region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72004. 1 DVD 125 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK).

check out website: www.revfilms.com and www.spiral.tv

!!From now on, reviews of each volume of this series may make reference to previous volumes, so if you haven't watched said previous volumes and don't want spoilers, DON'T read any further.!!

'I'm going to pursue the mystery of the Blade Children.'
With these words Kiyotaka Narumi vanished without trace. Two years later, Kiyotaka's disappearance still haunts his younger brother Ayumu...
From the first DVD back cover



The first episode on this DVD, 'Shimmering Fragrance', is a recap of what's gone before, a fairly standard anime convention in such series. Sometimes it's annoying and feels like a filler, but here it's useful given the complexity of the story. Most of the footage is simply repeated from previous episodes, although there are also some cute family scenes establishing Hiyono's admiration for Madoka, Ayumu's sister-in-law and the missing Kiyotaka's husband. With the girl expressing her wish to be a self-reliant working woman when she grows up instead of a traditional Japanese stay-at-home wife and mother. We're also reminded about the mysterious Kanone Hilbert, first seen in the previous episode, another of the Blade Children and Eyes' mentor when he was young.

The second episode, 'Like A Swan', introduces yet another of the Blade Children, Riyoko, a popular and talented athlete who wants nothing to do with the others, but is challenged to a game by Eyes. If she loses, she will do as he orders. The game involves dodging all of three thrown balls, an exercise Riyoko should be good at given her athletic skills, However, Eyes has already been seen to be a skilled manipulator, an expert at 'reading' other people, and wins this game with ease. We don't know yet why Eyes needs Riyoko, but the implication is that she is greatly needed. The episode ends with Eyes travelling to the US.

'Kill Or Be killed - that's every single day for us.' 'Moving Targets', the third episode, sees Ayumu and Hiyono dismayed when Kousuke is transferred to their school. However, Riyoko proves more than capable of keeping him in line. Hiyono visits Rio in hospital but a Hunter turns up and kidnap them both and Ayumu, Riyoko and Kousuke have to work together if they are to have any success in rescuing the two girls

In 'The Watcher In The Darkness', the final episode on this DVD, the three would-be saviours attempt to rescue their friends from a booby-trapped hotel and this is where the logic, even for anime, gets a little shaky. There are bombs, trip-wires and traps everywhere, with the two Hunters and a shadowy figure we assume is their boss - although he might be a lot more than that - watching from some sort of control room via the cameras placed all through the building. It's more of a deadly obstacle course than anything, as though the Hunters are also playing games. But we've already seen that the aim of the Hunters is to kill all the Blade Children, so why the game? Is it some sort of test? Why not just wait until Ayumu, Riyoko and Kousuke are in the building then just blow it up?

Of course, the series would be considerably shorter and leave all the questions unanswered if that happened. However, so far we've had two new characters, Riyoko and Kanone, introduced without explanation, we're no closer to finding out who and what the Blade Children are or why the Hunters are hunting them and we're now well over half-way through the series. Suspense is one thing, but we're not being given any clues, just more puzzles, which is frustrating.

On the plus side, my twelve year-old is thoroughly enjoying the series and cheerfully ignoring the logic leaps and since it's aimed at his age group and he is generally fairly discriminating in his watching habits, I have to say that 'Spiral' appears to be pretty successful. So far, anyway! And at least this volume did have a little more action...

Joules Taylor
http://www.wavewrights.com