Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a copy for review!!
About the Mangaka
Spiral – bonds of Reasoning is a joint project of both Shirodaira Kyo and Mizuno Eita. Shirodaira-sensei also worked with Mizuno-sensei on the prequel story, Spiral Alive, which is still sadly unlicensed. Mizuno-sensei hasn’t worked on any other projects, where as Shirodaira-sensei has another piece of work, called Record of a Fallen Vampire. This has been licensed by Viz.
About the Manga
What can I say about Spiral that I haven’t already? As far as series goes is this by far one of the best I’ve ever read. This volume is a perfect example of how a manga should be. Perfect blending of story, action, development and art.
I really can’t stop singing the praises of Spiral, and I really wish that Yen Press would make a bigger fuss over it as they have with Kuro and Maximum Ride. I genuinely believe this series has the potential to be Yen’s Bleach or Naruto.
The cover art for this volume was a bit weird at first, and unlike previous ones I thought was a bit off. However as I read the volume and learnt things the cover really does seem to fit well.
We get a good balance of action and story this volume, with a few startling revelations coming to light. And the mysterious watchers make a more formal appearance.
I was a bit concerned over the scenario, the way it’s playing out and the length of time it’s taking. However my worries were blown away this volume. The character developments are just staggering, and really hit home, hard.
Usually Shonen series are a bit light on the emotion side of things, focusing more on girls and action. Spiral tries to break that mould and bring the mental state of the characters into play. In this respect it’s more along the lines of a lot of Seinen and Josei.
(Clarification: I’m not saying that shonen titles are emotionless, just that usually the emotional aspect of the characters doesn’t get much page time. Only a few of the long running titles use that aspect.)
I found myself again with a tonne of questions over what’s going on, since even now, after eight volumes, the real story is still shrouded in mystery. It’s like an onion, we peel away layers of story and get some answers, only to find yet more questions
I think the best, and certainly funniest revelation was Madoka, Ayumu’s step sister. She makes a totally awesome entrance and steals a line from the classic anime Gunbuster. I always thought she was just a side filler character, but I’m not so sure anymore.
Yen Press do their usual awesome job, with Christine Schilling returns and does another stellar job with this series. She’s without a doubt one of the best, if not the best translator out there. All honorific’s are left intact with I find awesome, since they add a new level to the character interactions.
The editing wasn’t to bad either, and while there was some guttering, it didn’t effect the text to badly. Though there were several panels where the art disappears into the spine. Though in all fairness it’s not a huge issue, as it doesn’t hinder the panel in any way.
Needless to say this series remains firmly on my Essential Read List!! In fact go buy it now!!
I’m planning to do an in-depth look at volumes 1-8 of the Spiral shortly. This will look at the characters, how they developed over the volumes, and the story as well. It will have a lot of spoilers in it though as I dissect the volumes.
Where to Buy
