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Spiral 6: Notes Of Truth episodes 22-25
01/10/2007 . Source: Joules Taylor 
region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72007. 1 DVD 120 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK). Buy Spiral 6: Notes Of Truth in the USA - or Buy Spiral 6: Notes Of Truth in the UK  check out website: www.revfilms.com and www.spiral.tv
!!As this review covers the last volume in the series, it's FULL of spoilers, so if you don't want to know how the series ends, don't read on.!!
'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 1st DVD back cover)
First of all, I have to say that my copies of the last two DVDs have had dreadful audio tracks, the dubbed voices sometimes inaudible beneath the supposedly background music, which made for a less than perfect viewing. However, even without that, the series has ended on a very disappointing note.
But before I get to that...
In 'Sound Of A Breaking Heart', the last episode on the previous DVD, we discover that the mysterious figure who has been following and apparently guarding the Blade Children through the last few episodes is in fact Police Chief Kinzaka, Madoka's boss.
In 'Confession', the first episode on this last DVD, the Blade Children decide the best way to find out what's going on is to capture one of the Hunters in order to discover where the police come in. I'd have thought the number of dead bodies that seem to surround them might have answered that, but perhaps that's needlessly cynical...
They decide to set a trap and Kousuke, Rio and Ryoko return to the train-yard where Kousuke was injured. There they meet with Kinzaka, who despite their insisting they only want information, threatens them, then outnumbered and apparently outclassed, runs into the building. The three follow him and find their trap reversed as they end up in desperate straits themselves. Eyes rescues them and they again confront Kinzaka, who prefers to fall to his death rather than allow them to pull him to safety, calling back, 'You are death', as he plummets. Before falling though, he tells them that Kanone is the traitor in their midst, keeping the police advised of all their plans and that Eyes knew it.
Ayumu, in the meantime, after suffering another crisis of confidence, decides to become involved in the case again.
In 'Relentless Rain', Kanone kidnaps Madoka, Eyes is missing and Ayumu is moody. There is a lot of conversation between Kanone and Madoka, none of which actually tells us anything.
'Man In The High Castle', the penultimate episode, sees Ayumu having to defuse three of Kanone's bombs, one on a crowded train, one on a boat and one in a firework factory. When confronted with the fact he was risking innocent lives, Kanone dismisses the accusation, saying Kiyotaka was convinced Ayumu could defuse them in time. He does so, with Hiyono's help in solving the passwords to the first two bombs. I have to confess the second doesn't make sense in the English dub. Cuckoos don't hum as far as I'm aware!
Ayumu's way of escaping from the final bomb is a definite 'Whuh...?' moment.
The final episode, 'The Sound Of An Iris Freezing And Melting' (which should win a bronze medal in a pretentious titles competition!) sees everything back to what passes for normal. The Blade Children are all back at school, their misadventures apparently forgotten or glossed over. A depressed (because Ayumu defeated him) Kanone heads back to the States. But at least Ayumu, who never had any expectations of himself, is now more confident and cheerful, enough to start playing the piano again and his relationship with Madoka has improved greatly.
However...
We still don't know who the Blade Children are, where they came from or why they're being hunted. There's a possible hint in the mention of cuckoos, who lay their eggs in other birds' nest and have the parents feed the chick at the expense of their own nestlings but it's not made clear why the Blade Children could be seen this way. We still don't know what the 'Spiral' of the title means. We still have no idea who the Hunters are or why they're hunting down the Blade Children. We still don't know what happened to Kiyotaka! The actions and motivations of both the adults and children portrayed in the series are inconsistent and illogical, even for anime...
It's very frustrating and 'Spiral' does not live up to its initial promise. As I said at the beginning, very disappointing and my 12 year-old son agrees. There have been occasions where a manga has been made into an anime that leaves the story wholly unfinished, 'R.G.Veda' is the example that comes most readily to mind. In such instances, it's accepted that the anime is simply a part of the whole, a way of bringing a small part of the story to life. 'Spiral' does not do this, promising to be a complete story and failing badly. Yes, it's great that Ayumu gains so much in the course of the story but that wasn't why we watched the series and it could have been told in considerably less than 25 episodes!
It seems, according to another reviewer on another site, that the anime was created to promote the manga and left the ending open in order to encourage readers to buy the manga, all 15 volumes of it to find out how the story continues and ends. I'm familiar with this tactic, but I find it particularly objectionable in this case, given that 'Spiral' is geared towards children...
Joules Taylor
http://www.wavewrights.com
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