"Oh wow, a CCEU author who's also the best friend of the author of this CCEU book is doing a review for a CCEU book? What a fucking sell out!"

Yeah, yeah, I know. Lynch me with pitchforks and set my body on fire all you want, but I want to preface this to say that firstly, I will not be biased at all during this review. While Shida is one of the CCEU authors and is also my brudda, I will be critical during this chapter on the story.

No one escapes my wrath! Not even myself, depressingly...

Secondly, I'm  doing this because I want to show some support for my friend and his largest complete book. If I really was a CCEU sellout, I would've done the same for Shadows and Thunderous Rebellion, but I didn't.

Since Spiral Terra has 50 chapters worth of content I can talk about, it also makes my life a whole lot easier. Plus I've already done a theory/analysis on it, so might as well go the whole ten miles!

Without further adieu, and a large SPOILER WARNING, welcome to my Spiral Terra retrospective where I look at the book and give my thoughts and opinions.

Firstly, what is Spiral Terra?

Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Spiral Terra is a story written by kaiishida and was published every Sunday here on Wattpad. This Sunday (at the time I am writing this) it has ended, with the publication of it's 50th chapter.

Spiral Terra is a story that focuses on Ryuuga Sawada, a boy who's life changes after learning to play Vanguard from his mentor Ryuzaki Mikazuch (a very familiar face in the CCEU). Through vanguard, he makes friends, enemies and a team, aptly named "Spiral Terra" with his best friends Hikaru Hata, Fujiko Abe, and Emon Kiba.

Unlike it's predecessors, Spiral Terra is the first book to be set in the future (2046) and also uses V-Series. It's also arguably the most "normal" out of the collection of stories, since it's a slice-of-life drama that focuses on the Spiral Terra team clawing their way to the top of the National Vanguard scene.

So, what did I think of the book?

I think that the story was really shounen. Like super shounen. You can't get more shounen then this. It's fast-paced, it's extremely comedic, and has a lot of hype fights. It's not exactly nuanced (each character usually falls into archetypes and has their own gimmicks) but it's got a lot heart and soul to it.

Out of all three acts, I think Act 2 was the best. However, Act 1's finale is my favourite moment. Seeing Hikaru's true personality come out in such a raw way was powerful and a plot twist I didn't see coming.

Act 2 is the best cuz it's the most tense, and the most dangerous for the team of Spiral Terra. Each fight felt deep and impactful, and there's a lot at stake here. Not just Royalty, but friends and the Regionals too.

Act 1 was a pretty standard introduce everyone and have a good laugh. I think it's a strong act but not Spiral Terra's peak. It's peak was definitely Act 2.

For Act 3, I have pretty mixed feelings for. I think it's the weakest act, since the start of it seemed pretty rushed and had the lowest quality chapters in my opinion, but the hype fights (there's two of ST's strongest fights in Act 3 damn it), resolution and ending basically carry the act. Like it was just satisfying seeing the ending our heroes deserve and have everything settle down.

Now, I do have a lot of issues with Act 3 which I'll air out now so I can end the retrospect on more positive notes.

For Act 3, I think the main issues were: Apex, chapters and structure. Act 3 feels like it wasn't planned out, and is structurally much much weaker then Act 1 and 2 where the storyline and direction was clear. Act 3 just didn't have this quality to it like the first two had, which makes it weaker in my opinion.

Chapter wise, I think there wasn't enough chapters to truly do Act 3 justice. I think the beach arc (while good) of Act 2 could've been cut to make more room for Act 3, since I feel like the build up to the endgame needed that extra 2 or 3 chapters for maximum impact.

Apex, as a concept, is solid. The antithesis of Spiral Terra sounds like they could be really good villains. Like, extremely good villains. However, they felt severely underdeveloped as there just wasn't enough time to make me, the reader, fall in love or hate them. Brosato was Assato at first, Renji felt underwhelming when we finally get to know him, Yuri's just annoying, and Bruno's the only sane one in the whole team!

