Written and Media by Paul Anderson.
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If you’re looking for an obscure, but engaging Anime series to watch, look no further! Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning was one of the first non-Toonami series I ever watched, and is largely what led me to dive into Anime. The series is a very witty detective fiction, which I’ve seen engage someone who strongly disliked anime. If you like anime, even if you don’t, I highly recommend this series. It’s clever, action packed, and incredibly engaging. It’d give a lot of the crime dramas on tv a run for their money.
The series is 25 episodes long, which doesn’t take very long to sit through. Most enthusiasts could binge watch it in at least 2 days. The problem with the series is that it ends prematurely. The manga series that it’s adapted from is 15 volumes long, the series covers 5 or 6 of those volumes, so there is no real ending. Now despite this, I’d still recommend it. If you find that you can’t live without the closure, pick up the manga to see how it’s suppose to end. You’ll probably have to, because the series ends before they even begin to answer the questions they present.
The series focuses around Ayumu Narumi, a young genius, as he tries to solve the puzzle of the blade children. Ayumu’s older brother, a famous detective and pianist, goes missing after making one last call to his brother. The only clue in the call to his brother’s whereabouts is the phrase blade children. Two years later Ayumu becomes involved in several murder investigations in connection to the blade children. Ayumu meets and is tested by a few of the blade children, known as the cursed children.
We only just begin to find out what makes the blade children unique, such as their eyes, or a missing rib, upon the series ending. The main question asked at the end of the first episode is who are the blade children? Unfortunately the answer isn’t found in the series at all. That doesn’t stop the series from being incredibly enchanting. It has the mark of all great series, which the only complaint I could find is that it ended. As I said, if you get to the end, and want more, pick up the manga.
The plot is top notch. It’s a quality dub from Funimation, and the characters are appealing. I highly recommend that manga, though if you aren’t really sure, I’d strongly suggest you give the Anime a try. Regardless of what medium you’d prefer to experience it in, I definitely suggest you do. I’d be hard pressed to find you another series on par with Spiral. Given the anime’s length and abrupt end, I award the series a 9/10.
