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「薔薇色の人生は新雪に埋もれる」 (Barairo no Jinsei wa Shinsetsu ni Uzumoreru)
“The Rose Colored Life is Buried Under Fresh Snow”
I have to say, this episode was pretty difficult to watch. If not just hearing the blood-curdling screams of Cordelia, but the implications of her situation was not exactly what I had in mind. I had figured at least Albert de Blois did some charming and actually had Cordelia fall in love with him, you know, consensual. But this? This whole chained to the slab thing, and the makings of some sort of ritual? Totally rubbed me the wrong way, and I felt sick at the thought of her possibly being raped, conscious or unconscious. They weren’t exactly clear on the whole thing, perhaps being vague on purpose as “censorship”, but I sure as hell hope that wasn’t blood he was pouring on her stomach… as if she were pregnant some other way, and the blood would soak into the womb or something? I’m usually the iron gut when it comes to the sickest things possible, but when you’re messing with babies and pregnant women, that’s a little still too much.
So really, Albert by definition “used” Cordelia. He kidnapped her, used questionable methods to get her pregnant, then threw her in a psychiatric ward when he was done with her. What a cold bastard. I had thought he could have still been the sympathetic villain type, but that’s been thrown out the window. On the other hand, Brian Roscoe isn’t the emotionless manipulator he was projected to be, though I had already assumed him being a Gray Wolf himself, he’d be sympathetic with Cordelia. Turns out the two were friends way before Albert took her, probably met due to sharing similar circumstances, ie. two gray wolves outside of their regular territory. During her capture, Roscoe apparently transformed from goodie two shoes to a mastermind for revenge, and this twists his character a bit. I loved the contrast that while Cordelia loves her daughter because she’s her own flesh and blood, Brian hates Victorique because she’s still got Albert’s blood within, despite how much he cares for Cordelia. He’s more or less driven for Cordelia, and the memento now doesn’t appear to be for himself, but also as part of his revenge against Albert. His revealed motivation makes him exactly like Kujou’s relationship to Victorique. History likes to repeat itself in many ways.
Due to the still lack of complete explanation for the Gray Wolf mythos, something I’m sure the story is waiting to reveal until the end, there’s a lot of metaphors that I don’t know whether to take literally or figuratively. Cordelia’s description of Victorique as the “soul” she lost could be something that Gray Wolves have, as perhaps they lose their power to their offspring. Other symbols such as The Turk Roscoe possessed turned out to be of less importance. The coin locket became a huge discussion over the episode, and had a lot of irony to its symbolism. Initially, it was given by the de Blois to Cordelia, who passed it on to Victorique, changing its terrible nature into a symbol of protection. Kujou buys a replacement, which had me initially thinking, “how naive, you think your replacement still has the same meaning?” Then he turned around and said it would now be a symbol of HIS protection, even though I personally wouldn’t have bought the same coin. It could be interpreted as mocking.
Despite all the main plot moving on, they still manage to squeeze in a mystery, apparently the biggest of them all. I don’t doubt that it will have something in relation to everything that has been going on, like Jupiter Roget attending the Coco Rose show wasn’t a red flag already. The second war prophecy resurfaces with more prominence, showing soldiers walking by, but the second war doesn’t happen until 1939. That’s 15 years from now. What are they trying to do with all the foreshadowing? Timeskip?
This was like the first time the mood of the ED fit perfectly…
Preview
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this show is …..
I don’t want this old Marquis to die easily.
He deserves the most hellish punishment dying slowly.
I’ve been putting off this show to marathon later… but it looks like I’ll get raped by the story *_*
So now I’m thinking of watching it, and I gotta ask: does it deserve all the preseason hype from last year? And is it confusing enough to dedicate a whole post to reconstructing the story?
Depends where you are. If you’re somewhere in the series, finish it. If you’re just starting, it’s harder to recommend. The mysteries aren’t the highlight of the show, the characters and their background story are. However, it takes quite a long time before there’s any focus, and while I can see that it’s well written, it’s not that well executed. The cramming of almost 10 light novel volumes into 24 episodes is probably to blame. I’m hoping it ends well so that it could be something I can recommend.
