Gankutsuou, my favourite anime series. I enjoyed it enough to read the 1250 page unique it’s based on (The Count of Monte Cristo) after finishing the series, and I’m far from an avid reader. In the destroy, not only did Gankutsuou become my favourite anime, it also helped me collect my favourite book.
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I decided to commence collecting the series after watching it. It wasn’t an easy task to do with me living in the UK and Geneon being tedious in the water, but I’ll do you the details and simply say that I’m now the glad owner of the art box and all 6 volumes of this truly astounding series.
Plot: 9.7/10
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Not having read the recent prior to starting this, I had no conception what to examine. I knew about distinct vague details, such as a young man becoming fascinated with the Count of Monte Cristo, but that’s all. But, as a result of having no expectations, I was blown away by the record of Edmond Dantes; The Count of Monte Cristo.
In a nutshell, Gankutsuou is a fairly simple revenge memoir that’s executed extremely well: a young man called Edmond Dantes loses his freedom, his care for and almost his life because of the greed, jealousy and pride of three men. Then, after many years, he returns, posing as the Count of Monte Cristo - a rich ‘noble’ who appears out of nowhere and sends shockwaves through Paris with his riches - and puts into action his conception to catch the ultimate revenge on the men who destroyed his life. After spending many years suffering, he doesn’t simply want to end them: he wants to waste them, throwing them in the pits of despair.
In order to add mystery to Edmond’s character, the yarn is not told from his perspective (unlike in the book) . Instead, the chronicle is told from the perspective of Albert, a young favorable and son of Fernand de Morcerf; a general and one of the three Edmond wants revenge against. This brings both awful and superior points - the wonderful being the added mystery and a different angle on the anecdote, the terrible being Albert having the IQ of a dog. I wanted to end him when he failed to work out that it was in fact Edmond pulling the strings slack the abominable sequence of events unfolding around him for the 10th time.
The setting was quite a shock at first, with the account taking plot in the year 5053, where as the unique takes station during the 1800’s. It was a further surprise to peer the anecdote starts during the Rome fragment of the modern, the only incompatibility being that the writers replaced Rome with a city on the moon. I do kinda wish the yarn had been told in the 1800’s instead since very few details are given about the futuristic universe and the setting becomes more of a distraction than anything.
If you ignore the fact that the epic isn’t told with the events occurring in chronological order (like in the fresh), one of two things that might upset purists is how the tale goes in a different direction than the unique at around episode 18. With Edmond’s character being key to the account, Edmond only caring about revenge in the anime was the reason unhurried the change of direction towards the raze. In the modern Edmond was persuaded by Mercédès to alter his plans, yet in the anime Edmond turned a deaf ear to her and continued… This one seemingly minor change had a astronomical impact on how the legend progressed beyond that point. Thankfully, Gonzo handled the changes very well, making the finale absorbing for people who have read the recent since, if like me, those people would procure themselves fascinated by the current angle on Edmond’s character.
All in all, the chronicle was a amazing plug. An adaptation of a timeless classic with artistic differences, it was executed excellently, at times perfectly. You do have to wait for the ‘main event’ before you peer fair how amazingly well told the chronicle is, the first half in particular being nearly all accomplish up, but I quiet felt compelled to withhold watching even without any major twists/events occurring.
Characters: 9.7/10
I liked handsome mighty the entire cast…apart from the main character, Albert. Although I knew he had to be made rather wearisome for the sake of the dwelling, his stupidity and inability to eye the positive became very annoying after awhile. You’d reflect he’d be able to save two and two together when Edmond unbiased randomly kept appearing and Edmond himself had told Albert that there were no coincidences!
After reading the book, it became even more certain how boring Albert had been made in Gankutsuou in order for the record to be told from his perspective. Although Albert was quite impulsive in the book, unimaginative was not one of the words that entered into my mind whilst reading… If anything he came across as a rather knowing and likeable character. Absorb me when I say that Albert was neither a crybaby nor an idiot in the original.
Franz, Albert’s childhood friend in Gankutsuou (they aren’t that cessation in the unique), shares a discontinuance relationship with Albert, the two being come enough inseparable. Unlike in the book, there are clear homosexual overtones, Franz obviously viewing Albert as more than a friend and Albert unable to gape it. Franz, like in the book, is a still and very intellectual character, in many ways being the actual opposite of Albert in the anime. Albert and Franz tumble out many times in the anime over Edmond after Franz tries to warn unimaginative Albert on various occasions about Edmond not being all he seems.
