Spirit Circle

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When I first read the description of this manga, I immediately thought of Kekkaishi, but that was not the case. This manga went far over my expectations. It was very amusing and interesting to see how the main protagonist live despite having all his past lives incorporated into him. It was also kind of cool to see the past lives of the main protagonist and the female antagonist fight against each other.

I'm afraid Spirit Circle, by Mizukami Satoshi, will like the excellent but often forgotten Hoishi no Samidare, become only a shadow hit, a read for the people who dig deeper and want different kinds of shonen. So let me try to convince you with this review to grab a book and read this very interesting story.

Art : 6/10

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first : yes, compared to tenors of the shonen manga, the art is...Meh. Although this is an artstyle that feels really distinctive, and works quite well for expressions and faces overall, the real weakness lies in the background, who ... most of the time, are generic, or just like detail. If you want your manga to be only eye candy, like Blame or Berserk, this won't be one for you.

Story : 8/10

The story will let us follow Fuuta Okeya, a 14-year-old boy who can see ghosts. And this ability is absolutely not the focus of the story. To try and not spoil too much, his encounter with a young girl who just transferred in his neighborhood will lead him into reliving his past lives, to try and understand why the girl wants to kill him so bad.
I found the premise quite original and refreshing. After each past life, it's not like the protagonist gains a new skill, or becomes better at fighting : the real heroes of this story are all of the past lifes of Fuuta, but more on that later.
But Spirit Circle isn't just about those past lives : there's an overarching plot, with completely bonkers consequences like only Mizukami Satoshi can think of (let us remember, he's the one who thought of a biscuit hammer that would destroy the world.) And delving deeper in the mystery of the relation between Fuuta and the girl who wants to kill him, Kouko, is really compelling and interesting.

Characters : 8/10

The character design is pretty redundant, as most of the characters with which Fuuta and Joujo interacts, even in their other lives, have the face of everyone they know (implying they are not the only one reincarnating). But each of these characters have a different personnality, a different goal. In each of his past lives, Fuuta often doesn't act like he does in the present, and he did some pretty horrible things in some lives, even. Watching his present self come to terms with that is really interesting.
Kouko is also a great character, even if her past lives are mostly seen through Fuuta's eyes. She is as well fleshed out as Fuuta in that regard, and her motivations for trying to slay Fuuta are also understandable.

Sadly, the rest of the supporting cast, like Fuuta's friends, aren't very interesting in the present. The only exceptions are for East and Rune, spirits that accompany Kouko and Fuuta in the present, but sadly they play quite a lacking role before the end of the manga. It would have been nice to see a bit more character interaction.

Overall : 8/10

Spirit Circle is a compelling manga that will make you think about afterlife, reincarnation, and responsability. Can you be held accountable for a really horrible thing you did in a past life ? By asking that question, the author takes us on a journey through time to try and discover the worth of a human soul, and ultimately, the worth of who we are, today.

Satoshi Mizukami is a great storyteller with a clear vision of what he's creating. Maybe you're already familiar with his other works (like Samidare and Sengoku Youko) before you read Spirit Circle, so you probably noticed that already, but if that's not the case, you'll certainly like them and recognize this aspect. It's really cool when all the dots in the plot connects in a convincing way, because you can feel how everything presented was, to some degree, an important part of the overall structure of the story. You can tell that he has a goal in mind from the beginning and even likes to ... mess around with the reader and plainly tell what’s gonna to happen in the future.

Spirit Circle is not a complex story, but somehow you’ll feel that way. It’s about souls and reincarnation. It's about vengeance, but it's also about making up for past mistakes. There's a mixing of emotions in every arc, which goes from something very comic to something very dramatic. Mizukami can play something serious in a very silly way, which can be anti-climatic, but it can work better this way because of how it can break your expectation, and it’s supported with his skills of portraying emotions so good and with a lot of impact. Otherwise, it would be a more parodic manga without any weight. Mizukami knows how to handle both his comedic and emotion side very well and creates a very charming, comic and yet dramatic story. And that's how I felt for the most part of the story, except for the Fortuna's story arc, which is unfortunately the most anticipated and important one. It's really the Achilles' heel of the manga and show how the author's style can be a dual-edged sword. I didn't feel any of the dramatic curves because everything seemed more comic when they should be tragic.

