Gosick
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AboutGosick
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AboutGosick (Japanese: ゴシック, Hepburn: Goshikku, stylized as GOSICK, derived from the
word gothic) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuki Sakuraba, with
illustrations by Hinata Takeda. The series includes 13 novels published by Fujimi Shobo
between December 2003 and July 2011. Set in a fictional European country in 1924, a
Japanese exchange student meets a mysterious, brilliant girl who only leaves the library
to sleep. Her brother, a detective, relies on her exceptional mind to solve difficult
mysteries. Tokyopop released the first two novels in English in North America. A manga
adaptation drawn by Sakuya Amano was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon
Age magazine. A 24-episode anime adaptation by Bones aired between January and
July 2011. A collection of side stories titled GosickS was published between 2005 and
2011, while a sequel novel series named Gosick New Continent was released in
between 2013 and 2016.
Plot and settings[edit]
Gosick takes place in 1924 in a small, French-speaking fictional European country;
which stretches from Switzerland, through the Alps between France and Italy, to the
Mediterranean Sea. The country is called "Sauville" (ソヴュール王国, sovyūru ōkoku) in
the light novels and "Saubureme" (ソヴレム, sovureme) is Sauville's capital in the anime
adaption. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a high-ranking officer of the
Imperial Japanese Army, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where
urban legends and horror stories are popular. There he meets Victorique de Blois, a
mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days
reading the entire contents of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can
not solve. The early episodes mostly focus on Kazuya and Victorique getting involved in
different criminal cases and their struggle to solve them, at the same time forming
important bonds with different people and each other. However, as the series advances,
the tenebrous background of Victorique and her family comes back to haunt her.
Its sequel series, Gosick New Continent, takes place in 1931 in New York City, where
Victorique and Kazuya are a couple and own a small detective agency. It's revealed
Kazuya's father did not accept his bond with Victorique, so they fled to the United States
to be together with the help of his sister Ruri. The World Wars belong to the past now,
but the pair's peace is shattered by a new party that seeks to get their hands on
Victorique.
Characters[edit]
Main characters[edit]
Victorique de Blois (ヴィクトリカ・ド・ブロワ, Vikutorika do Burowa, French pronunciation:
[viktɔʁik də blwa])
[1]
Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Drama CD), Aoi Yuuki (Anime) (Japanese); Apphia Yu
(English)
Victorique has the appearance of a small (in the novel 140 cm, 4'7"), almost doll-like,
girl with very long blonde hair and emerald eyes and a voice that sounds beyond her
age. She is portrayed as a typical tsundere. Another important part of Victorique's
appearance is a ceramic smoking pipe that she uses for dramatic effect when
thinking. She spends her days in the conservatory at the top of the library, reading
several difficult books, often in different languages, simultaneously. She points at
one entire wall of the library and told Kazuya that she has read almost all the books
over there. Along with her sharp tongue, abusive bluntness and eccentric attitude,
she possesses a genius level intellect which she applies to observing facts and
"reconstructing chaos". The examples shown in the novels and anime are solving
inexplicable crimes and false accusations. The credit for solving such crimes is often
given to her half brother, Det. Grevil de Blois, to hide Victorique's involvement.
After Victorique saves him from an arrest, Kazuya finds himself entangled in every
new mystery that occurs. Because her mother, Cordelia Gallo, was a mistress, and
according to Victorique "a dangerous person", she was imprisoned in the depths of
the de Blois mansion where she developed mannerisms that are anything but
childlike. She was allowed to attend school under strict orders from her father to
never leave the campus. Only in exceptional circumstances does she obtain
permission to leave, usually with Grevil having obtained it for her from their family.
When she first met Kazuya she did not like him and thought that he was annoying
and stupid for climbing up all the stairs in the library. She even ignored him and
made fun of him, but gradually warmed up to him and began to trust and cherish
him. Despite acting harshly towards Kazuya almost all the time, it's clear that she
cares deeply for him, as seen many times when he is in danger. In novel volume 1
chapter 1 she tells Kazuya "My five senses are on high alert, gathering fragments of
chaos from the world around me. The fountain of knowledge inside me toys with
them out of sheer boredom, reconstructing them. I may verbalize this; often times I
can't be bothered and remain silent." She often complains about boredom being the
root of her headaches. Throughout the anime, Victorique was also called by others
as the "Golden Fairy in the High Tower", "Gray Wolf" and at the end of the series
"Charming Monster" or "Monster Charmante" from the French translation; all of them
creatures of folktales.