It can be very difficult sometimes to get into an anime late in the game if you haven't caught the rest of the series. Missing key plot points, not knowing completely what's going on and what has transpired can be fairly confusing and frustrating, that's why it's so important to start a show from the very first volume. This is the case however when I sat down to watch Spiral: Melody of Logic (volume 5 in the series) and I walk away with more questions than answers.

Considering that Spiral is a mystery and detective anime I suppose it's only natural to have questions, but to be honest the only one I really have is who the heck are the Blade Children? They seem to be a group of teens that don't have much in the way of extraordinary abilities, but are considered to be cursed and find themselves being hunted relentlessly. All I know is that the main character Ayumu is living in the shadow of his older brother and his fate becomes entwined with the Blade Children's.

Volume five of the series contains the following four episodes: The Lamenting Angel, Mirror of the Heart, Whispering Shadows and .

As far as mystery goes, I felt Mirror of the Heart was the most dramatic episode on the disc. Ayumu and Eyes Rutherford (one of the Blade Children) find themselves following Sayoko (another Blade Child) because a Hunter has given her a bomb that threatens to blow up if Eyes gets too close. The two follow her through the city trying to keep their distance and discover who the Hunter is all the while praying that the bomb doesn't go off. The sense of tension was great in this episode and you really get the sense that there is a lot at stake. Whispering Shadows was another good one with Kousuke going after the Hunter alone and winding up in trouble. Whether he lives or dies becomes a race as Ryoko tries to track him down before the Hunter finds him.

Despite the fact that prior to this volume I had no knowledge of what was going on with the show, I found myself getting into it. There was enough intrigue to keep the mystery going and the story seems to be progressing fairly well with these episodes feeling fast paced. If you're already familiar with the series then volume five is a no brainer, but if you haven't seen it yet start back with the first volume if this sounds like your kind of thing.

Spiral: Melody of Logic is presented with a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio that is a product of the original material. The image is very crisp and clean and I didn't notice any aliasing, grain or compression artifacts during my viewing. The art style of the show is pretty good, but standard anime when you compare it to some other series. I noticed several repeat animations and still shots used, so there are some quite evident shortcuts taken.

There are actually three different audio tracks included on this disc; Japanese and English 2.0 stereo as well as a 5.1 English surround mix. The original language and the dubbed feature equally decent voiceovers for the most part, but primarily I watched the 5.1 selection. While there is some directionality with the sound, it mostly comes from the front channel since the show consists of a ton of dialogue and small bits of action. I found the quality to be clear and crisp though with no real issues.

There are a fair amount of extras featured on the disc aside from some trailers. My favorite is easily the Image Gallery which shows still captures from the episodes on this disc with outtakes and bloopers from the English voice cast. It runs about four and a half minutes and is worth watching for a few laughs. This release also features the industry standard textless opening and closing credits. Another small extra is called Prologue to Series and is a short video about Ayumu's brother calling him to tell him he's going after the Blade Children.

While I haven't caught any of the other volumes in the Spiral series, the show seems to be deep with mystery and drama. The characters in the fifth volume are fully realized and have a great deal of personality as they go about their lives in fear of Hunters and their cursed fate. The episodes here contained just the right amount of intrigue, development and action that the show has drawn me in enough that I'd like to see the rest of the series.

If you're already into Spiral then picking this one up is something you've probably already done. If you haven't seen the show yet and are interested, go back to the first volume and start from there since it's usually not a smart idea to start with a volume near the end of the show. Recommended

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