REVIEW: ‘Noblesse’ Episode 7 – “The Girl I’m Into is a Noble/Unforgettable”

On its own, Noblesse Episode 7 is arguably good, but because of everything that came before it, the episode results in tonal whiplash. The anime has a consistent issue of not knowing what it wants to be. It isn’t that the show can’t cross genres, but the execution is mediocre at best. Noblesse is a Crunchyroll Original anime from Production I.G. It is based on the webtoon of the same name. The supernatural series follows Raizel, who has waken up from a 500-year slumber to discover the human world has vastly changed.

Noblesse Episode 7 decides it wants to be a slice-of-life anime this week. After recovering from their injuries at Frankenstein’s house (which must be a mansion given how many people stay there), everyone is back at the high school. Yusuke read an entire shojo manga series three times over while bedridden, and as a result, is longing for love. He envies Rai’s ability to have girls flock to him by literally just standing there. Takio and Tao now join M-21 as school security guards. When Manabu and Yusuke see them also being swarmed by their female classmates, the three then get comically roped into giving love advice. Upon the discovery that Yusuke is interested in Seira of all people, Regis gets unwillingly pulled into the antics as well. Literally. Raizel orders him to help.

Shocking to no viewer, all five of the supernatural agents are socially awkward and the worst at giving advice. The chaos ranges from trying to compose a love letter without sounding like a child or a 500-year-old noble, to an overly competitive game of basketball. For some reason, no one decided to tell Raizel the rules of basketball before throwing him on the court. Personally, I actually laughed more than I expected this episode. It was all very endearing and was the heart that had been missing between this cast. It was fun to see the different characters’ personalities come out and crash into each other. Unfortunately, its placement is awkward and too little too late.

There is a serious moment towards the end because Manabu and Yusuke are at risk if the team decides to not erase their memories. Unfortunately, it would have been more effective if any of the characters had alluded to it in the previous 3/4ths of the episode. The resolution to the “conflict” is unsatisfying and disappointing. The other main issue is that for an episode so comically about Yusuke being interested in Seira, she is barely present. When she is, it is just to impart some sage wisdom, smile, and leave. Her character has zero depth, and it is disappointing given she is the only female member of the main cast.

Noblesse Episode 7 was enjoyable as a standalone but collapses under everything that came before it. I wanted this show to succeed, but it has lost control of its library of characters and what it wants the plot to be. If episodes like this week had been the norm, maybe things would have been better. The abrupt tonal shift from last week is confusing, and it is difficult to see where the anime plans to go from here. What started as an endearing mess has just descended into a mess.

Noblesse is streaming now, exclusively on Crunchyroll.