「死者の魂が難破船をおしあげる」 (Shisha no Tamashii ga Nanpasen Oshiageru)
“The Souls of the Dead Raise a Shipwreck”

And so, the classic mystery format begins, with your token screaming girls, writings on the wall, people getting killed, and in the center of it all, an unfazed gothic loli. I think I’m hooked.

Perhaps having lowered my expectations from the first episode, even though I never had high expectations in the first place, this second episode surprisingly managed to completely turn my opinion of the show around. Thanks to the mystery shifting into focus straight away, I didn’t have to sit through any exposition drudge that I was expecting to show up. By setting up the premise as a paranormal one, things suddenly became ridiculously interesting, even though Victorique debunked some of it later. While I realize that’s one of the main personalities of mysteries, solving them so they seem less like a work of magic, my rather old infatuation with the supernatural quickly led me into immersion. There’s also a nice sense of believable realism, which is pretty important in my books regarding any plot, so I hope they keep that up.

Like any good whodunnit, a bunch of the fodder characters quickly die off. What we’re left with is five survivors, one of which we know goes psycho at the end, and the other two being our mains, leaving the last two as big question marks. You probably could have guessed they were going to survive, since they have much more unique designs, but that also tells me that they have something more to them. The token screamer, Julia Guile (Noda Junko), received a ton of screen time, and even made a connection with the protagonists! Detective flag raised, she must be evil. Despite having such an intriguing mystery, it’s not as clever as it seems, as when Victorique describes they were in the wrong room, I just facepalmed. The wallpaper being ripped to reveal the words I had guessed quite a while ago as well, but I don’t want to be nitpicky. A well told mystery is difficult to create, and is possibly the reason why there are so few of the genre in the first place.

However, throw in a little side development with fun characters to watch, and it’s not so much of an issue. Kujou is a little more developed in the beginning, leading to reasonable responses near the end, protecting Victorique in several occasions. Although driving the point home that Victorique is a girl that needs to be protected is a bit sexist, I’m just going to ignore that and see it as more of a caring intention on his part. Victorique on the other hand doesn’t get too much revealed, except a possible fear of water (though she was willing to step in it at first), but her actions are like a mixture of cuteness and hilarity. Besides the more typical blush responses, Victorique’s other interactions with Kujou are rather unexpected, but in a good way. It’s almost like watching a pet and experimenting with things to see its reactions, and I quickly found myself looking forward to her next antic. It’s quite the scene to see a little girl explaining things as three adults linger like they’re dumbfounded on her every word, a little pathetic even. Yuuki Aoi does a great job portraying her personality, and I’ve really grown attached to her voice (probably the kuudere-ness). I’d like to think that when she yelled and sounded like a more mature woman, it was a suggestion that she may be older than she looks (she does talk like an old woman after all), but it’s also possible that Aoi just doesn’t possess the skill to act in the same voice at higher decibels. A big part in the atypical duo is that for once, the male character has a mind of his own, and Victorique isn’t some two-faced bi-polar sadist. Plus, their outfits go together smashingly.

The cliffhanger was razor sharp, and after giving such a good performance, I am now a bit anxious for the next episode. I’m especially curious how the physical representations of the hares relate to the fortune teller. The preview shows a lot of promise, and Kujou’s even going to grab some brass knuckles and duke it out? Hell yeah. Keep it up BONES.

 

ED1.5 Sequence

ED: 「Resuscitated Hope」 by コミネリサ (Komine Lisa)
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Preview

48 Comments

  1. Hmm…it still seems a bit too fast paced. Since I read the novel, comparisons were inevitable. The episode itself was entertaining. I especially enjoyed Victorique’s laugh. It was priceless. Haha.

    There was one thing missing from this episode that I was expecting. There was a lot more tension between the older generation and younger generation in the novel. I personally thought that they didn’t display it well enough here and rushed them to their deaths. It would’ve been great watching that small conflict.

  2. yea Brass Knuckles FTW. I think kujou just protected her because he was taught to protect the weak by his father not because she was a girl. But I think they make a great pair victorique is the brains and Kujou is the brawn.

