Mystery anime is a genre I haven’t watched much of. Not that I’m averse to it, just I haven’t found any which make sense or seem believable. Spiral, the anime, is a mystery anime based off the manga by Kyou Shirodaira. The manga was first inked in 2000 with fifteen volumes being produced. The Spiral anime was released in 2002 and had a total of twenty five episodes.
plot summary
Narumi Kiyotaka is a brilliant detective and pianist, excelling at everything he does. Narumi Ayumu, Kiyotaka’s younger brother, lives eternally in the shadow his elder brother casts. Ayumu both admires and despises his older brother for his achievements, but is shocked when one day Kiyotaka disappears without a trace. Before his disappearance, the elder Narumi calls his younger sibling and says only that he will unravel the mystery of the Blade Children, then nothing.
Two years later, Narumi happens upon the scene of a crime at his school. Upon further investigation, Ayumu learns the girl who was the target of the crime is one of the mysterious Blade Children his brother was so interested in.
More crimes occur and Ayumu finds himself in the middle of a vast conspiracy. He unwillingly gains a helper cum sidekick with his investigations in the form of intrepid school reporter, Yuizaki Hiyono.
The arrival of the world famous pianist, Eyes Rutherford, to the city adds more trouble to Ayumu’s already troubled investigations. Eyes puts Ayumu’s wits to the test, time and time again, as the famous pianist and Blade Child gages whether or not “Little Narumi” can help the plight of the cursed Blade Children.
Can the younger Narumi brother uncover the truth behind the Blade Children and his brother’s disappearance? Can Ayumu put the pieces of the puzzle together before it’s too late?
review
I want my nine hours back. I feel as though a thief stole nine precious hours of David’s and my time, and that thief is Spiral. The ending for this time pilfering series was the coup de grace which left an empty pit in my stomach and made me bitter I watched the whole damn thing. This anime had no payoff and zero development in the story department.
The first episode for the series was a great hook, as every initial episode of anything should be. The promise of mysteries to be solved and of a possible sci-fi/ fantasy element was too good a lure to turn down. Night after night we invested our time in the anime, which had the same formulaic pace and plot in each episode. Instead of substantially building upon previous episodes, or offering progressively more info, the series seemed to do exactly as the title suggests; spiral around and around the central theme of the Blade Children. It spiraled further away from the plot and pacing with each new turn. Scant info was included in the series, though mysteries supposedly abounded.
The mysteries this anime professes it holds are mere illusions. The Blade Children are presented to be these poor, cursed individuals with a missing rib. Ayumu’s brother is their messiah, their savior. But if Kiyotaka is their messiah, they believe Ayumu is the second coming. These violent youngsters are supposedly doomed from birth, yet no reason is given for their existence nor their fate, so why do they need to be saved? Because they’re being hunted? Why are they being hunted? Should I even care?
Just because the Blade Children are presented as an unknown quantity, doesn’t make them a mystery; it makes them an annoyance. It’s bad policy to keep promising audiences answers but only feeding them rubbish and more questions. The second sin this series committed was to keep the audience in the dark about Kiyotaka’s involvement with the Blade Children. All we’re offered is he went in search of them and found them, end of. Any questions Ayumu would ask the antagonists about either his brother or the Blade Children was met with silence or violence.
The whole “plot” of the story was dumb. The Blade Children want Ayumu to help them, yet repeatedly test him in violent and deadly ways. Yeah, that’ll make someone want to help. Here, try and stick this knife in this guy, he’ll save your life in return.
Granted, the battles of wits were entertaining but they went nowhere, accomplished nothing and were ultimately pointless. I thought the story was about the Blade Children, not mental death matches.
Character Development
The characters of Ayumu and Hiyono were the only people I cared anything about. I actually really liked both of them. Ayumu is portrayed as a bored, but brilliant amateur detective, who’s filled with self doubt due to constant comparison to his brother. His laid back, but cool demeanor hides the gentle and thoughtful nature lurking under his self-possessed facade. He’s a very likable character with a lot of depth and a lot of angst.
