Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Ayumu Narumi has lived all his life in the shadow of his famous detective brother, Kiyotaka. However, Kiyotaka disappeared two years ago, leaving behind his wife Madoka and Ayumu himself, along with a cryptic message about the "Blade Children."

One day, a girl at Ayumu's school suddenly dies. What seemed like a suicide at first glance turns out to be a murder, and Ayumu is the prime suspect. While investigating the person responsible for framing him, he discovers that the mysterious Blade Children are involved—and they somehow know Kiyotaka personally. Ayumu soon finds out just how dangerous the Blade Children are and learns that, in reality, he and Kiyotaka are intertwined more closely than he had ever believed.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Narumi, Ayumu Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Rutherford, Eyes Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Yuizaki, Hiyono Main

Asano, Masumi Japanese

Takeuchi, Rio Main

Horie, Yui Japanese

Asazuki, Kousuke Main

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Hilbert, Kanone Supporting

Nojima, Kenji Japanese

Takamachi, Ryouko Supporting

Kato, Hitomi Japanese

Narumi, Madoka Supporting

Mitsuishi, Kotono Japanese

Shiranagatani, Sayoko Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Narumi, Kiyotaka Supporting

Inoue, Kazuhiko Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Watson, Barry Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Katsumata, Hideo Producer

Reviews

Jul 16, 2007

Ria-

Recommended

Spiral is one of those animes that gets a lot of mixed reviews. In my opinion, however, it is one of the greatest animes ever created for many reasons. It\'s not completely perfect, of course -- I don\'t believe anything is perfect -- but it comes pretty darn close.

---Story---

\"I\'m going to pursue the mystery of the Blade Children.\" This single line, spoken by Kiyotaka Narumi, is the premise for the entire show. Above all else, Spiral is a mystery anime, and it centers around what, exactly, the Blade Children are. It\'s a fascinating idea, that, most unfortunately, is never fully ... fleshed out in the anime (I won\'t give spoilers, but the ending is definitely... not the best). Despite its shortcomings, the plot is gripping, fascinating, and, on a level, horrifying (and no, I don\'t mean that it\'s just that bad, although some may disagree. :P). I would suggest reading the manga -- which comes out in October 2007 -- to fill in all the holes the anime leaves.

---Animation---

I was completely overwhelmed by the characters and story so, honestly, the art didn\'t really catch my attention the first time I watched Spiral. The character designs are all very pleasing, but there\'s nothing really spectacular.

---Sound---

The music of Spiral, without a doubt, always fits with the current scene. While I thought the opening song was absolutely horrendous, the ending theme is one of my personal favorites. The music definitely catches the mood, going from bouncy to dark and dangerous in a heartbeat.

---Character---

Aaaah, here\'s where Spiral really shines through. In all the anime I have watched, I haven\'t come across a single one that matches Spiral in terms of characters. Every single one of them is interesting, multi-faceted, and has both strong points and weaknesses. Spiral simutaneously holds my ultimate favorite character (Kousuke Asazuki) and my most despised character (Kanone Hilbert). At some point or another, every character in this show goes through some developement and revelation. Ayumu Narumi, the protagonist, is pleasantly different from most main characters you see in anime.

I must also give a nod to the females of Spiral. There are no weak damsels in need of a rescue here! They are resourceful, brave, and just as good as any of the guys. For those of you who are tired of wishy-washy, constantly-screaming females, Spiral is your answer.

---Enjoyment---

Obviously, I enjoyed Spiral very much. While there may be things about it I didn\'t particularly like, the sheer pleasure I recieve in watching it far outstrips those little quibbles.

So, my friends, I highly encourage you to at least give Spiral a try. If you haven\'t seen it, you really don\'t know what you\'re missing.

Pros: Amazing characters, theme-fitting music, engaging storyline

Cons: Less-than-satisfactory ending, somewhat corny dialogue

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 28, 2012

kyoudai

Mixed Feelings

Spiral is one of those series that I really, really want to love. It had the makings of a hit. But somehow, it ended with more unfulfilled potential than it started with, and I felt cheated for watching the entire 25 episodes.

After a bit of exposition when we meet Narumi Otouto (as the Blade Children refer to him) and the other characters, the story poses a question to Narumi, his detective sister-in-law, and the viewers: What are the Blade Children? Almost halfway into the story, we finally learn what Blade Children are, and if you're not watching carefully you'll miss it. Probably better that you ... should, though, because while the series would be actually good if the secret of the Blade Children was heinous and horrendous, it's actually laughable and anticlimactic. The Blade Children seem to constantly pity themselves as "cursed children who should not be allowed to live in this world". As vague as that notion is, it's also a better answer for what the Blade Children are.

At least half of the series is dedicated to the Blade Children trying to destroy what they believe is their one and only hope for redemption -- a storyline that is, at best, the Blade Children acting out their feelings of confusion, anxiety, and hopelessness. From my point of view, however, it was ridiculous and the writers made no attempt to use logic and reason in writing the story.

Voice actors are some of my favorites, and Suzumura Kenichi did a smashing job as Narumi. Ishida Akira's treatment of Eyes Rutherford was flat and monotonic, but appropriately so for the character. Hiyono's recurrent "weird song", as sung by Asano Masumi, is nicely done as well.

The best part of this series is the artwork. Although Spiral was made in 2002, making it 10 years old at the time of this writing, the style of art is almost the same as anime series currently airing. Other series from that period would have typically looked much different, I believe, with gigantic female eyes much larger than today's eyes. Narumi especially is attractive, with a style not found in contemporary anime. As a sign of the times, many of the male characters are wearing tons of ear jewelry and hair is even more elaborate.

Overall, Spiral could have been something great, but it didn't even try to be. As a result, the whole series suffered terribly. That one decision could have made my review better by 2 stars.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jun 8, 2012

Zalora

Not Recommended

This was probably one of the worst anime adaptations of a manga, ever. It started off well, kept me going for a while, but I made a huge mistake and didn't look into this anime before watching it all. The ending was very weak. This was one of those animes that was created for a season and if it responded well it would have gone on for a second season- only it didn't do well and it ends rather poorly. The entire story revolves around the mystery of "Who are the Blade Children?" and the disappearance of the main character's older brother. Buuuuuut, if you ... actually want to know any of that you have to stop watching this anime and go read the manga. The anime was a huge tease and it ends before they actually start investigating into the main plot.
My recommendation if you HAVE to watch this is just watch it in Japanese and save yourself from the shrill voice of the main female protagonist in the English dubbing. I mean, it's hilarious because it's exactly what they were going for (annoying, hyper, and pain in the ass), but it's rather painful after a while.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Episode 25 Discussion mikzflava - Aug 5, 2010	36 replies	by Dekom »» Nov 2, 2:58 PM
	Poll: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Episode 24 Discussion maruf92bisj - Jun 18, 2014	5 replies	by Dekom »» Nov 2, 1:37 PM
	Poll: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Episode 23 Discussion maruf92bisj - Jun 18, 2014	4 replies	by Dekom »» Oct 21, 2:54 PM
	Poll: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Episode 22 Discussion maruf92bisj - Jun 18, 2014	4 replies	by Dekom »» Oct 16, 2:22 PM
	Poll: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Episode 21 Discussion maruf92bisj - Jan 2, 2014	4 replies	by Dekom »» Oct 12, 2:20 PM