Gankutsuou

[jess]

Well, this is a review of Gank I wrote for another forum... so thought I might as well post it here too ;D

Right, so. Gankutsuou is the fairly recent 24-episode anime version of The Count of Monte Cristo (a classic novel by Alexandre Dumas), made by Studio GONZO. (Gantz, Last Exile, Kiddy Grade, Full Metal Panic!, Hellsing etc)

My opinion? Amazing. Film makers should take note: here is an almost perfect example of how you can significantly alter the plot when basing something on a book, but in a way which does not detract from the story, and instead creates a worthwhile new experience.

So what's so special about Gankutsuou? Well, for a start the animation is utterly unique. At times it verges on trippy, but for the most part it's just seriously beautiful. It can take some getting used to, though. (The characters' clothes and hair are not coloured in a conventional sense; instead, it seems as though a "sheet" of pattern or design has been placed underneath. As such, when they move, the colouring on their clothes does not. Kind of. ;P









In Gankutsuou, the main character is Albert de Morcerf, and it's seen from his point of view (unlike in the novel, where the Count himself is the main character - and the noevl moves in chronological order, from when the Count was a young man onwards)
As such, the series starts at the point when Albert and Franz are introduced in the novel - in the anime, they are on Luna, a colony on the moon, (the equivalent of Rome in the novel) for the festival. Strange? Yes, but it works. Here, Albert and Franz see the Count for the first time at the opera, and he soon befriends them. Albert quickly becomes infatuated, but Franz is wary. At this point it takes events from the book and puts a slightly different spin on them.

The way the anime is set up, if you haven't read the book then it definitely has a "mystery" element. Since you see everything from Albert's point of view, at first the Count appears to be mysterious, yet possibly a benevolent figure. The truth about his past and how he's connected to Danglars, Fernand and Villefort et al is only gradually revealed.

It's very different from the book, but it's done in such a wonderful way that this doesn't matter.

Now, the plot. Gankutsuou is most definitely not the book. It's almost an "alternate universe" Count of Monte Cristo; it's set in the future, yet is only quasi-technological - there are spaceships and cars, and yet people still use horse-drawn carriages and the old French aristocratic "feel" is still definitely preserved.

So, brief, non-spoilery plot summary: Albert de Morcerf, a 16 year old French aristocrat meets the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo while travelling on Luna. The Count befriends him, and so Albert invites the Count to visit him in Paris a while later. Albert soon becomes infatuated with the Count, despite the fact that his intentions are unclear, and Franz, Albert' best friend is very wary of him.
How is the Count connected to the various aristocrats of Paris? What are his plans? And is he quite as benevolent as Albert believes?

The plot is an intricate masterpiece - which we mainly have Dumas to thank for, but GONZO certainly put their own unique spin on it and significantly change the ending and certain crucial events. The pacing is absolutely perfect, and so not a single episode is filler - most end on some kind of cliffhanger, too, so you might want to have all the episodes handy before you start watching. ;P

The characters are wonderful and have depth (and if you're a fan of the novel, most of the characters in it are present in this version, though the focus on some is shifted. For example Beppo (or Peppo as the anime calls him) has a much bigger role)

As said before, the animation is amazing. If anything, check it out just for that! Also of note is the fact that all of the writing used in Gank (ie, newspapers, letters etc) is all written in french, which really adds something. It's pretty much correct french too, and the effort shows.

Music: The music is lovely, especially the classical stuff they brought in. OP sounds a bit weird the first time you hear it, but it grew on me, and is definitely fitting.

It's quite a dark anime, with murders, rape, incest etc - but the emotion is managed wonderfully, and one particular episode managed to have me in tears.

In my opinion, this anime is a masterpiece, and I can't understand how it's managed to be so overlooked. I know the animation puts some people off, but it's definitely worth perservering with!

It's definitely a wonderful anime, and I can't recommend it enough! =D It's now been licensed by Geneon (I believe) and the first volume is out in October.

WARNING: Some spoilery posts near the bottom of this page now!

