Noblesse Chapter 224 Review

[Jammin]

I'm happy to report my beloved SeiraxShin Woo pairing took first place in last weeks Valentines Day Pairing poll! And a big thanks to everyone who participated.

Now onto the review!

Chapter Summary

Sure he may be insanely strong but he couldn't peel a banana if his life depended on it.

This week continues the RK-3 versus the Rasta Douche battle, with the Douche having just been hit full force by M-21 and buried in rubble. M-21 quickly jumps to the building where Sangeen is, who is gawking at him amazed by his power, then the Douche jumps out of the rubble and over to them almost as quickly. Unfortunately for them, he seems unhurt and even to be enjoying himself.

Seeing this M-21 tells Sangeen to run. Sangeen, understanding that he would only get in the way here, reluctantly obeys. The Douche tries to pursue but is stopped by a M-21 and a hail of sniper-fire from Takeo.

Tao uses Takeo sniping to attempt to deaden the Douche's nerves and hinder his movement while M-21 fights him up close. They know they can't do much damage but they can land a lot of hits, and take him down through accumulated damage.

As they pursue this strategy, M-21 assess the Douches' skills. He admits that without Takeo sniper fire he would surely lose but when fighting him like this he finds his opponent quite manageable. Mainly because his speed is "not so amazing" making him "nothing compared to Rael". M-21 also flashes back to a conversation Frankenstein had with him about his own body and how he has been undergoing treatment to not only stabilize his body but also amplify his own power.

Then he lands another heavy hit on the Douche gets fed up and uses his transformation; an exoskeleton armor with maces for hands. At almost the same moment the Blonde Troll appears behind Tao. Which is going to be trouble..

The scene cuts to Yontsu, Yuri, and the other Cerberus people who just received word that the 12th elder on his way personally. And while Yontsu is still processing that she receives a call notifying her of a battle in the city. The Red-head and Scarface pretty much instantly work out that this is related to Ked and Lutai looking for trouble, and finding some; and that if the opponents can put up enough of a fight to be noticed they might be related to Crombell. So they head out to resolve it before the 12 elder arrives. Which is going to be more trouble...

Chapter Review

Look, I know this mask may confuse the issue but I'm not into guys.(At least not ones with noses like that.)

Substance
We learned a great deal this week, despite it being a battle chapter.

We learned a ton about these Cerberus peoples combat abilities. They can transform. I don't think that's unexpected but it does confirm that they are even more dangerous than they appear. M-21 also gave us a good sense of how formidable the Rasta-douche is in his untransformed state. He's less dangerous than Rael, which probably puts him slightly above Regis and well below Seira. We have to take into account however that he is probably the weakest of the Cerberus people so it's hard to say what that means for the others.

We also learned the Blonde Troll and Rasta-douche's names. Ked and Lutai. No knowing which is which yet though. My guess is Ked for ol' hammerhands and Lutai for the troll. I have no reasoning on that, it's just a guess.

Another thing we learned is how screwed the RK-3 are. Not only has this has turned into a 3 on 2 fight, which is bad obviously, but the Red-head and Scarface are on the way; which is worse. I hope Tao has a great escape plan, because it looks like they are going to need one to avoid getting captured.

Then there is the whole 12th elder coming to pay a personal visit thing, I'm not even sure what to make of that yet.

Presentation
I loved the way this chapter looked artistically. While it had some of the same problems with the background work as last week, making it hard to figure out in terms of who's fighting where and how far away various things are from one another, the actual combat drawing was great. The Takeo's bullet impacts especially, which really helped to make the whole fight better.

The pacing I'm not sure about, to be honest. The fight and the bit with Yontsu and the rest was fine but I don't really understand the reasoning behind M-21's flashback. It's not that I'm not happy to get information about M-21's powers, I am, but nothing we were told in that flashback really seemed to link into anything else that was going on. I really don't understand why that was placed there.

Final Rating
A surprisingly substantive and mostly well drawn combat chapter, which introduced even more dramatic elements. As the enemies start closing in around RK-3 as they cover Sangeen's escape

I give it a 4 out of 5

My Prediction

• At least one of the RK-3 will get captured by Cerberus

My Previous Predictions(Current Record 8-9)

M-21's confrontation with Yontsu will lead to the KSA discovering his background
False, they might learn it eventually but obviously Yontsu's confrontation with M-21 is no longer a factor.

The Blonde-Troll will get involved before the Rasta-douche gets killed.
True, he hasn't actually thrown a punch yet but he has gotten involved.

• Rael will lose his next battle to the RK-4.
• I think Lee Youn-In is going to be more than just a soon-to-be-forgotten sub-character. I suspect she may have a role in the plot.
• The female operative from the Union will eventually end up on Raizel's side, like M-21 and the others.
• Rael will show up at Raizel's school seeking revenge on him and his human friends.
• The Agency Director is evil(obviously).
• Na Yontsu will get mixed feeling about recruiting Shin Woo and Ikkan.
• At some point, when dealing with the Agency, Seira will fail restrain herself.
• Raizel will ultimately choose to use himself up completely in order to help his friends.
• The trainees that disappeared are dead or worse.
• Cerberus will find out the KSA's secret.
• Na Yontsu will fight Cerberus.
• These union people will be a legitimate threat to Frankenstein.
• The Rastafarian Cerberus guy with the temper is going to be the first to get killed.
• Sangeen is going to be killed by Cerberus.
• Takeo knows the redhead personally in some way
• Yontsu and Sangeen are not really married.
• Somebody else will join RK-4 and Sangeen in tackling Rasta-douche and the Blonde Troll.

Thread Question of the Week
What do you imagine the ramifications will be from the 12th elder's visit?

