That was good – but fool me twice…

Radiant was probably the most frustrating and puzzling anime of 2018 for me.  I was pretty damn excited to see a proper manfra finally get an anime adaptation, fully believing it had the potential to open doors for many others.  It has Kishi Seiji directing, and he can be superb when he gives a flip about the material.  And it got off to a really strong start, drawing me in right away and making me think it had the chance to be something really special.

Well – it wasn’t.  Lerche’s baffling adaptation choices at least made a bit of sense when the second season was announced as the first ended (clearly it had been a fait accompli from the beginning, and they wanted to end at a specific point in the story).  Even to the end result of those choices was a wildly inconsistent first season that saw a huge gap between the best and worst episodes, one that tended to strongly mirror the divide between manga and anime-original material.  I’m not reflexively hostile towards original material in adaptations – far from it.  Used adroitly it can improve the end product substantially.

This was not used adroitly.

But, whatever – that’s all water under the bridge now.  My attitude coming into this second season is that the burden of proof is on Radiant to prove it’s worth my time – especially in a crowded season like this one.  But the vibe is that this season is going to track with Tony Valente’s manfra much more closely, and based on the first episode all signs are promising.  The story is basically split into two threads – as Seth (accompanied by Alma – for now) heads for the continent of the Wizard-Knights, Cyfandir, Dragunov is summoned to the snowy Acadia mountains for what he assumes is going to be his execution.

Without question Dragunov emerged as the breakout character of the first season – his quest to maintain a moral compass in the cesspool that is the Inquisition was the season’s most compelling storyline.  Thus the more the story focuses on him, the better it seems likely to be – and he’s fully a co-lead in this premiere.  Rather than executed he’s actually promoted to thaumaturge, and he still carries the regrets of his perceived failures in Rumble Town to keep his head on straight.

Seth’s storyline has potential too, especially as the mystery with his supposed older brother is explored.  He carries the burden of being the shounen lead, but he’s a pretty good one as they go – and he’s got his share of interesting supporting characters around him.  I assume the likes of Doc and Melie will re-emerge at some point this season but for now, Seth’s story lies elsewhere – not for long with Alma it seems, but familiar faces will be turning up with regularity to be certain.  It would probably be overstating the case to say I’m optimistic, but at the very least this premiere makes me hopeful – hopeful that the Radiant I thought I was getting back at the beginning (Tony Valente’s Radiant) is the one this season delivers.