It’s another one of those overbooked weekends, leaving me little time for full posts, but I’ll do my best to keep up. That’s one of the few benefits of a crap season, I suppose. This was kind of a transition episode for Radiant, which is always tricky with a series structured like this one, but I think it portends a welcome direction for the story – it’ll benefit from being settled in one place for a while. Presuming, of course, it uses that opportunity to explore the cast and the world-building a little deeper.
Nowadays we tend to think of two cour announcements as something of a miracle for anime – we live in a 12-episode long world. I’ll certainly take 21 episodes over a single cour, but shows like Radiant and Hinomaru Zumou remind you with every episode of just how inadequate two cours (especially short ones, as here) are going to be. I don’t even know how many eps Fairy Tail got since I dropped away years ago, but it’s what, hundreds? And this series is very much in that model – these sorts of shounen fantasy series just take serious time. It seems based on 6 episodes that Radiant is going to stop short rather than try and artificially be “complete”, which is the better of two troubling options, but it’s clear we’re only getting to be getting a taste of the story.
Will that taste involve romance? Well, I don’t know if Fairy Tail ever got past the innuendo stage and that series had years, so I’m not holding my breath. It’s hinted at here though, as Seth first comes to Melie for help in learning some offensive magic so he can impress Yaga enough to get trained and eventually ends up moving in with her. He’s far too dense (which is reasonable, at this age) to follow this line of thinking but there are signs that Melie isn’t. There’s also Doc and the Kettle Coffee girl, Melba (she’s a peach), though I don’t know about having a puppet as a father-in-law (and that roast beef tea…). Melba is played by Touyama Nao, by the way, continuing an impressive accumulation of seiyuu talent for Radiant.
The problem with Melie as a teacher, of course, is that she can only practice offensive magic when she’s in banshee mode. She suggests Doc, who unsurprisingly isn’t too keen but agrees when Melba seems taken with the idea. Doc scolds Seth that he can’t just plow ahead relying on martial spirit all the time, but in truth, that actually seems to be the formula for Seth – he is to magic what Ushio wants to be to sumo, straight-ahead Yokozuna style or bust. He’s got so much spirit his gloves (hands are definitely the key to Seth’s power) can’t hold it, in fact. I suspect Yaga knows full well Seth is special and is just being a hard-ass for his own amusement, but I’ll be surprised if we don’t hear something about a prophecy before too long where Seth is concerned…
animealex
November 12, 2018 at 12:24 amI just used my rainy Sunday afternoon to binge all six episodes. So far I have to say that the main character Seth isn’t somebody I’ve taken a shine to. He embodies nearly every cliché about a shonen protagonist and doesn’t bring anything fresh to the table. I’ll give the show another episode or three to win me over with him. So far the most unusual thing about him is his name, Seth. Third son of Adam and Eve or Egyptian God of evil? Or did the author just like the sound of the name?
More interesting thing for me is the world building. Sorcerers get their magic (and a curse) from surviving an attack by a Nemesis. That means magic would vanish, if the Nemesis cease to exist? Interesting. A cat-like sorcerer sets up a sanctuary for sorcerers who are persecuted everywhere else? Also interesting. The church (represented by the Inquisition) are the bad guys? Not so interesting. One of the Inquisitors (Dragunov) seems to be a kind of anti-villain with a chance to turn to the heroes side? Interesting again. The really interesting point was for me, that in their introduction the upper echelon of the Inquisition was called “thaumaturges”. Add the fact that the apparent leader Torque (mada?) has a secret “advisor” who may be the real puppet master and I get a little suspicious of the holiness of the Inquisition.
If I would have to guess where this goes, the top of the Inquisition are also sorcerers, who use the organisation under their command to control the world and get rid of any competition. So for them a (possible) prophesied “special” sorcerer who would end the Nemesis-threat is a real concern. Even chances that in that case the Inquisition is also controlling the Nemesis somehow, which would explain why Radiant is a taboo word.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I just wanted to write my thoughts so far down.
Kurik
November 12, 2018 at 1:41 amWell I am with you if you have read the posts here for the other episode. I know I might be sounding very much like a recording at the moment but Seth is beyond annoying and so is doc. I think some other poster mentioned its like they permantly set to 10 in the over reaction to everything. At this point Alma and Melie are the only characters I like seeing. After this episode its clear that Alma didn’t teach Seth ANYTHING at all. He doesn’t know even the most basics of spells or how to draw on his powers. It would be good to get an explanation of this from her perspective. Seth is capable but she seems to have grown him in complete and utter ignorance of the world and his powers. Makes absolutely no sense at this point and hurts my head trying to wrap around my mind around it. Isn’t there a school as well in this city??! How do sorcerers learn?
animealex
November 12, 2018 at 2:02 amThat is another good point: Why didn’t Alma teach Seth anything? I guess education at the Artemis academy costs you, like anything else there. Except perhaps breathing.
And yes, Seth is annoying as hell, so far. Like I said above, the Inquisition side, even if I’m total wrong in my assumptions and the cat sorcerer are way more interesting than our heroes to me. And yes, that includes Melie. She’s either total “Oh, what a nice day…” or “I’ll kill you!” depending on her mood (and her curse). That’s also not something which clicks with me.
Marty
November 12, 2018 at 5:17 pmYou know, shows like Radiant, Ushio to Tora, and Karakuri Circus are a bittersweet reminder that times are changing. Not only do we live in a world where a series, any series, whether good or bad, is lucky to have more than a single cour (much less a single season).
Within this time restriction, the production of good shounen is few and far between. Even we’ll-adapted series, like the first season of Shokugeki no Souma’s 1st season, feel a little rushed and lose some of the charm they held in their manga form in the process. On the worse end of the spectrum, shows like Ushio to Tora and Katakuri Circus must be crunched down to a number of episodes too low for them to be faithfully adapted, and must therefore compromise a great deal of what makes the story great. Now, mind you, Ushio to Tora was a GREAT anime, but what hurts is that it could’ve been EVEN BETTER.
The days of long-running shounen are numbered. This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, The My Hero Academia model deployed by Bones is perfect, but the issue is that unless a series knocks it out of the park from the get go (i.e. MHA or Haikyuu) then no studio is likely to commit to such a long-term endeavor.
I like me some shounen. I like the exotic worlds, the adventures, likeable side characters and main characters that are at least their own character, rather than an insert for the audience. I know Radiant has its flaws, I know it doesn’t bring anything TOO new to the table. But I also know it doesn’t have to, because well-written series don’t HAVE to reinvent the wheel, but they do have to entertain. And by God, does Radiant entertain.
Guardian Enzo
November 12, 2018 at 6:49 pmThanks – I agree, but I’m not 100% convinced BnHA will be the last of its kind. If a manga is big enough, there’ll always be someone willing to pay to adapt it in whole.