Gankutsu-ô

Initially, what attracted me to Gankutsuou, was the idea of an Anime version of Alexandre Dumas' "Le Comte de Monte Cristo," but upon seeing the previews, I fell in love with the whole concept. The art, to say the least, is breathtaking, if not revolutionary; to that, the animation is flawless as well - one can only guess at the expense that went into creating such a visual marvel. While Gankutsuou doesn't follow Dumas' story as religiously as some would have it, what is important is that Dumas' intent in the story was held sacred. All too often is Edmond Dantes portrayed as being right in his quest, a true hero; nothing could be farther from the truth. Dumas' Dantes was a Satanic Hero like no other, if only perhaps Heathcliff from Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." Cruel, malicious, and bloodthirsty, Dantes is one with whom the audience is meant to sympathize and pity, while at the same time despise passionately. We can understand his motives, even support them, though we know innately we shouldn't condone them; Dantes is, in his truest nature, the incarnation of both ultimate love and ultimate hate, and was Dumas' tool to show that there is little difference betwixt the two. Gankutsuou stays true to this endeavor of Dumas' in all ways. The Count is everything he was in the novel - to both men and women, he held an (for lack of a better term) erotic visage about himself, something men wanted to aspire to, and women fell to. Frigid, calculating, with a gift to bend the wills of others, Dantes proved that one who has nothing to lose, yet does not allow himself to sink into depression (but rather finding purpose for your life) and thus has no fear of death or repercussions at all, is the most alluring; people are drawn to such darkness, such demonic power. But the beauty of this story doesn't stop simply at the creation of the ultimate sinister character - to create such a character is simple; what Dumas did, and Gankutsuou respected and embellished upon, was that despite the obvious horrific nature of the character, his reasons for being so are understandable. Aristotle said that one cannot create a truly tragic character without establishing fear and sympathy within the audience first; without Catharces, tragedy has no impact. While watching the story of Gankutsuou unfold, we begin to wonder if we, too, aren't capable of such atrocities, especially if under similar conditions. In our society, we sympathize with, if not often condone secretly, crimes of passion; but to what extent can we stretch out sympathy? Perhaps revenge of this nature is too extreme, that the Count is wrong in his hellish plans; but if we were betrayed by our best friend in so horrible a manner, who can say that, given the opportunity, we would not do the same, if not worse? Sympathy we have for Edmond's position; but fear becomes the all-consuming emotion we have while watching this, as we come to realize the extent of the atrocities we ourselves are capable of, given the chance and motive for them. For any Anime fan, or for any fan of cartoons or Dumas' works, Gankutsuou is by far one of the most astounding pieces you will ever see: true to the nature of the book like no other screenplay has been, and breathtaking in its visual nature, and musical score (opening theme not withstanding), Gankutsuou is a must-see, a beautiful testament to the power of hope and love, as well as an unmatched plunge into the darkest parts of the human soul.

Plot: 9.7/10 -- Not having read the novel prior to starting this, I had no idea what to expect. I knew about certain vague details, such as a young man becoming fascinated with Monte Cristo, but that's all.

The setting was quite a shock, with the story taking place in the year 5053, where as the novel takes place during the 1800's. It was a further surprise to discover the story started on the moon. I do kinda wish the story 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.

In a nutshell, Gankutsuou is a fairly simple revenge story that's executed extremely well. The Count is kind on the surface, yet you can tell there's a hatred inside him waiting to explode. He manipulates and kills as his plan to bring those who wronged him to despair is slowly revealed. There's a twist added to his character in the form of a sort of pact with the devil - He gained the power to get revenge by giving his soul and body in exchange, meaning he loses his humanity bit by bit while getting his revenge.

In order to add mystery to the Count's character, the story is not told from his perspective (unlike in the book). Instead, the story is told from the perspective of Albert, a young noble and son of a powerful general. This brings both bad and good points - The good being the added mystery and a different angle on the story, the bad being Albert having the IQ of a dog. I wanted to kill him when he failed to work out that it was in fact the Count pulling the strings behind the awful sequence of events unfolding around him for the 10th time.

