Anime Review: Radiant Episode 1

Radiant Episode 1

Studio: Lerche

Genre: Action, Adventure

Stream: Crunchyroll

Radiant is a new anime based on a French manga by Tony Valente. Despite the French origin, however, the style is very much Japanese-inspired and is one of the few manga series created outside Japan to end up getting a publication there.

In the world of Radiant, there is a power called Fantasia that is used by both demons and sorcerers. Because of the similarities between demons and sorcerers (sorcerers are created by being touched by demons and surviving), regular humans fear and shuns sorcerers. The first episode of Radiant follows Seth, a young sorcerer seeking to be the best in his profession and with a goal to slay every demon (known in this world as Nemesis). He is mentored by fellow sorcerer Alma and is friends with young human boy Tommy.

So far, Radiant seems to be very much a shounen action/adventure series featuring a young protagonist with big, seemingly impossible dreams and an ensemble cast of characters. We haven’t been introduced to all the characters yet (so far we have seen his mentor as well as another sorcerer who appears at the very end of the episode) but you can also tell just from the opening cinematic that we’re going to get a lot of different types of characters in this show.

The animation work is really well done. The show looks and feels very bright, lively, and youthful, similar to shounen series like One Piece or Fairy Tail. There isn’t a whole lot of action in this episode but when it happens it’s clear and clean. The sound and voice work is also pretty good, and the episode has a solid OP and ED along with a great soundtrack. Lerche is a studio known for animating the Danganronpa series as well as 

There’s really not much to say about this episode because as it stands it’s a pretty standard shounen action/adventure story. Perhaps in later episodes it will set itself apart from the typical, but as it is it’s an enjoyable, comfy entry to the shounen genre and a series that I’m going to be following for its duration. If you’re looking for shounen fix, this a great one to pick up this season.