「死神の肩越しに永遠をみる」 (Shinigami no Katagoshi ni Eien o Miru)
“Looking at Eternity over the Grim Reaper’s Shoulder”

This was a finale that played it straight. It quickly tied up all its remaining loose ends, set the stage for the timeskip, and ended it with the classic “and they lived happily ever after.” After a little thought, I think that’s satisfactory enough.

I liked the closure. That got big points from me as they finally explained Roscoe’s character. Turns out he really was his twin, and in GOSICK’s world where nothing supernatural exists, I should have started assuming the simple answers a lot sooner. The change in relationship between the twins and Cordelia is twisted into that of a attention-wanting kid fighting for his rightful mom, and was a good enough reason to quell the annoyance I had been building up for the Roscoe’s. It’s still kind of weird seeing a grown man fighting for “mom’s rights” against a little girl, which is funny, because I doubt they knew the design of these two characters were going to backfire like this.

So in a scuffle, Victorique saves him somehow from the huge cliff, but is mortally wounded regardless. Grevil comes around but lets them go, as if that was his “good deed”. Grevil used to dangle pretty close to being cool, but I don’t really think so anymore. The best deed in his pocket is basically him doing absolutely nothing. That’s how he “supports” Victorique. I was expecting more of a physical, “Don’t touch my sister, you bastards” kind of outburst to make him look really cool near the end, but that obviously never happened.

The demise of Cordelia and both Roscoes wasn’t completely unexpected, but it didn’t particularly evoke a strong reaction from me. Roscoe spewed some poetic lines about Seyrun, and Cordelia gets absolutely no lines. Not even a face. Just part of her body. You’d think Cordelia would have a better “dying words” impact, or even have the two die in each other’s arms.

And then from there, a bunch of things happen that help transition into the timeskip. With Albert confirmed dead, Roget goes around like he’s the messiah, repent on his sins, and helps out Victorique with the letters from Kujou for some reason. I’m assuming it’s because he feels some sympathy for a fellow gray wolf, knowing full well what her situation was like with Albert de Blois. The “war” begins (not WWII), and Kujou charges into battle. Romantic longings are exchanged, and then a scene where Kujou loses his legs is used to evoke a worried emotion that this might not end well. To that end, it worked. 24 episodes with this duo, despite having a sense of sameness in romantic development for the past few arcs, inevitably created connections to these characters. But the worriness didn’t last for long. The timeskip came quick, and as the support character stories started closing up one by one, I knew I was getting a happy ending. I like how in the end, despite being an alternate take on history, Saubure ended up changing nothing. Albert dies, so nothing radical occurs, and Roget gets back his position under the throne. However, he doesn’t seem like he wants to do anything anymore with the Gray Wolves, but remarks that the world is changing to a more modern one like the one we live in today. A very clean resolution like everything else.

The rest just came by the books. The war is over, Kujou survives with nothing wrong, some small closure with Kujou’s hometown (this seemed like a missed opportunity), and the two walk like a married couple into the sunlit distance. No surprises, and it’s as if nothing ever changed. It’s happy, but it didn’t feel earned.

Older Kujou was mad handsome.

 

Epilogue

Final Thoughts:
Initially, I didn’t think the plot was going to become this big. I thought it was just going to be about mysteries, and at best, a smaller scale in an overarching plot that would come out near the end. The story is definitely one of GOSICK’s strongest points, and the runner up would be the chemistry between Kujou and Victorique. I would’ve said the latter was the best before, but things have gotten rather stale between them lately, and their relationship has been simplified (again, possibly due to being rushed) to crying out to each other like a Romeo and Juliet. Kujou’s romantic connection never sees past, “I’ll save you because you’re my friend.” There was the whole Monstre Charmant tale to make it seem like their relationship was closer than it actually was, but the characters themselves never really follow through. Like in the finale, it’s not like I expected to them kiss or anything, but they didn’t even tell each other that they love one another.

