Thursday, September 6, 2018

REVIEW: Radiant Vol. 1


I've always notice a strong connection between Japan and France when it comes to anime and manga. So much so that before "American anime" was a thing, I was already a big fan of "French anime" like Code Lyoko and Obon Star Races. That's why I was excited to see this. Radiant is a French manga written and drawn by Tony Valente and also the first one to get a publication in Japan. Check out my full review of the first volume after the jump.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Dr. Stone Vol. 1 courtesy of Viz Media.
Opinions are my own.

Evil creatures called Nemeses fall from the skies and the only ones who can fight them are Wizards—infected ones who survived a Nemesis's corruption. Seth, one of these survivors, vows not only to fight the Nemeses, but to find their mythical nest, Radiant, and destroy it!

Radiant is classic shonen to the point where it almost feels like it’s heading towards a Hunter X Hunter style parody of the genre. Seth is your typical brash and determined idiot with some mysterious and secret powers who lives in a meticulously detailed fantasy world surrounded by a colorful cast of characters each with their own different abilities.

The first chapter runs a whopping one-hundred pages and introduces us to our main characters and seems to set up a monster-of-the-week format. However, the Nemesis that Seth fights in this first chapter is the only one in the entire volume.

Subsequent chapters deal with more worldbuilding as we learn more about Wizards than we do Nemeses. With so much manga about martial arts and the supernatural, it’s so nice when we get a traditional fantasy story. That being said, the last chapter seems to set up a magic school setting and which makes me wonder how many Nemesis fights are expected to occur.

I’m really interested in continuing this series for the simple fact that I genuinely have no idea where it’s going. One minute it resembles Bleach and then they jump on honest to god flying broomsticks and we head off to a Blue Exorcist school. It’s classic fantasy shonen with cool characters and lots of worldbuilding and lore.

Click here to order your copy of Radiant Vol. 1 today.