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Gosick #1

GOSICK ──ゴシック──

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前世紀初頭、ヨーロッパの小国ソヴュール。極東の島国から留学した久城一弥は、聖マルグリット学園の図書館塔で奇妙な美少女・ヴィクトリカと出会った。彼女の頭脳は学園の難事件を次々解決してゆくが、ある日ヴィクトリカと一弥は豪華客船に招待され、そこで本物の殺人事件に遭遇してしまう。やがて彼ら自身に危機が迫ったとき、ヴィクトリカは──!? 直木賞作家が贈る、キュートでダークなミステリ・シリーズ。

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First published December 10, 2003

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About the author

Kazuki Sakuraba

89 books40 followers
Kazuki Sakuraba (桜庭一樹) is a Japanese writer.

Chinese profile >> 櫻庭一樹

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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for ⋆☆☽ Kriss ☾☆⋆.
625 reviews210 followers
May 22, 2019
Gosick has always held a special place in my heart because it was something I shared with my best friend, Sonia (much like the manga series Nana, Vol. 1). We actually collaborated on pieces of fan art of Victorique, with Sonia drawing the line art and me doing the digital coloring.

Before I get into the review, some information:

Gosick (ゴシック goshikku) is a stylized word derived from the English word "gothic" because the style of the series is akin to gothic romances, combining an air of mystery, horror, and romance (funny though that this is set in the 1920s and not 1860s; gothic lit was more popular in the previous century). I'm not 100% on why it became written as "gosick" but odds are it was probably stylized that way by the creators and when English speakers were introduced to the series they just kept with it (like how Belldandy's name from Ah! My Goddess! is kept as Belldandy, a possible romanization of Berudandi (ベルダンディー) because the author romanized it that way originally, rather than changing it to be Verðandi or Verthandi, which is how it should have been romanized).

A similar situation arises with the heroine's name. In Japanese her name is Vikutorika (ヴィクトリカ) so it's often written as "Victorica" both in translations and in instances where the creators have romanized it, but because Sauville is heavily French influenced and she has a French surname, we also see it written as "Victorique" in translations of the light novels, anime, manga, etc. as well as some instances in the original Japanese where it was later adopted as a romanzation. For the sake of this review and in most instances should I ever refer to her elsewhere, I'll be calling her Victorique.

I also wanted to clarify what a "light novel" (ライトノベル raito noberu) is. In Japan, light novels tend to be written more simplistically, are sold for a relatively cheap price with a small and cheap binding (think harlequin mass market paperbacks or pulp fiction novels), and are meant to be more on the spectrum of easy-to-digest reading entertainment, which is why you often see them adapted into anime and comics and video games and accompanied with illustrations. There are even instances where they're published chapter by chapter in magazines, much like old-time pulp fiction and modern day manga, before being bound together and sold as a complete work. Although the term seems to signify that these are like novellas in English, because most light novels are actually more in the ballpark of 50,000 words/200+ pages they technically don't qualify as novellas, which have like a 40,000 word cap. Gosick, for example, is 235 pages, which is a full novel.

Now for my actual review:

Gosick (the first volume of a series that's 9 volumes long with a sequel series, Gosick S, that has an additional 4 books; all the other books have subtitles attached like, "Gosick: Beneath the Blue Rose") is the introductory story to this world. Set in 1924 in a fictional European country called Sauville that's "located in the alps" and has a distinct French influence, we follow a Japanese transfer student named Kazuya who meets and befriends a peculiar student at his school named Victorique (who he presumes is a boy due to the name), a doll-like girl with long blonde hair and a genius intellect who smokes a pipe and spends all her time in the library reading. Drawn in by Victorique, Kazuya and her soon find themselves getting involved in mysteries and setting out to solve them.

The series, as a whole, focuses on the duo solving crimes and mysteries, of which there is a new one in every volume, and also has a subplot regarding their relationship, which grows from friendship into romance, and has some focus into their pasts with Kazuya being the youngest son of a prominent Japanese military officer and Victorique being the illegitimate child of an aristocrat.

In this volume, we focus on the mystery of Queen Berry and the mystery aboard it that all started years ago with a frightened group of orphans left alone on a ship for a dark purpose.