Hiyono is the complete opposite. She’s full of bubbly energy and confidence, not only in herself, but in Ayumu. I first thought she’d be a tacked on moe sidekick, but she turned out to be a great addition to the anime.
I wish the series was just about these two as young detectives, solving local crimes and whatnot. Instead, what viewers get is this cavalcade of shallow empty characters doing pointless things involving two likable and developed characters. The contrast couldn’t be more apparent between the Blade Children and Ayumu and Hiyono.
Character Design
Stereotypical is what I’d call the character designs. The spiky hair and huge eyes featured in Spiral is one of the more common hallmarks of the medium.
Most of the designs represent everyday Japan. The kids wear Japanese school uniforms and Eyes sports dress casual when he performs and leather the rest of the time. Nothing stands out as interesting and inventive.
Animation
J.C. Staff animated Spiral, and despite the mediocrity of the anime, the animation was decent. There were a few detailed shots, not many, and a few shots looked a bit sketchy, but not god awful.
Music
Skip the OP. Just do it, it’s horrible. The screeching, “Searching for new world”, Engrish in the beginning of “Kibouhou” by Strawberry Jam, is like an icepick to the ears. We made it a game to see who could fast forward the OP the fastest. The ED, “Kokuteru” by Hysteric Blue, was better than the OP, yet is neither remarkable nor memorable.
Music throughout the episodes built up suspense and drama, but was as pointless as the numerous “contests” in the series.
Voice Acting
The English voice cast is not so good. Ayumu’s voice actor lacks the emotion his Japanese counterpart conveys. Kanone Hilbert’s character had a horrible Southern accent. It was truly, truly bad. I liked the Japanese voice cast much more.
Production
The designs on the packaging and DVDs look good, but the way the DVDs are stored in the set leaves much to be desired. The DVDs will fall out, in a rain of discs, if they’re aren’t put back just so. They’re not securely set in the pages, they’re slipped in, as I learned the hard way.
I had a tough time deciphering the DVD menu screen. Instead of clearly labeled “Play Episodes“, or “Setup“, the menu has “Base” and “Progression“. This series is committed to annoying the hell out of its viewers.
Conclusion
While I enjoyed Ayumu and Hiyono, Spiral was a failure at being either mysterious or good. The suspense it tried to drum up for the purported huge mystery of the Blade Children was nothing more than smoke and mirrors meant to detract from the plot. That was the real mystery; how an anime got through twenty five episodes with only pointless questions and nonsense to fuel it….
Rating
Spiral gets 1.5 outta 4 Hammies!
Retail Info
- Publisher: Funimation
- Release Date:December 11, 2007
- Retail Price: $49.98
- Number of discs:6
- Episodes:25
- Run Time: 625 minutes
- Rating:Unrated
- Language: English, Japanese
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
just as reference to the complaint about the ending, the manga continues from where the anime leaves off. For some reason (I can’t remember what) they had to cut the series short.
Please tell me you didn’t buy them but that this was a rental…. x.x Sounds pretty bad. It wasn’t on my list of things but now it’s not on my list at all. I also like the solving local crimes mysteries stuff, not conspiracy theories (unless it’s comedy).
Conankudo4, I don’t understand. If the anime hasn’t success, why should the manga continue the story?
The manga actually explains that they are all clones and the Blade Children are basically defective. Ayumu is a clone of Kiyotaka who was created as an insurance policy by his parents. Ayumu wasn’t loved or really accepted by his “owners” and was cast aside when his brother crushed his hands so he could never again play the piano. The clones in the story are doomed to a shorter life span and an onslaught of complications as their body breaks down. They are hunted to spare themselves this fate and because they are no longer needed. That is the reason Ayumu is the Blade Children’s answer. He does what he can. Ayumu understands that he isn’t his brother and gives the Blade Children a reason to believe that they are more than the shadows of their genetic donors’. Even at the end of the Manga Ayumu has gathered his peers so that they may fight to change their destiny. He still keeps up hope as his body breaks down.