Edmond, the Count of Monte Cristo himself, remains a mystery for most of the series. He acts kind, yet you can sigh that underneath he’s hiding something; wearing a camouflage to fool those around him. His character differs considerably from the character you peruse in the book because, where as Edmond views himself as a servant of God in the book, Edmond views himself as a demon of revenge in the anime adaptation. Gankutsuou’s Edmond is certainly an attractive prefer on a noted character, one that I’m obvious would likely have created more discussion had more people read the fresh Gankutsuou is based on.
The one glaring omission from the anime cast is one of the most well-known characters in the book: Abbé Faria. In the current, Faria saved Edmond from killing himself after he had spent many years alone in the prison of Château d’If, giving him renewed hope and someone to squawk with. Faria soon become a sort of mentor to Edmond, giving him the huge amounts of knowledge he had inside his elderly mind, ending up changing Edmond from a humorous boy to a friendly man. Faria also ended up leading Edmond to fortune by telling him about the adore hidden on the island of Monte Cristo on his death bed.
In the anime, no explanation whatsoever was given for how Edmond transformed from a naive boy to the charismatic man you inspect as The Count of Monte Cristo. He doesn’t even go to the island of Monte Cristo in the anime, his cave of wonders being moved to underneath his house in France. Although this does work and goes with the changes made to Edmond’s character (demon of revenge; not the servant of God he believes himself to be in the unique), Gankutsuou would’ve had more depth if Faria had at least been shown.
Overall, Gankutsuou has an unbelievable cast of characters. I do recommend you read the original if you wish to understand them fully, though - a 24 episode anime can only fit in so distinguished.
Art / Animation: 9.7/10
The first thing that hits you about Gankutsuou is the rather bizarre CG enact clothing and hair has. The conclude is hard to effect into words; it’s as if the characters clothing and hair are reflective. It takes a few episodes to accumulate passe to it. If nothing else, you have to praise the studio slack Gankutsuou (Gonzo) for the broad amount of trouble they build in.
The second thing to hit you is the shining range of colours weak. If, like me, you went into Gankutsuou expecting to gawk gloomy and plain colours, the sort fitting for a account plot in the 1800’s, you’d be completely cross since the colours are anything but tedious, vibrant being a powerful better description.
As expected of a Gonzo production, Gankutsuou also has a splendid amount of CG outside of the clothing/hair finish, including some yarn mecha fights. The CG is lovely at times, almost jaw dropping for a TV series.
Overall, Gankutsuou is a joy to see…once you pick up faded to the current animation conclude. Production values were clearly not here.
Sound: 9.5/10
First of all, let me say that I didn’t contemplate very worthy of the opening (OP) song. The OP, while fitting, was so slow and plain I had to skip it after watching it once. The ending (ED) song, on the other hand, I did like, the lyrics fitting the reveal perfectly and the song being lickety-split paced. I feel the ED song would’ve worked better if it had been ancient for the OP.
The soundtrack is very high quality, as you’d interrogate. There aren’t too many tracks I’d listen to outside of the series (although there is one Fantastic track), but the music fitted the prove like a glove and helped preserve the tale sage. I also loved how classical music was chosen - it made the experience feel even more special to hear both unedited and edited versions of some of the most illustrious classical music in existence playing alongside the animation.
I have to mention track 18, one of the best pieces of music I’ve ever listened to. It was cheek-tinglingly delicate to listen to when it played during the best episode in the series (strangely enough, episode 18!!!), making the sequence even more thrilling than it was already.
The selection of classical music (some remixed for the anime), friendly newly created music and one the most fitting ED songs of all time accomplish 9.5/10 a comely rep.
Total: 9.7/10
Having watched a sparkling amount of anime, I’m hard to please. Gankutsuou tickled me, with every space surpassing my expectations. It’s a rare, rare feeling to extinguish anything and feel advance enough completely cheerful, and I can’t perceive me enjoying another anime as mighty for a long time.
I recommend this series to everyone: those who have read the current and those who haven’t. My only suggestion is to scrutinize the anime before reading the modern if possible since we all know how people can be picky when it comes to adaptations.
Never let it be said that current anime is particular about where it draws its inspiration. The understanding of creating a series based on a unique written in 1844 then setting it in the year 5053 sounds like a far stretch for any production staff and yet somehow, someway Mahiro Maeda (the director of Blue Submarine No. 6) manages to pull it off in Gankutsuou with style. The fresh of course is none other than Three-Musketeer’s author, Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo (in case you somehow missed this series’ title) .
