Spiral was an anime that I had found in the bargain bin of a now-defunct local department store chain, and this was in my early days of watching anime where I would "accept all anime as watchable". I can't say I hated this show at first because I genuinely wanted to finish it. I mean you have to finish an anime you started? Wow, I was stupid back then, I really regret my decision to do so.
Spiral is a slice-of-life, mystery show where the main protagonist Narumi must discover find his missing brother Kiyotaka. The only thing he is left with is a message talking about the mysterious Blade Children, who are they? Well, wouldn't that be nice to know, because the show barely gets a chance to explain anything of relevance? Instead, Spiral likes to prance around the mystery as if it's doing you a favour in hiding important details. I found that the anime liked to distract the viewer by setting up a bunch of episodic narratives. I couldn't believe how many times where I was like " this is a cool situation" only to be disappointed with how lackluster the overarching plot was. I didn't find any of the romance elements the least bit believable or well-executed, and the same goes for the story. I just wanted to know what the hell was going on by the end so I kept watching. So what's Spiral actually about? The main guy has to find his lost brother, he meets a girl who agrees to help him. There are two people who show up at school who say that they're Blade Children, doing everything in their power to stop Narumi. Narumi's sister gets caught up in conspiracy by the very end, and then Spiral just fizzles out of energy at the very end. The show does little to impress its audience. There are genuinely fun puzzles, but if the characters are so cardboard why even bother setting them up for something? Also one of the antagonists keeps referring to the main character as Little Narumi to the point it becomes so tirelessly overused and annoying that I just wanted to pull my hair out. That's just one of the many annoyances that the series has to offer though.The opening, good lord, the opening. I think I watched it once or twice, but after that, it was so dreadful I skipped it. It was like hearing the godawful screeches of Sirens. It's a smashing of sounds and voices, and it's another godawful part of the show. It's really that bad. Just have a listen, and make sure to have your volume maxed out.
How can this show be considered great enough to garner such good ratings? I really don't understand the appeal. Is it the opening? It better not be, you must be tone-deaf if you think that. I'm sure that the only experience someone would get out of that is the extensive ear surgery to fix the bleeding I got. I only had satisfaction in finishing it, but this garbage was not worth my time. This is the kind of show you would see playing in some random store in a Chinatown shop because it's so noticeably wannabe anime. People claim this anime as being superbly good, thought-provoking even, but this show is none of that. Should you decide to watch this show it is a complete waste of 25 episodes that likes to meander most of the time. I didn't have fun watching Spiral, and it was just a drag to get to the supposed high-point that was the climax. If you were to choose any series to avoid this one would most certainly make the list. Maybe the manga is better? I mean, in some cases they are, but it doesn't save the fact that Spiral is such a sorry excuse for a detective mystery. If you want a legitimately good whodunnit mystery, just spend some time watching a few Detective Conan episodes. Spiral wasn't worth my time, and it won't be worth yours either.