Radiant Episode 12 Review: The Shadow Lurking in the City – Darkness

Belated Merry Christmas, readers! I hope you had a fun celebration and ate delicious food during the holiday! For Radiant this week unfortunately, Seth, Melie, and Doc were not having such a good time. From hiding in the dumpster to chasing a bunch of Nemesis around, it was bitter work for the three of them. They were almost about to catch a break, but…not yet, I guess?

Japanese Original Episode Title: 街に巣食う闇 Darkness

Plot

Word of the sorcerers who destroyed a house immediately spread throughout the town, so the Inquisition moved to hunt them down! Getting caught was not an option for our trio though, so they stealthily continued their mission, heading for their client’s house. When they got there, the client was initially reluctant to give any information due to the current social climate in Rumble Town, with all the hate turned towards sorcerers and immigrants. But thanks to Seth’s determined speech, the client’s son, Taj, agreed to show them where he found the Nemesis that cursed him. The sorcerers’ hunt begins!

Episode Highlights

Captains’ reunion: The exchange between Dragunov and Konrad was so amusing! Even if he was already a captain and way buffer than his former superior, ‘Kon-kon‘ was still being led by the nose by Dragunov! Thanks to that, Konrad lost his original plan to head out himself and find the sorcerers! Well, judging by what Dragunov said, it seems like Konrad often got annoyed at him like this before, which meant Dragunov was always poking fun at him. No wonder he knew which buttons to press to get his former subordinate to do what he wanted!

The state of Rumble Town: Rumble Town is slowly looking like it came straight out of a dystopian society novel. An oppressed minority just because they’re immigrants? Check. Authorities that don’t believe your complaints because they’re trying to cover something up? Check again. Extreme changes to the terrain, like the appearance of the tree with feathers and the possible tipping of the island? Check and check. If Seth and his friends’ presence in the town somehow become the reason for a good major change in the town, then we’re gonna have a bingo.

Catching pests: It was so fun to see the trio having a heyday from catching three echo Nemesis, plus the ones that fell into their trap thanks to Grimm. But then he just had to kill all of their haul! All of Doc’s and Melie’s hopes and dreams, shattered just like the echoes. I felt super bad for them! They tried their best, at least. Seth did manage to notice a mark on the tail of the Nemesis, although we have yet to find out if it’s important. Melie also got to strut her stuff, with her awesome binding and marking spells! Sadly, if only she proceeded to putting their catch in the scrolls faster, they would’ve at least had three, huh? Then again, that might’ve still warranted a bunch of misunderstanding from Grimm again.

Grimm’s sidetracking: Okay, that part when Grimm threw two people into a coffin was so odd. Just when did he take them? And what was it for, exactly? It seemed like a very Grimm thing to do, though. But, such a pity for the two people he took.

‘That woman’?: Grimm said in the previous episode that he’s been looking for someone for years who’s related to the Nemesis, and now he mentioned ‘that woman’. Could the one he’s been referring to be the woman we saw at the end holding the flute? Most likely, because she’s with the rest of those rat Nemesis, and there were a pair of big eyes behind her, just like the Source Nemesis Taj mentioned to our trio! It also seems like she’s the one shown briefly last time, when the two Nemesis Seth and Melie were chasing suddenly bolted off after hearing the sound of a flute. Could she have been controlling them?

Themes & Trivia

Kinds of Nemesis: I thought those rat Nemesis that Seth and Melie have been chasing were all able to curse everyone that came into contact with them. That would’ve been a disaster! But now we know why the issue hasn’t caused that yet, because they’re just Echo Nemesis. They’re kinda like smaller clone minions of the Source Nemesis, which is the original one, and the real danger to the humans!

A Tree with feathers: I was surprised when we found out that the tree where sorcerers’ tools are made from are closely linked with the Nemesis, but then I realized that’s supposed to be a no-brainer! After all, it is because of the Nemesis that sorcerers are able to use Fantasia and defeat them in the first place. It’s just a wonder now what causes that tree with feathers to grow. Is it a seed? Or something from the Nemesis themselves?

Comments

What a good balance between humor and action this episode had! The short bit about Seth giving the bread to Mr. Zeda’s children, it was incredibly cute, too, and showed how kind Seth is. Then when Seth, Doc, and Melie were being led by Taj to where he saw the Source Nemesis until when they went to the building, it was exciting! The added tension after that was a great touch as well, when they showed the fact that the island could collapse at any moment, but the townsfolk didn‘t know about it!

Gravem Carserem!

I’m clearly feeling that this arc is leading up to something big! With what the preview showed us, it’s looking quite likely. What awaits our trio next?

What did you think of the story this time? Go ahead and let us know in the comments! Why not read up on the last of our Fall 2018 reviews if you haven’t yet as well, and see the list of anime we’ll be reviewing in Winter 2019? Speaking of which, since we’re only a few days away from 2019 (wow!), I’m already praying in advance that you guys will have a happy and blessed New Year!