That said, everything else still works great. The relationship between all the characters is something that it’s developed in a clever way, as everything is a result of a past interaction. What it’s being told is not just the past tales of Fuuta and Koko, the main characters, and their circle of mutual destruction, but how their relationship with everyone around them is being shaped with every interaction and choice.

Even though the last story arc is not a winner, the overall story is still great and can cover any flaws that it has near the end. Mizukami knows how to evoke a lot of emotions from his readers and his characters are very likeable. Spirit Circle is a epic journey of self-discovery, but also of forgiveness and friendship. It’s beautifully presented and, for the most part, well executed.

Story(10)
I can't even explain how much I love this manga. I love every single of the lives that you see and experience, and the relationships between all the characters, and how it changes overtime, and everything. The concept is also incredibly cool and I can't wait for the rest to be translated. Hopefully it will get translated.

Art(10)
Although there are some parts that I find the art style to not be fitting, that can't even compare to the rest. I love how the face structures are actually diverse, and the simplicity of the art style overall. It seems cute at first, but the violence in the ... manga makes the art better.

Character(8)
Although I love the development with all the characters in the 'lives', I just find a lot of places where I can't understand what the characters are doing. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but I find it kind of frustrating not being able to sympathise with some characters.

Enjoyment(9)
Sometimes there are parts where I find aren't necessary, but the light hearted comedy balances well with the darkness of the plot. The romance was adorable too, the blushing faces especially. I always have fun when I read the manga, so I really hope it get translated and not dropped.

Overall(9)
This was one manga that I loved. Although I'm searching for trashy shoujo romance most of the time, I love when I strike gold with manga like this.

I rly like this manga because it got more depth than certain other mangas but also because I get the feeling it ended before it got ridiculous and the meaning of the story was lost which I rly respect. What I mean by ridiculous is that some stories goes into the whole overpowered mc line when the mc have gone through a certain level of trial and this is mostly because progress is important but I think thats wrong when that overroll the message of the story. Why I think it got depth is because how it explores each character thoroughly but also introduced new ... characters at a steady pace (perhaps a bit slowly but better than normal(nothing)). The soul theories was also interesting and there was alot of this which left me pondering but if I had to say something: I wonder if the seven types of souls had something to do with the seven sins? I could say it would be partly true but that doesnt make me feel exactly right and thats how I feel about alot of the plot devices. Certainly a ending is supposed to close all those plot devices but what the story instead decides to do is open up to more questions but at the end you feel that the most important ones you have gotten the answer indirectly and the rest just feels insignificant. Now if you have readed until now you may wonder what the message was but that is for you too decide, bye!

A rather mature story that's trapped into a juvenile love story between two teenagers.

Characterization is solid. Every character serves their purpose.
Plot is about the main character travel in his past lives and every life is an entirely different arc. So it provides a way to have different kinds of narratives in a same story while it's not jarring. The manga artist managed to make almost every story (except the transsexual one which is fairly simple) emotional and memorable.

However the main storyline doesn't appeal to me a lot as it traps other pretty good individual stories into an abusive relationship between two middle schoolers. It ... feels like I was reading two different manga with those individual stories being the relatively mature shonen/seinen story while the main story being a shojo love story.
This contradiction is frequently a turnoff and makes it hard to enjoy the story fully.

Spirit Circle is a great manga with an engaging story.

The characters are charismatic, but not very prominent in development. This is because the story is more centered on the protagonists' story, however, luckily, that doesn't make them uninteresting characters to follow.

The Protagonist, Okeya, is a charismatic and kind boy. That said, it's difficult to talk about him due to the changes that each incarnation has in his lifestyle. However, it makes it a very curious journey to see how each life impacts his self present.

