Gosick

Set in the early 1900s, Gosick tells a grand tale of war and betrayal alongside love presented as a beautifully written spectacle that unfolds over a mere 24 episodes. Initially, I hesitated to watch it as historical and mystery anime are usually not my preference. However, from the get-go, I was pulled in by its endearing cast, gripping story and stellar art style. In fact, the episodes flowed so well into the next and had me so invested that I inadvertently began binging the show without realising it.

Starting with the story, it is at first structured into arcs which each involve a singular mystery over the span of around 3 episodes. The mysteries usually revolve around the world's urban legends but occasionally have relevance to an overarching plot and give hints to greater questions. Nearer to the end, the story converges into a streamlined set of events that eventually lead to a climax.

Many may be put off by its somewhat episodic nature but I think the individual mysteries were entertaining enough to keep me engaged throughout. Each arc covers a unique premise with fresh solutions that never reiterate and are filled with meticulous details to maintain an appropriate level of complexity. Although the arcs are rather formulaic, I have been so genuinely interested in each one that having the formula repeat simply promises me another enjoyable few episodes. Gosick excels at leaving the viewer satisfied by tying up all loose ends at the end of each mystery. Every little detail is referenced and explained, including actions, and incentives and any questions left unanswered are intentionally so in order to build on the plot for later episodes.

There is something that Gosick does differently that makes it different to other mystery anime I've seen. Usually, mystery anime actively makes the viewer part of the experience by giving them hints and prompting them to solve parts of the mystery themselves. But with Gosick, the mysteries are mostly completely unsolvable for the viewer (unless perhaps you're a genius or I'm just stupid). Many of the logic threads explained by our little detective leave me thinking "Yeah, there is absolutely no way I would have ever thought of that" either due to their absurdity or it being too complicated to accurately piece together. Moreover, there are times when during the unravelling of the mystery, they reveal information that is critical to the solution for the first time, meaning that some mysteries are unsolvable because you simply are not given all the relevant details before being told the answer. Over time, this makes Gosick a rather passive experience compared to other mysteries as you almost give up trying to string evidence together and allow the anime to spoonfeed you the answer at the end instead. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. With the anime doing so much of the work for you and with the mysteries often not even possible to work out on your own, there is no fear of missing out on clues or being left behind in the story. The pressure of having to get the solution correct or work it out on your own is gone. In which case, the viewer can fully immerse in being told a story rather than taking part which is a positive to many people - similar to how people would rather watch a playthrough than play the game themselves as there is no pressure of needing to be good at the game to enjoy it. In this way, Gosick delivers a rather unique approach to the mystery genre - at least from my experience - and I enjoyed it very thoroughly.

Closer to the end, the scale of the story approaches its peak. Many elements of the story and hints we are given along the way come together to create a gripping narrative involving all the major characters thus far and make sense of everything that has happened, answering all questions reserved up until this point. Within this final arc, there are countless unpredictable story beats with exciting revelations and shocking twists. Gosick was clearly written with the climax in mind from the beginning and sets the stage for it methodically throughout the show. The level of influence of each character's actions skyrockets as events affecting the entire country unfold, making the emotional weight of each plot point much more intense than before. The plot gradually evolves into a thrilling spectacle that is brilliantly paced from start to finish. It then ends with an extremely satisfying catharsis, wrapping up every question and desire perfectly. I may have preferred a more clear and emotional climax where all the emotional weight built up explodes into a single moment but I still like the ending I was given. Gosick's story is absolutely one of the show's greatest strengths and has left me feeling very pleased with the experience.

Most certainly, however, the characters are the best part of the show for me. At first glance, the main character, Kazuya, is your typical dense airhead protagonist whose personality solely revolves around being nice. However, I think his absolute earnestness and kindness are very relevant to the theming of the show (which I will expand on later) and are surprisingly very likeable. He is not kind for no reason; his father was an imperial soldier and as the third-born son, he is always trying to match up to his older siblings. During intense moments, he strives to uphold his family's honour and meet their expectations going so far as to risk his own life to do so. Not only this, but his kindness also comes from his affection for our heroine. Being the only person in this foreign country who does not ostracise him and treat him differently, he is very justifiably nice towards her. Actually, he doesn't open up to her immediately but only after seeing past her aloof presentation. Moreover, he is not exceedingly empathetic towards everyone. There are moments when he witnesses death in front of him or walks past a corpse and barely feels anything. Therefore, I think he distinguishes himself from the generic unconditionally kind protagonist as instead, his kindness is very justified. However, I do wish there were more moments that give him the spotlight and for him to be more fleshed out. We only really hear a snippet of his backstory and he doesn't receive a great deal of development throughout the story so I would have preferred a more balanced investment in the characters' depth in the show, especially when it regards the main character.