Here in the United States, this is a re-release by Funimation of an earlier Geneon DVD release of basically the same name. Side note: Geneon typically labeled the explain Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo while Funimation flips the order to The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutsuou. Other than that the only incompatibility is that rather than spreading the 24 episodes across six discs, Funimation manages to do it in four (packaged in a pair of gorgeous thin packs within a subtle cardboard outer case) . The source material comes to us via the vivid minds of Japanese anime studio Gonzo; who themselves bring a long list of current, thought-provoking titles to the table (such as their 2007 anime adaptation of Romeo and Juliet) .
This dwelling, as has been the trend of behind, contains virtually no extras to disclose of although the language options are thorough (English dub and unique Japanese with or without English subtitles) .
The narrative is setup to appeal to fans of the novel work and those with no prior exposure alike as it retains all of the key dwelling points but adds a few original elements and tells it from a totally different perspective (kind of like what John Gardener’s modern Grendel does to the classic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf) .
The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutsuou tells the legend chronicle of a wrongfully accused man’s intricate place of exacting revenge through the relatable doings of a fifteen-year-old aristocrat from Paris named Albert (pronounced “al-bear” in homage to the French author’s modern motif) . As stated above, the explain goes to immense lengths to do an atmosphere stunningly reminiscent of 19th century France while integrating impartial enough technology to remind the viewer that this is, in fact, the future- and the very distant future at that.
Pacing is deliberately dead and thorough and really compliments that rather dry-nature of the source material. However, while this may be viewed as a negative with some shows, Gankutsuou turns the myth telling element into an art obtain in and of itself. This is adult anime and not because of the usual pitfalls that eliminate younger viewers from the equation. Rather than sexual references, violence and language, Gankutsuou can be called worn on epic of its sophistication and mood-appropriate visuals.
In fact it is nearly impossible to secure a review of the demonstrate that doesn’t whisk all over itself in praise for the artistic vision and modern animation style. The best device to relate it is imagine come photo-realistic textures layered gradual transparent character models. If that sounds irregular to you, rest assured, it is but somehow it works. What makes the visuals so recent is that the textures are static, meaning they don’t travel even when the character boasting them does. It’s one of those traits so recent that you may go as far as to designate it distracting early on yet it manages to become subdued as the viewer loses himself in the ever-thickening spot. Even by the later episodes there are a few shocking examples of where texture-overloaded scenes approach off as overly busy or muddled but as a whole, the source material literally benefits from this modern art style.
If there were a single complaint worth mentioning about the display it would have to be the simple reality that this isn’t bustle of the mill anime by any sense of the word. It’s lovely difficult to status the indicate into a genre in fact. The myth is, quite frankly, unlike any other seen in recent anime, which I impart is to be expected when you remember that this is classic literature in inspiring build. Viewers expecting scantly clad women, characters with abnormally big and watery eyes, or slapstick of any kind need not apply. Being that the setting does buy plot in the distant future, there are a few robotic fight scenes (duels that wouldn’t ogle out of site in Escaflowne) and some graceful chilly station move concepts.
As a whole, though, it would be easy for viewers with a short attention span to become bored. There’s a true and qualified breeze to the location that requires patience and a bit of maturity (or at the very least, an appreciation for ravishing culture) .
When directly compared to the current unusual, some may scoff at the fact that there is a little supernatural angle that acts as the backdrop here. Without revealing too powerful of the dependable mystery presented within, let me impartial comment on the character of Edmond Dantes allowing an insalubrious entity (Gankutsuou) possession of his body so as to dash imprisonment and to realize his ambitions of revenge. A fan of the modern work, it is a bit disappointing personally to trace that Edmond’s creativity in escaping his prison was omitted here. Worse level-headed is that while the novel can be viewed essentially as a cautionary epic in the dangers of allowing vengeance to overtake one’s life, here the metaphor is perhaps taken a bit too literally. Otherwise, and especially correct for those not tied to the beauty of the unique work, the supernatural elements do go a long scheme in adding intrigue and creepiness to the formula.
The show’s music win is not only hauntingly appropriate; it’s at times, dare I say, catchy (especially the opening theme which is about as current as they reach) . Throughout are rich piano scores and solid symphonic pieces.
In all, Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo is one of the most novel properties of all time to grace anime ideology. With a timeless epic, current art style, and underlining themes that nearly anyone can encourage from in their possess lives, Gankutsuou reminds us all that recent art is far from dead; if even only the result of rejuvenating the classics as the case may be.
