Going beyond the superficial stuff, the characters are very important to this story, and they hardly disappoint. Victorique is, of course, the crown jewel. At first, you’ll think her to be yet another moe-stuffed tsundere, and this impression will probably last for a few episodes. However, as you delve further into the meat of this show, more of Victorique’s history and inner personality rise to the surface, and what you instead find is an incredibly deep, three-dimensional character with a ton of personality. Although she seems very moe at a cursory glance, it becomes apparent later on that her cute tsundere-ness is instead the product of the sheltered, dismal life she lead before the show starts. If you’re a moe lover like me, you’ll fall in love with this girl, no doubt about that. But if moe isn’t your thing, not to worry – she’s such a complex, interesting character that the tsundere-ness shouldn’t be too off-putting.
The only other real protagonist of the story is, unfortunately, not quite as masterfully wrought as Victorique is. Kujou, the self-proclaimed “third son of an Imperial soldier,” is a pretty standard milquetoast-turned-hero character. Not exceptionally smart, strong, or brave, his only real virtue is his utterly bottomless loyalty and sense of duty. This sounds like a good thing – and in most cases, it is, as his loyalty is the foil to Victorique’s selfishness, and usually drives the pair in the right direction – but it does produce a worrying archetype that I know puts off people. If you’re tired of the stories where the meek, loyal guy gets trampled on by the dominant, forceful girl, turn back now. Victorique tramples Kujou into the ground with little-to-no respect for most of the story. This will start to wane as their relationship deepens, but you’ll have to bear through it for a long while. I don’t particularly mind it, but I know some people find it irritating, so a warning is only fair.
The other characters are not especially worth mentioning here, as none of them are especially interesting either. The main villian is a typical power-hungry villian, the useless third wheel is a typical useless third wheel (think Yoshida, of Shakugan no Shana, but louder and, admittedly, cuter), the schoolteacher is a typical ditzy school teacher, et cetera. I find myself liking these minor characters despite their archetypal natures, but perhaps I am only willing to forgive the show in light of the fantastic main duo.
Now we get to the real meat of this show – the story itself. This is where the show’s biggest failings come into play, and it’s most likely those failings that will determine whether or not you enjoy this show. The first and biggest issue is the beginning: for the first five or so episodes, you’ll most likely experience an odd sensation of discomfort whilst watching. You’ll be presented with this well-written and interesting mystery, involving revenge and murder and other such gruesome stuff – but in between these interludes of serious, gritty mystery, you’re shown a rather lighthearted teenage romance story, which (as I mentioned before) has a strong moe feeling to it. The two don’t really blend together at the start, and it feels odd, to say the least. This strange, dissonant juggling of themes will lessen after the first two story arcs, then return for a single story arc at the exact middle of the show. Beyond that, the REAL story begins, and the two different themes blend smoothly and beautifully. I thought it was definitely worth it to make it through the start just to get into the real good part, but others may not be so willing.
The last two-thirds of the show, excluding that story arc right in the middle, is where the viewer is shown the true colors of Gosick. Victorique is no longer just a cute girl who solves mysteries, Kujou no longer the helpless boy who follows her along because he has no other friends (I mean that literally). Victorique’s true past begins to emerge and becomes slowly intwined with the mysteries that follow, and the mysteries themselves usually contribute to a grand scheme that arches over the show as a whole. Kujou suddenly has a reason to follow Victorique along, since the romance between the two deepens dramatically and Kujou’s protective instinct swells by about a million percent. Don’t think that it was too sudden a turn of events, though – the romance is developed very carefully and near-perfectly. It is undoubtedly the best romantic development I’ve ever seen before, although I haven’t watched or read much romance before so that may not mean much. Anyway, the new mysteries in this part of the show slowly become less innocuous and self-contained, and very gradually weave together seamlessly into a master story that comes to a stunning climax in the last few episodes. To say the least, it’s breath-taking, suspenseful, and incredibly moving.
That doesn’t mean that it isn’t without its flaws, unfortunately. I can only think of two things that really mar the proper part of this story, but they seriously irked me. The first is an understandable and somewhat excusable one – namely, the political side of this story. The political intrigue which plays a part in the latter third of the show was, I feel, most likely well-thought-out, but it failed to fully materialize on the screen. Much of the political structure of Saubure is left unexplained, and the viewer is only given passing references to work with whilst trying to understand the motives and origins of all the political figures at play. It’s not a particularly complex political landscape, but it warrants an explanation, an explanation that doesn’t ever see make its way to the viewers. In fact, it might be preferable to simply not try and understand the politics, but enjoy the story nonetheless. This error isn’t grievous or unforgivable, but it’s not a good feeling to be confused when you’re immersed in such a fantastic story.
The second issue, however, is something that I believe could have easily been remedied. The show ended at episode 24, which is two episodes less than the standard run of a show of this length – 26 episodes means one every two weeks, 52 weeks making a full year. So they had room to expand – why did they instead cram the ending into the final few minutes of episode 24? Everything leading up to that last half of an episode is gripping, exciting, perfectly executed, and downright fantastic. But then… it just ends. Suddenly, everything is over, and we’re given a short, unfulfilling final scene which, for some ungodly reason, not only introduces a new character but also has her obnoxiously talk over the characters we actually care about. Sure, it might have felt a little stretched had they expanded the ending into its own full episode, but that would have been much, much better than the cramped little scene we got instead. Also, cut out that stupid woman. I think her presence alone ruined the ending more than the ending itself. Anyway, rant aside, the ending, whilst definitely a good ending to the story, was a RUSHED good ending. A very, very rushed, good ending. It will deprive you of the finality that an ending should carry, and leave you longing for more. Which isn’t a good thing, considering the show is definitively ended at this point; I highly doubt any sequels will ever come around.
Now, I suspect that those of you who saw the length of this review and said “screw that” are presently reading this final paragraph. I will summarize for you lazy people: this show is fantastic in pretty much every way except for three main points. One, the politics are poorly explained and executed on-screen; two, the beginning of the show is strange and misleading; three, the ending, while definitely a good ending, was VERY rushed and VERY cramped. In summary, I don’t expect everyone to love this anime despite the issues as I do, but I suggest that you give it a chance. If you watch until the end of episode eight, and still don’t like it, you probably won’t ever get into it. But don’t judge it based on the first five or so episodes, as they are not a good representation of this show as a whole.
