Gosick | |
ゴシック (Goshikku) | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Light novel | |
Written by | Kazuki Sakuraba |
Illustrated by | Hinata Takeda |
Published by | Fujimi Shobo |
English publisher | |
Imprint | Fujimi Mystery Bunko |
Demographic | Male |
Original run | December 10, 2003 – July 23, 2011 |
Volumes | 9 |
Light novel | |
GosickS | |
Written by | Kazuki Sakuraba |
Illustrated by | Hinata Takeda |
Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
Imprint | Kadokawa Beans Bunko |
Demographic | Female |
Original run | July 15, 2005 – May 25, 2011 |
Volumes | 4 |
Manga | |
Written by | Kazuki Sakuraba |
Illustrated by | Sakuya Amano |
Published by | Fujimi Shobo |
Magazine | Monthly Dragon Age |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | January 2008 – May 2012 |
Volumes | 8 |
Manga | |
Gosick W | |
Written by | Kazuki Sakuraba |
Illustrated by | Moriki Takeshi |
Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
Magazine | Comp Ace |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | January 2011 – December 2011 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Hitoshi Nanba |
Produced by | Junka Kobayashi Yoshikazu Beniya |
Written by | Mari Okada |
Music by | Kōtarō Nakagawa |
Studio | Bones |
Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
Original network | TV Tokyo, TVA, TVO, TSC, TVQ, AT-X |
Original run | January 7, 2011 – July 2, 2011 |
Episodes | 24 |
Novel series | |
Gosick New Continent | |
Written by | Kazuki Sakuraba |
Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
Demographic | Male |
Original run | December 25, 2013 – December 2, 2016 |
Volumes | 4 |
Gosick (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.
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.
Gosick began as a light novel series written by Kazuki Sakuraba, with illustrations by Hinata Takeda. Fujimi Shobo and Kadokawa Shoten published 13 volumes between December 10, 2003 and July 23, 2011; nine comprise the main story, while the other four under the title GosickS are side story collections. The first GosickS volume takes place before the first volume of Gosick, GosickS II is between Gosick IV and Gosick V, and GosickS III takes place after Gosick VI. A new series titled Gosick New Continent started on December 25, 2013, following Kazuya and Victorique in 1931 after they moved to North America following the events of the main story.
Tokyopop released the first novel in English in April 2008[7] and the second in March 2010. It is also published Germany by Tokyopop.[8]
No. | Title | Original release date | English release date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Gosick GOSICK -Goshikku- (GOSICK –ゴシック–) | December 15, 2003 4-8291-6229-5 | April 8, 2008 978-1427805690 |
Kazuya Kujou, a Japanese student in the Saint Marguerite Academy in Sauville, meets a mysterious girl named Victorique atop the school's library tower. After the mysterious murder of a fortune teller, they face the challenge of the cursed ship Queen Berry. | |||
2 | Gosick II: The Crime That Has No Name GOSICK II -Goshikku – Sono Tsumi wa Na mo Naki- (GOSICK II –ゴシック・その罪は名もなき–) | May 15, 2004 4-8291-6254-6 | March 1, 2010 978-1427805706 |
Hidden in a newspaper advertisement, Victorique discovers a warning directed to her disappeared mother, Cordelia. In order to find about it, she and Kazuya travel to the Grey Wolf village, where the Midsummer Festival has just started. | |||
3 | Gosick III: Beneath the Blue Rose GOSICK III -Goshikku – Aoi Bara no Shita de- (GOSICK III –ゴシック・青い薔薇の下で–) | October 15, 2004 4-8291-6273-2 | - |
Kazuya gets entangled in the sinister business of the Jeantan Department Store, where the jewel known as the Blue Rose is held. | |||