Not to bad. Of course the series doesn’t tell anyone any of this.
Wow! Your description was hella more informative and entertaining than the anime! The manga sounds really interesting. Just might check it out….
I have to address this with you–not Rachel, but the person above her comment.
Um, actually, he doesn’t gather anyone to fight fate or destiny. He just tells them (more like Eyes) that the only person who can changes their fate is themselves. And, not all of them are clones. Only Ayumu and Hizumi are clones. No one else. Ayumu and Hizumi will die when they reach adulthood, whether they be 18 or 19, and the Blade Children have until they are thirty (maybe longer, but I’m not sure) because they are TEST TUBE BABIES. That’s all.
Hizumi wanted Ayumu to join him and kill Kiyotaka because the only person who can understand him is Ayumu (and Ayumu’s salvation laid with Hizumi–with Kiyotaka’s death), and the only person who can understand Ayumu is Hizumi. Because they are clones; the only ones in the world. But their bodies and their general make-up is so screwed up that they will shut down at adulthood. However, Hizumi dies to give Ayumu longer to live by making some sort of cure for that.
Rachel, I can agree with you on the anime. If it would have continued for the manga, that would have been hella epic and I’m sure things would have been explained further. The ending left a bad taste here as well.
And, the manga is interesting. I hope we didn’t, um, spoil anything on that aspect for you. *Kinda regrets complaining now* :/
@conankudo4, I’ve heard good things about the manga. I can never understand why bad things like this happen to good manga.
@Caitlin, Oh man, if I’d bought this I would be beyond uber P.O.ed But I didn’t buy it and I’m only P.O.ed about my wasted time.
@Marco Milone, the anime is based off of the manga and not the other way round. Many anime are based off their original manga. Often times the manga is still being written when the anime is made, so studios will make stuff up to put in the anime in order to finish it. The studios did that with the original Hellsing series and it turned out crap.
I felt that you were extremely biased in reviewing this anime and gave a completely subjective view. Spiral was not as bad as what you made it out to be, or might i say, not even close to how you made it out to be. The mysteries shown in this anime were intriguing, such as the locked room crime that was committed. I actually enjoyed it but was only disappointed that the ending was so abrupt. But it ended due to unforeseen circumstances and not because it was meant to end like that. Even then, reading the manga after the anime would show that it does indeed has depth and not as shallow as you made it out to be. As a reviewer, you should have the common sense to research briefly on why the anime ended so abruptly and not just flame it just because you think the ending was bad. What kind of reviewer are you? In my opinion, you are just but a lousy one who gives others wrong information just because you feel sour about the ending EVEN THOUGH you lazily did not bother to research on it FIRST. So i suggest to those who read this completely unreliable review with a pinch of salt and give Spiral a chance. I assure you that you will not regret it at all. Though its true that the aprt about the Blade Children seem not to have developed at all, if one is willing to read the manga where the anime ended off, i assure you that you will not regret it.
@spiral lover, yes the anime was bad, no it was horrible. Why should anyone need to research why an anime ends crappily, or is lacking depth? If it were a good anime it would be a world unto itself. I’m continually amazed at fans who will go out of their way by digging up obscure facts on it on wikipedia and anime forums in order to prove a crappy anime is the best thing in the world. Isn’t that the anime’s job?
You say: “In my opinion, you are just but a lousy one who gives others wrong information just because you feel sour about the ending EVEN THOUGH you lazily did not bother to research on it FIRST.”
A reviewers job is to review what’s in front of them. The burden of proof, so to say, is on the anime, not on me. The anime should prove its worth to ME not the other way around. And the whole anime started to suck halfway through. I gave explicit reasons why it sucked, if you bothered to read them. I broke the whole thing down; it’s right up there in plain English.
And I did give the positives of the series, which as I stated were Ayumu and Hiyono and their crime solving. Once again, it’s right there in the review.
You say: “Though its true that the aprt about the Blade Children seem not to have developed at all, if one is willing to read the manga where the anime ended off, i assure you that you will not regret it.”
