Gungrave

Gungrave is the story of two friends who join the mafia and progress up the ranks of the family. It is filled with sub plots of love, friendship, trust, and finally, betrayal. It takes you on an emotional journey of the two friends, Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowel. It shows you how the two men grow and change over time, and the different paths they take in life. For Brandon, the family is all about honor and trust, while for Harry it is for power. You can see the development of both of these characters, and how much they change, throughout the entirety of the 26 episode series.

The ending is absolutely heart shattering, all the loose ends are tied together and it gives you a perfect sense of closure to a great series. The story among the best in all of anime, and the execution of this story is flawlessly done. This is definitely an anime to see, even for those who don't usually watch it.

This series, told throughout 26 episodes, combines the very best of mafia movies and anime. It's beautiful action, crisp, clean and stunning visuals, great storyline, sensitive music, and most of all, it's heart -because the makers clearly put a lot of emotion in it-, make this series an all-time classic which is an obligation to everyone who's interested in gangster-films or anime. This series is, without a doubt, top-notch. Because I also forget to mention the dialogues, the great screenplay, and in-depth characters.

P.S.

Watch the subbed Japanese version, the American dubbed version is somewhat out of shape in the plot. The Japanese dialogues are more subtle and seem to fit more in the series.

There are very few films that have touched me as deeply as this anime series. It is unfortunate that this series isn't more well known. Everything about it is terrific. The story, voice acting, music, and animation is excellent. I have to say that the ending to Gungrave is hands down, the best ending to an anime series I have seen. It broke my heart and pieced it back together all at the same time. There is also the themes explored through this series mainly dealing with loyalty, love, and friendship that is expressed so well in this series. I greatly recommend this series to anyone who loves anime. It's definitely worth it.

No Doubt, one of my favourite anime series I ever watched. A class. Definitely, one of the best.

As of late a flood of Japanese animated series have hit the American shores. Gungrave is the most amazing of any one of those. It has beautiful animation, potent voice acting, and a storyline that requires multiple viewings to fully understand. Ten out of Ten. Perhaps the thing that makes Gungrave stand out above its anime competition it the multitude of underlying messages. It has some of the more obvious dialectical themes, love/hate, hope/despair, devotion/betrayal but it is also driven by a gathering of more subtle ideas (I will leave the viewer to find those for themselves. Anyone who has the time that it takes to fully appreciate Gungrave should do so. Also, if you are a fan of mafia violence and a scarface like rise to power then this is the show for you. For me, that is merely a bonus to an amazing piece of art.