Creative Staff:
Writer/Artist: Kyo Shirodaira / Eita Mizuno
Translated by: Christine Schilling
What They Say
When one of Ayumu’s teachers promises to give him a few clues about the Blade Children, the deceptively cute Rio, one of the Blade Children herself, ruthlessly murders the man in broad daylight. Faced with another brutal murder to solve and one step closer to finding out what the Blade Children really are, Ayumu and Hiyono find themselves the direct targets of Rio’s malice.
When her murderous plot backfires and Rio finds herself in the hospital, she challenges the visiting Ayumu to a life-and-death gamble, only to find herself face to face with Hiyono, who calls Rio’s bet and raises her one!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
For someone who’s supposed to be the only hope for salvation for the Blade Children (although the how and why of that is still opaque), Ayumu Narumi has remarkably little faith in his own abilities, despite the way he’s managed to answer all of the Blade Children’s challenges to date. Truthfully, he has no faith at all in himself, unless you count his unshakable belief that he’ll never be able to live up to his brother’s example. Nonetheless, Ayumu continues searching for information on the Blade Children to figure out why all of this keeps happening to him – and what happened to his brother.
When an unexpected potential source of information is killed suddenly before he can share what he knows, Ayumu goes on the offensive. Using a list of traits he deduced from the crime scene and Hiyono’s peerless information gathering skills, he’s close to identifying one of the Blade Children, and he’s willing to risk even Hiyono for the chance to get a Blade Child in his grasp. His new opponent, however, is canny enough to see the trap – and reckless enough to counter it in a way that even Ayumu might not be able to anticipate.
In a battle between faith and logic, where the only route to victory hinges on an unshakable belief in your own abilities, Ayumu may have finally met his match, and faces the worst kind of defeat. But sometimes faith can come from an unexpected source, dramatically changing the dynamics of the confrontation and raising the stakes even higher.
In Summary:
Spiral continues the pattern that’s already been established, with murder, drama, and high-stakes games of wit played out against a background that’s only slowly starting to become clearer. With each new piece of information gained about the larger mysteries, the questions continue to pile higher. What are the Blade Children, and what does the missing rib have to do with anything? Why are they so determined to outwit and kill Ayumu, who they call their only hope of salvation? I’m hooked, and hooked hard. Recommended.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: April 22nd, 2008
MSRP: $10.99