4 | Gosick IV: A Fool Represents the Case GOSICK IV -Goshikku – Gusha wo Daiben seyo- (GOSICK IV –ゴシック・愚者を代弁せよ–) | January 15, 2004 4-8291-6288-0 | - |
Victorique, Kazuya and Avril meet the mystery of the alchemist Leviathan, a figure connected to the academy's clock tower. | |||
5 | Gosick V: Beelzebub's Skull -Goshikku – Beruzebubu no Zugai- (GOSICK V –ゴシック・ベルゼブブの頭蓋–) | December 15, 2005 4-8291-6328-3 | - |
Victorique's father orders her to be taken to a building named Beelzebub's Skull in Lithuania, where an illusionism festival is being held. Kazuya sets to save her. | |||
6 | Gosick VI: Night of the Masquerade GOSICK VI -Goshikku – Kamen-Butōkai no Yoru- (GOSICK VI –ゴシック・仮面舞踏会の夜–) | December 15, 2006 4-8291-6375-5 | - |
After improbably escaping from the festival's disaster, Kazuya and Victorique get involved with a new mystery in the return train. | |||
7 | Gosick VII: The Rose-coloured Life GOSICK VII -Goshikku – Barairo no Jinsei- (GOSICK VII –ゴシック・薔薇色の人生–) | March 25, 2011 978-4-04-428115-1 | - |
Victorique is taken again by her father in order to solve a mystery involving former queen Coco Rose. | |||
8 | Gosick VIII (1): Twilight of the Gods GOSICK VIII Jou -Goshikku – Kamigami no Tasogare- (GOSICK VIII 上 –ゴシック・神々の黄昏–) | June 25, 2011 4-04-428121-1 | - |
9 | Gosick VIII (2): Twilight of the Gods GOSICK VIII Ge -Goshikku – Kamigami no Tasogare (GOSICK VIII 下 –ゴシック・神々の黄昏–) | July 25, 2011 4-04-428124-6 | - |
A manga adaptation, illustrated by Amano Sakuya, was serialized in Fujimi Shobo's Monthly Dragon Age magazine between the January 2008 and May 2012 issues. Fujimi Shobo published eight tankōbon volumes between July 9, 2008 and June 9, 2012.
No. | Japanese release date | Japanese ISBN |
---|---|---|
1 | July 9, 2008 | 978-4047125582 |
2 | November 10, 2008 | 978-4047125773 |
3 | August 9, 2009 | 978-4047126152 |
4 | January 9, 2010 | 978-4047126442 |
5 | November 9, 2010 | 978-4047126930 |
6 | February 9, 2011 | 978-4047127104 |
7 | September 8, 2011 | 978-4047127456 |
8 | June 9, 2012 | 978-4047127944 |
A drama CD based on the first volume of GosickS, was released on April 21, 2006.
See also: List of Gosick episodes |
Gosick was adapted into a 24-episode anime television series by Bones under the direction of Hitoshi Nanba and script supervision by Mari Okada.[9] The series aired on TV Tokyo between January 8 and July 2, 2011. However, the broadcast of episode 11 and afterward was affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[10] The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll with English subtitles.[11] The opening theme is "Destin Histoire" by Risa Yoshiki and was released on March 2, 2011.[12] For the first 12 episodes, the ending theme is "Resuscitated Hope" by Lisa Komine and was released on April 27, 2011.[13] From episodes 13-24, the ending theme is "Unity", also by Lisa Komine. Bandai Entertainment had licensed the anime,[14] but later cancelled the release of Gosick.[15] Madman Entertainment have licensed the series in Australia and New Zealand and are releasing subtitled-only DVDs until a dubbed version becomes available. Funimation has licensed the series in North America and released the first half of the series on a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack on May 30, 2017 with an English dub.[16] Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.[17]
Anime News Network's Carlo Santos commends the first volume of light novels for "a mysterious, elegant atmosphere and an intricate plotline [making] this a thrilling read from start to finish". However, he criticises the light novels for "flashback scenes [that] never really fit in". He also mentions that "the final conclusion is rather far-fetched."[18]