Customer Reviews

Spiral, Vol. 1: The Bonds of Reasoning (v. 1)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the anime, and I really wanted to read the manga.

I guess from the point of view of a new reader, it might be a little sloe and confusing, but remember that there are a lot of volumes, and the story builds on itself. I am excited that number 3 is available for preorder! (I have ordered but haven't recieved no. 2 yet)

basically it is

- mystery genre
- set around a character whose brother has disappeared and is a link to the mysterious blade children.

I don't mind spoilers myself, but I don't want to ruin the story for anyone who hasn't read it.

Most series -- be they book, TV, comics or movies -- are subject to a bit of shakiness when they first start.

And the first volume of "Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning" is no exception. Kyo Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno present us with some genuinely intriguing murder mysteries, but these standalone stories are dotted with clues to remind us of the oblique, rather frustrating storyline.

Two years ago, Ayumu Narumi got a phone call from his older, genius brother Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka announced he was investigating the "Blade Children," and then vanished.

In the current day, a girl falls or is pushed from a balcony, and dies. Ayumu has the bad luck to be near where she fell from, and soon the girl's friend is telling everyone that he murdered her. Even though the police inspector is his sister-in-law Madoka, he's still the prime suspect. But Ayumu has the same astounding analytical skills as his older brother

With the help of a flaky school reporter, he soon ferrets out the real murderer.... only to find that she is somehow connected to the Blade Children. And then she is murdered, and to find more answers, Ayumu must find out who killed her, in the hopes of finding someone who knows where Kiyotaka is.

And there are even more mysteries, when a blackmailing translator is found dead, in a mansion's locked library. Before she died, she drew a squared spiral in her own blood, indicating that it was murder. But how did the killer murder her without entering the room -- and what connection does she have to the Blade Children?

Since this is just the warm-up, there are some awkward moments in the first volume of "Spiral." Most importantly, it feels like the murders were concocted to be difficult and clever, and then strung onto the whole storyline of the Blade Children to connect them. It's not much, as of yet.

What little we know of the Blade Children is pretty dark -- there's talk of a "curse," and murder being a part of who they are. But there's a gentle undercurrent of humour, despite the dark overtones. One of the funniest scenes: Madoka going nuts because Ayumu failed to prepare a gourmet meal, due to a lot of police interrogation.

And Shirodaira and Mizuno do a solid job with detective stories -- their methods of murder are pretty solid, as are the clever solutions that Ayumu comes up with. It takes a bit of thought to figure out the solutions; be forewarned, one of them leaves you on a cliffhanger until Volume Two.

Ayumu verges on annoying occasionally, acted disaffected and disowning his gifts. But it's not hard to see why he would be frustrated by a brother who was a genius at everything. Madoka is entertainingly tightly-wound, but thus far Hiyono the Bizarre Perky Reporter is kind of annoying.

The first volume of "Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning" suffers from a disjointed beginning, but fortunately things get better later on. A shaky beginning to a good series.

Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning is definitely the first manga-esque book that I have read. The captivating description of it being about mystery and reasoning hooked me in and after reading left me on a plateau of great feelings.

The book consists of about five chapters which consists of a story of a disappearance and three murders. Each of these events are all strung together with the idea of the mystery of the "Blade Children." The main character, Ayumu, is driven by the thought of solving the disappearance of his brother Kiyotaka who left a cryptic message about the Blade Children at the very beginning of the story. Kiyotaka's wife, Madoka, is also seeking to solve the mystery, and in this story, serves as the leading investigator on solving the main crimes that the book presents. The story also gives each of the two main characters their own sidekicks, Ayumu gets the president of the school newspaper Hiyono (who serves to add several hilarious dialogue sequences to the story) and Madoka gets the Officer Suemaru Wataya (who also adds hilarious dialogue sequences to the story). Utilizing this cast of four main characters worked wonders in the story and helped to build even more suspense to the story.

