Funimation Productions has announced the acquisition of North American rights to the 25-episode Spiral -- Suiri no Kizuna (Spiral -- Line of Reasoning) TV anime, which debuted on Japanese TV in October of 2002.  Based on a manga series by Kyou Shirodaira and Eita Mizuno, which appears in GanGan Magazine, Spiral is basically a mystery anime, which, as you might expect from the title, contains many twists and turns.  Produced by J.C. Staff and SME Visual Works, Spiral is a great-looking series with lots of visual effects and striking bishonen male characters (and cute girls as well). Characterization is emphasized over plot in Spiral, which blends mystery and a bit of comedy, and shows considerable philosophical and psychological depth as well.  The character design of Spiral is closer to Fruits Basket than any of Funimation's other releases, while the mystery elements are handled more philosophically than the harder-edged, forensics-intensive crimes solved in Funimation's Case Closed (Detective Conan), which debuts on the Cartoon Network on May 24.