Ranked #1436

Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Spiral was an interesting show. The story grabs you right away, spins you around and confuses you (in a positive way of course) It really makes you want to keep watching to find out what happens next. Unfortunately the story doesn't keep up with it's great start. It starts to slow down and less questions get answered. This is my biggest disappointment with the show, if the story had kept up with the beginning it would have been an absolutely incredible show.

The art work is mediocre and at times poorly done. The colors seem kind of dull. The purple irises always stand out from everything else in the show.

I felt the sounds and music worked well with the show. I enjoyed listening to the opening theme as well as the ending theme. There is a lot of piano played throughout the entire series as well which adds a feeling of uniqueness to the show.

The characters in the show I thought were the best aspect. Narumi was fascinating to watch throughout as he solved and figured out puzzles and traps. Hiyono and some of the blade children were well developed especially Rio, Kousuke, and Eyes. We learn a lot about their personality and care about them almost as much as Narumi.

I for one love puzzles and that made many parts of Spiral very fun to watch. Narumi solves a few detective cases early on, giving a feeling similar to CSI. It then changes to figuring out traps and outsmarting the opponent which reminded me of Death Note. If you enjoy problem solving or puzzles, You will definitely enjoy watching Narumi in action.

Overall I liked the show and wish I could have rated it higher especially for how much I enjoyed it early on. The series as a whole had one particular point it was trying to make and it's easy to understand in the end but I felt let down overall. The ending didn't really answer any questions or even leave possibilities open, it seemed too focused on making the point that it detracted from the reason I watched the show. Also the progression of the story and the answering of questions went so slow that I started watching only for the puzzles and stopped caring about the outcome.

But I do recommend Spiral for anyone who enjoys puzzles or mystery/problem solving type shows. Otherwise it's still a good watch, just don't expect it to be the greatest thing ever. read more

When I finished the first episode, I couldn't help myself to continue on. This anime probably has one of the best beginnings I've ever seen. The plot rapidly unfolds about the relationship between Narumi and the Blade Children, as well as Hiyomi ( the main female protagonist).The audience was entertained with how Narumi used logical deductions to solve crimes, which even the police are having a hard time with, and life-threatening situations designed by the Blade Children to 'test' him. Some romance were evident in the early part of the series, which blends in nicely with Narumi's somewhat inability to socialise.

Having said that, the series has a couple of major drawbacks. Towards the end, the story somewhat deteriorated into filller-like episodes. Moreover, many mysteries were not explained to the audience ( who are the Blade Children, what is Narumi's relationship with them, etc), leaving the audience ( me at least) somewhat unsatisfied with the ending.

Overall a decent series, but the endings could be much better. read more