  3. This anime is getting better and better. I am wondering if the two children shown in the past are the maid and Julia Giles of the present. If so, it would make sense that the maid killed that disgusting old hag. But if that the case, the maid could have worked together with Julia. Hopefully, the next episode will answer that question. And it seems liked our adorable loli… I mean our young detective has a dark past since she says “you pick up the heavy burden yourself” when our mainly protagonist gaives her a ride on his shoulder.

    UFO
  4. i decided to drop this.XD and thought i’d not pick it up any sooner. *goes off to watch detective conan* victorique is cute though i tend to forget how i hate lolis. not in general,but the loli tsuns are.XDD but victorique ain’t tsun-tsun neh?

    keiOnDaisuki
  5. This show’s a real narmfest, isn’t it? I just can’t take it seriously, especially when all the adults in the show are dumber than a soapdish, Kujou’s motivations are so forced, and Victorique’s ice queen heart is already melting as though she’s never met a single decent person in her life. But hey, it’s unintentionally funny, so what the heck.

    Hogart
  6. starting to really like this show
    thought it was gonna be another detective conan
    ill try and continue to follow
    and im not really good with voice actors but
    is victorique maybe the same va as kuroneko??

    Klown
  7. Komine Lisa *melts happily* … wait you mean there’s an anime series tied to this ED? And it’s pretty good at that?! Crap what have I missed ?!?! ;P.

    For all the equality and ability to protect themselves women have, I’m glad to see a male character who isn’t a wuss and can proudly say he has the strength to protect those he cares for.

    Kumakaori
  8. I wanna read the manga but I’ll wait till after the anime is finished. This show is my favorite this season. Definitely my favorite. [Updates MAL] I was really at a loss as to who the culprit was because everyone seemed like such a good suspect! I’m still gunning for the Julia. OMG She’s so SUS!! LOL

    Victorique has GOT to be the cutest damn thing this season! >8D

    Shirt
  9. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but one of the girls in the “hares” flashbacks looked a lot like Julia Giles. Same hair and eye colour I think. Might just be me, but I do believe she’s connected to the hares.

    Pandorakun
  10. It’s not bad but it’s not great either. I probably won’t drop this since I liked the manga.
    By the way is it just me or does this show seem like Bones (the TV show)? Victorique is the smart one and Kujou is the sociable fighting person.

    A
  11. Victorique’s laugh is so adorable 😛 And I really like her personality and funny and cute interactions with Kujou. The mystery is pretty interesting and Victorique is making me stay to watch it through the end. Can’t wait for the next episode.

    Chocolate
  12. “cuteness and hilarity” now i found a good word for it. thx
    still wondering if this anime is only horror, mystery or horror, mystery and romance.
    i felt that this episode wasnt the same level as Detective Conan level of mystery but the mystery can be possible in real life.
    “The cliffhanger was razor sharp” yep it was sharp that it pierced in my mind and i cant stop thinking what will happen next.

    ♕Croosboy♕
  13. Victorique’s “Ohohoho” laugh had me rolling with laughter.

    As for the sexism thing. This show supposedly takes place in the 20s, so it seems fitting to me in a historical context.

    What’s good so far about this show is in my opinion that the “tricks” are believable. In most mystery shows they get ridiculously elaborate and the protagonist is constantly fapping to his intelligence.

    bearzerger
  14. ok i’m having a doubts for this Julia Guile character, in the first room where they were locked in, didn’t she purposely said the door was locked because she know there was a trap in there? cause she’s been in that ship before (although it’s a replica) xD

    Zwei
  15. The wallpaper thing was a surprise for me. The room switch was easy to guess. Since the girl and the guy were colored differently and with much better design, them being the main suspects was also easy.

    Both are suspicious in their own ways. The fun of mystery series like these is the guessing before the unveiling of the conclusion 🙂 . We should know next week

    Zaku Fan
  16. The room switch was a simple one… it’s also understandable in two kinds of stances on why and how it worked. But I’ll explain it next episode. The wallpaper makes sense. I also hate to comment on it, cause one you see how it’s done, you’re like OH, so that’s how it’s done and say it’s easy. Like please be honest with yourself.

    Sora no Kaze
  17. I didn’t like how they cut out a lot of the flashbacks that gave this arc so much impact. Also, I know it was understandably hard to try and not give away who was on the boat ten years ago since the anime format requires you to show what the children actually looked like, but they could have at least tried to make them look different.

