Gosick manages to avoid the latter extreme, but never quite reaches the former either. Mysteries can be boring if they aren't enough to draw the viewer in and make them try to guess what will happen next. This can be a real challenge, because a single mystery that spans an entire 24 episode show could prove to be a real drag. Gosick attempts to circumvent this by telling several smaller stories in three or four episode "mini-arcs". These mini-arcs usually contribute to the overall story in some way, but this isn't immediately obvious until the latter parts of the show in many cases.
The show is set in the imaginary country of "Sabure", taking place between the World Wars, at an academy where students from all over the world come to learn. The academy has a very rich history, including lots of folklore that influences the culture. Many of these tales are entwined in the mysteries that the characters attempt to solve, providing some back story, and also a great deal of plausibility to the mysteries that occur.
The characters themselves are even affected by this folklore, as Kujo and Victorique (the protagonists) are respectively called "The Spring Reaper" and "The Golden Fairy". These two make an interesting pair, with Kujo, the kindhearted Japanese exchange student, and Victorique, the clever, introverted, yet demanding girl who spends much of her time in one of the world's largest libraries, as the ones who attempt to solve the mysteries.
Victorique isn't always the most likable character, as she rarely praises Kujo for anything he does, and even scolds him for being late when he brings her sweets. Ultimately, this is due to her harsh upbringing, but can still cause one to wonder why Kujo chooses to be friends with her. Sometimes, I wasn't certain whether these two were friends, or if something romantic was happening between them. I won't spoil the ending for you, but it did little to clear up my confusion.
The animation is certainly passable, but not amazing. Much of the art has that a sort of Gothic feel and theme to it, evoked by the stone buildings, and spires at the top of towers. The character designs are pretty interesting, especially characters like Grevil, whose hairstyle shall likely never be duplicated by even the most tenacious cosplayer. The backgrounds and animations are all good, but nothing eye-popping.
As or the music, the opening and ending themes were all excellent, and I rarely skipped them. The score itself wasn't anything especially outstanding. It fit the setting of the show, but wasn't ever enough to make me sit back and think about the quality, whether good or bad. The voice acting was quite good, probably a notch above the music. I especially noticed it with Victorique, whose feisty personality could easily have been ruined by the wrong voice actor.
Overall, I felt that Gosick was a very well-designed story, with a small cast of lovable characters, but not quite enough story for the entire twenty-four episodes of the show. When there is a less-involved plot, one typically expects the story to be character-driven, but Gosick was much more plot-driven, which left it feeling somewhat empty in a few places.
Now don't get the impression that I didn't like Gosick. I quite enjoyed this show, enough so that I finished it relatively quickly (by my standards, at least). I still recommend it to anyone; I simply feel that there are a few shortcomings that prevent this show from becoming truly "excellent". This show is great fun, just no masterpiece.
Scores:
Story-(8/10)
Art-(7/10)
Sound- (8/10)
Character-(6/10)
Enjoyment- (7/10)
Overall- (7/10)
(To both "Helpful" and "Not Helpful" voters: Feedback is greatly appreciated.)
