The Ring, Volume 3

The Ring (Manga) #3

by Sakura Mizuki (Artist), Kōji Suzuki

You've seen the American film adaptation of the Japanese horror sensation! You may have even seen the original Japanese production! But did you know the films are based on a series of fantastic Japanese novels by Koji Suzuki? The popular novel The Ring has seen the lion's share of publicity, but that's not where the story ends. In this adaptation of Suzuki's next novel Spiral (Rasen in Japanese), the legend of Sadako's evil takes a scientific turn, as Ryuji Takayama's old college friend, Mitsuo Ando, must decipher a mysterious code while investigating this strange virus that kills people after watching a video tape. Disbelief gives way to fear. Logic bends to survival. And human evolution changes drastically. What Sadako plans is not simply horror, but something much, much deeper.

The Ring saga continues, twists, and turns in this 192 page manga graphic novel based on Japan's master of horror and suspense.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Science Fiction, Dark

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Emerson Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third novel in the Ring series. this is a faithful adaption of the original novel by Koji Suzuki. Damn its scary

[Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.4/5

I can't tell if this is a reworking of the original story or the original story that has since been reworked into the Ring most of us know today. Either way, the lack of consistency and continuity annoys me.

So the curse is now a virus... okay, then. I could maybe buy that if it was explained differently, or even if it wasn't explained at all, because the theories they came up with are absolutely ludicrous. Apparently you can catch the virus by watching the videotape because the imagery presented will have your heart beating in a certain way that will leave your immune system defenseless or... something. Pseudo-science at its most unbelievable.

On top of that it completely changes certain characters in the story. Ex-wife Ms. Asakawa is no longer an ex-wife, or even a 'Ms.'; she's now a male colleague of Ryuji, and their son no longer exists. Stuff like this drives me nuts. This is why I can't take the X-Men movies seriously.

Mizuki's artwork doesn't do it for me this time around either...

All in all this wasn't a very compelling read, which is a shame because if done differently this could have been a lot more interesting. But it wasn't, so it isn't.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it was a slight improvement on Ring 2 at least. Better art and a more coherent story - I like the dark ending of Spiral - it's a bit rushed but I thought did an OK job of condensing down a very complex story.

[Ashe Catlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more of a technoscience story then horror, one of the reasons I love it! It starts offer with an autopsy of Ryūji, the doctor intrigued by the case decides to dig deeper. He comes across Mai (Ryūji student), who tells him that she thinks the death is linked to a curse.

For me this is the perfect sequel to the Ring, it’s creepy and engaging in all the right places. Unlike most sequels it isn’t a rehash of the first, the only thing it has in common is the investigating the curse as well as some returning characters.

There are so many things that surprised me like the scientific reasoning as to why the curse kills you. The way it affected Mai was a stroke of genius, that mind blowing ending as well just wow.


I like the fact that Sadako no long comes out of the tv, instead you are killed by a heart attack and possibly something else depending on the curses evolution. Don’t get me wrong I love the tv scene it’s very creepy but this day and age most people are either using a tablet or a phone, for her to come out of those would just look stupid.

[Carolina Florensa Bello · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE RING: SPIRAL

¿Algo más turbio que la cinta de vídeo que liquida a quien la ve en 7 días?

Es tu historia si... Te gusta el terror japonés, «The Ring» o las historias que cuando crees que no pueden ser más turbias, se lían más.

Ideal para leer entre lecturas.

Aunque es autoconclusivo, también está tanto en formato novela como manga la versión adaptada de la película.

Lo que más me ha gustado ha sido que en esta historia se transmita un virus la mar de extraño a través de la película. Además, conoceremos un poquito más de la historia de Sadako, lo que nos llevará a un interesante final abierto para que saquemos nuestras propias conclusiones

[Serriwis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying that I've never watched the movie, nor read the book, so I went into this completely blind.
And, I have to say, it was pretty average.
What I liked the most about it was the art style, which settled well the tone that was planned for the novel, but it wasn't enough to make it memorable.
It's not bad by any means, I just know that I won't remember much of it in 6 months or so.
I wouldn't recommend it, unless you can read it for free somewhere.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I finally got to this manga adaptation after having read the original novel. Personally, I enjoyed this adaptation far more, it felt easier to follow in most cases and the tension was more impactful, and the pacing flowed much better. I do think if you're looking to get into this series, you need to try the novel by Koji Suzuki before you try this one, and it'll help you appreciate this far more for what it is.

[✨Sky✨ ♏ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

[maze · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly the BEST of the series so far (the book itself was okay, but the manga was very good). The horror art (all the art really) was SO GOOD

[Irene ➰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Briony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed the first book of the series. There was slightly too much science in there which swamped me a bit, but there were certainly some great scary moments in the book.

I'm looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, but I will save it for a little bit later I think.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great follow-up to Ring. It takes the trick to a cool and creepy new place. I quite enjoyed it.

[dumbdur · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow……. the direction this story took was not something i expected & truthfully, it just didn’t work for me.