On the other hand, the character that receives plentiful development and is the undeniable star of the show is Victorique. This heroine is perhaps one of the most likeable characters I've ever witnessed in a show. Her breathtaking and stand-out golden hair, her stylised and flashy clothing and her commanding whilst endearing aura completely steal Kazuya's thunder. She is initially presented as aloof and condescending, which may put people off but we gradually see her in moments of vulnerability and, like Kazuya, grow to love her. The contrast, or "gap moe" if you will, between her usual demeanour and moments where she is embarrassed or affectionate grows on you and makes it almost impossible to hate her. If at any point you feel she is full of herself or egotistical, you then see her crying over being flicked on her forehead or begging like a baby for snacks and immediately lose that impression. Victorique is a perfect mix of shrewd, astute and exemplary whilst quirky, dorky and silly. She treads on a fine line between being incomprehensibly competent and peerless and being a helpless little puppy who needs her hand held wherever she goes.

For me, perhaps the most enjoyable facet of the show is the interactions between Victorique and Kazuya. These two stand out in their own little world amongst all of the chaos that unfolds around them. The dichotomy between Kazuya's sheer honesty and straightforwardness and Victorique's roundabout way of conveying her feelings and snarky yet loving remarks make the characters so likeable and enjoyable to just sit back and watch talk to each other. I could honestly watch an entire show of these two just bickering, laughing and talking to each other. In general, I think comedy goes such a long way in making the viewer care about the characters which in turn propels the emotional weight of each event involving them. Seeing these two have so much fun together and making me laugh so much makes the moments when their lives are at stake all the more engaging and intense.

This friendship is extremely relevant to Victorique's character. Victorique is a girl who is separated from the outside world and knows not of love. Her friendship with Kazuya and his extreme kindness and earnestness teach her the value of having people you care about. Unlike all others around her, Kazuya is earnest and honest to a T with no ulterior motives and does not try to use her in any way. Being the hyper-intelligent genius that she is, she is able to see past anyone's true incentives so Kazuay being honest to a fault regains her trust in people. Over the episodes, Victorique opens up and gradually recognises that she cares for him and this impacts her actions throughout the show. Initially, she keeps this image of absolute confidence and indifference to others but further on we see her bursting into tears and wailing when something bad happens to Kazuya and he becomes her utmost priority. She finally finds something that matters to her and sacrifices everything for it. Conversely, Kazuya also sacrifices anything for her and the paradigm of always "finding each other" illustrates how our relationships and the people around us are what matter the most and hold great power. This narrative portrays a very beautiful message and theme. Victorique's character development is an effective conduit for exploring the aforementioned theme and in my opinion is a work of brilliant writing. Overall, the characters are what makes the show so endearing, and likeable and gives it so much heart and love.

To briefly touch upon production, Bones does a fantastic job with excellent animation quality (especially for an anime more than 10 years old now). The facial expressions are very detailed and nuanced at times and the fight scenes, although sparse, are well choreographed and animated. I think the colour palette and little details regarding infrastructure and clothing effectively integrated the story and characters well into the setting of the early 1900s, providing an immersive experience. The voice acting doesn't seem to have any room for improvement, especially Victorique's VA which nails cutesy, intense and serious moments. Moreover, the score is consistently high quality throughout. Although I cannot point out any standout tracks or songs (excluding the opening and ending) perhaps an insert song during the climax could have worked well. As a whole, the production is very high quality and has not aged at all over the 12 or so years it has been out.

In conclusion, the show encompasses fantastically written mysteries with very loveable characters and wraps it up into a thrilling spectacle, leaving the viewer with a very satisfied feeling. I would have preferred it to be longer to flesh out the main character more (and because I'm starving for more interactions between Victorique and Kazuya) but I am very pleased with the experience I got. 9/10.