Riiigghhht. Read as: “If you’re willing to work and research this anime and sink money into the manga, and squint your eyes really hard it could maybe possibly kinda be worth it” I never said the manga was bad, I said the anime was bad. The a-n-i-m-e.
I will admit research should not be a part of animes but reading the manga and finding other parts of the story is if you are a fan in general and most fans read mangas before watching the animes
@seriously research, I’m the opposite when it comes to reading the manga and then watching the anime, at least in many instances. I watched the Hellsing series before I read the manga, and when I read the manga, I felt the anime was bad in terms of a proper translation.
The Spiral manga series seems like it would be a good read, unfortunately the anime series was mishandled by the studios for whatever reason.
Hi, I know it’s a very long time since this was posted, but after reading that the op was ear-raping I had to listen to it.
Wish I didn’t, damn it. It’s a shame because sooome tiny parts of the song would sound good… if it was another song, and it was a guy -with a decent voice- singing it.
I give you an advice to spot bad anime from the get-go: if the opening animation looks like an ending (as it looks in Spiral’s), meaning 95% animation is still shots of characters then it’s bound to be bad. The bad singer helps too, but there are lots of great anime with horrible songs.
@yakuri, I did warn readers the OP was bad, but I’m still sorry you listened to it. Horrible, yes?
I admit that the anime did not meet the standards of how the manga truly is,
Unless you
many animes fail in that aspect and that’s what saddens many fans who want
others to give the series a chance. You did provide many reasons for your
review and that is respected, but I’m just going to go out on a limb here
and urge others that if you still want to try out the series yourself even
after reading the review, don’t go towards the anime! Yes it is easier
sometimes to just sit there and let the animation do the work, but using
that method strays you away from a lot of good story-filled series. In my
opinion, the anime again did suck majorly, but the manga is hella good ^_^
If you ever read parts of the Detective Conan manga ( Which I could only get
1/4 way through before realizing that series has so much stuff to it @_@ )
and liked it, Spiral falls on relatively the same prospect of mysteries you
see at different angles you never would of thought of. Again, the review is
the reviewer’s opinion, and at least this one gives valid reasons why.
However, trying things out for yourself never hurts either!
have no time to do so like I now mostly do, so skip to other smaller genres
xD
@Akina, From all I’ve read, the Spiral manga is super good. I agree people should check something out if they’re curious, despite what a critic or reviewer says, and the manga seems worth checking out.
I loved the anime\I hated the OP song though
I loved the chars and there was more plot then you gave it credit for
anyway I dont think the anime was suckish at all
Actually its one of my fave animes
I respect your opion though
everyone has his ore hers own tastes no?
the only thing I can say to peopel who read this is Watch the Anime and then deside what you think of it
You like, you finnish it and possibly read the manga
you dont like it at all, stop watching and dont read the manga
you like but dont want to watch something unfinnished then dont watch but do read the manga for that is finnished
Ah. and I was looking forward to watching this anime cuz I loved the manga. I have heard of positive comments from people, like the anime being in their top ten fav but after reading that post, I felt like the anime was going to be crap. I’ll give it a shot but it seems I shouldnt expect too much.
@KJacket, While I thought this anime was a huge let down, I still encourage readers to give something a shot if they’re interested in it. Let me know how you like it (or not).
But Hizumi was so cute XD I love the basketball game against the club!
…………Oh yeah, that was the manga.
Anime was inconclusive and the bit with Kanone made no sense, he was out of character. Kanone wouldn’t kill anyone aside from the Blade Children. That aside, needs more Hizumi …
Despite loving Spiral to death, I have to agree that the anime was definitely not-so-good. Rushed ending, dozens of holes in the plot… your review was spot on. However, the Spiral anime still does have its good points, and I’m glad you saw some of it too (re: Ayumu and Hiyono’s characters).
I have to agree when I also wished that the whole series would be just about Ayumu and Hiyono, solving crimes and etc. Maybe it would’ve been more fun that way. However, I’d like you to reconsider your final thoughts about Spiral being crappy as a whole, for it is a very good series and deserves quite a fanbase, if I do say so myself.
