The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutsuo [Dusty Shelf Anime Review]

I was told by a friend to watch this series back in 2006 or 2007... I've put it off, unintentionally. There was just so much to watch. I finally got around to it, and wow... this was one special series.

My eyes! The lining burns my eyes!

I'm not even saying that sarcastically.
This is a special series.
For one thing it is one of the few anime that I can think of based upon a French Novel. It might even be the only one, I'm just hedging my bets since I've yet to see every anime that exists (I'm trying).

4.5 out of 5 stars

Watch the pattern in his hair...

I am not even certain that I can claim that this is the only anime based upon a novel by Alexander Dumas. Yes, the man who wrote The Three Musketeers also wrote The Count of Monte Cristo.

In the future fashion will be 'wallpaper!'

Historically Dumas's novel took place in the mid 1800s (1815-1839), while this anime takes place sometime in the 5000s. Yeah, crazy far in the future when fashions turn to blindingly insane colors, and weird designs, and France is once again a powerhouse of both political and military might.

His shirt looks more like upholstery than the couch.

The juxtaposition of old architecture and ideas meshing with far flung science fiction is well done. There are cars that are both ultra modern and hyper antique. There are horse drawn cyber-carriages. There are luxurious starships, and decaying manors. Hyper sophisticated AIs and simple poisons, primitive hand guns and lunar colonies, giant robots and iron swords. I tell you the juxtaposition is just fun.

But the art style.

Oh it takes some time to get used to the art style. It is gaudy to say the least. And weird.

This anime is the king of wallpaper designs.

Imagine a man walking down the street with a garish coat on. The coat has a pattern, but the pattern does not move. The man's coat instead moves through the pattern. Look closely at the hair in the image up there, note how the hair moves, but the pattern does not? That is how everything behaves in this anime. It can be a bit jarring at first. But once you get used to it, you can become fully immersed in the story.

And what a story it is.

Look at the moon, and the giant mecha.

It is a good one, as it was bound to be, being based off of one of Alexander Dumas's books. It is so convoluted and awesome at the same time. I loved it. The intrigue and deception, the double crosses, the extended betrayals, the sacrifice, the innocence betrayed, the loss, the lessons... the whole thing is just wonderfully moving. Makes me want to read the original work.

I watched this anime dubbed because the subtitles get lost in the insane artwork. I'm not sure you'd ever want to watch this subtitled, you would miss so much on the screen. There is just so much going one, and so deep in the artwork. It is crazy, and subtitles were just an additional level of information on the screen that I did not need. Besides, I have this feeling that the English dub team did a better job with the French pronunciation. They usually do. Just like the Italian in Campione!

I have the most awesome hair in the universe.

This is an anime worth watching.
The story is excellent, and from excellent source material (things are certainly changed, thus the subtitle, Gankutsuo).
The artwork is different, but interesting, and eventually you become used to it. 

This is absolutely worth buying, renting, or watching for free online... if you can. I have no idea. The DVDs have been on my shelf for years, gathering dust, as this was of course a Dusty Shelf Anime Review. I have lots more of these to do... I just need to actually do them.

Until next time.

Oh yeah... enjoy this bit of truly inspired cosplay.

That is some bad-ass cosplay.