365 Days of Manga, Day 79: Mugen Spiral « Suvudu - Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, Movies, Comics, and Games

MUGEN SPIRAL (Mugen Spiral, “Dream Spiral”) (夢幻スパイラル) • Mizuho Kusanagi • Tokyopop (2007) • Hakusensha (Hana to Yume, 2004-2005) • 2 volumes • Shôjo Occult Fantasy • 13+ (mild language, violence)
In one corner we have high-schooler Yayoi, a tough, self-sufficient girl who uses her inherited mystical powers to protect people from malevolent spirits. In the other, the handsome but evil demon Ura, who aims to gobble up Yayoi’s power so he can succeed his father as the king of the demons. But Ura’s not so scary now that he’s been transformed into a little black kitty-cat, is he? Lacking either a beginning or an ending, Mugen Spiral starts in media res and ends unsatisfyingly, and ultimately serves as nothing more than 400 pages’ introduction to a group of not very original characters. The heroine exorcises spirits, Ura’s rival for the throne (looking a bit like Sesshomaru from Inu-Yasha) shows up and fights him, and very little happens. The art is undistinguished, although the cats are cute. (Review by Mark Simmons and Jason Thompson)

Today’s review originally appeared in Manga: The Complete Guide as a short teaser summary by Mark Simmons. Mark, who is an excellent artist as well as a translator and America’s foremost Gundam expert, did a bunch of work for me on MtCG when I was under a tight deadline. In 2008 I came back to Mugen Spiral and read the whole thing, and behold, here is the final review! ….Admittedly, in the case of Mugen Spiral, it might have been better if I hadn’t read it.
Today’s winner is Brandi S. of Virginia! Congratulations, Brandi! I’ll be sending you some manga real soon. Soon you’ll be just like Gopakumar, who received the first five volumes of CLAMP’s xxxHOLiC:

Thanks for entering the contest, Gopakumar, and thanks for introducing me to your excellent blog. It’s a busy season for me — on top of the January launch of King of RPGs and all the manga continually piling up on my desk, I’m getting engaged to an amazing person and moving to a new city. But I’ll still be here to send manga out into the aether, to read and write and continue “365 Days of Manga” with all you wonderful folks.

7 Responses to “365 Days of Manga, Day 79: Mugen Spiral”

Hamel says:

December 3, 2009 at 4:10 pm

Congrats on you engagedment
J. Thomason says:

December 3, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Hello. I am an avid manga and anime fan, as well as an aspiring writer and artist. I am especially fond of the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Rumiko Takahashi. I’m currently collecting Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Takahashi’s manga. After I have completed that task, I had planned to seek more manga to keep me company when I live on my own. Your Manga Guide was a godsend for me. In the same way I generally look to Roger Ebert for movie recommendations, I look to you for manga recommendations. I recently saw your top ten manga list (referring to you, Jason Thompson), and found it interesting (though I was a bit disappointed by the fact that Nausicaa did not make the cut). Last year, Roger Ebert changed his annual top ten list to an alphabetical top twenty list. In case you’re wondering why I brought that up, I was wondering… Would you be able to do something like that? Create a list of your top twenty manga in alphabetical or chronological order? It sounds like a weird request, but it would mean a lot to me (as long as Nausicaa and Maison Ikkoku are on the list, I won’t have any problems). I ask because, if I somehow become sucessful as a comic artist, and somebody asks me what my top ten manga are, I can look at your list, explore the titles, and come up with my own list. Why can’t I just make my own list myself? Well, my parents rarely read movie reviews, so I grew up watching a lot of bad movies. I don’t want to go through a similar experience with manga, and your guide offered great insights, so I trust your judgement. Thank you for writing Manga: The Complete Guide. It has been great help to me. Also, I’m sorry for inconveniencing you and rambling on. I just find it hard to keep things brief.
Daniella says:

December 3, 2009 at 9:44 pm

Hello,
I was wondering how can I went manga books? I love anime :]
Is there going to be any other contest related to this one where I can win manga?
Thanks
Jason Thompson says:

December 6, 2009 at 4:58 am

Hi Danielle! This contest is actually for manga, not anime. You can sign up for free manga on the form on the left sidebar!
Jason Thompson says:

December 6, 2009 at 5:01 am

Thanks Hamel! Dear J. Thomason (nice name BTW) — thank you for the suggestion, I may well end up doing some sort of annual Top 10 Best Manga list. Deb Aoki of manga.about.com already does some similar lists, and she’s great; we served together on the “Manga State of the Union” panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.
Snarp says:

December 29, 2009 at 10:06 pm

Clearly nobody had informed Kusanagi that this manga already exists, and is called “Vampire Game.” Also, that to do it PROPERLY, everyone must be bisexual and involved in vaguely incestuous relationships.
365 Days of Manga, Day 79: Mugen Spiral « Suvudu – Science Fiction … | Maison Ikkoku says:

July 17, 2010 at 11:21 am

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