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Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Title: Spiral


Author: Sakura Mizuki


Publisher: Dark Horse



Koji Suzuki is the Japanese novelist responsible for the novel The Ring, which has generated thee Japanese films and an American remake. The sequel he wrote to The Ring was called Spiral, which was also made into a film, though it hasn’t received the same level of promotion. While the novel of The Ring has recently been published in the UK as a hardback Spiral hasn’t as yet, however the manga adaptations of both novels are available in English translations. This volume is the manga adaptation by Sakura Mizuki of the novel of Spiral.

At about 200 pages the manga is no doubt a much quicker read than the novel, but has some of that cinematic quality thanks to it’s graphic format. The Ring established the idea of a viral video cassette, one which led to the death of the viewer within 7 days. Spiral takes more of a scientific approach than the journalistic investigation at the core of The Ring. The death of a scientist leaves a curious autopsy, one which is conducted by a friend of the dead man – a number clue is found with the body, which the mortician quickly cracks to represent two words – “the ring”. This sets him and his colleague to investigating the ring phenomena, and how those who have died as a result all seem to exhibit evidence of a virus similar to small pox. However as they investigate further they find a new virus – a mutated spiral from the basic ring, and it seems that with that the pathway has expanded past that provided by the video recording.

Having read an extract from Suzuki’s novel The Ring I have little doubt that there is more to be found from a novelised version of the Spiral. Seeing The Ring and Ring 0 films however one can see a certain overlap and how in turn that has been extended. The explanation of Sadako, the dead girl at the core of everything, and her psychic powers was particularly covered in Ring 0 and contributes here – the idea being that her power has infected the footage with a virus. To extend that further and provide some idea of what the ramifications of that might be comes with a certain disturbed logic in Spiral.

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