Spiral Alive

tl;dr: A prequel series that has a messy start that somewhat seeps into the rest, as well as a shadow hanging over from where the plot in it’s sequel will eventually go, but otherwise has a pretty solid mystery. Spiral Alive is a prequel to Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning. However, Spiral Alive spoils quite a lot of The Bonds of Reasoning, going so far as to casually reveal what is supposed to be one of the major twists in the finale of The Bonds of Reasoning. Furthermore, while it does provide some explanation in regards to things like what The Blood Children are, it kindof glosses over things to the extent it feels like you’re already supposed to be familiar with the terms and concepts. As such, Spiral Alive should only be read after The Bonds of Reasoning. As for the series itself, it’s organized a bit strangely. The first volume focuses on a trio of completely new characters and sets up a serial murder mystery. The second volume, which if I understand correctly came after a hiatus, starts with a time skip to after the serial murder mystery has already been solved and the culprit taken into custody. However, it also shifts perspective to the cast from The Bonds of Reasoning, mainly Kousuke, Ryoko, Rio, and Kiyotaka. The serial murders turn out to be intricately connected to the Blade Children and something critically important to all those involved with the Blade Children turns out to be in play, the Mikanagi File. Ultimately, the entire manga is centered around a single mystery. And that mystery I felt was pretty well written with things slowly revealed, although It is a bit predictable. That mystery is also centered around a specific character’s motivations and how they have an emotional impact on those around them. How this played out was somewhat bizarre. Of the characters introduced in the first volume, only one of them turns out to matter, the name of whom I’m not mentioning to avoid spoilers. The other two retain a presence for the rest of the manga, but it kind of felt like they didn’t matter. It does feel like the writing is trying to show that they play a part in the character arc of the one that does matter. However, the impact they have basically just feels like a lesser version of the impact that Kousuke and Ryoko have. Thus, in the grand scheme of things the first volume and the other two characters focused on in it feel extraneous. Still, how the plot used Kousuke and Ryoko was handled well and I felt served a solid addition to their story in The Bonds of Reasoning. It was also really amusing seeing things from Kiyotaka’s perspective as he played omniscient puppet master, as well as seeing Rio doing all sorts of crazy things in order to enact the schemes he comes up with. And the finale felt like a solid conclusion to the current story and bridge into The Bonds of Reasoning in and of itself. However, considering where the Bonds of Reasoning ends up going, I don’t really think it was possible for any story that serves as a direct prequel to be all that satisfying and thus, I can’t say I was totally satisfied with the ending. The art in terms of style and quality is pretty much the same as The Bonds of Reasoning. So not particularly great, and somewhat boring.