    Still, I think BONES did a pretty good job here. This episode proves that Kujou isn’t a wimp like many people have been calling him, and I’m joining the rest in saying that Victorique’s laugh was hilarious.

    Suzushina Yuriko
  18. Mystery stories need better mystery aspects. Maybe I watched too much Conan or read Tantei Gakuen Q too much, but the room switch and wallpaper was blatantly obvious to me. I also hate how the prime suspect is already pretty much revealed by Victorique and yet none of the characters can make the connection (ie. why was the door locked then unlocked? and who closed the door to one room and opened the other? Such EASY clues is pathetic). It’s like Kujou already totally forgot that there is an extra person added to the group (ie. murderer) and is not suspicious of anyone. I really really hope I’m completely off track and GOSICK will throw in some other twist.

    xcswmboy
  19. If you look at the manga’s and novels, they’re completely different compared to the anime. Well from what I’ve seen, it’s a lot more mystery aspect, well to me at least. The manga has an interesting take.

    Sora no Kaze
  20. Julia seems to be the surviving hare as she looks similar to one of the girls in the flashback.
    Not sure about the Baxter though.

    Assuming Julie is the culprit, she really got some money to build a replica ship for revenge(?).
    Ten years in planning? Any room for a third party?

    Wonder did Maurice really meet/see Victorique before.
    Hope the as the mysteries get solved more on Victorique be revealed.

    Linking the case to a past case reminds me of Kindaichi but Gosick plays the past case in parallel.

    iron2000
  21. The first episode was a bit of a snoozer but this is a big improvement. The mystery still is a bit predictable but it is still pretty thrilling and Victorique is a mixture of awesomeness and cuteness. Wahahahaha.

    ahelo
  22. It’s simple. The actor and the other young lady are the baddies. There’s no way either one of them is strong enough to move 9 other people. Besides, it is more realistic for 2 income to purchase a boat, and turn it into a replica. Next, they can both take turn in leading others into traps. This make it hard to guess who’s the real culprit. eg, he was the one who revealed the wallpaper, she is the one to close/open the doors to the duplicate room.

    If you watch the flashback, the “dead” blonde kid is the same actor guy, and the girl who checked his pulse is this young lady. In order to survive, they pulled this trick to cause untrust between the other children, forcing them to kill each other. And now that they’ve survived, they’re planning their revenge on the adults, using the same two person combo.

    Points of interest:
    1. the guy’s matter-of-fact reaction when the wallpaper trick was exposed
    2. the lady saying that the doors were locked, when there’s really a spear gun behind it
    3. the lady arriving first at the duplicate room
    4. the lady noticing how the boy and the gothic girl cared for each other (drawing comparison with her and the actor)
    5. the guy’s sudden outrage at the comments that the kids killed each other, and asked for a reason.

    Jsar
    1. think about it, what’s more likely? 1 person carrying 11 people, or 2 persons carrying 9? How would you slip a 12th person in, if no one can vouch for him/her? 1 income or 2 incomes buying a ship? Is it easier to turn off the lights and rip off a wallpaper with just one person or 2?

      Jsar
    2. And did I mentioned that the actor guy was the one who stopped the kid from going into the elevator? And how the lady was not even shocked when the arrow almost shot victorique?

      And if we assume that body language and voice inflection (how seiyuus tend to exaggerate emotions) is accurate in this episode. I would go so far to guess that:

      1. The lady was in charged of the mislabeled wine (order of speech. Culprits tend to stay quiet about their own crime)
      1.1 the actor was in charged of painting the old lounge (see above)
      2. I retract my statement that the guy was in charged of the wallpaper. Instead, it would be the other way round: he’s in charged of the light, and she the wallpaper (this is the reverse of 1 and 1.1: when a culprit tries to lie, they either stutter, or act in a nonchalant manner) , although you can also confirm it by their positions: she was the one who first “saw” the message on the wall, and was the closest.
      3. The sinking ship was not part of their plans (“why does this ship have such an irksome structure”: frustration/annoyance, rather than fear or panic).

      I hereby claim that I win the Internetz. Give me my cookie.

      Jsar

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