「そのドリルは雄弁に愛を語る」 (Sono Doriru wa Yūben ni Ai o Kataru)
“The Drill Speaks Eloquently of Love”

When the cast is already quite charming themselves, a focus on character relationships and their histories prove to be a much better “mystery” than the actual ones so far. In this case, it’s centered around Grevil, Jacqueline, and Victorique.

The Grevil from back then was so gentleman I was almost swooning a bit at the suaveness. His predicament with Jacqueline is quite romantic in the sense similar to Bakuman’s lead couple (which is pretty romantic to me). It’s like one of those romances no one really understands unless they were a romantic themselves. This one’s not as ridiculous, as it’s simply out of not wanting to cause each other trouble if either party were to reveal their feelings (even though it’s already too late), but Grevil should have confessed to her earlier if he had liked her since they were childhood friends. In any case, Jacqueline is a fun character to watch, even though she probably won’t be making too many appearances after this.

To what ends this whole hubbub with Jacqueline’s mystery has, I’m not too sure, but it seems most characters are just thankful and a little insightful to there being a possibility of a hidden savior. This probably will lead to something later on in the series, or it might just be the lead in to Victorique’s past lack of emotions. I don’t really get why Grevil has so much hate for Victorique in this context, as he not only got off with an easy punishment, he didn’t even get insulted by her. I was expecting Victorique to have been condescending to his feelings of Jacqueline, but she merely questioned what love was. And what’s so wrong with that Grevil? Why be so douchey? Damn you! Of course, now I’m curious as hell as to how Victorique gained emotions, or why she was even capable of such. I don’t think it’s a “mom never taught me how to love” thing, but rather something inherent to Gray Wolves, but it’s totally a better mystery.

Next week looks to follow up with this new development of Victorique’s, with a vacation of “joy and happiness” she can’t understand. Wanting the show to focus more on the characters than the mystery probably won’t come true, but it seems it might happen for at least one more episode. Avril finally tagging along should be fun, too.

Note: This is an example of a “mini-post” we’ve been planning on using in order to blog more shows in our limited schedules (meaning Takaii, Prooof, and me). Currently it’s pretty much the same style as the regular post, except with 12 caps, and will contain a slightly smaller impression than the one I have here. It’s unsure if the mini-style will flutter around series, or just stay that way for a single series, but if you have any comments, suggestions, or complaints, feel free to give them below before the season starts chugging along.

Note2: I’m not sure why, but some of you seem to be missing the point. I’ve written it clear as day, but wow, okay. Let me make it bold and obvious: This style is meant to give us writers more time to cover more shows, therefore the post taking LESS TIME is THE POINT. It will NOT be used for ALL shows, only one or two for each writer. SOMEONE will think it’s “not enough,” but that’s unavoidable. If you’re trying to save time, you’re going to have less. If we could do it without anyone complaining, we’d be doing it for all the posts we do already. Also, writing takes a longer time than caps, so while having another row of caps or two isn’t a problem, keeping the same amount of writing would make this “mini-style” meaningless. Again, none of it is set in stone, because when an episode warrants more discussion, it will get a lengthier post, simple as that.

 

Preview

55 Comments

  1. I like the new mini-style, as long as it is either fun or discussion provoking 🙂 don’t have a problem with less caps, since I watch the show before comment anyway…
    yeah, the whole our grey wolf loli gaining emotion part is interesting, though I feel like it might have things to do with our male lead…
    now I really feel bad for the drillhead…

    jrj
      1. well, I guess I was thinking more about understanding love, not just emotions in general…
        I think there is no doubt that our little loli won’t be this cute without our male lead 🙂

        jrj
  2. Mini-style is cute. All the top half caps fit onto my screen, I don’t have to scroll down to see all of them.

    Also Grevil… wow, he was hot.
    I guess it’s okay for him to be a douche – but then again, he’s still asking Victorique to solve his mysteries for him. If he only asked her once with Jacqueline’s case, and then had some big traumatic experience then I would have allowed him to be a douchebag. I don’t know why though.

    Victorique was really cute acting like a doll.

    pimple
  3. The mini-format looks good to me. Uploading tons of caps takes a while, and 12 should be enough to get the all important parts of an average episode.

