English Dub Review: Radiant “The Spectre Battle -Spectre-”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Knight Sorcerers begin to engage the two Spectral Nemeses, but are halted by Ocoho and Melie who recognize one of them as Seth, who is fighting for his life beneath the castle against a very real Nemesis. He manages to escape, much to the chagrin of Diabal (the man who mistook him for Piodon), though his own spectral associates pay it no mind since Seth has been poisoned. They soon find him unconscious, assuming he’s close to death. They might not be far off, as Seth sees his life (or at least the life that has been covered in the series) flash before his eyes. He then spots a floating black eye that traps him, revealing itself to be the being that made him lose control against the Thaumaturges. He puts up a good fight against the spectral people and Diabal, but has to be saved by Myr.

Outside, the supposed Nemeses disappear, confusing everyone, but concerning Melie most as she ceases to sense Seth’s energy. Grimm is on the prowl too but encounters Dragunov and Lisolette, forcing an intense battle between Fantasia and Miracles which causes Grimm to flee and teleport far away from the area with no quick way of assisting Seth for now. He meets with a creepy assistant, who stores some lost blood for him.

OUR TAKE
This episode really pushes forward many of the plots and mysteries that the previous installments set up, with new information to chew on for just about everyone involved. What looks to be the most important of these at the moment is that we learn more about the core of Seth’s special abilities, which is apparently this small black eye creature that looks like…a Yugioh card? Something from Full Metal Alchemist? It looks so familiar to me but I just can’t quite place where from. But regardless, it seems like the talk with Myr will help clarify at least a few things about it. Though something tells me that things are probably going to get worse on this front before they get better.

Though as important as that and the stuff regarding Diabal seems to be, the real show-stealers this week would probably be Grimm and Dragunov. Grimm has been a pretty mysterious figure since he showed up, but now we get a glimpse at his home, which looks to be filled with even more questions that will hopefully be addressed later. He’s been taken out of the equation, for the time being, meaning Seth’s lost a lifeline, but I do wonder if Seth will even notice he’s gone before he gets back.

Dragunov also gets a special mention this week, and not just because he’s suddenly changed voices to Ian Sinclair. The reason for that apparently having to do with his regular actor, Ivan Jesso, taking some time off be in a play. Personally I think his voice fits the character better than Sinclair’s, so I’m hoping for a speedy return, but AS FOR THE CHARACTER, his moral quandary in killing Grimm shows the interesting dilemma he faces. Knowing he’d be killing someone who saved lives in Rumble Town doesn’t sit right with him, leading to the request to surrender. Dragunov has clear morals that he follows despite being on the bad guy team, which is what makes him such a fascinating character. Also, his miracle is totally a rip off of the Fourth Hokage’s teleporting kunai, but we won’t hold that against him. And with only a third down in this season so far, I imagine things are only starting to heat up. We’re still going up the hill of this roller coaster and the drop is coming up