The main feature that is really enjoyable about the storytelling is how when the case is finally close to being solved, a detailed "reasoning" sequence is presented in which the characters will immediately present how each of the facts line up to solving the mystery. It is equally enjoyable that when they present it in front of the accused, that the accused has a shocked and surprised expression or action.

Eita Mizuno must be commended for delivering the artwork in such a fantastic form. The characters look and react to the words in a lifelike manner, details have been presented clearly, and the translation team led by Christine Schilling did a great job of translating small details. The artist has also took the time to include sound effects above most of the panels.

Pros
-Book is read in the traditional manga format
-Inclusion of Sound Effects above panels adds extra life to the sequences
-Characters and scenes are drawn with such quality that it looks like it could be near high quality images of an anime
-Mystery and Awe always hold attention
-"Blade Children" works to keep attention hooked
-One of those bust out your pen and notepad and try to solve the mystery type stories
-Great explanations and diagrams of things like a "ward lock", help to make it clear
-Cogent and Modern-English sounding translation

Cons
-Two of the murders take place in the high school, quite unrealistic
-It takes a short while to figure out the direction to read in regards to the traditional format if one is new to the book genre
-Ends in a Cliff-Hanger


Extras
-The Spiral Notes-Volume 1 Released
-Afterward by the author Kyo Shirodaira
-Spiral 1: The Bonds of Reasoninig Omake!
-Notes

This is a great beginning to a mystery novel and one will not regret buying this manga-esque property. Ayumu is such a likeable character, Madoka, Wataya, and Hiyono all add great support to the plot. Fantastic artwork with a great translation complement the book well. Hurry up and go buy it!

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Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning 2 is now the second in the series and opens up by continuing the "episode" of the first book. The first one left readers in a huge cliffhanger in the middle of the "Room Behind the Ward Lock (Part III) (which is Chapter 6). Unfortunately that which everyone was looking forward to learning, ie, the identity of the entity known as the Blade Children, still remains unknown in this beginning section, however this does provide the thrilling conclusion to that murder in the library/study.

The book consists of five chapters which consists of a conclusion to the murder in the library (the first two parts to this story took place in the last two chapters of the first book), a "reasoning and puzzle-esque" chapter, then a murder, and finally another "reasoning and puzzle-esque"chapter. All of these are once again held together with the plot of finding out what happened to Ayumu's brother and Madoka's husband, Kiyotaka Narumi. Unlike the first book this one does not involve much in the way of murders at a high school or in a library. This one drives itself more on finding out the information on the Blade Children and giving tiny hints as to the possibility of Kiyotaka being involved in the business of the Blade Children. It is quite a thrilling feeling to keep turning the pages expecting to get an answer to these questions. Similarly this feeling of getting information is what is experienced by Madoka, Hiyono, and Ayumu.

The cast of characters that we all love make a triumphant return right from the start. Wataya is still ever present however he doesn't have as many lines as he said in the first book but the same silliness results whenever he and Ayumu are in the same panel. Madoka and Ayumu still thrive on gaining information on Kiyotaka. Hiyono is still the ever present information gatherer and Ayumu fan and still tries to get Ayumu to believe in himself. Also she says the infamous "Its a trade secret" line. A new main character is presented, Eyes Rutherford, who like Kiyotaka and Ayumu has a love for the piano. Eyes was presented interestingly and it is hard to pin him down to being an bad character or a good character. He shares one of the traits as Hiyono in that he seems to be putting tons of faith in Ayumu as well. He definitely seems like one character who will be staying in the series for awhile.

By relying more on plot and information elements this time around, this story proves that it does not just need murderous scenarios to keep readers hooked. For those that like the life threatening suspense, they are still there just this time on a larger scale. We must still commend Eita Mizuno for delivering such great artwork in the panels. The attention to the details is still high in this book. Also, it should be noticed that there is great attention paid to the details of the writing itself in regards to that which is shown in the panels. I found myself looking at the panels more than I looked at the writing for in just the last two chapters, the statement "a picture is worth a thousand words" is ever true. Ayumu does some pretty fast things in these panels that the writing doesn't always show but is revealed later.