Since this is a mystery, all details are kind of relevant and spoilers, but I will say that for such a short book, it was still quite a thrilling tale! I also enjoy the way the mystery is revealed with alternating POVs and flashblacks and what not. In the midst we also have a focus on Victorique and Kazuya, who are really fun characters. Victorique is a a genius who's bad at socializing and gets a little pouty and can act childishish, but she can also be really endearing and you feel for her backstory. Kazuya is a pretty standard well-meaning sort of person who surprisingly has a strong backbone and pairs well with Victorique by helping her navigate the situation as she tries to deduce answers and he's instrumental in Victorique's growth.

I will say that the artwork is not my favorite; it's not terrible but it often looks awkward in my opinion, but luckily it's not super important to the story or featured that often. There's like 10 total illustrations.

Personally, I have a soft spot for this title despite it not being any grand piece of literature, and I am very sad that as this was being published, the US branch of Tokyopop went under and we only ever got 2 volumes released in English (the second of which is so rare that even though I eagerly waited for its release through Borders bookstore I never got my hands on a copy).

Maybe someday it'll get picked back up because I think it's an absolutely marvelous historical mystery romance series!









Profile Image for Julie.
267 reviews131 followers
October 14, 2013
I surprisingly quite enjoyed this manga. The cover and art work was slightly deceiving. I was expecting perhaps a cliché love story between two young students but I got more than I expected. The plot reminded me of Sherlock, it was really cute and an interesting read. I also loved the costumes and all in all, it was a great first volume. A great mystery thriller of a manga and not as soppy or cutesy as the cover seems to suggest so give it a try. You may be just as surprised as I was.
Profile Image for Josh.
128 reviews15 followers
October 6, 2008
Don't be fooled by the cute girl on the cover. What lurks inside is an excellent but gruesome mystery-horror story. The book is fast-paced and keeps the reader in the story with every page. I wasn't expecting the story to go where it did, but I'm damn happy about it. I expected some sort of children's school mystery story, that ends up with an conniving caretaker reeking havoc on campus. Far from it! I can't say much, but this is definitely worth a read. Unfortunately, Tokyo Pop has decided to kill the series after only one novel. Not cool, Tokyo Pop. Not cool at all.
Profile Image for Florentine.
58 reviews61 followers
February 28, 2011
my friend had recommend this manga..
sadly, I only have the 1st vol
but the anime is already aired..

Hontoni DAISUKIIIIII...
Profile Image for Liselotte.
1,208 reviews13 followers
May 22, 2021
Such a fun little book, it really captures the atmosphere of the series.
Profile Image for LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions).
1,293 reviews25 followers
November 19, 2012
I have read very few light novels that I'd recommend to someone who hadn't already seen the anime adaptations or who wasn't interested in anime/manga. Sadly, I can't add Gosick to my short list.

The book's biggest problem is that the writing is kind of clunky. I have no way of telling if this is because the original writing was bad or because the translation was bad. Tokyopop had a less-than-stellar reputation for its translations, so I'd be willing to believe the latter explanation.

Despite having thoroughly enjoyed the anime version of Gosick, this book was a slog for me. I know some of that was due to the writing. Some of the word choices were awful, and some sentences were a bit awkward. I'd have to include a longer passage to really illustrate what I'm talking about, but this sentence in particular stuck with me. Victorique is taunting Kujo, who must use the library's many stairs while she gets to use the elevator: “'You have to trot on down the stairs, suffering and leaving your thighs quivering and exhausted.'” I noticed at least one instance where a word was misused: “She was a dignified, hollowed [sic] creature who never should have been brought to this filthy, sinking ship” (170). “Hallowed” should probably have been used instead.

Although I do think the writing/translation was a big part of the reason why this book took me so long to finish, the fact that I already knew how the book would end probably didn't help. The first three episodes of the Gosick anime are an adaptation of this novel. I did note a few minor changes here and there, though.

There were a couple things that I think must have been edited out for the anime adaptation to reduce the possibility that there might be complaints. For instance, although Victorique was allowed to keep her pipe in the anime, she never once actually smoked it. In the light novel, she smokes it and even occasionally blows smoke in Kujo's face. So, I guess now I know why Victorique always kept that silly pipe around in the anime. Another scene I think was changed was the bit where Kujo and Victorique had just gotten on the cruise ship and Victorique was eating dinner. There wasn't another dinner available for Kujo, and I think I remember Victorique giving Kujo some of her bread. In the novel, one of the other passengers, Ned, tells Kujo he can sit on his lap (which Kujo does after Victorique orders him to) and then proceeds to feed him. Ned is a grown man, and I think Kujo is maybe 15 or 16 years old. The scene made me a tad uncomfortable.