Hence the story isn’t confusing, it’s just incredibly precise, and you’d have to be able to remember every little detail from most of the episodes in order to make sense of the entire thing. Marathoning it might help with though. The rest of us waiting week after week tend to forget things 😛
Cramming, huh. If it’s that dense, I’m going to try it and see how well I do. *lol*
But even if I have superhuman memory, that breakdown you posted last week will be incredibly helpful. Thanks in hindsight! ^_^
Those who theorized that Kazuya X Victorique = Brian X Cordelia…. COME ON DOWN!
That said, I knew that Albert is a damn bastard of no morals whatsoever ever since I saw that episode where he tried to commission the alchemist into creating Homoculi for war. What a foolish evil…. Wait! I just ran out of curse words I can use 🙁
Good Luck Kazuya!
I took it to mean they kidnapped her and he raped her until she became pregnant. I doubt they had any fertility clinics back in 1924 for artifical means so there was only 1 way for a girl to get pregnant. I wanna see that bastard de Blois die a horrible painful death.
Something else on the KujoXVictorica to BrianXCordelia comparisons. Seeing Cordelia’s abduction, and Brian’s role in it made me think that his expressed hostility to Kujo and his claim of intending to protect Victorica is really just self-loathing, because he was completely incapable of protecting Cordelia when the time came.
hmmm, BLATANT RAPE!?!?! or was it? it would be “kinda” different if that was the case, but i have suspicions that it’ll be colored in. #1- cordilia could have EASILY pulled her daughter through that window hole early on *SETUP FAIL!!!!* #2- i hope to all that is sacred that Victorique doesn’t burst into a random burlesque showtune ala- like my mama did… barf!
Assuming you’re talking about the prison window scene: it’s within the realms of believability.
– Vic was on her toes and she’s a child, I doubt she had the strength to hold herself up long enough for them to reach in and help her. You might say that you don’t need strength to get pulled out, but I doubt she lacked the endurance to survive such a grueling pull.
– At 16:00 (give-take depending on your version) you can see that Cordelia’s hand takes 1/3 of the hole. Granted her hands are small, but there is probably no way a toddler is going to fit through something that small without any unwarranted damage. And then there is the issue of the follow up etc etc
“I sure as hell hope that wasn’t blood he was pouring on her stomach”
Wasn’t that just wine? Or at least I think it is…
That sick FUCK!
I loathed every second of Cordelia’s story. >:|
I thought Brian was a bad guy but apparently not. How could he dislike Victorique? (Who was everything adorable crammed in a cell!)
so we GO to the SICK part of the show…
anyone has some sharp tools handy? i’ve got a few ideas on making new holes into certain villain
MARQUIS IS THE MOST EVIL BASTARD ONE COULD EVER PORTRAY HIM TO BE. He was so evil to do that with Cordelia, but then, to confine his own daughter? The worst example for a father out there.
They won’t do the time skip. All they will do is that, somehow Kujo and Victorique will get through the 2nd storm, which will happen several yrs later. Thats what I think. As for the oracle’s prediction, it didn’t come true till the person concerned lost hope, so I hope the story will take a positive turn.
but the evilness od albert du blois does not exceed the “evilness” of a certain magical cute critter
Totally with you on this. I feel so much sorrow for poor Cordelia, and so much rage against that devil-worshiping prick. He cannot die soon or painfully enough!
I sorta got the impression that Brian and Cordelia had been lovers up until she was taken. This would certainly explain his motives in opposing the Marquis so vehemently.
BTW, I think you meant that the Marquis’s methods were *unconscionable*, rather than “unquestionable”.
i thought i’ve seen it all, the genocide of a whole race, the plucking out of someone’s eye without anesthesia, but this takes the cake. i mean, how can you get sicker than chaining a woman giving birth to a cold stone table??? there’s something horribly disturbing about how the most amazing and delicate and painful process in a woman’s life can be so………ARGH. GO DIE DE BLOIS
Wow, definitely not a typically cheery Christmas special episode. Albert turned out to be a much darker villain that I thought he’d be. Poor Cordelia…
Well we knew that Albert was a bastard but not that much…
When you think about it he probably raped Cordelia every night to be sure that she gets pregnant (even if it would mean more horrible things I will be glad to discover that he is not the father; after all it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of the men of Albert raped her too one night)
It’s very impressive that Cordelia still love Victorica after all this.