The story is amazing. Of the three main manga the author wrote: Hoshi no Samidare, Spirit Circle and Sengoku no Youko. ... This is the one with the best story.
Throughout it, various types of world are seen with their own contexts and concepts. This is not only something very interesting to follow, as the stories that are told within these worlds are excellent and very impactful in events. That said, I thought Fortuna's was the weakest.
However, unfortunately, the ending is the work's biggest flaw, as it leaves several loose ends in relation to the work's mysteries. But even with that, it still manages to be a very touching ending to the characters and the journey they went through.

The art is functional. The art is functional in conveying the characters' emotions, but it is poor at creating fights or moving scenes. This is the author's weakest art compared to other manga, mainly Sengoku no Youko with its amazing fight scenes.

In the end, Spirit Circle is a touching story about growing up and relationships that has great mysteries. However, its main shortcomings are the end of the story leaving loose ends and the art that is weak in conveying excitement.

Spirit Circle is an amazing read.

The first Manga which I read that was published by Mizukami was "Hoshi no Samidare". It was a great breath of fresh air and I can wholeheartedly recommend it, even though it didn't make my favorites list, unlike "Spirit Circle".

A while after that I started reading "Spirit Circle". First of all, don't be tricked by it having "only" 45 chapters. Even though the chapters are only slightly longer than average regarding the amount of pages, every chapter is filled to the brim with plot, so much happens, this series isn't a short read.

The concept is one that I haven't seen ... before. Basically we follow our protagonist "Fuuta", who has been reborn many times. Through current circumstances he relives each of his prior lifes. These sub-plots are insanely captivating, you stay quite a while in most of these immersive stories, just to suddenly be pulled back into the current timeline at a certain point.

The artstyle is good, it is good in his other works as well. It will only take a few days to read (in my case, I am not the fastest reader, you can surely read it in a day). The concept is unique and the characters are interesting. From the beginning there are multiple great mysteries floating around, these get solved throughout the story.

Overall I can't say too much about the manga apart from "read it, you surely won't regret it".

A small note for collectors:
The Spirit Circle Manga is published by "Seven Seas Entertainment". I don't know about the state in the US, but outside of the US (in my case in germany), it is quite difficult to get your hands on volumes from this publisher. This does not only go for Spirit circle, but also "Classroom of the Elite" and "Lucifer and the biscuit hammer". I was lucky to buy the Volumes used, although it was for a rather hefty sum. So just be somewhat warned.

Spirit Circle is a work that implements a complicated timeline but manages to tell it in an understandable, non-confusing way.

Now, mind that the start is kinda weaker and might even make you question why this has such a high score. It's not bad, but this manga certainly isn't great right off the bat. The art isn't exactly helping that, as it can appear to be somehow bland at the start. Thankfully, both the art and the story improve. Well, about the art it's more like you'll get used to the artstyle, but it still offers some great pages through the series.

Coming into this expecting ... another Phoenix might get you disappointed - even with all the reincarnation and deeper themes in its core it's still a highschool-y romance. And I'm not saying that as a bad thing, in fact it is a nice change of pace that such themes are combined with some degree of wholesomeness, albeit reserved. The narration style is enjoyable to read as it makes reader explored different pieces of the timeline together with the protagonist, getting to see how new plot points affect him too.

Where this really shines and where I got convinced to give this 8/10 instead of 7/10 is the final volume which ties everything together. It's not easy to explain without spoiling it, obviously, but the characterisation, the development of said characters and the whole story is done really well in this finale as everything clicks together. Yes, even that thing you might have thought has been forgotten. It's satisfactory enough to deserve that one up in the score. Definitely give this a try and try to continue even if you don't like it at first.

First of all, the story, just imagine seeing someone life from start to finish for 7 times in details. Not to mention the variation of era, culture and many insights in each reincarnation. Now this is just the tip of the iceburg, this story also has a lot of mysteries which is not forced but hinted at by author at some point of times which is a big plus for me. Romance is also a fine addition to the story too even if it's not the focus of the story. There's comedy in most chapter which keep the manga light-hearted enough too.