This connects with their characters, and while Victorique is developed relatively quite well, her partner Kujou suffered. We never really see Kujou change, he just stays what his character synopsis summarizes since the first episode. Kind, sensitive, but a soldier with daddy issues. On the other hand, while Victorique goes through a lot of emotional turmoil, it’s hard to see what exactly each has done to her in the end. She gets white hair, looks like she’s been through war herself, and all she has to say for it is, “I’ve been through a lot too.”

The plot I generally had no problems with, and except for a few cheap developments here and there, it certainly became the better part of GOSICK. It could have been better executed, but knowing recent BONES, this is probably the best they can do. GOSICK’s plot as a whole is quite ambitious, but was crafted with the utmost attention to detail, which gave the series a lot of depth. The problem is, 24 episodes was not enough. It’s especially notable near the end, and when you rush things, it destroys all aspects of the show. Character actions feel abrupt and weird, there’s no time to let developments flesh themselves out, and the list goes on. The adaptation definitely needed more episodes, and also a better staff as it puttered out a little by the end, but as a whole, it was rather decent. It’s just that a lot of what made it good didn’t create enough impact in the finale due to being rushed. Things seemed like they just came too easy. A shame really. Alas, that makes it a bit hard to recommend.

This is the last post out of the queue I had. Sorry if it was a bit late. It seems like I’ve lost a lot of steam for blogging, but it’s really just me attempting to prolong my stay at RC, right?! lol. But thanks again for reading. Enjoy the new season.

 

85 Comments

  1. This war thing deserved a better explanation. It didn’t really make much sense, especially with Kujou fighting on it. WTF. Good anime overall, but a lot of problems regarding the plot. I watched it because of the characters. The plot was kind of mediocre.

    André
      1. Yeah. But I thought it was strange to see Kujou fighting in this war, because he’s not “Sauburian” so he shouldn’t be fighting. However, in the end, he comes back to Japan with many other Japanese soldiers… So, he was fighting for Japan? For Saubure? For both? What? Very strange. LOL.

        I wish they could release an OVA explaining everything. lol.

        André
      2. Eh, didn’t look to me like he was in the Saubure army, but in the Japanese one. He walked off a ship of returning wounded soldiers in Japan at least and unless there was a shipload of Japanese soldiers fighting in Saubure, so must it have been the Japanese army. It’s only historically wrong by two years as well as Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931.

        znail
      3. Well it indicates that the Japanese army fought in Europe in a war that never took place in reality, for a country that does not exist. This is just downright silly…

        prejsu
      4. I think the whole war thing is self explanatory, Japan is in constant war in its occupied territories in East Asia e.g. Korea, Manchuria, and Indochina even before they declare war vs. the US in 1941 which makes the Second Great War into a World War. Even if the great war happens in 1925-1930 in the anime, its most likely that Kujo is sent to war in those occupied territories.

        There is no way Japan is fighting in Europe in the Anime.

    1. I haven’t read the light novels, but since the war started earlier in this timeline, Japan most likely followed the northern or army strategy (a real plan Imperial Japan was considering before WW2), the invasion of Soviet Sibera. That’s probably why Kujo (as a Imperial Japan/Kwantung Army soldier) seems to be fighting tanks resembling Soviet IS-2 in tundra conditions.

      vitaminless
    2. This is just a different sorta spin on WWII, but not really WWII, heh. It’s a global war though so Japan got dragged into it, I think they state as much back in ep23 or before in 22?

      It doesn’t really matter since we’re talking about an anime that takes place in a country that doesn’t exist, so it’s, to that extent, a alternate/parallel world that’s like ours but not ours, so maybe for the anime this was WWII but just 10 years earlier? It’s of little consiquence.

      GP007
  2. @Kiiragi, you’re just enjoying Victorique all for yourself, that’s why you won’t blog anymore. Just joking (since Kujo have no legs, I doubt that’s him probably he encountered Edward Elric and gave him a pair of mechanical legs, since Edward told him never to give up and continue on,then Edward asked his wife to make another pair for him.)

    This is the best moe I encountered since yesteryears, they managed to merge all mysterious into one final plot, it appears Victorica already have the white dyestuff ready, or the dying Brian gave it to her, but warned of sideffects that it won’t came off anymore.

