When I first saw that Inspector de Blois guy, and I really thought that he would be just this silly side-character. Especially the way in which he behaved in the first half of this series. But whoa: he’s actually become a great villain here. This episode just showed that he resents Victorique quite a bit
In any case, the creators chose a fitting backdrop for the finale of this series: the legend behind it is fully devoted to the bond between Kujou and Victorique, playing with the prophecy from that old guy, plus the stakes here are the involvement in the second world war. It’s good, epic and not too mundane for the sake of epicness, so it’s definitely a good start for the finale of this series.
I also liked the quiet bits in this episode. Christmases in anime tend to look a lot like each other, so it’s interesting to see all kinds of new rituals and traditions here. The dress-up party was especially nice because for once everyone just forgot their prejudice to Kujou and Victorique. It’s more symbolic than that it actually makes sense, but it’s definitely a nice touch.
Overall, I really like adventure series, and Gosick’s second half really fueled that interest for the past season. As a series overall it definitely has its problems, though. The second half introduced wondrous stories, interesting legends and all sorts of interesting ideas and places. In the first half, there were only two arcs that did that too. The others were just uninspired. I can understand the characters taking their time to grow (but even there their stupidity’s absence would have made this series even better), but what was the reason of not using these episodes in the first half to experiment a bit? Tell imaginative and creative stories, rather than just waiting for the second half to arrive. In fact, most of the build-up was done by the two major arcs of the first half: the ship arc and the village arc. The others just fleshed out the cast, and that’s something that they could have done much better.
Overall though, against my expectations Gosick was worth it in the end. The wait was very much rewarded by these past arcs. The ending is probably not going to be the best part of this series, but I’m nevertheless intrigued in how far this series is willing to go.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Pretty interesting the way they worked WWII in at the end. I was wondering how they were going to show the winds of war blowing the two apart, and a sudden expulsion of foreigners is pretty credible (although bizarre that it happens while Kujo is in a bunny costume).
Those images for this article gave me disturbing flashbacks to “watership down”.
@ Enjai
Hah! I cant express how long i laughed after reading that comment. I had long since buried that title in the back of my mind.
Wait, how is Inspecter de Blois a villian? I didn’t get that from the episode at all…..
Wait, how is Inspecter de Blois a villian? I didn’t get that from the episode at all…..
Its 1924, a bit early for WW2…
The Ministry of the Occult is manipulating for the country to conquer a weaker neighbour with the support of the people thanks to the Charming Monster myth. Their expelling foreigners as naturally they could become enemy agents in time of war.
Also De Blois isnt a villain per se, hes an unwilling follower of his father, her crying was especielly poignant if you remember right back at the start he accused her of having no heart and being unable to care for another.