[Usagi]

Sounds ace.

I wonder what the animators were taking when they made this...



I want some!

[JoeChur]

just finished downloading due to your sparkling review, looking forward to it

[jess]

yay! *spreads the Ganku* ;D considering it's won awards etc, i'm always surprised more people haven't heard of it...

[Honeyman]

We can put reviews on this board? Can I do one of Howl's Moving Castle then as I went to see it on Friday evening with friends in York.

[Honeyman]

ari said:

yay! *spreads the Ganku* ;D considering it's won awards etc, i'm always surprised more people haven't heard of it...

Sounds like a must for anisoc each week then. I'm up for something that puts an original spin on the medium as a whole. Although I do like it plain and simple sometimes, it can get boring wacthing the same type of shows continuously.

Cast your votes now for Gankutsuou as a regular showing at anisoc!

[jess]

i dunno, i think people would want to watch it before deciding that -- some people really can't stand the animation style. XD so if a lot of people decide they don't like it, i think they should be spared....=p (though if you have sense, you will see it's awesome. XD)

[Honeyman]

ari said:

i dunno, i think people would want to watch it before deciding that -- some people really can't stand the animation style. XD so if a lot of people decide they don't like it, i think they should be spared....=p (though if you have sense, you will see it's awesome. XD)

Must be a bunch of vengeful demons then by the sounds of it.

[onikate]

ari said:

i dunno, i think people would want to watch it before deciding that -- some people really can't stand the animation style. XD so if a lot of people decide they don't like it, i think they should be spared....=p (though if you have sense, you will see it's awesome. XD)

really does something to your brain with the animation style, but since I loved "le comte de monte cristo" with avengence, i'll probably like this, even if it does take a different spin on things: when somethings so differently AU, i can kinda accept that the chracters will have changed slightly.

THe non-moving costumes seem kinda cool, if a little distracting.
I expect you get yused to the style after awhile anyways, after all, I got used to my playstation suddenly fizzing, gaining a blizzard-type picture and then blanking the screen into "game over" , when ever i went sumwhere i wasnt supposed to. ;D(no, i dont have screwed up playstation: i was talking about playing .hack//infection & co. so it's normal for that game.. )

[jess]

yeah, exactly ^^ the characterisation's nearly identical to how it is in the book (apart from Eugénie...she's really quite different) it's just nearly all the characters get a different ending.
The animation style looks amazing. XD though it is weird to watch at first... but yeah, you do get used to it. By halfway through the series I just wasn't noticing it at all.

Oh! And since this review was written a while ago, I might as well comment on the licensed DVD, since the first vol's out now...

Geneon DVD, vol. 1

Geneon did an AMAZING job with Gankutsuou. *_* And I love them for it. love Visually it's great; the packaging and menu screen are lovely.
Extras? Perfect. They kept in all the stuff that was released on the Japanese editions - so as well as the usual like clean OPs/EDs, there's also an interview with the director, the storyboard of the first ep (which is done really well, as it kind of plays the episode next to the shifting images of the storyboard, so you can compare the two), and little clips of the Japanese voice actors talking about the episodes! (which were little bits played before each episode aired on Japanese TV)

On the dub: I... actually really like the dub of this. XD For which I am very thankful; they could so easily have messed it up, but Geneon chose well this time! Albert was lovely, and so was Franz (although Franz's was done... rather differently to how the Japanese VA played him - but it still suited the character in its way, so it worked) The Count was pretty good. The voice itself sounds appropriate, but I'm currently a little unsure because of how stilted some of the lines sounded. If the actor gets into the role a bit more, chances are it'll be really good - but at the moment I'm worried about how he might handle some of the later more emotional scenes...
Other characters sounded fine too, though Peppo was a bit squeaky.

Not really impressed with the pronunciation though. o.0 Albert pronounced Eugénie as "yoo-jeen-ee" which is just... no. Blah. Also, while in the Japanese version, "Gankutsuou" does a little recap of what's happened previously very poetically in French, in the english version they were just lazy and made him speak in English.