    I hope she’s didn’t suffered those foul things in Kujo’s country before he arrived after war. They altered Gosick so that nobody from the government or any ishihara maniacs steps in for the dvd/bd even blue ray release of Gosick.

    QB
    1. I think the silver hair was supposed to be from everything that happened and all the stress stripping the color out of it, like when hair goes white from shock and such.

      Aex
      1. I though she dyed them to escape police description but still grey after 4 years…
        Also I wonder if it’s really from stress. She a smart person, how could she stress? moreover now that she is safe.

      2. You would think if she dyed it silver to disguise herself it would have made more sense to dye it black and cut her hair short. Then again hair that long has probably never been cut.

        Overall I really liked the series. Victorique was amazing and she grew as a character over the course of the series too from a selfish spoiled girl into one that fell in love with a japanese boy who was her rock all through the series. Kujo really didn’t grow as a character much from the beginning (as Kiiragi said). Props to his family for taking her in who like no questions asked. I would have rather they went to 26 episodes so we could see some of that rushed feeling with plot holes smoothed out.

        This summer season has another amazing cute character in Ikoku Meiro’s main character Yune to take Victorique’s place as Moe in my schedule.

        Karmafan
    1. Pretty sure that was just a really bad fever-dream. Only thing I got to explain that, otherwise he would’ve woken up still under all that debris, not in the middle of a random desert.

      Aex
    2. It was a dream, he was in a desert, when in fact we all know he’s up in russia fighting in the snow. That should’ve been an indication that he was dreaming or w/e. Or hell, the big glowing ring in the sky should’ve given it away to.

      GP007
  3. I’m corny, so I loved the ending. Very “and they lived happily ever after”, anime style. Would’ve liked to hear more about what Victorique did during that four-year time-skip though. Did it take her that long to get to Japan? Was she shacked up at Kujo’s for two years? Anyways, I was all happy and clapping when he walked up and she told him he was late. Things got a little too hectic in the later episodes, but this was an ending I could happily live with, and I don’t say that often in anime.

    Aex
    1. Yeah, I’m in the same boat of corn. When Kujo hallucinated about losing his legs, it was a nightmare for me. I guess I was more absorbed than I thought. And Victorique was more than adorable, even in the commoners clothing, she still had her usual radiance. (The silver hair was beautiful too.) Just seeing her mighty character be reduced to such a fragile girl makes you want to do what Kujo does best. 🙂

    2. I agree I really liked the ending. Even though they did’t kiss or say “I love you” it still had its own charm. I felt it was a little more unique because they didn’t do those things, and instead Victorique simply says “You’re late”. It’s kind of been their thing for years.

  4. Those two last episodes were so rushed… this just feel like a 26 episode anime that have been shortened to a 24 due to some earthquake.
    Also did anyone know in witch war was Kujo involved? against who?
    And what’s with this wedding dress? is that supposed to mean they got married?

      1. So they were more honest about their feelings sometime during that flash forward? They didn’t say it outright when they met but it looked like their love was very clear anyway. Apart from her being so tiny so do I doubt anyone watching them missed that when they walk hand in hand looking longingly at each other. Japanese are pretty shy about public displays of affection, so even holding hands is a clear sign of closeness.

        znail
  5. T_T

    I don’t know if it was just me, but my VLC player lied and said this was 24 min. episode. All the way up till the bitter end, was a spiraling whirlpool of one shocking event to the next [for me]. After being convinced of Kujo’s condition during the war, I was a mess. (The failed message in a bottle was a nice attempt to cheer us up though.) :’) The Katanagatari vibes were touching too.

    Victorique’s change in hair color couldn’t have been from shock alone. I wanna say Brian had something to do with it. Anyway, Gosick is a classic and a great recommendation in my book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it, Kiiragi.

  6. Marvelous series! Though, I do agree that it needed more episodes to flesh out the final arc b/c it was rushed. I love what happened to Avril in the epilogue XD Just shows how much of a role she had in the show. And Aoi Yuuki, you are my new moe VA (I’m sorry Hanazawa….)