Next, the art, ... I'm not really a fan of this kind of art. It looks kinda childish to me but the emotions, background and atmosphere is drawn very clearly so it's very good.

Characters. I find MC and co's personality absolutely likeable. They are the definition of good in my dictionary. The FMC however is not likeable at first but hey nice character development. This is a minor spoiler but .....
[spoiler]
Past lifes of these people will show you how the present personalities come to be and it's not forced at all.
[/spoiler]
Well, it's a 10 for me !

Nice story, art and character, ofcourse ! I enjoyed it very much a big 10 !!

Finally, i hope that everyone tried this masterpiece. It's so good that my standard for manga are raised for a while lol

This was an enlightening experience in many ways. A manga that actually got me constantly emotional in the most simple ways. Moments that cause tears to simply roll down your face, such a natural way of making you think, making you believe. There must be a group of people you think about when reading a manga like this, a group that makes you feel like they must've been present somehow, someway. It frames a story within an instinct about your surroundings and makes you feel with that instinct.

The art was fairly simple, all things considered. Usually, this kind of manga gets heightened by outstanding ... art, shots, the passage of time in a creative way. It doesn't do it, it works in a simple way, presenting time, passage and moment to moment with facial expressions. No focus is given in the art, that exact element working to rule a sense of simplicity in a much complex story. It works perfectly well to tell a beautiful story in a way to be consumed more through dialogue, images and consistent art.

The story is completely the highlight. A multiverse/reincarnation story that holds so much meaning, so much love to each little story. Telling so many lessons on life that made me cry so hard, effort, actual friendship lessons, the past, the present. This little tale of just 6 volumes will make me remember every story, every plot element and recommend it to anybody because it's that good. I don't wanna spoil, but I just wish I could talk about how good, how rich in personality it is. There's so much comedy and amazing dialogue that doesn't feel too serious, even if the story holds so many life lessons that can easily fall flat trying to be self-important. It knows what it is, and tries to tell it in a way that'll stick with you till the end.

Characters, my god. You don't lose the sense of character within the story because of its framing. You technically get introduced to 7 versions of each character, and you instantly know what each one means. Every moment you feel the connection of universal magnitude through small little indications of what a character feels out of instinct. We all have a sixth sense when we see a person, it tells us to avoid them and with the rules of this story, you start to explore and question your own ways of differentiating people. I loved every single character, even if their names changed every 5 chapters.

I enjoyed my time with this manga without a shadow of a doubt. Some elements could've used some polish, mainly the lead up to the end scenes was a little sloppy. The art works for the story, so that's not a detriment. This manga could've been a perfect 13 episode anime that'll break the internet and the world with its mastery in storytelling and sad moments. A true manga for all the times and tribulations that anybody can enjoy.

You know, maybe something good might happen…

Looking through the eye of an ordinary reader, immediately saying that Spirit Circle is an extraordinary manga wouldn’t convince anyone. Indeed, it wouldn’t. Just look at the banal art, the stale first chapter, and the obviously common synopsis which probably doesn’t entice interest the slightest bit; why is it so loved? Lacking features through those sides that we can see, we move on to the emotional side. Bitter-sweet, life-affirming, and somehow generating feelings of melancholy throughout the cycle of your reading session; Spirit Circle is something everyone can enjoy, consisting full of wisdom, and creates feelings that won’t lie.

Written ... and drawn by Satoshi-sensei, also the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Spirit Circle tells the story of a 14-year-old young man called Fuuta meeting a new transfer student named Koukou, in which way or another leads into a retelling of their reincarnation in many different periods of time and dispute between all the reincarnation of both these young students. Spirit Circle falls into the category of books, where the premise and beginning generally wouldn’t pull that much of an audience, but to those who wing it right through, the pay-off is a golden treat. Every dialogue is filled with faithfulness and a tad bit of comedy in it; wanting you to read more, to finally reach the satisfying ending in which you know that everyone is happy and learned the joy of life.