By the end of it, they were sufficiently developed (Masato's big change in heart during the final chapters, while jarring, was a pretty good save) and I think they are satisfying characters, but for the big villains, I just didn't think they were as good as Hikaru's royalty.

What made Hikaru's royalty so good as the villain is that I have spent enough time in this love-hate relationship with this meme lord only to now have him become my enemy. It feels intense, and it feels dramatic. The weak point of the royalty itself is the characters who join it (Taira, Hisano and Kaminari) since I'm not as attached to them as I am Hikaru.

Apex suffers from that same weak point, but on a whole other level. Act 3 feels rushed because we're thrown a lot of information and character history for this team in order to make us feel something for them, but I think execution wise it fell flat. The confrontations before the actual match-ups were interesting, but it just made Apex look like a bunch of assholes.

On the flip side, you can argue that because we don't really like Apex, we instead want to root for Spiral Terra more to win. The issue with that is I know Spiral Terra's gonna win cuz they're the protagonists. What I would prefer however is more interesting characters since that's what usually will carry the battles. Apex isn't very interesting, and I'm already rooting for ST since I feel attached to them. So I don't think this point really changes my mind.

Even though I am bitching a whole lot about Apex, I think that the team had so much more potential to them. Perhaps I hyped them too much in my head, but their grand reveal was something else. It was exciting, and I was looking forward to it. The characters that make up Apex... I also have a lot to say about them. But I'll save that for later.

Act 1's Ending is by far my most favourite part of Spiral Terra. If there is like a peak point of Spiral Terra, this is one of the highest points. If there is one thing Shida can execute amazingly, it is endings. Act 1's Ending, incredible. Act 2's Ending, hype as fuck. Act 3's Ending, more satisfying then ASMR.

That also brings me to the next point. ALL THE HYPE FIGHTS. BIG HYPE ENERGY IS COURSING THROUGH THESE PAGES! Seriously, there is Ryuuga vs Hikaru, Ryuuga vs Ryuzaki 2: the Electric Boogaloo, Kaido vs Assato and Ryuuga vs Brosato! ALL OF THESE ARE FUCKING AMAZING! SCREAM IT WITH ME, HARUKA MIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Okay, now that's out of my system... yeah, when a fight is hype. It is fucking hype. Each climax is always just so good. Those Final turns everyone pulls out are always so spectacular, and when units are involved you know shit is getting real.

As for characters, I think the big stand out for me is Hikaru. Hikaru's an amazing protagonist. He's the definition of best boy. I had a love-hate relationship with him (I still do) but he produces the best moments of the book.

Ryuuga as a protagonist is pretty solid. I think that transition from shy to confident was well executed, and that's probably the strongest he's been as a character. He also carries the core theme of the book (how Vanguard changes people's lives for the better) through to the end. We get to see his evolution and I think it's great watching evolve.

Though, if there is one issue with Ryuuga, is that once he gets confident, he gets really boring. There's no stand-out trait, and he's just very heroic. Act 3 gets bogged down because of this. Ryuuga's just not as interesting now that his flaws have been fixed. But now he's King, I think that responsibility will help make him a better character.

Fujiko is the love interest of Ryuuga, which is enough said. Unlike the majority of romance out there, they actually hook up in the middle of the story! GO FUJIKO! As a character, I think there is plenty more that can be done to develop her. She hasn't gotten that big shining moment, and for the majority of ST, she just felt useless. Like she was there purely because she was a girl and the MC's love interest.

A similar thing can be said to Emon. He's the level headed one of the group, and like a Fujiko, he only gets one or two shining moments. I'm glad that he has moved on, since his character arc feels pretty nicely wrapped up (moving to university) and hopefully a more interesting character will take his role.