Also, (in both the subtitles and the dub; is a general change they made) they altered one of the Count's most important lines, which becomes a defining thought for Albert: in both the book and the equivalent Japanese phrase, it's "Wait... and hope." In the dub, it's suddenly "Bide your time, and hold out hope", which doesn't work nearly so well. :/

Um, but yes. In general, both the dub and DVD in general get a big ;D from me. And I'll stop rambling about it now. =p

[onikate]

ari said:

The animation style looks amazing. XD though it is weird to watch at first... but yeah, you do get used to it. By halfway through the series I just wasn't noticing it at all.

heh only up to episode 7 and i'd fogotten about the animation.. except for occasional shots which just make me feel either drunk or high or possibly both at once...like franz's shirt on occasion: for some reason, albert wears much tamer shirts

ari said:

Also, while in the Japanese version, "Gankutsuou" does a little recap of what's happened previously very poetically in French, in the english version they were just lazy and made him speak in English.

YAY for the french speaking i can actually understand what he's saying when it's in french (most of the time) so i dont have to read the subtitles for the introduction and the "previously on..." lots of fun

love the music too, especially the end credits stuff, kinda disco music any idea what it's called?

"Madames, monseiurs; bon soir..."

[jess]

Hehe, Franz does wear interesting clothes... especially his green suit/pink shirt combo. Although, I think Haydée's dress and Eugénie's rainbow coat beat all. XD

Ahh, cool. I suck at french, so all the subtitles are necessary for me! My sister speaks french though, and she said he had a funny accent.

yeah, the music's lovely...I've been meaning to get the soundtrack when I can finally afford it (although it actually has two; one made up of the music composed for the series, and another which is made up of all the actual pieces of classical music used in it).

Yep ^^ The ending theme's called 'You Won't See Me Coming'. I think I have an mp3 of the full version somewhere, if you want it.

[onikate]

ari said:

Hehe, Franz does wear interesting clothes... especially his green suit/pink shirt combo. Although, I think Haydée's dress and Eugénie's rainbow coat beat all. XD

heh, go franz. ;D he has his own [you]style[/you]
YEAH wow, the OPERA DRESS (hadnt seen that episode when i last posted) it rules, even over the rainbow coat, though eugenie's sparkly dress during her piano performance was kinda cool.

Yep ^^ The ending theme's called 'You Won't See Me Coming'. I think I have an mp3 of the full version somewhere, if you want it.

ooh yay, yeah please if you can find it. You on msn? if so you could send it through that.
and yeah he does have abit of a funny accent, she's right, but not that noticeable, and considering he's probably japanese, he's doing quite well.

[jess]

Hee, Franz = love
Yeah! I love the episode with Eugénie's piano performance... Andrea is so creepy. XD Which episode are you up to now? ^^ (up to ep 18 is a must )

Here's the full mp3 ^^

s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07ZEN9RMVJ5O32BTWA5ACLAKAE

Mm, I was quite disappointed they didn't keep the french intros for the english version.

[onikate]

ari said:

Hee, Franz = <3
Yeah! I love the episode with Eugénie's piano performance... Andrea is so creepy. XD Which episode are you up to now? ^^ (up to ep 18 is a must )

Here's the full mp3 ^^

s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07ZEN9RMVJ5O32BTWA5ACLAKAE

Mm, I was quite disappointed they didn't keep the french intros for the english version.

mmm. *nods*
where am i up to? well *heh* FINISHED (and good thing too, as anime soc strats in half and hour so i have to leave..err.. now)
as a side point: FRANZ!!! *hysterical sobbing* (there should be a more upset emoticon for that...)

madammes, monsueirs, au revoir... FIN

soo pretty....

[Hat_Hair]

Just watched it all pretty much in one go. Safe to say that I agree with almost everything in this thread.
Although I found it highly amusing when the buildings started collapsing near the end, like some kind of computer RPG when you beat a boss.