With Fuuta trying to find the reason why Koukou tries so hard to kill him for no reason, the manga pieces the puzzle one by one, telling us the story of Fuuta’s many reincarnations in different time periods like for example in the Knight-age, where he definitely did something worth getting hate for. Every and each part of the century-story has this unique feel of genuineness from those time-period, different situation, different lessons to learn. The range of reasons why they both hate each other from time to time are sometimes complex, it ranges for instance from a dispute for the ethical response to a dualistic situation of the alive soul and death body to a simple straight-forward revenge story. After knowing the ending of all of these stories, the young Fuuta would react like a normal boy in his puberty would. Sad. Happy. Motivated. Despair. Curiosity. Sometimes he can’t even understand those feeling himself. All of those feelings build the relationship between these two characters even stronger, and the intricacy of love and hate would make us understand both of them even more.

The last period of time which will be told at the end of the manga will tell us the reason for this million century dispute, which I admit is a little bit lacking compared to all the stories that have been told. These deficits are somehow blown out of the way with what for me is one of the most satisfying ending in any manga. The two main character finally broke the “circle” and so the many stories, the many disputes, the many fights are all finally in peace, leaving us flabbergasted and these unknown diverse emotions sprawling out from our eyes. It is something that I can’t explain the slightest, why the melancholy and the happiness can create such feeling, and you will question yourself as well.

These types of manga are one of a kind.
It’s been a few months since I finished Spirit Circle, but I feel like writing something to get more people to read it, so here’s my short review of it.

I'm no fan of short stories. Usually they fail to create a world deep enough to delve deep enough into to really enjoy yourself, or sympathise with it's heroes. So when I began the lecture of Spirit Circle I frankly wasn't expecting much, a typical "boy has inherited a chakram made of soul from his previous incarnation, meets a pretty girl that's bound to him by fate of vengeance, and they fall in love".

It is with great pleasure that I found out this work refused to throw another "villain that actually wants to be friends and is throwing a tantrum because is lonely" at us ... whenever it exhausts the plot, but rather consistently added more depth to the small cast of it's characters.

I'll debunk a likely misconception you might get: it is NOT an action manga. in fact, action is very scarce, and used only to empasize the relations between characters, and it treats mainly about mistakes that human is so prone to commit, the grudge they incur, and finally, forgiveness so that all can return to the natural state.

I'd like to make this review objective, if it's at all possible, so I'll stop singing praises now, but i sincerely encourage anyone who wants to read a manga leaving an impression of serenity, peace and... wow, this sounds dumb, but, enlightement, to give this manga a go. I gave it a try for the romance tag, and when it ended, I was actually sad that that's it, depite the fact I couldn't find a more fitting ending if I tried to. This work is bliss.

Wow, I've just completed this and I would say that Spirit Circle instantly entered my top 3 manga of all times (and I've read about 80% of manga from the top 200). I put in on hold for so long because I thought that it would be the same as Hoshi no Samidari (which I kind of liked, but not too much and considered it as something that should be read in a special mood) - a shounen manga mostly about fights, but with some crazy plot in-between. Nope, there are barely any fights, instead, you get excellent characters, a bunch of emotional moments, and ... a complex intertwined plot. This manga made me more emotional than any other I've read so far and I can't recommend this enough both to those who enjoyed other works of the author and those who didn't.

There aren't many that I'd rate as a 10/10.
I'm not the type to rate that high for the big popular ones either.
This is super underrated!
It's sooo good!
It's violent, but not to the point where it's distracting, just enough for when you see it, it's used well to elicit emotion.
It has romance, but just enough for you to get the feels, not enough to bog down the story or turn off those who don't like romance.
It's tragic, but again, just enough for the feels, you get attached to the characters and root for them, hoping for the best and watching them grow.
It's never slow, but the ... pacing isn't fast to the point that you can't keep up.
I wish I could reread this again having never read it before, it's totally rereadable, but that joy and excitement that I felt the first read through is a rare treat.
This manga is a rare treat.
I'd honestly buy it to have irl, and I REALLY don't buy manga.
Now I have to read everything by this mangaka, he must have some genius for this wonderful treasure.