The story was a wonderful ride. A timeless classic with artistic differences, it was executed excellently, at times perfectly. You do have to wait for the 'main event' before you discover just how amazingly well told the story is, the first half in particular being nearly all build up, but I still felt compelled to keep watching even without any major twists/events occurring.

Characters: 9.3 -- This is a tough one. I liked pretty much the entire cast...apart from the main character, Albert. Although I knew he had to be retarded for the sake of the plot, his stupidity and inability to see the obvious became very annoying. You'd think he'd be able to put 2 and 2 together when the Count just randomly kept appearing and the Count himself had told Albert that there were no coincidences! As I said, I liked the other characters. The Count is easily one of my favourite characters ever, Franz made up for Albert's lack of intelligence by being very bright, Eugene made Albert's character more interesting with their love for one another... Everyone else was great.

Art: 9.7/10, Animation: 9.7/10 -- The first thing that hits you about Gankutsuou is the rather bizarre CG effect clothing and hair has. The effect is hard to put into words; it's as if the character is reflective. It certainly takes a few episodes to get used to it. If nothing else, you have to praise the studio behind Gankutsuou (Gonzo?) for the huge amount of effort they put in.

The second thing to hit you is the bright range of colours used. If, like me, you went into Gankutsuou expecting to see dark and dull colours you'd be completely wrong since it's anything but dull, vibrant being a much better description.

Gankutsuou also has a fair amount of CG outside of the clothing/hair effect, including some epic mecha fights. The CG stuff is stunning at times, almost jaw dropping for a TV series.

Overall, Gankutsuou is a joy to watch...once you get used to it. Production values were clearly not low here.

Sound: 9.5/10 -- First of all, let me say that I didn't think very much of the OP or ED. The OP, while fitting, was so dull and slow I had to skip it after watching it once.

The soundtrack is very high quality, as you'd expect. There aren't too many tracks I'd listen to outside of the series (although there is one AMAZING track), but the music fitted the show like a glove and helped keep the story epic.

I have to mention track 18, one of the best pieces of music I've ever listened to. It was almost orgasmic to listen to when it played during the best episode in the series (strangely enough, episode 18!!!), making it even more thrilling than it was already.

Total: 9.6/10 Having watched a fair amount of anime, I'm hard to please. Gankutsuou pleased me.

I'm not sure if it's the best anime I've watched, but it certainly had the best episode of anime I've ever watched (episode 18 ), one of the best fights (episode 18 ), one of the best characters (the Count) and one of the best pieces of music (track 18 ). It's, quite simply, a stunning anime that EVERYONE should watch.

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

Gankutsuou is easily one of the most enthralling TV series I've watched in the past years, and certainly the most interesting adaptation of Dumas' novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" that I've seen (although admittedly, the bar for this particular honor has been set pretty low). The series succeeds in producing an anime-style romance with all the excitement of the novel, but fails to capture the fundamental themes of the book.

Artistically, the series is one of the most strikingly unique and colorful pieces of animation I've seen. The extensive use of 2D textures is creative, although the style does take a bit of getting used to. This is largely because the "static" nature of the textures makes them look a bit busy. Although unconventional, the technique is executed very well, employing an effective mixture of 2D and 3D techniques.

I certainly consider myself a fan of the novel, and I was immediately intrigued but the pseudo-futuristic setting for the series. The story's focus has shifted somewhat from the Count to the younger characters, and romantic relationships more typical of Japanese dramas and anime have been introduced. These relationships play out with the Counts revenge upon his betrayers providing the background. For the most part, these changes are compelling and breath new life into the story.

The only deviation from the novel that I felt was not successful was the portrayal of the Count himself. Rather than being an agent of "divine providence", the Count is darker, having effectively sold his soul to the devil in order to extract his vengeance. Unlike the novel character, even the death of innocents does not sway Gankutsuou's quest for vengeance. Although it did add a certain dramatic element to the story, the Count's character was diminished by the complete lack of moral ambiguity.

In the end, the adaptation proved an interesting romance story set amidst a backdrop of intrigue. However, much like Hollywood's attempts at putting this story on the screen, Gankutsuou fails to capture the essential themes of the novel: a man who battles through incredible adversity and believes himself to be an agent of God, only to realize the limits of his humanity.