out of all the characters, he is arguably the most interesting character in the series: competent, resourceful, organized to a fault. Almost everyone depends on him to get the job done. Also the guy is an absolute maniac. But, for all of Frankenstein's insanity, his devotion to Rai, his master, is my favourite part about this webcomic. Their unwavering trust in each other and protectiveness is great to see, and their relationship can be the funniest part of some chapters. I'm surprised that the authors didn't give them more of a backstory so we could see how their relationship grew throughout the years.

The quiet moments are the best at conveying how close the characters are to each other. I'm glad that this webcomic always has downtime for the characters where they just hang out and have fun. It certainly makes them feel more like a family, and it's good to have a break from all the battles. I personally think that the main group grew rather organically and doesn't feel forced.

The humour in Noblesse is surprisingly fun. When I first started reading the webcomic, I had the impression that it would be more serious. Maybe it's because of that impression that I was so surprised whenever a joke showed up. I think they're done very well and make you feel like the characters have a personality outside of more serious scenes. The funniest parts to me are whenever characters react to Frankenstein being a maniac or when someone accidentally disrespects Rai.

The Bad:

As everyone has said previously, the story is formulaic and repetitive. Often times, you can scroll through the webcomic without reading the dialogue because it's so predictable and lends nothing to the plot. The fight scenes are pretty to look at, but there is rarely any strategy involved - it's mainly "overpower the enemy." Still, I can't deny that there's an inner fanboy in my heart that is always delighted when the protagonists show up to kick some ass.

Some characters, like The Kids, quickly fall to the wayside or are forgotten completely because of how bland their personalities are. Even after binge reading this webcomic, I wouldn't be able recall half of the villains. However, this isn't something particularly new when reading this type of story. I think the biggest flaw is the ending - specifically the epilogue. The epilogue makes no sense and raises more questions than before. Many have complained about the ending but I personally thought that it at least FELT like an ending, but whatever resolution there might have been was quickly unraveled by the epilogue.

Another complaint I have is that the official English translation is... pretty bad. If I hadn't read the fan translations way back when, I would have been lost with all the changes in spelling, terminology, and lack of proofreading. Still, the plot is still simple enough to understand so it's not like it's impossible to read.

-

Ultimately, Noblesse is a fun read if you've got nothing else to do. The story is simple, the characters are fun, there are battles and humour and pretty art. Honestly, I'd say that I enjoyed Noblesse more than I thought I would, and I would recommend Noblesse just so everyone else can enjoy how absolutely maniacal Frankenstein can be.

You must read it. That is all. Girls should provide earplugs to neighbours and relatives/flatmates as you WILL be constantly squeeing over all the bishonens. Guys may have to provide the same things due to their yells of "OH SHIT!", "AWWWW YEEEAAAH", "BADASS" and "OH THAT F**KER IS GOING DOWN".

EDIT: Ok as some other's have noted this series is getting draggy. After more exposure to manhwas I realize that Korean authors love their cliffhangers like I love my coffee: As many as I can get in as little amount of time as possible. This makes the series go rapidly from enjoyable to downright frustrating as you never feel sated with the one chapter you're given. There is a fine line between teasing your readers with what is to come and giving them nothing but crumbs. 16 pages per chap on average and you can count those that don't end on a cliffhanger with one hand. My rating will stay above "average" out of respect for the fun times I had with the series, but it surely isn't nearly as entertaining as it was before.

... Last updated on December 13th, 2013, 9:49pm

The art changed between 3 & 8 times, & the story shifted from a school horror comedy where Raizel is the protagonist, to a Hunter x Hunter/One Punch Man story where Frankenstein is the actionary protagonist & Raizel is his reactionary sidekick, despite the latter being the boss. In the latest arc, Raizel has been absent for a chunk of the story, but everyone is so focused on Frankie's fight with Crombel that no one in the Line Webtoon & Mangago comment section seems to have noticed he hasn't even made a cameo in weeks.