    004samro
  7. Anyone apart from me wondered how Victorque looked like an even smaller kid in the Japanese clothing? It was almost as if Kujou was talking to a 6 or 7 year old kid…

    Apart from that, liked the ending 🙂

    Taiakun
    1. I’m going to be honest, I don’t know which one I’m more sad about. I’m straight up devastated.

      On top of that it looks like summer season is going to suck.

      Foofiebeast
  8. Maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention, but…who was the blonde tweeny-bishounen in the library who sees the Monstre Charmant book come to life? Was he a character revisited, or just a shill to show how the library and the mythmaking goes on & on?

    ojisan
    1. Isn’t him that boy who showed the village who people didn’t like grey wolfs to Victorique and Kujo in one of the first episodes?
      His name is Ambrose, it looks like him.

      Lina
  9. I re-watched the part where Victorique explains how her child will have both her and her spouse’s heart and that even if only one of them is with the child, the child will receive both their love. I was so confused, or maybe I’m just thinking too hard, anyone care to explain? [;

    Zisulizations
  10. The upcoming Ikoku Meiro no Croisée have a lot of similarities with Gosick
    – takes place at the same time
    – neighbor countries
    – guy & little girl
    – same novel designer
    – Victorica’s VA will be voicing a supporting role

  11. Glad they got a happy ending, I’d expected worse. Still, ep 24 was not one of the best due to the bloody rush, so a detail freak like me couldn’t swallow a lot of points, like Grevil’s heel face turn and everyone’s instant forgiveness of his turning Victorique over to his dad and kicking Kujou back to Japan. Some points were plain bad script with silly dialogues though, like the King’s reconciliation with Jupiter Roget, or the part with Avril trying to send Kujou a letter by means of a bottle thrown into the sea (I expected her to at least know his address after being in his acquaintance for so long)

    Overall, Gosick is definitely not one of the best anime I’ve watched. The animation only okay, the scripts are too frequently bad, the dialogues are inane, there was a lot of unecessary melodrama, the characters are annoying or has no depth at all. Setting them besides Victorique, and I can’t help but feel her superior in every aspect, which makes her a Mary Sue to my exasperated nerve, and everyone else utterly charmless and unsympathetic. The better characters are Victorique and Cordelia, but really, I don’t feel much of Victorique’s growth, instead I have the feelings she’s always been that awesome, and the developments merely serve to show us how much However, with this happy ending and several excellent arcs (namely the Coco Rose arc, the Leviathan arc, the Cordelia arc), Gosick has redeemed itself in my eyes, and elevated to the rank of “watchable”, but sadly, not and never will be “recommended”.

    Nyaa
    1. How would she know the address as she had no reason to send his family any mails? It’s not like she would even be able to read or write it down if she had seen it somewhere.

      znail
      1. well, she’s been hanging around him since ep 5 or so, don’t you think they should have at least exchanged contact information ? Especially so since Kujou is a foreigner, his hometown should be a topic of some interest to Avril, who – when you consider it – is romantically interested in him, and normally, would want to know more about him that casual friends should. Or is it only my common sense failing me again, and friends who’ve been hanging around each other for 10+ eps never talk about their family, where they used to live, etc. ?

        And even if she was too busy flirting with Kujou and getting jealous at Victorique to ask about his family once, she still could have checked with the school. At the very least, they’d have the family name and some information about his family.

        Nyaa
    2. I think especially with the abruptness of how they were separated it doesn’t seem that strange that she doesn’t have his address.

      A) It would be in Japanese which more than likely she would have an incredibly hard time writing
      B) I figure she would ask for it at “graduation” or whatever to mail him, at this point she had no need for it.
      C) The school was still closed at this point, so she would not have been able to contact them.

      D) Where the fuck was she supposed to be, or am I not remembering where she is supposed to be from?

      Foofiebeast
  12. I love this series and thank God there was a happy ending.In the regard of the war, I think that it just WWII happebs earlier in the story to adjust to the events the haracters are facing since Sabure is a fictional country after all.

