MANGA REVIEW | "RADIANT" - Volume Nineteen
It can be tough covering manga series, especially those who release their volumes slowly. Recently, Tony Valente’s RADIANT has progressed at a snail’s pace, to the point where the last volume I reviewed came out exactly a year ago. As such, it can be tough to recall a lot of what happened in the previous volume, especially for someone like me who covers so much manga in a small amount of time. Nevertheless, I have to give it my all to cover RADIANT and its nineteenth volume, which has a couple of twists thrown into the narrative.
For starters, Seth finds out he doesn’t have just one brother; he’s got three! The new boys, Triton and Unceghil, help Seth as they take on the other bro Piodon. It’s a fight of epic proportions, as Piodon unleashes a plethora of Stakes of Annihilation, each one more powerful than the last. Triton and Unceghil want to kill Piodon, whereas Seth believes there’s another way to save him. But for now, the best one can do is avoid dying themselves, a task that’s far more easier said than done.
By the end of the battle, Seth, Triton, and Unceghil are safe in the dominion of Kamaloka. Triton believes that being in that dominion is the only way to be safe, and urges Seth to stay there and forget the real world. However, if anyone knows Seth, he’s not the type to just cower in his own little bubble. He’s got friends and family that he cares about, and without them, there wouldn’t be a place he could call home.
Speaking of his friends, Doc takes some time getting to know the Droplet Kids. Although they have plenty of love and care to give one another, it’s not enough when they find themselves trapped in the same area for almost their entire lives. It gets worse when the Inquisitors arrive and start collecting names of the Infected. And if you remember what they like to do with those kinds of people, you know that’s not a good thing at all.
Even with all of this craziness, there is a chance for some downtime. Seth and Ocoho have a hearty chat, leading to an almost moment that I’m certain readers have been waiting to see. Of course, someone has to be snooping around and causing the magic to be delayed, but thankfully, it’s the right person to be interrupting: Alma. It leads to a nice catch-up, as even I can’t remember the last time these two had some sort of chat!
However, the downtime doesn’t last long. Dragonuv and the Phantoms arrive on the scene, and they (hesitantly) kidnap Marshall Alto. Torque plans a massive attack on Bôme, which has its share of big fascist-y problems of their own. But then, he winds up walking straight into the plan of the Domintors. As a result, well, a lot of shit is about to hit the fan!
There’s a whole lot of ground covered in the latest RADIANT. However, with all of the complicated back story that readers need to remember, it makes it a bit hard to latch onto every emotional and pivotal moment on display. Sure, it helps that Valente is now adding recaps in the beginning, but might I suggest some tiny bios for all of the key players, as well? Even just a small bit of info would help with reminding me why I should care about these characters.
Be that as it may, Volume Nineteen is a darn good fun read, with RADIANT charging into this current arc’s climax. Well, I’d say “charging into”, but even the original French version of Volume Twenty hasn’t been published as of this review! So the question is, how much longer of a wait will it be to see how this wraps up?! Jeez, and I thought waiting for the next Hayate the Combat Butler volume to come out was torturous!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
