Love of Kill is an exciting new anime series in the winter 2022 anime lineup, and most notably, it's a shojo romance/action series that blends the shojo and seinen demographics into something unique. Not only do the two potential lovers get into car chases and shootouts, but they're also shrouded in mystery to entice viewers.
Sometimes, shojo anime will create a cool and mysterious male lover for the female lead to learn more about, but in Love of Kill, the heroine and her male love interest are both shrouded in mystery, and that even includes Chateau Noble's name. At this rate, "Chateau Noble" probably isn't her real name at all.
The Clues Surrounding Chateau Noble's Origins & Name
Love of Kill's heroine Chateau is a tight-lipped tsundere type who reveals very little about herself to her persistent admirer, the slick but deadly Song Ryang-Ha, and not without reason. Her character is equally mysterious to the viewer at first, including minimal internal dialogue to reveal Chateau's thoughts or emotional state, but after four episodes, the series is starting to piece the Chateau puzzle together at last. Across these episodes, Love of Kill has dropped a few hints about Chateau's childhood and origins, and each new answer raises just as many questions.
Flashbacks in Love of Kill show a young Chateau, around age eight, asleep in the back seat of a sedan on a country road after the male driver was shot dead. It's not yet clear who that driver was or why he was killed, but when investigators found the parked car and spotted the girl in the back seat, they gently questioned her. The girl introduced herself as "Chateau Noble," and that's the only thing she ever told the investigators, no matter what they asked.
Chateau was then adopted into the Dankworth family, and notably, official records show that no one named "Chateau Noble" ever existed. Despite that, the Dankworths kept using that name, evidently to help distance their foster daughter from her old life. However, it's entirely possible that "Chateau Noble" is a cover name someone made up for her, and her real name may come to light sooner or later.
How Chateau's Real Name May Catch Up To Her
For the time being, everyone accepts Chateau Noble's name for what it is, especially her foster mother. Then again, there's a lot left to discover about Chateau's character, such as where she came from and why her driver was shot dead, and the answers may involve her real name and familial origins. Love of Kill has not yet elaborated on Chateau's family, and it's possible that her driver was unrelated to her aside from being a loyal chauffeur. At this rate, Love of Kill is sure to uncover more truths about Chateau's character and how her backstory relates to the equally mysterious Ryang-Ha, and Ryang-Ha may end up learning Chateau's real name (assuming he doesn't already know it).
Chateau's real name may be a bombshell reveal, explaining where she came from, why she's so important and why her driver was killed on that mountain road. It's possible that, given the fancy name "Chateau Noble," Chateau is the daughter of a nobleman or aristocrat, or she may even be royalty, belonging to a royal family someone wanted gone. She might even be a runaway princess who could change the entire country with the power of her bloodline, and Ryang-Ha may have been a bodyguard or hired mercenary who was sworn to defend that powerful family until they were wiped out.
Any of these reasons would explain why Chateau's foster parents, the Dankworths, were so determined to keep the fake name "Chateau Noble" and protect their foster daughter from her previous life. They want her to grow up as a normal and happy young woman, disconnected from the violence and politics of her family.
So far, there is no hint that Chateau herself has any interest in her old life, and it's unclear how much of it she even remembers or cares to remember. So far, she is determined to be no more or less than Chateau the rookie bounty hunter, and Ryang-Ha, who may be a relic of her old life, is an unwelcome reminder of her difficult past. That may be why she keeps pushing him away, as he could be a threat to the relatively new life she now leads. However, in future episodes, Chateau may have her old life and old name thrust upon her anyway, and she must be prepared to face that. Her facade as "Chateau Noble" is likely living on borrowed time.