One season has particularly bad art, since the artist was sick & having anxiety problems. Currently, the character designs are on par with 19 Days & One Punch Man, which is great. I guess I would sum it up to an arena fighting shounen series with a quasi-realistic shoujo art style. The art is targeted at everyone; busty large-hipped women & bishounen who can't serm to keep their shirts on for more than 2 seconds.

It's true that occasionaly there aren't a lot of backgrounds. This happened in one of the art shifts after the artist had a meltdown & took an extended hiatus. But often there are gorgeous cityscapes & postapocalyptic-looking scenery. The artist excels at closeups around the 2018 chapters, so you get Hollywod style camera angles. As top-notch as the art is right now, there are 2 thing sthat keep bugging me; the continuity of hair length & muscle mass. At any given time, Frankenstein's hair witll be back-length to just below the shoulders, Raizel's hair changes with every art shift, breasts are simetimes inconsistantly sized, & men who appear slender fully clothed bulk up in muscle when their shirts are destroyed. But man, is this guy incredible with eyes & facial expressions. It's a face style that can appeal to both manga & comic book readers alike.

Frankenstein is the most interesting character & everything revolves more around him than anyone else. He's sexy, he's scary, he's cleaning up mess he helped start, he makes all the big decisions, he does all the best fighting. Raizel is popular with the fangirls, & it,'s because he's an attractive Woobie with a sad past. He is excruciatingly bland & spends most of his time merely existing or pouting. The team of Tao, M-21 & Takeo are a very interesting & amusing team that don't get a quarter of the time that they deserve. The other Raizel knights who are the youngest Noble leaders are also interesting & maturing characters. But like almost any shounen fighting series you can think of, there are way too many recurting characters that take away from the focus of the series. Many with aborted or minimal character development. Raskrea is popular as a shapely potential love interest for Rai & a woman in a position of authority, but little is known about her beyond a childhood crush & her determination to fill daddy's shoes. Karis used to be hilarious, but now he's super serious. The kids from the first arc are reduced to cameos. The most inconsiquential character would have to be Raizel's twin; He's never mentioned before his first appearance, & is never mentioned again after he leaves.

The formula lies in the fighting parts of the arc, where two of the 3 groups form an alliance aginst the common enemy. The allies warm the bad guys up, then get their asses saved by Frankenstein who wins after transforming into BAOH, then Raizel, who has stood there in total silence for most of the story trying to emote while worrying, delivers the final death blow in about 2 hits, & then the arc either goes into act 2 or starts a new arc. This is literally every fight in the series, but I love it.

Some battles are better than others, but which ones will depend on how the individual feels about the fighters & the enemies. The ante is certsonly upped when your in the 500s chapters, & the general audience is very excited by Frankenstein's battle with Crombel, long awited for years.

This series has had a lot of different translators who could not agree on how characters names were spelled or pronounced. One decided out of the blue to gve Frankenstein a southern accenr.

It's fujoshi-friendly. The one-sided over-the-top overprotective bromance Frankenstein has for Raizel is on par with Killua & Gon from HxH.

If you play MMORPGs, Nintendo sim games,or FPS games, you should have no problem with this kind of repitition. & since I can't resist comparing series to eachother, Raizel is a stoic depressed version of Saitama from One Punch Man, & Frankenstein is an adult combat butler take on Killua Zoldyck who can transform into BAOH & use the techniques of Shido from Nightwalker.

It also occured to me that it has a bit in common with Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: Stardust Crusaders. Frankenstein & Polnareff were supposed to be sidekicks but ascended to the characters with the most screen time, most dialogue, & most fight scenes. Raizel & Polnareff were silent protagonists who got less & less focus & became the finishing blow in most fights.