It is actually one of the best series I’ve encountered. Especially if looked at a deeper perspective.
The anime, however, won’t give you much satisfactcion of that; even more so now that you’ve decided to review it this way.
So might I say: have you tried reading the manga?
I’v bought the whole spiral set on dvd, do not ask me why because i don’t have an answer. i havn’t read the manga either. the whole thing kinda reminded me of Case Closed with a little more class, until about the half way point where they pulled out an ak47 and aimed it at the plot, filling it with millions of holes & 0 answers. not to mention the horrible labeling system they used, which is the only reason im here in the first place. i’m trying to watch it again… but i can’t for the life of me figure out which is the first dvd. god forbid putting a number on any of them, might start to cramp its style. what prompted me post was the reviews on the opening theme, i personally liked it quite a bit actually, now you can call me retard mcspacky pants if you’d like but there’s something about it. i’m a death metal guitarist and have a very wide array music. the song was upbeat,spunky,different and had a good bass line. now was it right for the series? hell no, this is a calm and cool anime, a blasty spunky theme song didn’t really compliment the anime like say… nightmare for death notes first season.
in closing: the series is O.K. for maybe the first half, after they started channeling hideo kojima and went bat shit bonkers.
try the song again maybe without the visuals, might find its quite good, but again i have weird taste like “Spaceman” by babylon zoo
@Prawn Toast, I thought she was cute too!
The whole series didn’t make sense, and I felt it wouldn’t have been to hard make it sensible.
@Aya, the reason I think Spiral is crappy as a whole is the way it took its potential and flushed it down the toilet. I can forgive, to an extent, a bad anime that stays true to its sub par nature, but I have little patience for an anime which holds much promise and fails to deliver. I really wanted Spiral to live up to its promise. It was like shelling out thousands on a prize horse only to have it go lame halfway through its first race.
@Honor Thy Father, I won’t call you “retard mcspacky pants”, but I will file that term away for future use in conversations I wish to bail on. But if you like the OP, wunderbar. It’s been so long, that I can’t quite remember what it sounds like so I can’t say it’s good on its own or not.
The thought put into making the puzzle and script deserves some appreciation. It’s one of those things that glue the audience to the screen. Unfortunately the ending was rather shocking. Even up until episode 24 I was expecting the whole thing about “Blade Children” would be unwrapped and clarified in episode 25. Surprisingly they hyped this whole thing about blade children and older Narumi yet provided absolutely nothing at the very end, that alone ruins the anime. It was pretty decent despite some logical decision making flaws in the mental thought process of certain situations, up until the ending. Just threw the audience off the clift with no explanation. By the way I still dont know what Blade Childrens are and the whole purpose of the plot.
@Spiralz, yes the puzzles were interesting, but some of them left me going, just shoot the guy! Or, just walk away! But then that wouldn’t be interesting.
And yeah, wasn’t the ending just a tangled mess of loose ends? The hole frick’n point of the anime, its reason for being, the Blade Children, are never resolved or even explained. We invest nine hours in this anime and get back bupkus. Weak.
Ya’ll are nuts I loved watching this show on my tv until they took it off. I loved it. Now Im trying to finish the series by watching it online. Ive already read what happens but I love watching it. Its really awsome. I dont understand why it didnt do well, cause I thought it was awsome.
@Jonathon, I say to each their own, but dissenters aren’t bonkers for disliking an anime. I’m glad you like the anime, but for me, and quite a few others, it was a waste of time.
NO WAY! u mean to tell me that the anime was actually finished and completed at 25 episodes?!!! thats the ending?!! isnt it just the first season, and just got stopped being released as an anime. It had soo many answered questions, there’s no way they’ll leave it like that. OMG, enjoying the manga soo much but only with, like, 5 left! BUT NOOO, they havent translated it yet…==
the manga and anime pictures are different, the anime, he looks older, but no bad YUMMY
but really enjoyed the anime! ^^
fuck you screw you moron the anime was awesome, you just suck
I liked Spiral, even though it did have several holes in the plot. We know that the Blade Children are cursed, but in what way? The show never really explains that. And what happened to Kyotaka? Hiyono and Ayumu were my least favorite characters. Hiyono is a pest, and should be ashamed of herself for hanging out with a freshman when she’s a junior in high school. Ayumu is nothing but a emo. No personality, or sense of humor, what a bore. Kousuke was the best character in the series.
