When Gosick started airing back in January, the mysteries in the beginning left the glass half. While the show had some interesting mysteries, I felt that the show’s strength lies in the underlining adventure with Kazuya and Victorique as they uncover the secrets of Sauville (Image Source).
The story involves a teenage Japanese boy named Kujo Kazuya whom transferred to St. Marguerite Academy in Sauville. Eventually, he meets a girl named Victorique, who looks childlike and beautiful on the highest level of the library. After they met for the first time, they go on a series of adventures to solve mystery cases that the police and detectives can’t solve.
In their adventure, it’s broken up to two different parts. The first part focused primarily on Victorique’s mystery solving skills and how her mother, Cordelia Gallo got famed and exiled from the Grey Wolves village. In addition, several supporting characters were introduced such as Avril, another love interest who likes Kazuya, Brian Roscoe, Jacqueline and Luigi.
In the latter part of their adventure, Kazuya and Victorique uncover the hidden and dark secrets of Sauville. These secrets coincided with Albert de Blois’s evil plan to drive Sauville into the war and gain more power by using his daughter, Victorique that he illegitimately gave birth as a tool for his advantage. I felt the second part of their adventure was far more interesting than the first since it took a different spin with the events happening during the time in Europe with some suspense. Out of the three mysteries from the second half, the Coco Rose murder mystery remains one of the most interesting and bizarre cases from the whole story.
While I felt that the supporting characters, especially Cordelia and Brian could have been developed more, the gradual change of Kazuya and Victorique was far more interesting. At first, Kazuya didn’t have much feeling towards her and he was fairly weak. Throughout their adventure, he develops a strong bond with her and vows to protect her at all costs so she will never be lonely. In contrast, Victorique is very intelligent, but never had any social interaction since her father locked her away. As a result, she developed a harsh and somewhat childish personality. Gradually, her harshness goes away while romantic feelings for him grew and she matured. Through their mementos they gave to each other allow them to stay strong though the period of anguish. Even though the whole love prevails thing is sort of clichéd, Kazuya finally reuniting with Victorique after several years of war was simply heartwarming.
Overall, Gosick was an enjoyable experience that has gotten better over time, especially towards the end. While it’s understandable that people were let down with the shallowness of the mysteries, it was not necessarily a bad thing since the show is more about finding out the secrets of the past that will change the future. The idea of taking specific events during the time and incorporating it with the underlining plot added suspense and interest as it unfolds. Also, the scenery along with the opening and ending songs fit the overall theme and setting of the show. While I have to admit that the last few episodes felt rushed, Gosick have succeeded in becoming a good adventure story with elements of mystery and of course, bringing the cuteness and appeal of Victorique.
Overall Rating: 8.7/10, B+, Very Good ¶
Yeah, I’m glad you pointed out the OP and the two EDs, since they were quite good. There were several interesting side characters, but Victorique and Kujo’s relationship really makes this series work for me.