REVIEW: ‘Noblesse’ Episode 3 – “Night’s Footsteps/Fall Out”

Last week on Noblesse, not much happened, and the results were disappointing to say the least. This time around, the show seemed to regain a bit of the fun it had in the opening episode, although has some distracting issues as well. Noblesse is the Crunchyroll Original from Production I.G. It is based on the webtoon of the same name. Noblesse Episode 3 opens with a comical dispute between M-21 and Regis, something that is clearly going to become a trend. This time, it is over their respective ramen bowls. Post opening, the show finally checks back in with the task force seen at the very beginning of the pilot. They have now made it to the city, and are investigating the events of the OVA prequel: Noblesse: Awakening.

This leads the tech savvy member of the group, Tao, to try hacking into the local police department’s files. Manabu is looking after this very same security system for his uncle, while he and Shinwoo are hanging out one evening. Manabu and Tao get into a hacker battle, which makes Tao interested in Manabu. Tao also succeeds in digging up information on M-21 for the group.

Compared to last week, this was a great spotlight on supporting characters Shinwoo and Manabu. The comedy between the two is very wholesome, with a series of misunderstandings leading Shinwoo to believe that Manabu’s interactions with Tao mean he is interested in men. This (incorrect) realization is comically played, but not in a mean spirited way. Shinwoo isn’t horrified by Manabu being interested in guys. He is surprised, but he resolves to support his friend and fight anyone who doesn’t. This heartwarming moment makes Shinwoo’s habit of jumping to conclusions the butt of the joke, instead of a character possibly being queer.

Elsewhere, Frankenstein is struggling to parent a household full of out of touch immortal nobles. For some reason, they are making a mess and don’t understand the concept of cleaning. These are the moments where the gags are played a little too far. It has been established that Regis is arrogant, but it doesn’t make sense why he and Seira still believe Raizel and Frankenstein are human. Raizel has maybe two lines this entire episode, so not much can be said about his character development either. For a show that gave the impression to be about him, all he has done is eat ramen for three episodes straight.

The later confrontation between the task force and M-21 was decently exciting. The animation in the action scenes often goes to up-close perspective shots, seemingly to avoid having to show all of the supernatural battle. The ending (avoiding spoilers) doesn’t make a ton of sense. Again, is Regis REALLY that dense? The other red flag is this show’s not subtle fatphobia. Hammer is consistently shown always eating, a long tired trope that did not need to be added into this adaptation, regardless of the age of the webtoon.

Noblesse Episode 3 brought back some of the fun by focusing on the supporting cast. Raizel has zero characterization this round, and there are still some elements of the plot that aren’t given enough explanation to make sense, thus bringing the overall impression down. Ideally, this is the start of a slow climb back up to enjoyable once again.

Noblesse is streaming now, exclusively on Crunchyroll.