First Impressions / GOSICK

「風邪（かぜ）ひきは頑固な友人の夢をみる」 (Kaze Hiki wa Gankona Yūjin no Yume o Miru)
“Girl With a Cold Dreams of Her Stubborn Friend”

The mystery turned out to be a rather normal one by the genre’s standards, but made up for it with the continual uncloaking of Victorique’s dark past. The episode still played out rather nicely, even though some things are kind of ass-pulled yet again, like knowing the windows of the Jeantan was actually made of Blue John stone. Maybe I didn’t listen carefully, because I don’t remember hearing anything explaining that was the case (she probably pulled the info from the newspapers), so once more does Victorique prove that there’s just some things we’ll never guess. DISREGARD THIS I.. uh, yeah. The episode had a nice duo going on with Grevil and Kujou, but similar to Victorique’s development, I doubt any of it will really change their mannerisms towards each other.

Concluding from this arc are several points to remember. Brian Roscoe is the red magician, has some sort of old relationship with Cordelia, and is a descendant from her village. Indubitably, he’s going to play a large role. However, he also can’t really be an antagonist, so his character is interesting. I’m guessing the sneeze similar to Victorique’s coming from the box actually has Cordelia inside, which means the two caught the flu at the same time (lol). Does that actually mean anything right now? Not much I can think of. Grevil’s hairstyle now has a reason behind it, a favor asked of Victorique, but at first, I figured it was while she was in the library. Assuming the dream stemmed from reality, the end reveals it was actually asked during her unknown length of imprisonment, and Grevil was not so very nice at that point in time (a bit painful to watch almost). This leads to the “Gray Wolves can’t love” comment, which has me thinking Victorique really is some sort of evolution from the actual Gray Wolves near the village we saw several episodes ago (well, I guess her mother is first). There’s also some new characters established, like Jacqueline, but not much to speculate about them as of yet.

Judging by the preview however, Jacqueline appears to be a past love of Grevil’s, who apparently had bishounen hair before his fabulous drill. Also, was this really its true purpose..?

Note: Tomorrow is GOSICK’s spring special, not episode 11. I think it’s a live show with the cast, so I won’t be blogging it, due to the fact that it probably won’t be subbed.

 

Preview

36 Comments

  3. I think you misunderstood the whole Blue John thing. They explained that the special property of the Blue John mineral is that it can be ground up and dissolved into water. During seances, the medium would use this solution to simulate ectoplasm (supposedly mucus left behind by ghosts). This is mainly because it glows in the dark.

    So, at some point before the lights would be turned out for a seance, the medium would have an accomplice throw or paint some of this solution on the table or walls in such a way as to suggest that spirits had passed through. When the audience opened their eyes, they would see the “evidence” of the otherworldly visitation glowing in the otherwise pitch-black room.

    In the episode, the policemen made some Blue John solution and dipped their hands in it. They pressed their hands against every window that they could find along the side of the building facing the Palace. When the lights went out in the Jeantan, the window of the hidden room was revealed, since the policemen were unable to find it (and therefore, to mark it with the phosphorescent fluid).

    Dandos
    Reply

    1. I did glean the information you explained in your first two paragraphs from the episode, but didn’t really realize that by touching all the glass, they could find out what the hidden room is.. maybe because that sounds extremely stupid. If you don’t touch a particular glass window, there should obviously be a gigantic locked room, so to use this roundabout method.. wtf? In any case, thanks for explaining it.

      Kiiragi
      Reply

  4. I found it funny how Kujo did not realize that the blue rose from the previous episode was the real thing. But hey, suppose GOSICK doesn’t work unless Victorique spells out everything…kinda like House does whenever he gets “the idea” within the last 10 minutes of each House episode.

    Taiakun
    Reply

  7. So, Russian girl named Anastasia who is supposedly the daughter of some noble. Then you find a crown with the crest of the Romanov family where she was being imprisoned… raise any eyebrows?

    Seems to me like Kujo just rescued a royal.

    disgradius
    Reply

  9. *sigh*

    You know, I always hoped that after years and years of experience and hundreds of mysteries Watson would eventually manage to solve a case on his own, but it never freaking happens. In the end, Kujo’s contribution to his first case without Victorique was limited to accidentally running into the right people and convincing the police to get off their asses.

    I don’t think it’s the series’ fault, but it makes me sad that Kujo will probably never amount to something more than being the meat shield when things get rough (though now that I think of it, he didn’t even get to fight the kung fu lady in this episode either…). I don’t think he’ll ever take the spotlight again, but even if he does, it’ll probably be another mystery that solves itself.

    Athos
    Reply

      2. @Outcast

        If you are replying to me then I don’t know how you came to that conclusion that “You (I) truely are a worthless child.”

        Care to explain? Oh ~ in case you didn’t know I like Gosick, so let me tell reword my comment in case you are misunderstanding it…

        “Compare to previous arcs, this arc concluded surprisingly normal, no over the top detective works, discoveries, or explanations.”

        could mean that….~ I simply found it amusing how this arc concluded normally; Compare to previous arcs where I would usually scratch my head in listening to Victorica’s explanation, in this episode, there is no WTF how did she get that conclusion? or here is Victorica’s wellspring of knowledge…I’m not prepare for whatever she will said; Those sorts of things – here I’m simply trying to state my observation on the mystery side of things, I am certain you are misunderstanding my comments. And I’m aware of that thing about Grevil, while I found it amusing and a big discovery, it is not related on my comment above which only ‘focuses’ on how they solved the mystery. ok?

        P.S. In case you didn’t read Kiiragi’s blog about this episode, then his impression on the mystery case in his first paragraph is almost the same as to what I am pointing out.

        Ghostalker
        Reply

      3. lol, I think you misinterpreted his post. He was asking what the reason was for Grevil to speak in a bad manner. “In the lines of, ‘Is this the best you can think of? You [Victorique] truly are a worthless child.'” Improper punctuation can lead to unintended rage 😛

        Kiiragi
        Reply

      4. I hope that is the case. I think people should be careful what they type though because at first glance it looks like he is insulting me. It doesn’t help that I’ve watched this episode almost immediately after its released so my memory is already a bit hazy about the tiny details so much that I didn’t recognize it.

        So @outcast — Peace!

        PS: Sorry for the double-post, this comment is intended to be a reply 🙂

        Ghostalker
        Reply

    2. In this cultural day and age, whether it just be my area or whatnot, there are males who are quite obsessed with shoes as well. They call them “shoeheads.” So, not exactly just a female thing anymore…

      Kiiragi
      Reply

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