I knew that both of them had a bad past but… this much?
Dunno, they don’t show us what’s happen niether give us details in this year where Cordelia was confined, so you can speculate.
Maybe in the next episodes they will explain how they perform this ritual and expecially the truth and meaning about gray wolf (seems that Cordelia know already about gray wolf when she first Albert during the exibition).
The scene when Kujo was walking through the city, and suddenly wind comes up, he remembers the prophecy and sees the soldiers walking, while the video becomes kind of rusty, sepia, blurry and shaking, together with the soundtrack…
Damn, that was intense, I for some reason, I’m really afraid of how the series ends, since noone knows yet, only the author.
Yes, I know the series is based on a light novel, but the last two volumes won’t be released until the last episode.
They get seperated and will reunite 15 years later. Speculations.
This is a good episode, since about ep 14 they get rid off these useless mistery cases solved in a stupid manner, now finally they follow the main plot, the gray wolf, this is amazing. Hope they surprise me more in the next ones till the end.
Show Spoiler ▼
I thought the idea of Victorique being Cordelia’s soul was because Cordelia was pretty much consumed by hate with only her connection to Victorique serving as her lifeline.
The reason for Victorique’s birth, i’m wondering if its because the noble needs some sort of human computer to project possible futures and to break encryption codes.
Completely unrelated, but I thought that the girl with the pendant in the mental hospital looked a lot like the hare from the Queen Berry arc, whose name I cannot remember. I wonder if that means anything.
Yes, she was the same person.
The poster for the Coco Rose play is very art nouveau (a la Mucha)…a style that died out, along with the rest of the Belle Epoque, with the horrors and waste of WWI. An Art Deco poster would have been more appropriate.
As to those saying the Marquis must die…I agree but only after he’s witnessed the destruction of his schemes and the laying to waste of his hopes and dreams (including Greville’s inevitable betrayal of his father). Then he can die with no comfort and no one to mourn him.
I didn’t think about art nouveau having past until reading your post but had art deco really begun yet?
The soldiers make sense. Althought the war didn’t officially start til 1939, the was along of stuff happening for several years leading up the the invasion of poland. One of the earliest precursors to the war was the Japanese invasion of China/Manchuria as early as 1931. Right now as far as the GOSICK timeline, the Italian Fascist happened from 1922-1925. I’d say there’s some foreshadowing but there’s stuff already happening as well.
I really like this story and the characters, but I agree that the adaption is difficult to watch at times. I’m sure it’s a better light novel because it really does feel crammed as an anime. Still, Gosick is intriguing and it’s one of the first shows I watch each week.
Well no, I meant it was difficult to watch because of the material shown this episode, lol.
As a novel reader, I can say that not the case 😛 if anything, I consider the anime to be better telling over all.
While I can understand what Kiiragi is saying about how it feels like they are cramming the story, I don’t necessarily agree. Sure we had the previous episode where we had an entire volume done in a single episode, but generally speaking the anime had paced the novel quite well. They gave each story enough time to adapted, and had changes that made the stories flow better into each other.
I mean the problem with the story is usually criticism directed towards events that happens in the novel themselves, so there is a problem with the source rather than the adaptation.
I think its felt more crammed lately than before.
Well sure last episode was a whole volume, so it would feel crammed so to speak. This one was like half a volume though, so I guess they wanted to just get that one over with.
(eh, I screwed up with the comment)
A bit unrelated to episode but anyone knows anything about Grevil’s mother? Seeing how Albert acted with Cordelia, I wouldn’t be surprised if his wife has gone through something similar. Grevil doesn’t seem to hate Victorique or be bad person so I’m guessing his mother wasn’t like her husband.