For side characters, the two that stick out are Ichigo and Aijou. Aijou's the literal best girl MVP of Spiral Terra. Big breasts? Check. Personality? Check. Cooking? Check. At first she's pretty one-dimensional but as the story goes along she's like the best friend you always wanted but never have. (Jokes on you I already have the ultimate best friend anyone can wish for)

Ichigo's the most developed side character in my opinion. He's got a fleshed out personality, and clear motives. Being the catalyst for my favourite moment also helps him. He's one of the better written characters of the series. Btw, ICHIJOU FOR LIFE YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY MIND

Now for the cuckhold trio (press F to pay respect my boy Taira). Kaminari and Hisano... well, I think they're weak as side characters. They don't exactly add anything to the story but they are nice to contrast Taira.

You know why I call it the cuckhold trio? My boy Taira got cucked by Kaminari—

Okay jokes aside, Taira isn't that much better. He's funny and loud... and also pees sitting down. We can't forget that important detail. It looks like he might be doing more in the sequel (becoming King pog) but I'm fine if that's the end of those 3 arcs. But I'm sure they'll return even better then before.

Finally, we reach Akira. He sucks as a King. Worst King, boo! Though his friendship with Emon is endearing. I don't have much else to say about him.

Let's talk about Apex now.

We'll start with Bruno, who feels like the least developed character. Being Emon's folly, he's the calm level-headed one, so I suppose that's fine. I would have liked to see more tension for his fight versus Emon, but what can you do? He played Hammsuke, liked aesthetics then fucked off.

Now, Yuri... I don't know how, but Yuri got 3 fights during Act 3 and for all 3 of them she was an annoying little obsessive bitch I'd only fuck if there was duck tape covering her mouth. Her obsession with Ryuuga was funny at first, but started grating on me over time as it was the only damn personality trait she had. At least she likes sex.

Okay, Renji. Oh Renji... you know, he was most likely to be the best Apex member in my mind. Built up from Act 1, I just thought he'd be an amazing side villain. Like, he reappearance was good. The build up to his reappearance was good. But when we get to know the character, he is stuck with a single personality trait: EDGE. And it's all about DAMNATION for him.

Like, it just went downhill from there. I was pretty disappointed that this was the extent of his character. But, the fight versus Hikaru during Regionals gave him a wholesome ending which I can't be mad at, so Renji, you barely escape my scathing review.

Finally, we reach Brosato. At first, for the "main villain" I thought he was just stupid and petty. He was Assato. I didn't like him at all. It just felt pretentious. His goal was at least interesting.

It's when he pushes his shit onto Ryuuga, it just really turned me off. It felt poorly written and thought out, and it was quite artificial for the two to go head to head with each other.

Now, he did deliver two of the hypest fights. I will admit that. But as a villain, he failed on almost all fronts. It's when he has a change of heart; that realisation that makes me think "okay, he's not as shitty as I thought". It came late and felt jarring, but it was honestly better then nothing. Hell, he even owns up to his mistakes and apologises. And that makes me think I was wrong about him. And he's not as ass as I thought.

Hence, Assato -> Brosato.

He becomes a bro by the end of the act, and I think that's a good conclusion. If anything, his arc suffers from being rushed. I would've liked to spent more time with him as a character. It would've made Spiral Terra's final fight even more of a banger.

Now, for some miscellaneous stuff I don't know where to fit.

One thing that bugged me the entire time of Spiral Terra is all the grammar/spelling mistakes. I can accept one or two per chapter; it's hard to get things correct. But when it pops up multiple times (Act 3 is extremely guilty of this), it just feels rushed and sloppy. There is still heart behind it, but the clean and polish could be there.

It's like the drafts being presented as the final version... hopefully the sequel will rectify these issues.

Mini-Terras are a hit or miss thing. Sometimes they're amazing, sometimes they aren't.

The memes in A/N are good. Keep them. More of them. Thanks.

Overall, I give Spiral Terra 11/10!

Okay, maybe that one was a bit biased. If I were to score critically...

8/10!

It's got it's highs and downs. But it's not a badly executed book. It's good, and I'm proud to say I watched it grow til the end since day 1. The ending is great, the characters are great, and it tells a wholesome story. What is there not to love?

Now to wait for the sequel which still doesn't have a name. If it's Spiral Soul, I think I'm gonna yell at Shida for baiting me

That's all, Fox out!