One other difference between the novel and the anime: I don't think Book Victorique had the pendant that Anime Victorique had. However, near the end of the novel, the character who orchestrated everything on the cruise ship mentions having seen someone who looked a lot like Victorique at a sanatorium, so I'm guessing that the light novel series does still include the ongoing storyline about Victorique's mother.

In my opinion, some of the best parts of the novel came near the end, when Kujo began evaluating his feelings about himself and his friendship with Victorique. I loved the moment when he decided to make it clear that he was saving Victorique because he wanted to, not because he was the third son of a soldier – he went from being someone with a duty and a need to prove his worthiness to being an individual who needed to do the best he could in that particular moment in order to save himself and his friend. For most of the novel, Victorique was a cool, distant, somewhat grouchy, and dismissively intelligent beauty. Near the end of the novel, however, her facade cracked a little, showing her vulnerable side.

I also enjoyed the flashbacks showing the children who had been imprisoned on the ship 10 years ago and tricked into killing each other. Although I knew what was going on and why, it was still interesting and chilling to read about the children trying to survive, forming alliances or deciding to distrust one another. Part of me wished that more pages had been devoted to these flashbacks, as well as to the passages that further developed Kujo and Victorique and added depth to their relationship.

The relationship between Kujo and Victorique, as well as the hint of mystery about Victorique's mother, could make reading later volumes in this series worth it, despite the bad writing/translation, particularly if the light novel series storyline differs greatly from the anime storyline. It looks like Tokyopop only ever got around to publishing two volumes, though.

If you decide you'd like to read this, I highly recommend getting a copy from your local library – I'm not sure I would have recommended buying it back when it was still in print, and I definitely don't recommend buying it for $47+. Really, though, since only the first two volumes are available in English and I imagine the writing/translation isn't any better in the second volume, my recommendation would be to watch the anime instead: you can do so on Crunchyroll. It's much, much better, and, I promise, it does have a proper ending.

My grade for this book: C-. The overall story is decent but dragged down by clunky, awkward writing/translation.

Extras:

Like every other light novel I've read, there are black-and-white illustrations. Again, I prefer the anime over the book. One of the illustrations, supposedly of a scene not long after Kujo was badly beaten, showed Kujo looking perfectly fine. The anime, at least, took into account what Kujo had gone through – his face was swollen and I think he was a little bandaged.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Profile Image for Linh Khánh.
39 reviews2 followers
January 6, 2020
Mình biết Gosick qua anime cách đây mấy năm. Khi nghe tin Kim Đồng xuất bản bộ tiểu thuyết Gosick mình đã mua ngay tập 1. Phải nói là rất đáng đọc. Plot twist, những tình huống gay cấn, bất ngờ đều đủ thỏa mãn mình. Mình rất ấn tượng về Victorique, nhân vật nữ của bộ truyện. Cô như một Sherlock Holmes phiên bản nữ thu nhỏ vậy. Song, dù là truyện trinh thám nhưng lại mang yếu tố lãng mạn. Cách hành văn của tác giả ở những đoạn đối thoại của Kazuya và Victorique đều mang đậm phong cách của shoujo manga. Cực kỳ dễ thương nhưng không kém phần gay cấn! Mình rất mong chờ Kim Đồng sẽ xuất bản tập tiếp theo.
Profile Image for Maverynthia.
Author 2 books9 followers
July 25, 2019
They mystery is predictable so much they basically give it away. There's too much empty line when faced with death and Victorique is there just to be a pedophile's wet dream. So much her mother looks like her and well, she's always compared to a child.
There's no reason for Kazuya to be there other than the male POV and to have that whole "Onii-san protect me" moment that seinen loves to pull on their "strong" female characters.
1 review
February 14, 2019
I love
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Thuy Duyen.
469 reviews41 followers
January 11, 2020
Đọc trinh thám quen rồi nên cũng lờ mờ nhận ra được hung thủ. Nhưng cách dẫn truyện của tác giả rất thu hút. Thêm cả nhân vật chính cũng cực cool ngầu nữa
Profile Image for Ally.
73 reviews2 followers
June 25, 2021
Really really recommend bz it doesn’t have any words to show my emotions nowww, I like this light novel!!!
Profile Image for Angela ♡.
23 reviews
December 2, 2014
I honestly love this light novel! From the very beginning with all of the "ghost stories" I was pulled in!