Spirit Circle was absolutely beautiful.

When I started reading this, I didn't really expect much. Before, I wasn't a big fan of the whole past lives thing but this one really got me. Following their experiences of each past life and seeing how each exploration causes the main characters to slowly change their views of each other was the best part. Each of the past life experiences made me feel like I was in a totally different world, but the end of each past life story would always bring me back to the main story and continue to add to my understanding of what was ... going on as well as the feels. The way the stories were presented, I felt like I could understand the characters thoughts and how each iteration of a past life would change them. I felt like I was growing with the characters and that's what makes this a 10/10 for me.

Good Points : The length of this series was perfect for the story it wanted to tell, and the ending was also very satisfying. Past life stories are done well and complement each other as well as the main plot.

What I Didn't Like : Pretty much nothing.

TLDR; Past lives done right. Worth the read.

Spirit Circle, in my opinion, is an example of a story that has an incredibly interesting premise and carries itself well for 2/3rds of its run, but comes crashing down in the final third with a very contrived and banal conclusion. It really soured my experience on the series as a whole, and what could've easily been a 9 or 10/10 series instead ended up as a disappointment, although it was still enjoyable.

Story: 7/10. Easily a 9/10 up until the final act or two, but once the story started tying itself up it was a huge let-down. The story was building itself up so ... well only to fall flat, and do it in the most cliche way possible despite originally being a series built on nuance and ambiguity.

Art: 9/10. It's pretty charming and very consistent.

Character: 8/10. For the most part, decently done. Each character is unique and memorable, and there is a good interwoven connection between them.

Enjoyment: 7.5/10. I did enjoy Spirit Circle as a whole, but my interest waned substantially around the end. I'd say my enjoyment was at its peak during the first 70% of this series.

Overall: 7/10. Spirit Circle is an interesting manga that fails to deliver in the end, but still has some things worth reading. It helps that in addition to being an overarching narrative, it also has smaller subplots that take shape within the overall story, so even though I was disappointed by the ending, I still liked how some of those subplots were handled.

holy sh*t! I just finished this and this manga is just sooo good. I'm surprised there is no anime adaptation yet.
the best thing is of course the story. you get so intrigued and just want to know what just exactly happened between the MCs! every reincarnation lives is appealing and I find it funny when I see MC relationship with each supporting characters. There are few things left unexplained but I like it that way, it feels realistic that there are things in this world that just cannot be explained.
every characters are well written, and you won't get confused because each character has a distinctive ... features.
overall this is a really good manga, makes you think about life and all lol

If you are looking for a journey through a time to another time,
If you are looking for a bittersweet story, a romcom, but not at all,
A wisdom like, loveable, then, I think you will be suited to read this manga.

The story will make you fresh for each arc that you have read, "When is this arc will come out?" "Who is this?" "Ah, so that what it is". Read it all and the after taste will be good in your mouth I think.

Childish but not too childish at the same time, it fit the story really good. Yes the art really fit this ... manga and there is no in between.

Each arc grow the character and give the reader feel "Ah, so this is what will be like if a person like that in the present time" even it's just a glimpse. Nah, overall the character development is good, even a slight romance growth really so sweet to see.

Like the second paragraph, the enjoyment I can get from this manga is repeatable and it's stacking and giving a really good feeling after reading it all.

*Insert the first paragraph again

Story
The story is pretty unique. About souls, reincarnation and fate, it has many deeper meanings that you would never find on another manga ever.
I would have liked if an epilogue was present, because the last part of the ending was quite weak.

Art
Old but gold.

Character
Every character had their own developments. They felt all alike.
Obviously, by being "reincarnations", they share some similar details with each others, but it's not a bad thing.
...
Enjoyment
It is definitely mind-blowing, and may give you the yearn to re-read it after a while.
It's quite short, so it won't definitely annoy you!

Overall
It's definitely rare to find a manga like this. I would suggest it to anyone as a must-read! No exceptions!