Gosick - Episode 5

After leaving us with a couple of mysteries still to deal with at the end of its previous episode, this fifth instalment of Gosick certainly wastes no time in getting to the bottom of them; a process which admittedly only throws up further questions still.

Of course, it's up to Victorique to do all of the problem solving around these parts, and this she does by pulling out the book which was hidden by Avril in the library previously, perusing its contents and finding a postcard addressed to Avril but never posted in the process.  With Victorique holding onto this postcard and leaving Kujo to ponder over the contents of the book itself, the latter soon finds himself whacked over the head and knocked out, coming to to find himself being looked after by Avril but with the book gone.

In the midst of all this, rumours of a successor to a much-feted thief abound, as do tales of a ghost in the academy's store house - a story which seems to hold some truth in Kujo's eyes as both himself and his teach hear some ghostly pleas for help coming from said location.  Again, it's up to Victorique to reveal the truth, including the true occupant of the store house and thus the truth about Avril and what this suspicious transfer student is actually looking for.  Cue a tense stand-off involving Kujo and his assailant, and a threat dispersed when Victorique uses a pile of books... it's super effective!

Anyhow, part of me does seem to be warming to Gosick a little now - on the down-side, it still isn't the show I really wanted it to be and it continues to be wasteful with its mystery elements which gives it little opportunity for suspense or to allow the viewer to guess what's happening (it's either blatantly obvious immediately or impossible to fathom based upon the information given).  But, on the other hand it is quite a fun viewing experience and it makes pretty good use of its characters most of the time, with Victorique in particular easing every episode along effortlessly, although even she runs the risk of becoming tiresome on occasion.  This series certainly isn't going to be any kind of classic, but as popcorn entertainment goes its doing okay for the time being.