Gosick - The Complete Series - Part 2

By: EyeSpyeAlexWith so many good shows currently available this fall season, I have fallen a little behind on my boxsets. Luckily, I am catching up! Below are my thoughts on the second half of the series Gosick. Wanna see what I thought of part one? Check out my review here!StoryThe second half of the series focuses entirely on family ties and revelations, all of which Victorique and Kujo must solve in order to find happiness. Starting with the mystery surrounding Leviathan, an Alchemist to the kingdom, and Coco Rose, the kingdom’s late, beloved queen. With her wellspring of wisdom, Victorique reveals that Leviathan was an African who was a great magician and conman. He wore a mask to hide his heritage, and made the mistake of falling for queen Coco Rose and having a child with her. The queen’s handmaiden helps the queen and her child escape. Then, acting as a body double, is executed by the grief-stricken king in her place. Leviathan meanwhile dies hidden amongst the gold of the kingdom in the clock tower on the school grounds.In between solving the kingdom’s greatest mysteries, Victorique must fight her father for her freedom. The Marquis de Blois sends Victorique to a convent, where Kujo must rescue her. Together with Victorique’s mother Cordelia, and her friend Brian Roscoe, Kujo succeeds in helping Victorique escape. Their freedom and peace is short lived. War soon breaks out in Sauville, and Kujo is deported and drafted into the Japanese army. Meanwhile, Victorique is used by the Marquis as a pawn to become Prime Minister. Before he can completely use her, Victorique and Cordelia switch places. Cordelia kills the Marquis as Victorique escapes with Brian Roscoe and heads to Japan. After the war, Victorique and Kujo reunite and marry.What should have been an incredibly interesting finale just felt convoluted and confusing. Brian Roscoe was an identical twin, and only served the plot for the sake of convenience. Victorique being kidnapped felt necessary only to drive the plot. I failed to see the connection between Victorique’s situation and the mystery surrounding the kingdom. All in all, it felt like the second half of the series couldn’t figure itself out.Animation/Voice Acting/MusicGosick continues to impress when it comes to visuals in the second half of the series. The gothic Lolita style is stunning, and the animators capture the feel of old Europe well. The sprawling countryside shots, old town architecture, and the detail in the each scene is aesthetically pleasing. Kudos to Bones for another job well done. I don’t have much to comment on in terms of the soundtrack itself. While there is a new ending theme, and a couple of new songs, nothing really stood out to me.Where the animation succeeds, the voice acting falls a little flat. Apphia Yu (Assassination Classroom, Fairy Tail) voices Victorique in such a way that she sounds extremely nasally. Some people think sounding whiny goes hand in hand with a nasally voice, but the two are not mutually exclusive. It also overrides any profound monologues she has and makes them sound childish. Matt Shippman (Sakura Quest) does a little better as Kujo, until he has to sing. There is one scene where Kujo has to sing a song to solve a case, and it’s so flat and nasally that I almost muted it. This is one of the only cases where I wished I had watched the subbed version that I’ve experienced in recent years.Packaging/Bonus MaterialsThe packaging and bonus materials in this set were a little lackluster. Textless opening and closing songs are pretty standard for a dvd, so I was hoping for something more. The dvd and Blu-ray Discs are nicely color coded in a regal yellow and red. I’m hoping if a complete box set is released it includes more goodies.RewatchabilityGiven all the plot points in this second half of the season, a rewatch is probably a good idea. However, I don’t think I would watch it a third or fourth time. It felt like everything I liked about the first half of the series was missing in the second half, so it wasn’t very enjoyable.Fans looking to complete their collection can purchase the set here from Funimation.