    I really liked this episode. It’s interesting that the main reason Grevil comes off as such a buffoon is Victorique’s doing. I agree that the best “mysteries” are character-centric.

  4. I’m all for the mini format too, great job. I did not get the whole scene between Grevil and Victorique at all. What did he mean by saying that she’s got no heart? Maybe he wanted her to demand from him that he should stop loving Jacqueline, that way he would not suffer from not being able to be with her. Instead, he still harbors feelings for her and is unhappy. I’m a romantic and that’s the way I see it:P

    prejsu
    1. So here’s the deal. Victorique somehow did not possess human emotions at that time, so she could not understand why Grevil wanted her to solve the mystery. When given the reason of “because I love her,” she is bewildered what “love” is. If she had understood what love is, she could have used it to make Grevil suffer (and it should be obvious why she would want him to suffer, but given that she doesn’t have any emotions, I guess she couldn’t even do that), such as telling him to stop loving Jacqueline. But she didn’t, all she asked was the hairstyle, and Grevil picks on her for that (like a douche).

  5. Mini-style is great (as I actually never look at the caps anyway as I usually watch the epsiode first) and if you guys can cover shows like ao no exorcist, steins;gate etc, it actually a miniscule sacrifice, if even that.

    qntiria
  6. To be honest I’d be happy with just 1 cap per episode (I was thinking about none at all but that might be a bit boring)

    When I read the posts on RC, either:

    – I’m already watching the show, and I watch the ep before reading the post (like a few others mentioned already); OR
    – I’m not yet watching the show, and I read the post to decide whether to watch it or not, and avoid the caps as I don’t want to spoil myself

    Zeuradin
  7. Kinda used to the original format. And I rather like lengthy commentaries on the show. It gives me a better idea of whether I’d like watching the episodes or not. It’s also one of the reasons why I ONLY checkout random curiosity and not other anime review blogs. Please please somehow maintain the long commentaries… even if you don’t use more than nine screencaps. ><

    core
      1. True. But it feels like I could be missing a whole lot of things about the show. An entire writeup of the episode summarized from the viewer’s point of view seems adequate for me somehow. Perhaps, can I make a suggestion that whilst you adopt the mini-style to cover more animes, retain the original format for first impressions of the shows’ first episodes? I can see myself working well with that because it’s the first reviews for the upcoming season that is really important compared to the rest. Thanks. *bows*

        core
  8. Mini-post looks good in my opinion. Maybe it’s just this particular series in general but it’s fitting in the sense that you’ve condensed it, yet kept up the same level of writing that makes it worthwhile to read. I think if anything, it’ll be choosing which series this format is appropriate with – meaning that the show may not call for it and/or the readers may not be appreciative, depending on the popularity of the show in question – That’s how I see it anyways.

    Nevertheless, good job Kiiragi. (:

    Senakuuri
    1. “This is an example of a “mini-post” we’ve been planning on using in order to blog more shows in our limited schedules.” Dude, this was the first sentence. Did you just read up to “mini-post” and stop to comment? lol.

  9. I have absolutely no problem with the mini post option. Rather, it makes for more writing. This seems like the perfect option for you. The only reason I’d ask for more work in screencaps is full-body shots. And I’m pretty sure you guys won’t disappoint there.

    Anyway, yes… the whole story behind Grevil’s pompadour coming to light makes a little more sense now. Hopefully they’ll also talk about why Victorique got so mad at Jaqueline comparing her to Q-chan. There’s more to the story than meets the eye.

    1. Yeah, the full body shots, especially fan service one’s, need to stay. 🙂

      I am really enjoying GOSICK far more than I had expected. Really loving the OP song which somehow reminds me of the Spice & Wolf Ending’s. btw. now that Spice & Wolf LN is finished, I hope that they’ll produce a 3rd anime season.

      I have the first Gosick LN which I bought a few years ago, but never continued reading more than that. How good/faithful is the anime adaptation and should I also buy the rest of the LN?

