Der Graf von Monte Christo: Gankutsuou

I cannot believe this enigmatic anime is so overlooked as if no one really knows about it much. The brilliant story, animation style that's captivating and cool characters make it an absolute masterpiece. Highly recommended!

The sell of this story is that it is one of the greatest revenge plots in the story of anime. Based on the novel of Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Adorned by a daring creative endeavor of animation, where weird patterns, contrasts and textures reign, showcasing something different.

That is the sell, the product meanwhile, for some reason acclaimed, is rather disappointing.

The show is hard to watch by virtue of its childish, ridiculous, over the top and obnoxious prepubescent characters and dialogue, that simply make it hard to connect to an obvious plot with tragedy overtones. You know early on what is gonna happen. Everyone is so easy to rile up, so immature and prone to the worst course of action. Everyone except for one character, conveniently. The lack of rationale and subtlety to every one of their emotions... It feels cheap, childish, in order to make some character rise while the other fall. Everything is rushed, magically falling into place, overdramatized. With theatrical type of movements that don't feel right.

It doesn't seem elaborated in spite of the diverse and complex fronts of the story, it's many characters and pathways. People that have made of themselves arriviste wonders, cunningly, vilely, suddenly, when the weight of an ominous past comes upon them, lack the character or intelligence to make a single good decision. There's no grasp or ability to adapt to the upcoming adverse conditions. Victims of a perfect plan backed by a lifetime of preparation, an indomitable desire for revenge, an irresistible charm and copious amounts of money. Women and men fawning over the Count's charm and becoming simple pawns in his chessboard. It's all so easy.

The world ain't overly interesting nor crafted, for some reason they set it in a futuristic scenario, with the society, architecture and hierarchy of the nineteenth century. It is barely presented, not well dove into and it simply doesn't merge. At times it does feel pointless beyond the fact that it allows for some ethereal scenes. There's no appeal to it and the animation ain't nothing to marvel at beyond the initial episodes. Mononoke (2007) or Sonny Boy are much greater and coherent visual spectacles. It's allure, lets call it, isn't enough to warrant this being thought of as a great show...

It even turns boring in its slow pace approach.

And we have not arrived yet at the worst part, THE MAIN CHARACTER. The show overrelies on the shoulders of two characters, and of those is Albert, who is so awful that I could dedicate myself only to find whatever ill intended adjective I can find in order to pair him with it, he's undoubtedly one the most enchanted, idiotic and irritating characters in the history of anime. Good luck in not hating him. I couldn't care less that me harboring those feelings could be attributed by some to how well he's written, when he's so one note and otherwise this show doesn't incite gasps, surprise or horror, but rather invites you to roll your eyes. The other character is Conde de Monte Cristo, who is not charming enough nor interesting enough here, in between his ambiguous dialogue, to compensate his counterpart. Their dynamic although possible, is horribly on the screen. The Count should have a much center role while Albert is tossed to the side, no show can depend on such a character.

The end is also rushed and horrible, so there's that. It isn't the conclusion to the developments, but a nonsensical, poorly written child book kind of finish. There's no trace of coherence, it's just ridiculous.

///Before you even read this review let me warn you that if you are looking for an anime with a lot of action and pointless fighting this anime is not for you. If on the other hand you are looking for an anime with a brilliant storyline and amazing animation, Gankatsuou is a must see for you.\\\

Firstly let me just mention I usually don't watch Gonzo anime as I've had bad experiences and huge disappointments with their anime in the past, but let me tell you that Gonzo has made up for all of there previous disappointments and useless anime titles with Gankutsuou because Gankutsuou is just plain brilliant. As most of you will know Gankutsuou is an adaption of the book The Count of Monte Cristo which I have now read and can personally say is brilliant.

Anyways Gankutsuou unlike the book which is set in the 1800's century is set far in the future in the 5050's, but like the book it is set in Paris where the Danglar's, who control the financial world, the Morcerf's, who control military affairs, and the Villefort's, who preside over the courts basically rule the country. The anime mainly follows Albert the son of General de Morceft, and his best friend, Franz (who isn't really rich or anything but is going to marry into the Villefort family). Gankutsuou starts of with Albert and Franz taking a trip to Luna to get away and have a vacation and that is where they meet the Count of Monte Cristo and Gankutsuou begins.

The storyline progresses and you find out more and more about the Count, his past and the pasts of the Danglar's, Morcerf's, and the Villefort's. What is so amazing about Gankutsuous storyline is that it is so much like the book but at the same time is totally different. For instance the book and the anime are set in different millenniums and the book is from the point of view of The Count of Monte Cristo and the anime is from the point of view of Albert Morceft but amazingly you learn just about everything you learn in the book from Albert's point of view in the anime. The story also goes into Albert and Franz's love lives a lot as the characters learn that loving the person you marry is more important than if there rich or not or if they come from a good house etcetera (the typical emotional thing you can expect from Gonzo). Anyways you eventually find out about the Count, the Danglar's, Morcerf's, and the Villefort's pasts and how they intertwine. That's when the storyline really gets interesting. On a bad note the main character Albert is your typical kind hearted main character who thinks everyone is good and that the world is a happy place where nothing bad happens (but thankfully he learns differently latter in the anime).