    Anyway, the show was great and the two love birds can start a new life together in Japan. By the way Victorique´s silver hair is so beautiful, I sopouse that now she´s the silver fairy and the golden the fairy.

    haseo0408
  13. omg victorique ur hair!!! Loved the ending but i wish kujo did something romantic in the end……. anyway, thanks for the post Kiiragi hope you’ll make some cameo appearance in the future posts XD

    oliviaven
  14. oh….i was gonna say, “lose a leg, gain a loli” a goth one at that!…but i guess not.
    THANKS fo Blogging K!!! the series was good, but alas NOT good enough for the archives. NEXT!

    BROOKLYN otaku
  15. Was expecting a lot more from this series… Oh wells~~ Studios should have more freedom to choose the span of their series, other than those that are above 30++ episodes, most anime have a 11-12/24-26 episode run to fit the season.

    Well I am pleased with the happy end where Vic and Kujo ended up together, looks like the prophecy did not state whether they will be reunited after the great gale.

    Flappy
  16. Y’know the last six screenshots are interesting enough by themselves. If I didn’t know the story at all and just saw those six shots, I’d be completely psyched for this show thinking there was a long adventure Katanagatari-style.

  17. In the beginning of the episode I really thought it was Nice Roscoe and Cordelia walking around town, and I sorta facepalmed with a why didn’t I get this when it was revealed to be Mean Roscoe and Victorique. Just the blood on his shirt seemed more to indicate the wound Nice Roscoe received while fighting the old lady, than Mean Roscoe falling down a cliff. But it felt somewhat cool that they did such a ruse.

    I felt that Kujo should have lost his legs kind of to prove that it can’t be all bells and whistles. I was going for a slightly sad ending where Kujo came back in a wheel chair or not at all. So I was disappointed as he walked back like nothing was wrong.

    Even though I wanted a sort of sad ending, I still wanted one of the Roscoes to be alive. Preferably Nice Roscoe, but I was betting before the final that Mean would accept Victorique in the end. It was a bit of a buzzkill for him to survive falling off a cliff, but then die on a ship. Such a waste.

    But overall one of the most worthwhile of the season.

    treize
  18. I think this is a good series with a very very rushed adaption which is a shame. However, I enjoyed the story enough that if I get a chance to read the novels, I will.

    innerchihiro
    1. I haven’t read them but I believe they’re distinctly different. In the GOSICK special that aired mid-season, Yuuki Aoi interviewed author Sakuraba Kazuki and asked her about how similar the anime is to the light novels. She replied that they’re progressing differently but to the same end. She made the analogy that the two storylines were running in parallel with one another and suggested that spoilers aren’t really possible.

  19. This ending was ABSOLUTELY NOT up to my expectations!

    Kinda lame and rushed up!!!

    >.< I would have expected them returning Saubreme… and as for Victorique's hair, journey by ship takes a long time, so her hair turned silver was possible… guessing the time period to be at least 3 months. I never wanted Cordelia to die, but now it seems that the things will never be the same again. Did Kujo's family never question about Victorique? They took her in for so many yrs?

    Right in the middle, I thought that the real novel wouldn't have turned like this. Comparing the 1st & the last eps, there was a significant decrease in the quality, but, well, thats just my opinion.

    Victorique's golden hair replaced her cheerfulness, but she did not seem happy at the end even though she was smiling…

    1. I believe they took her in because she had all those letters from Kujo, in addition there was some amount of communication between Victorique and and Kujo’s sister.

      Foofiebeast
  20. My bone(s)(lolz) to pick with this series…

    A)Like everyone has noted they completely rushed they last two episodes and that was really really disappointing. Way too much stuff to be crammed in there, but on top of that…

    B) I hate when series clearly know they aren’t going to have much room, yet still decide to save animating the final scenes until crunch time. Those last 8 minutes or so were almost painful to watch, Victorique in particular looked awful and nothing like herself, the whole thing was sloppy. Why in the world would you want that to be your viewers last moments with your show? Draw those scenes ahead of time….shit.