[benelori]

Thanks for the review! Loved the banana joke...

You mentioned pacing in the end and the flashback....my take on that is the authors trying to justify the reason why M21 can keep up with the gorilla(interesting pun)...and maybe there's a hint in all that flashback? Franky mentioned amplifying, and the rest of the Union guys are heading out...it's clear that our guys wil be overwhelmed, but could it be that such an event will trigger a transformation on a larger scale? So maybe the authors are just foreshadowing something there...

To be honest though...I'm quite surprised with the speed of how things are developing...I never expected the others to move out, and I'm not really sure how will the plot unfold from here...seeing the focus on M21 and his development, my instinct says that he might be captured...and that will serve as a nice leverage for the Union to draw out at least Franky...that's their goal after all, to investigate the battles that happened already...

---------- Post added at 02:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 AM ----------

Oh yeah...and the 12th elder's visit...I'm not really sure...I don't really know his personality and all that, nor what his intentions are, but it might trigger a reaction from Crombel for instance...who knows really...

[Jammin]

You mentioned pacing in the end and the flashback....my take on that is the authors trying to justify the reason why M21 can keep up with the gorilla(interesting pun)...and maybe there's a hint in all that flashback? Franky mentioned amplifying, and the rest of the Union guys are heading out...it's clear that our guys wil be overwhelmed, but could it be that such an event will trigger a transformation on a larger scale? So maybe the authors are just foreshadowing something there...

I would also guess that it's probably there to foreshadow something, I'm hopeing a full blown werewolf transformation, but it's rare to see flashback something that doesn't happen in the chapter of the flashback. It just seems a but odd to me to put that in a chapter in a moment where it doesn't seem like it related all that closely with anything that is currently happening.

I suspect if I were to read this chapter and the next 5 I'm sure that flashback would make perfect sense but as a part of this single chapter it doesn't seem to me like it fits as smoothly as the rest.

To be honest though...I'm quite surprised with the speed of how things are developing...I never expected the others to move out, and I'm not really sure how will the plot unfold from here...seeing the focus on M21 and his development, my instinct says that he might be captured...and that will serve as a nice leverage for the Union to draw out at least Franky...that's their goal after all, to investigate the battles that happened already...

As am I, maybe I've just been reading slower paced stuff recently but I was stunned that the rest of Cerberus moved out this quickly. It's a sudden shift in focus from "Can they win?" to "Can they escape?".

With 3 on 2 if they scatter at least one of them should be able to escape but if it becomes 4 on 3 I think the only way anybody escapes is if M-21 stays behind to stall them.

[phio_chan]

Congratulations to Seira and Shin Woo!

*clears throat*

M-21 also gave us a good sense of how formidable the Rasta-douche is in his untransformed state. He's less dangerous than Rael, which probably puts him slightly above Regis and well below Seira. We have to take into account however that he probably the weakest of the Cerberus people so it's hard to say what that means for the others.

He seems to be not as good as Rael simply because he didn't think much of using strategies and tricks; he mainly depends on his power. I think most nobles, even though some of them are as wild as Rael, still have that in mind. Though, as your last sentence also said, it is saddening that he might be the weakest one from all. >__<

We also learned the Blonde Troll and Rasta-douche's names. Ked and Lutai. No knowing which is which yet though. My guess is Ked for ol' hammerhands and Lutai for the troll. I have no reasoning on that, it's just a guess.

I think Ked is the giant one and Lutai is the blonde. Sounds... a bit more natural that way.

Then there is the whole 12th elder coming to pay a personal visit thing, I'm not even sure what to make of that yet.

Pure strange, for me. There doesn't seem to be any reason for him to come directly after he sent his men just recently, unless he went into another heated argument(s) with other elders, or Crombel to be specific. Or Crombel spilled him information which upset him. Meh.

The fight and the bit with Yontsu and the rest was fine but I don't really understand the reasoning behind M-21's flashback. It's not that I'm not happy to get information about M-21's powers, I am, but nothing we were told in that flashback really seemed to link into anything else that was going on. I really don't understand why that was placed there.

Perhaps it's to show how much they all have changed ever since then, how they taken that fight into consideration, how they all seem to find a way in life... Something like that?

[The Red Dog]

Hey there,

M-21's confrontation with Yontsu will lead to the KSA discovering his background
False, they might learn it eventually but obviously Yontsu's confrontation with M-21 is no longer a factor.

Not completly untrue Jam,the duo figured out that he had a tie with the union,they were scre....I mean cornered at the moment by Tao back then so they could'nt investigate further.

He seems to be not as good as Rael simply because he didn't think much of using strategies and tricks; he mainly depends on his power. I think most nobles, even though some of them are as wild as Rael, still have that in mind. Though, as your last sentence also said, it is saddening that he might be the weakest one from all. >__<

I liked the comparaison with Rael,despite being slower,the RD has actual combat expericence I think,category in which Rael Lacked so It's more or less balanced it's not preventing him from doing dumb mistake like losing his head,Bakaaaaa!!!

Ballerina/Armored RD is interesting,I don't think M-21's Claws will leave a single scracth on his body unless he aims for the head

I have to Acknowledge that I was The one who voted for "completely screwed" I like these kind of awful situations,this force the guys to trespass their limits in order to live up to the name of "Raizel Knights"

Thread Question of the Week
What do you imagine the ramifications will be from the 12th elder's visit?

Honestly,I dunno what to think

This is the place where He lost the DA-5,Dr.Aris and it's only now that he's showing himself Up ? What a carefree guy,In a way it's frightening cause you know,to possese an Eldership position,I Assume it's whether through Abilities&knowledge(Crombell)or tremendous Power....that dude,it's likely a beast