The characters are so unique and richly built. Kujo is your average joe who befriends a girl who is NOTHING like how she looks. She's smart (incredibly so), is able to deduce things just from little clues, & she is mean. She's also the girl on the cover if you want to know what she looks like, & her name is Victorique.

The book really does pull you in! It alternates between points of view from the past & the present. I just couldn't put the book down at all! I read it while being driven to California, & let me tell you, I usually get really carsick when I read on the car, but I FINISHED THE WHOLE BOOK on that ride.

"Gosick vol. 1" is one of my absolute favorites books of all time. There's crime, there's mystery, and there's friendship throughout the book.

It's just a shame though that Tokyopop took YEARS to publish the second one in the series, & it's an even BIGGER shame that TokyoPop closed. Now who will distribute this wonder called Gosick to the world? Hopefully someone will publish the third and the rest of the books soon. In the meantime I'll watch the anime.
Profile Image for Despair Speaking.
316 reviews136 followers
September 6, 2012
Ooooh! It's like a manga female version of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot! They all use deduction and have "friends" that they end up annoying to no end and using to solve a crime. Their personalities are also very similar: they're proud, eccentric, and stubborn. Not to mention a lot of interesting cases go flying to their direction! I had loads of fun reading it and there were times my heart was really pounding in excitement! If you like mysteries, then it's a sure thing you'd like this one too!

Kazuya Kujo is the third (I think) son of a Japanese soldier who is studying abroad. He goes to the library one day and decides to go to the very top where there's a garden room. There, he meets Victorique, a tiny yet brilliant young girl around his age who solves the mysteries that her brother, a detective with a weird hairstyle, gives her. (Of course he gets the glory...) As Kazuya spends more time with her and joins her in her investigations, he slowly learns Victorique's past and why she can't seem to leave the garden room unless permitted by her brother.
Profile Image for Jia.
18 reviews3 followers
June 22, 2010
This is not usually the book I would pick up, but I was mystified by the storyline, so I bought it at a used book sale. Little did I know, this book, achemm- light novel, would be one of the best that I've read. I think this would appeal to those who don't read manga, those who like shonen, and shoujo! It's actually well written, though I would like to point out one flaw. One of the main characters in the book, Victorique is said to have a boy's name, but Victorique is clearly a girl's name. I am positive that it was supposed to be Victore or Victor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Paul.
157 reviews6 followers
February 28, 2016
I'm not a fan of mystery novels, but I read every light novel I find. I liked Victorique and Kujo, but there are HUGE chunks of the book where they weren't even in the book, and that annoyed me. It seems to me that mystery books don't need main characters at all, that they just represent the inevitable kumuppins of the crime. It was a good book though if you like mysteries.

Personally I thought the two criminals made a more interesting story. It would have made a great heist/romance book.
Profile Image for Jessica.
560 reviews14 followers
June 25, 2012
Aaamaaazing. In this (slightly) alternate reality that occurs right before WWII a Japanese boy attends a prestigious school near France. He meets a very tiny genius girl in the garden room at the top of the library. Her brother, the local detective, is always coming to tell her about a case. Her mind automatically compiles the data and pops out the circumstances and the culprit.
Profile Image for Kenny.
6 reviews1 follower
August 18, 2012
I watched the anime before i read this book and while reading this book the image of the anime really came to in my head. I really enjoyed reading this i wish I can get my hands on the 2nd volume but sadly I can not :( but none the less this book is really a good read don't let the cover fool you :3
Profile Image for Karl.
257 reviews9 followers
February 22, 2014
Incredibly similar to the show, so if you're a fan of the anime this has everything you love and just enough extra to make it worth the read. I'd wondered about it for a while, and I was very glad for the chance to find it at a used book store - will definitely search for the next installment!
Profile Image for apple.
105 reviews11 followers
December 3, 2009
初めてのライトノベルが思ったより面白かった。今漫画バージョンも読みたい~
Profile Image for 黒姫 朱理.
1 review
May 8, 2013
Gosickは昔に探したものの2巻からしか売っていなかったので、
今回、別会社が再販してくださったので読むことが出来た。
なかなか癖のない話で楽しい、でも後半がちょっと人が増えて誰が誰か分かんなくなるので
後半はゆっくり読むことをオススメする。それさえ注意すれば探偵っぽい話で面白いと思います
1 review
October 25, 2015
It was really good. The only problem was that there were a lot of grammatical errors in the English translation.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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