It's 1924, and our story takes us to the European kingdom of Saubure, a small nation with a long, majestic history to be proud of. The prestigious St Marguerite's Academy is a private school that caters to the children of aristocrats, and it's just received a new student: Kujo Kazuya, an exchange student from an Eastern island nation, whose black eyes have earned him the nickname Black Reaper. One day, in a botanical garden at the very top of the academy's library tower, Kazuya encounters a girl who is as beautiful as a doll... This episode kicks off a story arc, involving the murder of a fortune teller, that may just run for a while. As well as being introduced to Kujo and Victorique - the aforementioned "girl as beautiful as a doll", who sadly for Kujo has and I'm-bored-and-I-just-don't-care attitude that really doesn't match her looks - we also get to meet Inspector Grevil de Blois, who works for the local police and has been tapping up Victorique's amazingly logical mind to solve his cases. And taking all the credit for himself, of course. Kujo is comic-relief, there to be the foil for Victorique, who clearly is the brains of the outfit. She's also as eccentric as hell, with the attention span of a gnat (unless you're talking mysteries) - but I just love her attitude, and that's good enough for me. Grevil's first appearance had me thinking I was suddenly watching an Utena rerun, between his trip in the elevator and the bizarreness of his hair, but fair not - the series doesn't appear to be the same sort of mindfuck that Utena was. Not yet, anyway, The series is produced by Studio Bones, which is a name I always like to see, and as I'd expect from them it looks good - plenty of detail, and a certain visual flair that can't help but impress. As starts to a series go, it's pretty good. The Good: Eccentric characters, decent story, nice visuals. The Bad: So far, nothing really. The high school setting is a bit hackneyed these days, but that's nothing to really pick on the series for. Gosick (think "Gothic" when you say it) is one of the more highly-anticipated shows this season, and while this episode barely even manages to get the introductions done it certainly does feel that it's capable of living up to those expectations. Looking forward to seeing more. Just one hint: oay attention, this is one of those shows where you miss things if you don't. You've been warned!
Read the rest of this entry Entry meta