Episode 08 – Howling Echoes From the Kingdom of the Past – 過去の王国に遠吠(ぼ)えがこだまする (Kako no Ookoku ni Tooboe ga Kodama Suru)
Disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this episode. After some excellent buildup in the previous episode, this episode unfortunately wastes all that potential and brings us some extremely poorly concluded mysteries that ended up having absolutely zero importance to the main mystery. Not to mention, the logic behind how these cases were solved is extremely weak, which is very disappointing to say the least. I had actually expected a genuinely good mystery in this arc, but that proved to be expecting too much. On the other hand, we did get a bit more character development amongst Kujo and Victorique, and seeing how their trust in each other throughout the entire ordeal was probably the only highlight here.
First off, concerning mystery number 1; the one involving the murders of the visitors from outside. I will admit that the show did a pretty decent job of keeping the culprit hidden, but Victorique’s methodology of solving the mystery was absurd. I mean, seriously, just because there was an acorn on the ground there that shouldn’t be there, the guy was a culprit? The evidence itself is as solid as a piece of foam; that is, the evidence Victorique brings up does not prove anything in regards to how the guy in question was the killer. The acorn could have been on the person killed and simply dropped from his body, or some other reason. Victorique’s deductions may have been correct, but the proof really doesn’t reflect that.
And then there is the second mystery that focuses in on Cordelia, Victorique’s mother. It was mentioned last week how Cordelia was innocent because of her “scratchings on the tombstone”, but that honestly does not prove anything. Go figure that the crazy maid was the one behind Coredelia’s exile, and to make matters worse, the motivations for the maid in doing such a crazy deed was a stupid prophecy saying that would die at the age of 26. Seriously, even if you do take prophecies seriously, going on a rampage and killing the cheif doesn’t quite make sense. Not to mention, why is it that Cordelia couldn’t have possibly killed the chief because of “being a child, and being too short”, while the maid (the killer) was also short and a child at the time of the murder. Total contradiction right there, and really makes the arguments for this mystery extremely weak.
What was better about this episode was the non-mystery parts, where we see Kujo and Victorique on the run from the crazy maid. The attacks from the maid (who was wielding a sharp spear) did help show us how Kujo was firmly devoted to protecting Victorique, while seeing Victorique reach out her hand and grab Kujo just shows how much Victorique has grown to liking him. Their gradually developing relationship was showcased pretty nicely here, and further affirms my belief that Victorique continues to keep this show more interesting (this is just my opinion, of course…). The crazy maid with the spear also created a rather intense atmosphere, with a good choice in background music on Bones’ part that made the entire scene more attention grabbing. The maid’s brief rebellion was rather short lived, though, considering how she fell off a bridge.
In the end, though, Gosick’s mysteries continue to disappoint. At this point, I’ve pretty much realized that this series is actually better when you don’t think too much about mysteries and such. At least, the flaws are much less obvious if you don’t think about them. For a show that is supposed to be a mystery/suspense show, though, this certainly isn’t a good sign. There is a brief hint that Cordelia is, indeed, still alive, and may actually be traveling around with that magic trick guy from a few episodes ago, but we don’t really know anything beyond that. I did like watching the Victorique x Kujo interactions, and while I do hope for a more compelling story, watching them in itself can be a rather interesting ordeal.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
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Distant Paradise 
I also feel disappointed at how this turned out. Way too easy to solve and the buildup to the climax didn’t really satisfy me. On the other hand, I actually think that all this mysteries or at least some of them are connected and will play a role latter in the series. I can’t be sure since I’ve not read the novel but I guess that this is my way of holding up hope that this will give us something good later.
Still I’m glad that Kuojo and Victorica’s relationship is growing. Also it was nice to see Gevril go after the culprit, shows that he is not so useless and he actually spoke to Victorica for the first time. Although I was expecting something from the woman, I didn’t actually think the Gevril had sent her.
There are hints at the mysteries connecting, especially after it was revealed that Victorique’s mother is probably alive. That being said, it’s still rather vague as to what the larger picture here may be, but considering how this is a 24 episode series, there is plenty of time for this show to get things together.
I too was surprised at what role the nun was playing, but Grevil’s caution regarding Victorique makes me wonder why he has to go through so much trouble to keep Victorique under surveillance. There’s obviously something about Victorique that he isn’t revealing yet, which does make me a bit curious about what else we still don’t know about Victorique’s past.
wew I actually like this episode
I love the development between the two : p
Same here; I like how the Victorique and Kujo relationship is progressing, but the really awkward conclusions to the mysteries in the first half left a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak.
Their relationship has progressed quite a bit in the short time they seem to have been together, with their trust in each other proof of their relationship. I wonder how the “great wind” will separate the two, though I hope the prophecy doesn’t come to fruition. If this great wind is actually world war two, though, I have some doubts about if the Victorique x Kujo relationship could last.
well the prediction about the so-called “great wind” will be the World War II
since kujo’s family(some of them especially his father) belongs to Japanese military
so probably kujo will help his father/or be forced to join the army
But I really hope kujo and victorique will change the future : p
but killer meido couldn’t change it
“why is it that Cordelia couldn’t have possibly killed the chief because of “being a child, and being too short”, while the maid (the killer) was also short and a child at the time of the murder. Total contradiction right there”
In all fairness, the crime reconstruction clearly showed that the maid was able to stab the previous Elder so high in the back because 1) he was bent down and 2) her perch inside the clock was well off the ground, and the momentum of her downward jump was enough to bury the blade to the hilt. People assumed that Cordelia simply walked in and stabbed the guy in the back; the maid was pointing out why that assumption was faulty.
“the maid was pointing out why that assumption was faulty.”
that was the point, she wanted somehow to show Vic’s mother didn’t do it, because the maid knew she did it
Well, if the possibility for Cordelia existed, the maid shouldn’t have been excluded either because of their similar physical traits. I mean, Cordelia could’ve found some way to stab the guy like the maid did, so the fact that the show simply dismissed them one but not the other as a culprit just seems like a poorly thought out mystery in my opinion. I guess the situation just favored Cordelia being a suspect, while the maid was spared from the same suspicion.
It’s at least a good comedy show, I have every time much fun watching it.
I’m only disappointed that it feels like the episodes end too soon and I would like to watch more.
Save a few scenes it’s exactly how it plays in the novel, so the anime didn’t change much in that regard.