I don’t believe that that she’s mentioned. However, considering that she’s the official Ms. and is undoubtedly of high birth, I don’t think Albert had her chained in a dungeon. After all, he didn’t really think of Cordelia as a human as much as a cub making machine.
Who would have thought that his previous characterization (getting her pregnant and then throwing her on the street) would’ve looked better? 😛
Wasn’t there? I mean the trip to the Wolf Village gave us the basic idea about the Gray Wolf’s history (an old kingdom with rather intelligent folks who decided to isolate themselves) and that they are blessed (via genetics I guess) with higher intelligence than the average joe, can adapt to any situation in order to survive and has sharp observation abilities.
They seem to be a case of people who had a better educated general population, realized that the rest of the Middle Ages is probably isn’t going to be all that nice to them, secluded themselves in order to survive, got a whole bunch of myths surrounding them, which ultimately painted them as superior humans.
That apparently gave Vicky the disposition to think of herself as being able to do anything whatever it is (so she started engrossing herself in books in her little prison, so she ultimately accumulated enough general knowledge to live up of sorts to the legend of The Gray Wolfs)
I mean, from what we’ve seen from the Village, some of the wolfs didn’t strike me as being all that cleaver a whole lot of them. More of a furious sense of pride or insanity. Vicky seems to be the smartest one.
Well like I said, I thought the whole deal was at least consensual, and that when he found out she was a criminal, locked her up in a jail cell. That was obviously completely false. In fact, they made it seem like whether or not she was a criminal, he would’ve done the same thing.
For the mythos, I had figured there was something supernatural behind it all, some huge secret that everyone keeps referring to because they legitly have some other worldly power that can turn the tides of war. I do remember the conversation about a certain race of people on that carriage trip back from the village earlier in the show that could have just been a metaphor for the Gray Wolves, so it makes sense, and fits. But when everyone in the show is praising them, even the Gray Wolves themselves, it’s a bit hard to not actually expect something. The parallels of a more superior “master race” is pretty interesting though.
I think that her learning is part of her development into the tool or weapon that du Blois envisions. Even Kujou is there for that purpose — or at least he was brought there for that purpose. I think he wants to change Victorique’s fate, even as he changes his own as the third son of an imperial soldier.
I don’t think it’s an accident that her ‘prison’ is now a library.
And the story circles back to the Queen Berry with an appearance from Julie in the psych ward.
ah, nice catch!
I totally didn’t expect Albert de Blois to be pure evil
The suspense is building up very nicely and I really like The Queen Berry reference this episode too
I’m sure we’ll soon see the doujin explaining the time Cordelia spent in the castle in graphic detail.
(-_-)” that was just sick… Well hope all this buildup will end with aan amazing climax at the end!
“The second war prophecy resurfaces with more prominence, showing soldiers walking by, but the second war doesn’t happen until 1939. That’s 15 years from now. What are they trying to do with all the foreshadowing? Timeskip?”
I made an obvious jump there with the date 1924. This was roughly in line with the Munich Putsh by Hitler in Germany which happened winter of 1923. It was the first event which started Hitler’s gradual ascension to power. Quite a nicely veiled hint to it with the soldiers (the Putsh was put down by the Military and one of the Nazi party’s higher up good killed in the gunfight) and the wind blowing. It was during his imprisonment for this that Hitler wrote Mein Kampf and decided he would take over Germany through politics….the rest is history
so he raped her then put her to sleep till she gave birth 0.o
sick
This series is becoming better and better as the episodes gone by. If I’m asked what are the animes I’m watching right now that I’m most excited about, it would be Denpa Onna, Dog Days, Steins Gate, Kami Nomi and Gosick. The rest I could stock them and watch them in a not in a hurry mode. As a carry-over from last winter season anime, Gosick sure holds its own and not tossed aside by the many newer series I’m currently watching. I’m glad I didn’t drop it last season, now my patience paid off and now I’m ripping the benefits of having the mysteries in the story slowly unravel itself and began making sense in an interesting way. Well done Gosick, well done.
Was that other girl in the psychiatrict ward the girl from the queen berry arc? it looks like her and she was talking about hunting and she has a pendant….