English Dub Review: Radiant “The Day of Departure -Alma-“

Alma getting outta here!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

With one last Titan Punch, Seth finally knocks the Nemesis down…only for it to get right back up. Luckily, Alma arrives to deliver the finishing blow and apprehend the Bravery Quartet. She explains everything to Seth when he wakes up, but he’s up for an ass whooping for breaking her rules. They’re lucky that town turned out to believe Sorcerers were good, but that’s not always going to be the case. Seth has a plan for that, though: destroy every Nemesis so then people won’t be attacked and Sorcerers will be in the clear. Alma figures he means going to Radiant (oh hey, that’s where the title comes from!), which is where the Nemesis nest, so Seth makes that his goal.

As he rests, Alma recalls how she met Seth, which is also the earliest memory she has. She has little to no recollection of anything before waking up in a bed and seeing him as a child next to her. The two were both cursed by a Nemesis and now could use Fantastia, so she took care of him as they traveled the land in search of clues about Alma’s past and, when that came up short, a place to call home. Eventually, she brushed up enough on her Sorcerer skills to make a living fighting Nemeses, and so left Seth by himself by a cottage in a snowy mountain town, but some local kids noticed his horns and began bullying him. When he fought back with his powers, the townspeople were ready to burn him alive before Alma returned and used their prejudice and ignorance against them.

Recommitted to protecting him, Alma got a flying castle for them to live in, facing fights from Nemesis and human alike, but always having each other along the way…until today. She catches Seth sneaking out the next day, knowing exactly where he’s headed and hands him her broom to make sure he can get around. She only asks one thing: that he never becomes a monster. He responds that he’ll be the greatest Sorcerer in the whole world and heads out. Though not without a tearful hug goodbye first.

Meanwhile, the Inquisition higher-ups make their plans against the Sorcerers.

OUR TAKE

And so ends the first act. The main contributions to the plot are mostly just giving Seth a goal to chase for the rest of the series and sending him on his way. These are important things to have, since every Shonen protag needs their own lofty endpoint to have their motivation revolve around, like how Ash, Luffy, and Naruto dream of becoming the best of their respective professions. Seth wants that too, though it seems secondary to wiping out the Nemesis in order to help Sorcerers everywhere by removing the monsters they’re inadvertently associated with. He’s definitely got a bit of Naruto influence in him, being discriminated against for having the demonic energy he’s had most of his entire life, but what seems to set him apart, for now, is that he wants to help both powerless civilians as well as other people like him that those normies persecute.

Though the bigger focus this episode is about Alma, someone who has far more experience with how this world works than Seth, and so can provide the audience with a better sampling of what Seth will likely be facing on his journey. I always like it when the mentor characters are fleshed out characters in their own right, which is something that tends to be forgotten sometimes. The amnesia bit, while a bit cliché, does add a bit of mystery to Alma that hopefully means she’ll be back before the series is done. She’s also dealt with the discrimination against Sorcerers head on, something Seth has yet to do without a Nemesis fight to fall back on. And that goodbye is sure to tug on the heartstrings even the slightest bit.

The last scene, while brief, also introduces us to the Quirky Mini Boss Squad, the very much expected Inquisition. Every Shonen anime needs one. Naruto had the Akatsuki, Bleach had the Squad Captains and later Espada, One Piece has at least half a dozen of its own, and so on. So far, we’ve met a handful with their own individual comedy gimmick. They aren’t nearly distinct enough for me to remember their names yet, but we have the muscley one, the tomboy with cleavage, the weird one, the seemingly nice one, the Big Bad, and the one with a covered face that probably means it’ll be a big reveal. Most of the designs are pretty neat so maybe their eventual fights with Seth will be fun to watch too.

Next time, we launch into the next arc and meet some more of the main cast.