    C)WhereTF was the “I love you” ? Why have Kujo finally bring it up in the letter and then not even show it? Should have been the first thing out of his mouth when he walked up.

    D)Not that I have a problem with a happy ending (I’m glad it did have one), but it really seems like they were gearing up for the opposite, and maybe just felt the need to keep it happy/remain true to the light novels (I don’t know, haven’t read them)? I was pretty sure the show was going to end with that shot of Kujos arm under the debris…Admittedly I would have been pissed and in tears, but whatever.

    E)As other people have said Blois had no badassitude at the end…I kind of like to think he separated them because in the end he knew it meant saving Victorique, but thats a stretch.

    F)The little things: Albert had no gray area which was lame. Cordelia and (the) Brian(s) died way too fast. Etc. Etc. Etc.

    All that being said, this was my favorite of the past 2 seasons (a close second being Hanasaku Iroha), and I will definitely miss these characters.

    Foofiebeast
  21. Guys, “I love you” doesn’t always have to be put in words. Was there any doubt about their love at the end, with her traveling half the world just to be there when he returns from war?
    😉

    Shai'
      1. Maybe the term of romantic love would have been to much for Vic to handale, and a genuine friend is what she really needed to develope and grow. So I think that not actually mentioning “love” was the right choice. Kujo was for Vic the sole person that tried to figure her out, appriciate her w\o fearing her, make her happy, protect her, and accept her with all her antics. He himself didn’t know how much he loved her until very late eps – cus really, who could fall in love with such an annoying brat like her! 😛

        lucci
  22. At the end, I was imagining Kujo coming back with less of a timeskip, being sent home because he lost both his legs and was useless and seeing Victorique sooner :(…….. (somehow, I felt that would of been a better ending)
    I wonder how Victorique could of spent years in Japan and not learn the language, though…

    3242
  23. So in the end, a Gray Wolf is just a short-blond-really-smart person? I know GOSICK doesn’t really have any supernatural in it, but I guess I wanted Gray Wolves to be a bit more special haha ^^”

    lucci
  24. I was expecting a more less happy ending since in episode 7 the chief said “you won’t die together.” (tomo ni wa shinu mae?) So I took it as “they will be forever separated in the end”.

    Did I get that line wrong?

    LGrey
  25. GOSICK, huh… well, putting aside that those cases Victorique solved were easy as hell and Kujou’s seiyuu was damn irritating (somebody please count how many times he said her name), the rest was pretty good. Grevil did a good job staying quiet, Father died, Kujou returned, he’ll be together with Victorique. Maybe it is rushed and without some great atmosphere around it, but screw that.
    Animation was really good, also, I liked how the library looked inside. Aaand, music was lacking something. The whole OST could be better [as I excepted from Nakagawa Koutarou (worked in Code Geass, both seasons)].

    tl;dr ver.: 8,25/10

  26. It was pretty hard watching these last two episodes. Almost half of the time I watched it I didn’t really know what was going on. I agree with everyone, it’s too rushed. Two more episodes would have done the job. But still, I would have preferred if they went the Light Novel route. I haven’t really read it yet so I don’t know the LN ending but I’m pretty sure it would have HAD a much better closure than this “fake” ending.

    Great series still.

    The Story You Don't Know
  27. I finally caught up in this series since I was quite busy and was also caught up by the newer animes, and man was I SATISFIED! LOVE THE ENDING! I know we all wanted Kujou to at least say he loves her (after all he even said this in his letter lol) and wanted Victorique to also say it, but I guess the beauty about this couple is that they dont really need to express it in words. You can just tell how much they love and long for one another.

    And yes I was also pissed that although that last image shows Victorique in a wedding dress, I did NOT like how they portrayed Kujou in a really stupid clothing, seriously I wanted him to also match Victorique so they would look good together, hell even his normal clothing that we have seen him throughout the series was FAR BETTER than the clothes he walked off with Victorique.

    X
  28. Use your mind.
    Collect all the chaos fragment like what victorique always do and you will see why here hair is silver…

    It’s a simple problem don’t be like Kujo, the baby squirrel. ^^

    Rodrae

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