The animation was in my opinion breath taking Gonzo used color/shape patterns to shade the characters' clothing and to make the environment look fantastic. The backgrounds in this anime are fantastically detailed and this anime literally shows you an amazing side of Paris with many of Paris's historical monuments such as the Arc De Triumph (I hope I spelled that right) and the Eiffel Tower. Also this anime uses allot of CG and 3D animation to add depth to the environment and to make the few battle scenes in Gankutsuou look amazing. Some scenes in Gankutsuou are virtually all 3D generated such as a duel that happens half way through the anime.

Now when it comes to the music in Gankatsuou I have to admit that when I first started watching it I didn't like it at all and skipped through the song at the beginning of each episode and didn't bother watching the ending song but in the end of the series you understand how well the songs truly fit into this anime and really come to appreciate them, or at least I did (especially the beginning song). As for sound effects well I though they where very good as well. For instance when you watch the piano being played for each note that is hit you hear the same note that you would hear if you played on a real piano.

Anyways overall I loved Gankatsuou and think that it was brilliant in just about every aspect. Though it lacks action it makes up for it any every other aspect. I definitely recommend Gankatsuou to anyone looking for a good anime. On a side note if you watched the 2002 The Count of Mote Cristo movie with James Caviezel it will not totally ruin this anime for you as that movie left out so many details from the original storyline I don't know where to begin. So if you have seen the movie don't fret, and if you haven't it will only add to the suspense. Also just so you know this is one of those series that you watch once and will not really be able to watch it again (for awhile anyways) so I don't know if buying the DVD is the best investment (so rent or download it). Lastly I watched this anime subbed and it sounded to me that the voice acting was very good and was timed well but I haven't seen it dubbed so I can't say how it is in English though.

My total rating 9 out of 10.

~Cyn1c

I heard about this anime and was immediately interested. I know anime very well and I was looking for something that looked artistic, intelligent, and suspenseful. Unfortunately I have never read the book this was based on, but I found this anime's story so beautiful that I have picked up the 1,400 page book and plan to finish it all. If you see only one anime in your life, and you appreciate art and drama, than this is the best of it's kind. The unique art takes some getting used to, and is somewhat disorienting at times. Really, the only complaint I have about the art is it's Too beautiful, that it goes to fast to fully appreciate. This show would probably be best in slow motion just for the sake of the art. I have heard some say that although they loved the book, they loved this anime version even more. Don't let it's scifi setting disturb you. It has absolutely no negative effect on the story. The scifi setting really only seems to enchance it's overall beauty. The characters are extremely well-developed and fascinating. One moment they will be strong and courageous, the next moment crying, the next laughing. Every episode ends in an extreme state of unpredictable suspense (AKA cliffhangers galore.) I believe so far the entire show has not been released in America. I actually suggest watching the show in it's entirety, and wait until all episodes are released, and that you have a lot of time on your hands to watch it. The story is somewhat complex, certainly unpredictable, and always gripping. Even the seasoned otaku would highly appreciate this anime at least for it's impressive quality. It's not the cliché cheaply-made primitive-art anime about scantily clad lolicon girls. Speaking of which, all the characters are quite beautiful for both sexes, and I seem to have a personal crush on The Count. I highly recommend this to anyone whose looking for an intelligent, dramatic and classic story.

I can scarcely put my love for this 24-episode anime series into words. "Gankutsuou" is a futuristic adaptation of Dumas' acclaimed novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". Famous anime director Mahiro Maeda shows just how much he loved the original novel and the character of the Count by being quite faithful to the mood while leaving his own fresh take on the story.

One of the most noticeable details about this series is an almost revolutionary method of animating. This series uses 2-D Texturing to an extreme level... giving hair unnatural textures and even everything in the background textures... in an insane color palette. It takes viewers and episode or two to get used to this style of texturing but over time it becomes something most fans love about the series.

One of the major changes in this anime is that the storyline is told from Albert's point-of-view for the majority of the series. This means everything that happens before the Château D'if comes in back-story. This also adds mystery to the Count's past and his character itself. Much of the cast is younger than in the novel, in classic anime fashion. Such as Albert is 15 instead of in his early twenties...but this makes his heightened innocence added into his anime persona more believable and his personal growth more endearing. There are other small character changes. Eugenie is greatly changed into a character that is actually of interest opposed to her novel version. Humoresly enough, according to the original promo for the series, she was indeed still quite similar to the book version in the first set up of the series... being quite close with her "lady friend".

And of course other major changes come with the new time and setting. Most of the series takes place in Paris but the year is 5053. So Paris is futuristic while also having touches of old such as the fashion and carriages and opera thrown in. And also we take the playing field out into space where Earth's warfare is mostly taking place in the future.

I honestly can't praise this series enough. I think the most important aspect of adaptations should be to get the tone of the novel right and to get the most rich, important characters accurate in personality. This series does this incredibly well. After appreciating the Count's character in the novel, the depth added from the anime only heightens my interest in him. This series is to be released in America soon so I personally suggest it as a buy to anyone who wants an anime with rich, involving plot and characters. Almost all of the storyline from the book is there, aside from an ending which is different but not a "hollywood ending" like the recent movie.

10 out of 10!