First Impressions / GOSICK

「二匹の怪物は心をかよわせる」 (Nihiki no Kaibutsu wa Kokoro o Kayowaseru)
“Two Little Monsters Have a Heart-to-Heart”

Well, at least I was right on one part. Dude was African alright.

So here’s a top down accumulation of facts regarding the setting GOSICK is actually in. The time takes place between WWI and WWII, the first of which ended at 1918, the second of which started in 1939, a span of 21 years. According to episode 1, the current year is 1924. GOSICK in its entirety has scaled to an alternative take on history, rather than simply an isolated story. In essence, this episode changes everything. Basically, it’s the question of, what would happen if there were one additional country in the world with the possibility to actually influence the war? Despite that, Sauville inevitably won’t matter in the course of history, since I see the whole story like Cameron’s Titanic, a fictional romantic tragedy merely using an actual tragedy as a foundation. Throw in whack beliefs and fortune telling, and you’ve got motives for the greedy to gain an advantage for power. And thus, Albert de Blois comes into play.

The arc of Leviathan was a huge surprise that connected the dots for the multitude of arcs past, enlightening that everything’s basically being spun around the inevitability of WWII, and Victorique is the heart of it all. Hungry for power, Albert is the link between Leviathan and Victorique, trying to create a homonculus army for influence in WWI (lolFMA), and now harnessing Gray Wolves for WWII. The origin of the Gray Wolves remains the biggest mystery of them all, and despite the reality over supernatural basis Victorique relies on to solve mysteries, she herself and the myth that precedes her is still constantly referred to as nothing but supernatural.

GOSICK depicts our wars as if they were something almost fantasy-like, calling them gales and storms, making them feel like impossibilities, only possible as a crafted epic that sounds like it was from Tolkien, and I find this perspective rather interesting considering that if you do step back and look at it, wars really do sound like fantasies. Albert’s description of the first war is almost chilling, and it’s hilarious that if I were oblivious to history, I would probably think such a plot would be insanely epic. The series has become considerably darker, and the prophecy holds stronger than ever to perpetuate one depressing fate. Kujou’s definitely going to struggle soon. After seeing Cordelia escape with worry, and Roscoe’s continuing insults, it’s probably unlikely Cordelia’s much of a manipulator at this point. Roscoe seems to be more of the rebel against the de Blois aristocrats, and breaking out Cordelia would be a rob of that power. He hates Victorique because she’s a tool “created” by Albert, and probably doesn’t possess much compassion for Cordelia either.

In any case, this is definitively the halfway point of the series. While the mysteries haven’t been incredible, the fact that they connect to each other in such a manner makes it all seem worthwhile. The added depth has changed my view of the show rather significantly, making the last half more promising than ever. To my surprise, Victorique’s forced disappearance already begins next week.

 

Preview

29 Comments

  1. Somehow Cordelia reminds me of C.C., only blonde and really, really short. Maybe its that silly hat.

    That aside, I like her design, very clearly older than Victorique, yet not losing that tiny, delicate nature thats so integral to her design.

    I do hope Albert dies by the end of the series, we’ve barely even seen him and I already hate his guts.

    Fencedude
    Reply

  3. Eh so the gold was just in a hidden room. Nothing fanciful there but they did give a small hint with the staircase’s lack of even spacing causing Avril’s trip. Still was the death of the kid really needed to be by drinking molten gold? A symbolic revenge on the king perhaps.

    Also Kujo really needs to brush up on his unarmed combat skills as the episode shows.

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

    2. At the end of episode Grevil said that his father is probably going to use Victorique soon. Also, in next episode preview Kujo is searching for Victorique but can’t find her.

      PerlaNemesis
      Reply

  5. The whole he was black that’s why no one saw the thing that left footprints was a bit of a letdown mystery-wise but when you actually give it some thought, it could actually work.

    Also, Victorique really needs to be more aware of her height especially when it involves revealing the mystery, good thing Kujo was there though. ^^

    Jaden
    Reply

  6. I wonder if the fact that all the gray wolfs have blond hair will tie into the perfect race belief with Hitler. Only if they all had blue eyes I would be 100% convinced.

    infinite
    Reply

  7. This episode was SO GOOD. I love how it all tied together, and when the credits rolled, all I could think about was how Victorique and Kujou will be caught up in this gale of WWII. And THAT SONG! Ugh, Komine Lisa, you’re killing me here. It’s just too sad. Can’t wait until next week!!

    innerchihiro
    Reply

  8. Wow… this episode shows that when Gosick wants to be good, it can be extremely good
    This anime is going to go down the hall of epicness when everything finally falls in place

    Aidata
    Reply

  9. Things are starting to get interesting. The first weird arc (where the children from the “winning” countries in WW1 survived) gets it reason why it exists. 🙂

    “Fun fact”, I was unsure if Yugoslavia existed before WW2 and had to check. Turns out it wasn’t know by that name until 1929 but was called Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. A plump, albeit tiny, in their research. 🙂

    Greg
    Reply

  12. I think it is interesting they are talking about the second storm as if it is happening soon (within a few years), it does not seem like we are talking about an even 15 years in the future (1939).

    I have to wonder if they are trying to start this war early and Albert is stopped, though they can only stop Albert leaving Hitler to start the inevitable war instead.

    NakkiNyan
    Reply

  13. wow! you called that?? cool, cuz i didn’t see that coming, the “Chaos” or whatever must have aligned nicely in your head, lol! i liked that African angle/ victorique tie in at the end, made an other wise boring arc turn INSTANTLY interesting!……..on another note, NOBODY WAS TEMPTED TO TAKE A GOLD BAR!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! SERIOUSLY,,,ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!????

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

  14. the whole time i was thinking: BONES CAN’T GET ENOUGH FMA LOLZ

    and OMFG KIIRAGI WAS RIGHT

    and pretty sure white people skeletons, when petrified/etcetc will turn black too. so really, how could they tell?

    and the leviathan crawling out of that hole reminded me of lisbeth salander’s hole crawling.

    qntiria
    Reply

  16. Avril is definitely wasted for Kujo. I agree that this episode did tie-up pretty well with the other arcs. Kinda random but, I just marathoned Gosick just now and well. I’m glad I did with this ep; pretty great, liking the chemistry more than the mystery as with everyone. Goth-loli ftw.

    Kyzel
    Reply

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