Pros
-Book is read in the traditional manga format
-Inclusion of Sound Effects above panels adds extra life to the sequences
-Characters and scenes are drawn with such quality that it looks like it could be near high quality images of an anime
-Mystery and Awe always hold attention
-"Blade Children" works to keep attention hooked
-Mystery of Kiyotaka's disappearance keeps attention hooked
-Addition of Eyes Rutherford and Kousuke Asazuki strengthens the story and suspense
-One of those bust out your pen and notepad and try to solve the mystery type stories
-Great explanations and diagrams of things like a "Suzumebachi" and "Anaphylaxis" help to make it statements clear and provide extra elements to the suspense
-Cogent and Modern-English sounding translation

Cons
-Too Much of a Page Turner, we want more Spiral (though the book is 190 pages)
-Ends with the same question that has been presented all along...


Extras
-Spiral Work Diary: The Glossary Used by Our Staff by Eita Mizuno
-Afterward by the author Kyo Shirodaira
-Spiral 2: The Bonds of Reasoning Omake!
-Translator's Notes

This is a great sequel for the Spiral mystery novel and one will not regret buying this manga-esque property. Ayumu is such a likable character, Madoka, Wataya, Hiyono, Eyes, and Asazuki all add great support to the plot. Fantastic artwork with a great translation complement the book well. Hurry up and go buy it!

What begins as a fairly generic "detective" series ends as one of the most intelligent and emotionally engaging manga series I have had the pleasure of reading. To a degree, the first volume and a half or so are a necessary introduction to three of the series' foundational characters--Ayumu, Hiyono, and Madoka--but it is with the introduction of the "Blade Children" (beginning in volume two) that Spiral really hits its stride.

The series is an interesting mixture of brains and brawn: there is something seemingly paradoxical about a collection of beautiful, intelligent, and psychologically complex characters--kids, really--who have no compunction about stabbing, shooting, and blowing up each other. Ideas of fate and free will, and despair and hope, are discussed at length; but despite their mental and physical prowess, the characters remain remarkably human in their fragility and strength. Indeed, they grow all the more complex and complicated as the series goes on. It is clear that the author and illustrator have the greatest respect and attachment to these characters, and a commitment to keeping them "real" and distinct. Ayumu makes for one of the most psychologically complex and tormented main characters I have encountered, and the supporting cast is no less impressive. This series is notable also for its strong, independent female characters: Rio, but especially Hiyono, come to mind. Of all the series I have read, this is among the ones where I "missed" the characters the most when it was over.

There are some plot twists and mental chess games that require some suspension of disbelief along the way, but that makes up part of the fun. Go ahead and ride the "Spiral" down to its fantastic conclusion: it is one ride that you will not soon forget.

I'm a great fan of the Spiral: Bonds of Reasoning anime, so I only glanced at a fanscan of the manga several years ago out of curiosity. But I was surprised, and even taken aback by how different the manga was.

In the first place, the level of violence in the manga is about twice that of the anime, and the anime is plenty violent. There's (so far) at least two more deaths, and the illustrations of those deaths are bloodier. While this would not ordinarily be a recommendation with me, I found it raised the level of tension in this first volume of the manga to that reached much further into the anime (and I can't say more without spoiling both).

Second, the amount of problem-solving increases along with the violence. Since the pleasure of Spiral is in seeing the hero solve problems under pressure, this is all to the good.

Third, the adults in the story are (somehow) more clownish, more realistic, and more at risk. The hero's sister-in-law, in particular, comes across as a woman at risk. In the anime, this is symbolized by the amount of drinking she does--in the manga, it's much more clear that she is grieving and feels betrayed, wavering between hope and despair. This gives the feelings of the hero a much more solid foundation than they had in the anime.

I am taking off a star for the graphic nature of the violence, but all in all, I'm really enjoying this manga, and recommend it both to those familiar with the anime and to those who are completely new to Spiral.