Sunday December 9, 2007
Mystery children
Review by KUROGANE
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Story: Kyo Shinodaira
Art: Eita Mizuno
Publisher: Yen Press; 192 pages
(ISBN: 978-0759523418)
For all ages
GENIUS detective and natural prodigy Kiyotaka Narumi disappeared two years ago. His last words before vanishing: “I’m going to uncover the mystery of the ‘Blade Children’.”
Now, his younger brother Kiyotaka Ayumu, who is still haunted by his disappearance, is slowly getting drawn into the mysteries of the Blade Children as well.
Since Ayumi has his brother's detective skills, he decides to uncover the Blade Children’s secrets and find his brother, despite the disapproval of his caretaker and sister-in-law, Kiyotaka Madoka.
Along the way, he meets an unlikely helper in Hiyono Yuizaki, president of the school newspaper club who possesses superb information-gathering skills.
This is a detective manga; Spiral's quest to unfold the Blade Children's secrets leads Ayumi and Hiyono to encounter many cases.
Volume 1 mainly introduces the major characters and their relationships with each other.
Therefore, the cases in the manga aren’t given much focus. The most interesting character is definitely Hiyono who, unlike the females in most detective manga, plays a major role in helping Ayumi by sniffing out useful information. She seems to even have access to top-secret information, although her sources are never revealed.
On to the art. Eita Mizuno-sensei’s style leans very much towards the shojo style; there are flowery strokes and expressive eyes galore. The art is simplified at some points –the minor characters, such as the suspects involved in a case, are not as intricate-looking but that’s to be expected in a detective manga.
Spiral is propelled by the main plot, which makes the manga a nice and cohesive read. Fans of manga detectives Conan or Kindaichi will probably find this title a very appealing one.
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