Gosick

I really love the Gosick series. It has little titbits of all of my favourite elements when it comes to the mystery genre–characters that feel real, suspense, intellectual stimulation, etc.

The characters are all very interesting people. Some of them are a bit dryer and more boring than others, but still worthwhile contributors to the story. The protagonists, Victorique and Kujō, have very natural chemistry that is quite pleasant. Nothing is ever forced, overwhelming, or seemingly out of place when they interact with one another. Characters that are written with such genuine grace are my ultimate weakness.

The art is positively beautiful and simple in nature, yet it reveals so much. It’s very clean and crisp, leaving a lot of little details in the background that add an interactive touch to the reading experience. Certain panels, depending on the case the duo are working on, can seem overpopulated with either expression or environment, making your eyes work harder to grasp what’s going on, but overall it’s quite lovely.

There are “cases” in the serial, or mysteries essentially, that Victorique and Kujō work on together to solve. A lot of them are complex in nature and what I love about this is that it keeps you guessing the entire time. When everything is unravelled and laid out at its finales, you can’t help but wonder how you didn’t find all of the clues yourself. In a lot of the situations, the clues are as evident to the reader as they are to the characters. This creates a rather intellectually stimulating and wonderfully invigorating feeling. Above all of the other fantastic qualities that Gosick has, this is my absolute favourite.

On the whole, Gosick was a great reading experience for me and it is a manga that I’ll always recommend, especially if you’re into mysteries.

8 cupcakes outta 10!

Detective is not my favourite, but I always try to enjoy it in the most possible way. However, Gosick is something half-hearted and lack the coordination in a genre that requires logical and purposed chain of events.

Let's talk about the characters first.

I want to analyse more about the pointy-hair inspector. He was originally created just for fun, but as the show went on, he seemed to have significant developments, as he stood between his father and half-sister. His conflict in familial issues could have been the main content, but what had done was done, so he was only playing a supporting role. Such a waste for a seemingly psychological and detective work.

Now comes the protagonist, a random average Japanese boy. A terrible choice, as the author possibly wanted to put parts of himself into the novel. In a detective work, the companion of a detective plays an important role, but as I could see, he showed none of them, no sharp, personal perspective and observation, just some stupidly bravery, which wasn't even effective against the crimes. He had some heroic actions, but by repeating them, his caliber became so lame that I have to wonder, why him, but not the brother-inspector, taking the lead? And until the end, he remained unchanged, just 'I saw her standing there' and did nothing at all. This character only has been a failure of this series in the detective world.

Last by not least, the star, or the blackhole, or a celestial object that have extraordinary gravitation anyway, of the series, a charactress that had a mysterious introduction, weird personality and not the very least at all, a pipe. Wheeee had a copy of Sherlock Holmes there. But as the storyline proceeded, she was just an empty shell of that genius one. Smart, sharp, but when she was in trouble, she couldn't do anything. She despites her father and his manipulation, but she had done, and would do nothing to overcome it. The author tried to set a stage, in order to let the protagonist help her, but they were just like two similar magnetic fields, never able to be close to each other no matter what. Her only redemption is the gothic lolita design, and the fans are indeed hyped for it. But in term of a detective, she is just a piece of somwthinh on the road. And is there a necessity of the pipe in the first place?

Summing up what have been spoken of the characters, we have the sketch of content. The cases appeared interesting initially, but became confusing, as the romance and the lack of orientation involved, which ended up a mess eventually. In addition, I can't get it, the meaning behind the end, of both the adaption and its source. Due to the lack of the essence as a detective series, this sh** is so bloody living up to itself.

I can say this is an overrated, as it stands closely to Koten-bu and Haruhi Suzumiya series. Spare me, but this garbage can't even compete with Conan, the one that met the similar fate, but is still far beyond this kind. Got to GO SICK of it.