... Last updated on January 16th, 2019, 3:00pm

Have you ever encountered a story that you like and don't even know why? Well Noblesse falls into that category.
If anybody were to ask why you like it, or even to explain the plot, it sounds weak. "It's about this mysterious organization that experiments on people, and a really powerful guy who keeps defeating members of said organization..."
People would probably look at you weird and probably give the story a pass.
Yet, at least in my case, once I began reading it, I marathoned through it, and to be honest, if it ever becomes available in English, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I can't truly say what is it that makes this manwha so great, but it has something that pulls you in. The characters are interesting, my favorites are pretty much the main cast of enhanced humans plus Rai.
I passed on this story so many times, but now it's one of my favorites.

The number one reason I read Noblesse: Cadis Etrama Di Raizel.

Never, in all my years of reading all genres of fiction novels, short stories, epic poems, mangas, etc, or in all the movies or shows I've watched, have I ever seen such a self-sacrificing, loyal, and absolutely astounding show of character as I've seen in Noblesse. Here you've got the most powerful being on the whole planet from the get-go, who only uses his power at the last minute to protect those who care for him, and also to punish those who abuse their power even when it pains him to do so.

I can't write enough praise about Rai so... Frankenstein, his servant, is the second reason I read this. His devotion to Rai is awesome, and he's super powerful and wonderfully sadistic... really the opposite of his master.

The other characters are great too, even the "regular" human kids. I love the story and the plot. There's the traditional nobles on the 'good' side and the up-and-coming Union on the 'bad' side, though neither are really good nor bad.

It's not a mainstream shounen, but it is a shounen. Again, the MC is the most powerful guy on the planet, so he easily destroys those in his way. But he doesn't want to, he doesn't scream and yell about it, and it hurts him.

There are some flashbacks, but what makes them so great is they're just long enough for the reader to understand more about the present but yet not get bored with and stuck in the past. Some even only last a few panels, but much is told with just those few.

And the last bit of why this is my absolute favorite manga/manwha/etc is the humor. It's original, all of the characters show a bit of it, and it's fairly clean. It also comes at unexpected moments. Humor is a must for me and Noblesse does a fantastic job of delivering it.

Also... this is the ONLY manga/manwha I have completely read more than once. ^^

edit: Shounen is only as good as its length. I really loved this series years ago but it needs to end! Rai is still awesome and the art is beautiful but this webtoon is past its prime. Even the most loyal fans get worn down from repetitive fighting.

... Last updated on August 13th, 2016, 4:41pm

Honestly, I am a lurker. I would have never made an account if I didn't read the comments for this web-comic-manwha. Yes it can be "over hyped" and in general, everything is a copy/similar to anything else. That's why there are genres. But all of the negativity that I see are all childish. As a particular user said, thought I am not sure how credible that makes me, I have read over 10 years of manga. Started off with Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Naussica. Only recently have I been interested in manwha and webcomic though. This is not a manga. It is...in a sense, not even a manwha. It is a web-comic that gets updated once a week. So of course it will be a dragging on of "what happens next?" type of story. Every web-comic is. The mentality created from reading manga which have a set number of pages to constitute a chapter, then volume, creates an illusion of solidarity. That does not allow the same comparison to a web-comic ffs. It's like comparing a movie to a tv series. The best you can get from a tv series is the previews and some episodes are better or worse than the last. In terms of story, yes, it isn't exactly wow/amazing but nowadays, not much wow/amaze me. But I do go "eek" because of how well drawn the characters are and the various moments that you appreciate it for. Perhaps I am generous in my 9 for my first post but I genuinely like this as it has the potential for a good story. As of this writing, I am on chapter 232 where things are picking up again.

It all boils down to: THIS is a korean web-comic. It comes out weekly, translated by the wonderful people over at EG. It is not a manga. It is even debate-able to not even be a manwha. It is in a long strip formatting that may affect how the story is written and planned out. Also, consider how many chapters are out. IE, whether you are following the story's twists and revelations as each chapter come out or you are allowed the sanity of reading it in one full swept. The result is quite different. Also, the men are mostly pretty. The humor is quirky. And seriously, just enjoy it and over analyze it.

Wow, that was short at all. In a summary of the supposedly summary... it is a korean web-comic that differs from ****ing conventional manga that we are used to.