Seth is a boy who seeks to become a great magician, and a group of witches who seek to travel to the Radiant. Radiant is a mythical land that spawns monsters called “Néméses” which fall to the world from the sky. While traveling, they are also hunted by The Inquisition – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation
Episodes: 21
Source: French Comic
Episode Summary: The demonic “Nemesis” have mysterious origins; they might be Heaven’s punishment or they could be monsters ejected from Hell. Those who encounter these beasts, should they survive, are forever changed by the experience. Most become “cursed” by magical power, which they in turn use to defend the rest of Humanity against the Nemesis. Seth is one of these cursed sorcerers, or at least he aims to be one; currently he’s just an apprentice to Alma, an experienced magician and Nemesis-hunter. His enthusiasm for magic is not matched by his actual skill, and this tends to cause friction between Seth and the rest of the local town.
One day, Seth and his friend Tommy witness something horrific streaking across the sky – Seth recognizes it as a Nemesis egg and he sends Tommy to evacuate the townspeople. Seth decides to take on the challenge of defeating the Nemesis on his own since Alma is off fighting elsewhere. The task soon proves overwhelming as the monster rebukes every one of Seth’s tricks and weapons. Just as he’s about to be crushed, the monster is blasted away by a group of 4 wandering sorcerers who’ve arrived just in the nick of time.
Impressions: Radiant has all the markings of a typical shounen adventure series, right down to the character design and attitude of its overly-enthusiastic (but under-powered) protagonist. What’s different about it is that its source material is of the international sort, and while it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how it makes this intro episode different, I can say that it definitely gives the episode an slightly unorthodox look and feel that seems fresh in a lot of ways.
I learned many years ago that France is a fairly large international market for Japanese animation and manga, which makes a lot of sense considering that the country itself has a rich culture of animation and comics production. While, as I mentioned, there are some aspects of this episode that are very typical – the hero’s lack of inhibitions and his aspirations of greatness, the straightforward and nearly limitless special powers open to the characters, the variety of threatening beasts and the promise of greater danger looming in the background – there are bits and pieces that definitely feel drawn from Western mythology and aesthetic sources, though I’d be hard-pressed to describe how and why in any sort of detail. While comparing the two series would be difficult, the one other anime that immediately came to mind was Tweeny Witches, a steampunk, Jim-Henson-esque story about a girl from our world who becomes a witch in a parallel one. They’re very different in tone but are similar in their ability to portray a kind of Western visual fantasy that’s uncommon in Japanese animation. In any case, I think even without knowing that this series was drawn from a manga-inspired French comic, one might eventually be able to extrapolate it.
Ignoring the “baggage” of its origins, this first episode is competent and even entertaining. I’ll never be a big fan of characters whose single-mindedness causes them to put themselves and others in danger, so I found Seth to be a little bit irritating. But I loved Alma – while I think “lady who fights good” is a poor standard when measuring how interesting or successful female characters are, Alma is older, a mentor, and disabled (she’s lost one of her arms). She’s not a “nurturing” type, but has a “tough love” way of carrying herself that seems to fit with the way in which her life probably unfolded. She’s far from the zero-personality blow-up-doll-with-a-sword type that occasionally shows up in the type of lower-quality shows aimed at male audiences, and I can definitely appreciate that.
I like how the designs of the Nemesis monsters (at least those we’ve seen so far) have kind of a roundness and whimsy to them that belie the extent of how threatening they are. These creatures, which emerge from giant, striped eggs, remind me a bit of Pokemon, just scaled up to a kaiju-level of physicality and destructiveness. The juxtaposition of their relative cuteness with the threat they pose to the humans, especially those without access to magical powers, makes them feel significantly more terrifying than they may have if they were simply covered with horns and teeth and various other typical markers of beastly antagonism.
The show does attempt to establish that the sorcerers, considered to be cursed, face certain types of prejudice from the villagers. While they shun the sorcerers in day-to-day life, the populace also relies on them to fight off the Nemesis – a contradictory relationship that echoes how many groups tend to be shut-out until they’re found to be “useful” by those in power. I think the message here is a little bit ham-fisted, but because the series in general seems aimed at a younger group I think introducing this prejudice as a reality of this world (and, by extension, our own) is decently-successful.
This opening episode is very straightforward, contains a decent amount of action and excitement, and even promises a fairly enjoyable adventure for Seth (and likely a group of companions as well). Listed for 21 episodes, it may even be able to tell a modest, complete story without going too far off-track, avoiding a filler trap so many similar anime series tend to fall into (we all joke about shounen anime that never ends… but the stereotype is definitely inspired by real examples!). It feels very much as though it’s aimed at a younger crowd, and that might actually comprise the show’s greatest hurdle to success. I think series aimed at children can be just as enjoyable as those which contain more violence, sexuality, or various other “adult” themes and situations. That being so, this series feels a bit too unsophisticated to appeal to teenagers (the group I imagine to be watching the most anime on places like Crunchyroll), and I don’t know how the series might be reaching a younger crowd who’s watching on television or at least might require an English dub to watch (I’m sure a 10-year-old could keep up with subtitles, but I don’t know how many actually push themselves to do that). I kind of feel that this show occupies a kind of limbo where it’s difficult to target the individuals who might like it best. It’s unfortunate, because I feel like younger people might really like it – but they have to be able to find it, first.
As for myself, I don’t really think this is my kind of thing. I can appreciate its tone and attitude, as well as its visual uniqueness. It’s actually pretty well put-together, for what it’s worth. It’s just not the type of anime I prefer to watch when I have a limited amount of time to devote to the hobby in the first place.
Pros: Visually-unique in a way that references some Western properties. Alma is an interesting character. Attempts to recognize certain kinds of prejudice.
Cons: Aims toward a youth market that may be difficult to reach.
Grade: B-