      Regarding this episode: Sucks to be Grevil. I didn’t realize that Jacqueline was already married. I thought that old geezer was her father. 😀

      boingman
  10. This right here.^ Shorter posts are much easier to read, and like other people have been saying, twelve caps are more than enough since I’ve already seen the episode before reading posts. MINI POSTS FTW!

    lHyDrAl
    1. It should be said that there are quite a few people who enjoy reading posts of anime they might not be watching, or they just like spoiling themselves before watching. At other times, they just like looking at all the caps of a variety of anime, and use that instead to convince them to watch the series. These will be the people who will have a loss with these mini-posts (though the first episodes of all series will still be full ones).

  11. I’ve been thinking that Grevil’s problem with Victorique is due to his father. I’m guessing that the reason the father brought Victorique’s mother into the family was that he was disappointed in Grevil and wanted an heir with some brains. Grevil or course didn’t take kindly to the situation and blames Victorique it. Some of Victorique’s situation may also be due to her not being a male heir, regardless of what happened with her mother.

    bear
  12. Great episode!
    And regarding the mini-notes, I say go for it, its a nice bite-size chunk and we can’t ask more of you guys than you’re already doing, though the essay size reviews will be missed (I’m still surprised you did it for this long), further discussions can flow in the comments instead.
    “Make it so!” as Picard would put it

    Kendrake
  13. Grevil got Netorared, that’s what you get douche.

    Also, it’s official,

    Kujo is the reincarnation of Q-chan.

    Brown Hair=Brown fur, Q-jo, Grevil calling Kujo “baby squirrel”, the hints keeps stacking up :p

    anishuma
  14. err,how do you reply to comments actually?
    Anyway,i didn’t know the filmstrip style takes more time than the usual style.Still,i prefer the old style,but if it means more shows then it’s trade off.

    RacerX
  15. If your doing the mini-style (which is pretty neat), does that mean you might be open to covering another show this season? Or are the shows you picked what you chose to do with this already in mind..? D:

  16. Mini-Post is just the right choice for such a stuffed season, i love the idea. Specially since it’s still allowing the chance for longer ones only when needed, making time for a well balanced schedule 🙂

    PS. Kiiragi, i actually see the caps after i’ve watch an episode, which is easier than going back and forth in some scenes that caught my attention after i finished ‘the’ episode, also it makes it easier in locating them more precisely 😀

    Ine
  17. I can see this mini post working well for some series and not so well for others. Picture wise, it’s just going to depend on how killer the visuals are and how key they are to the post. In terms of written length, I think it’s really up to the writer if they feel inspired enough by given series/episode. Perhaps even altering between mini and full length within one series would be good, depending on the intensity of the episode in question.

    Anyway, nice ep looking forward to next week.

    innerchihiro
  18. Yea, don’t entirely get why Grevil is such a doucheydouche, especially when he’s very capable of being charming, as noted in flashbacks of him pre-drillhair. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t really consider Victorique human, so she doesn’t deserve normal respect? You don’t need to love your pit-bull to have it fight and win money for you. Or maybe its because her presence brought a lot of drama to him in the past? He was brought up to resent them? It’s all very confusing.. ><

    nn
  19. You guys should also remember the conversation Grevil had with his father. There’s a lot of disgust towards Victorica in the family; it doesn’t all derive from Grevil.

    The way they treat each other is very indicative of the family situation, as it goes far beyond simple sibling rivalry. Grevil probably has his reasons to be a douche to her, but he also relies on her more than anyone else. So for this reason he also deserves to get some shoved back at him. Seeing the two of them talking with each other one-on-one for the first time was an interesting scene. It might show how much Jacqueline actually means to Grevil.

    Now as for the mini posts… I don’t mind the format, and I think it looks good.
    I’d say trim the writing to the important topics of each show and the screenshots as well. Maybe not just a set number for each, as you said, try to tailor each post to the content of the episode. An episode with a lot of eye catching scenes might need to have more shots, and one with some gripping dialogue will probably require more writing.

    But either way, less content in the post means that the fans of the show will have to throw in their sentiments in the comments for further discussion. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But I would say to set a fair minimum for both screens and writing to make sure at least a good amount is shown or discussed. Losing too much of either would detract from those who aren’t following the show and merely looking at the posts to form a decision towards watching.

    As always, keep doing what you guys do. We’ll be sure to let you know what we think! 😉

    Here’s to Gosick being my favorite show for 2 seasons straight! 😀 *Crosses fingers.*

    Mc-Taz

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