Rachel, Gosh! you are supposed to REVIEW this anime, you don’t have to be a CRITIC here. Seriously, leave the bad jobs to others. Do what you’re supposed to be doing, review it. I was hoping that some place will give me proper understanding of the anime but so far you have been completely BIAS and uninformative. And thanks to you, people who actually appreciated the anime will feel bad. If you really hate the anime so much, you can just tell others that its more worth it to read the manga. Yes, so what if you have stated your points about why you hated the anime? Everyone has different views about stuff, and you are apparently acting like a three year old by harping non stop on things that you hate. Look, if you hate it so much then get it off your head, or you should have just stopped watching somewhere in the middle. If you left it at the first post, i wouldnt have mind, but you just had to go on and on about how bad it is… So there you have it, another person who hates your review.
I did review the anime- what do you think a review is? Perhaps you’re confusing episode summary with review. Here’s a definition for the verb “review”:
v., -viewed, -view·ing, -views.
v.tr.
1. To look over, study, or examine again.
2. To consider retrospectively; look back on.
3. To examine with an eye to criticism or correction: reviewed the research findings.
4. To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example).
5. Law. To reexamine (an action or determination) judicially, especially in a higher court, in order to correct possible errors.
6. To subject to a formal inspection, especially a military inspection.
I’m not here to help you understand the anime. I’m here to tell you its good points and its bad points. In this case, mostly its bad points. I did, however, give fair representation of the series’ better aspects, so I was fair and unbiased. And not liking an anime is not the same as being biased. How was I biased? Against what particulars was I inclined/ disinclined towards/ against? Just because I thought it was bad doesn’t mean I’m biased.
My opinion was given with evidence to support it. And why would I tell people to read the manga if I never read it? I don’t ever tell people what to do, I’ll recommend, but not tell. I give my opinion, I post my critical review. How is that “…acting like a three year old by harping non stop on things that you hate.”
If something sucks, it sucks. This isn’t Rainbow Sunshine Happy Anime Hour. This is The Anime Blog, where we review anime and aren’t afraid to state how and why an anime is bad or good. We don’t stop watching anime because it’s bad (unless it’s godawful bad). We take that bullet and we post our experiences.
There you have it.
Aya says:
September 20, 2008 at 3:10 am
Despite loving Spiral to death, I have to agree that the anime was definitely not-so-good. Rushed ending, dozens of holes in the plot… your review was spot on. However, the Spiral anime still does have its good points, and I’m glad you saw some of it too (re: Ayumu and Hiyono’s characters).
I have to agree when I also wished that the whole series would be just about Ayumu and Hiyono, solving crimes and etc. Maybe it would’ve been more fun that way. However, I’d like you to reconsider your final thoughts about Spiral being crappy as a whole, for it is a very good series and deserves quite a fanbase, if I do say so myself.
It is actually one of the best series I’ve encountered. Especially if looked at a deeper perspective.
The anime, however, won’t give you much satisfactcion of that; even more so now that you’ve decided to review it this way.
So might I say: have you tried reading the manga?
Truthfully I agree.Spiral’s anime ending sadden me an pissed me off. If only they would stick with the manga storyline the anime would so rock. I know I enjoyed the manga. Most animes never follow directly with the manga,which kills it… As for the opening song,it didn’t match the anime,but it was cute(Not the right music). Whoever fucked up the story is a jerk..it’s such a waste really..
Hi I do agree that the anime has MANY holes, but does the manga fill any of them? and if so where does the anime leave off in the manga also is the manga still going on? I bet these are pretty obvious questions but I’m slow, I’d love it if someone got back to me on this one
thanks~