Spiral

Spent the last few hours watching a favorite anime - Spiral. It's a sorta-mystery anime, though as things progress the type of mystery goes from a "whodunnit" sort to something closer to Death Note. The best part is watching the various characters go head to head, attempting to outsmart and kill each other.

But that's getting ahead. The series begins with the attempted murder of a student and out protaganist, Ayumu, is the lead suspect. Thus, the first few episodes are him trying to clear his name. A second murder connected to the first occurs. Ayumu is challenged by a group called the "Blade Children," and thus the larger mystery of the series unfolds - discovering who or what the Blade Children are.

The anime never really gives any answers, whcih is why I prefer the manga by and large. The anime was being made as the books were released, so the divergence is understandable. I do wish the story had managed to get somewhere though. But the anime never really gained any popularity, so it's unlikely anyone will ever return to it, or try to remake it with the manga in mind. Which is sad because it really does deserve more love.

It's a very intelligent show, more about characters and strategy, like watching a chess game. With explosives. It's difficult to describe it without giving too much away, but it's also difficult due to how different the manga and anime really are. If you like a show with some brain, I recommend either one. The action scenes/ challenges are fantastic - my personal favorite involves a bomb around our protaganists' neck while he attempts to secure the safety of a hostage and a tape containing incriminating evidence against his challenger. And that sounds really boring when I put it that way. Trust me, it's all kinds of amazing, especially in the last two minutes <3