| Spiral | |
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Cover of the first American print edition by Vertical |
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| Author(s) | Koji Suzuki |
| Original title | ''Spiral (らせん Rasen) |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| Publication date | 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN |
| Preceded by | Ring (Ringu) |
| Followed by | Loop (Rupu) |
Spiral (らせん Rasen) is a 1995 Japanese novel, a part of author Koji Suzuki's Ring Cycle series. It is the second in the Ring Trilogy, and a film based on the book, Rasen was released in 1998. The English translation of the book was published by Vertical Press in the United States and by Harper Collins in Britain.
Contents |
The events in the story occur a day after the events of the first book. It introduces us to Ando Mitsuo who is assigned to do the autopsy of Ryuji. He and his colleague, Miyashita, find a benign tumor in Ryuji's throat which is believed to be his cause of death. They are puzzled because the tumor they found appeared much like a tumor with smallpox, which was eradicated 30 years prior to the story. Ando, with his colleague, Miyashita, find out that an organism called "Ring Virus" caused this tumor. The virus is transferred to the body via the tape and begins to grow a tumor in the viewer's throat. When the charm is not performed, the tumor grows to block the airways and kills the person. To stop this, the tape must be copied and shown to another person. They also found a cryptic message inside his stomach with the word RING and a series of other cryptic messages. This discovery further perplexes Ando.
In search for the message's meaning he came to meet Ryuji's assistant and lover, Mai Takano. Mai seems to know something about the videotape and tells Ando the curse, but does not know how Ryuji died. As a scientist, Ando laughed at Mai's explanation. He also went to talk to Kazuyuki, but found that he and his family were involved in a car accident. It is discovered that Kazuyuki's wife and child were dead before the crash. Kazuyuki is in critical condition and unable to talk, and at the accident's site lies a crushed videotape. When Mai was suddenly lost which further motivates Ando to investigate until he stumbles upon Kazuyuki's files with the title THE RING. He is uncertain because it contains supernatural events and contradicts scientific explanations.
After reading the report, Ando and Miyashita visited the well where Sadako died. They discovered that the virus has mutated and now uses the report as a medium. Ando also found out that Kazuyuki's older brother, Junichiro Asakawa is planning to publish his brother's report as his own horror novel.
Days after Mai's disappearance, he met a beautiful woman named Masako who introduced herself as Mai's older sister. He fell in love with her. They made love one night. The day after that he discovers Masako and Sadako are one and the same. Later he receives a parchment from Sadako/Masako explaining how Mai Takano gave birth to her as well as warning Ando not to interfere with the publication of Kazuyuki's files, which now contain the deadly virus. In exchange for his co-operation, Sadako offered to resurrect Ando's son, whose death through drowning two years previously cast a shadow over his life.
Ando realized that Ryuji was the master-mind behind the resurrection of Sadako as he lured Mai Takano into watching the video tape, as well as giving out clues to Ando, hoping he would discover the Ring Report and therefore distribute the virus. Ryuji is then brought back to life by Sadako. The epilogue shows Ando playing with his son on the beach, planning to reintroduce him to his wife. Unlike the first book where the focus was mainly on the supernatural and revealing more about the past of the origins of the virus, here we see the virus less as a supernatural event and more as a scientifically explainable one.
A movie adaptation was released in 1998 called Rasen which was based on the book (Not to be mistaken with Ring 2). It was poorly received and later another sequel to Ring was made, Ring 2. A 13 episode TV drama was broadcast in 1999 on Fuji Television.
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