[jess]

Ahaha, yeah, it did rather. =D
But yay, I'm glad quite a few other people have seen this series now ;D I was quite disappointed though, as it would have got shown a couple of meetings ago if we hadn't had to carry Slayers over from the previous meeting. D: ah well. perhaps it'll get votes another time ^^;

and yes, Franz! ;___; .... that episode still seriously upsets me. >.> and it makes rewatching the eps before it sad too, cause you know what he's planning. He was my second favourite character, too.

[onikate]

ari said:

Ahaha, yeah, it did rather. =D
But yay, I'm glad quite a few other people have seen this series now ;D I was quite disappointed though, as it would have got shown a couple of meetings ago if we hadn't had to carry Slayers over from the previous meeting. D: ah well. perhaps it'll get votes another time ^^;

and yes, Franz! ;___; .... that episode still seriously upsets me. >.> and it makes rewatching the eps before it sad too, cause you know what he's planning. He was my second favourite character, too.

yay... we shall FORCE ppl to watch at the next meeting... or ELSE... they have to watch something that isnt as good..heh ;;

ah HA: I have the excuse to be more upset than you, I like Franz best (albert is too much of a drip most of time... and it bugs me that i have to write AL- burr- TT, like in english. the french pronounciation is so much cooler).
I'm now leaving for newport (Wales, for those who dont know) for 5 days, so i have 2 three-hour train rides to get through, there and back: during which i shall read THE BOOK (again) and probably cry happily over the fact that franz doesnt die.... ;D

_{I think I'm gonna make a Franz banner for GaiaOnline: I alrerady have banners for Jounouchi, yami bakura and remus lupin: i shall now have FOUR, mwhaha.. .}

[jess]

onikate said:

yay... we shall FORCE ppl to watch at the next meeting... or ELSE... they have to watch something that isnt as good..heh ;;

XD yes... and loveless too ;D

ah HA: I have the excuse to be more upset than you, I like Franz best (albert is too much of a drip most of time... and it bugs me that i have to write AL- burr- TT, like in english. the french pronounciation is so much cooler).
I'm now leaving for newport (Wales, for those who dont know) for 5 days, so i have 2 three-hour train rides to get through, there and back: during which i shall read THE BOOK (again) and probably cry happily over the fact that franz doesnt die.... ;D

_{I think I'm gonna make a Franz banner for GaiaOnline: I alrerady have banners for Jounouchi, yami bakura and remus lupin: i shall now have FOUR, mwhaha.. .}

hehe, aww... Albert is awesome. <333 And cute. =D



*gratuitous albert pic* _{and YES the french pronunciation of his name is so much better...i'm glad they at least got that right in the eng version}

hee, i am glad that franz doesn't die in the book... but on the other hand he does have a much smaller role. and albert actually seems to be better friends with beauchamp and chateau-renaud. but still... (and does it even say what happens to franz in the end in the book? i can't remember, but I don't think so. Oh well. =p)

_{(and yes! 'cause Franz so deserves a banner ;D though that reminds me i don't have a franz banner... only a few albert ones =p)}

[Hat_Hair]

I think we should do a spoof dub of this. Franz should have a cockney accent, and pronounce Albert as this implies.

[onikate]

hathair said:

I think we should do a spoof dub of this. Franz should have a cockney accent, and pronounce Albert as this implies.

*dies laughing* yay for a cockney Franz. ;D It would indeed make my day.

[onikate]

ari said:

hee, i am glad that franz doesn't die in the book... but on the other hand he does have a much smaller role. and albert actually seems to be better friends with beauchamp and chateau-renaud. but still... (and does it even say what happens to franz in the end in the book? i can't remember, but I don't think so. Oh well. =p)

_{(and yes! 'cause Franz so deserves a banner ;D though that reminds me i don't have a franz banner... only a few albert ones =p)}

yeah.. I was being a strange franz fan-girl while i was bored today and spent time counting all the pages in which franz was either present or being talked about (usually by albert ) and found 123 pages in the whole 1089 book, thats 11%.!!!!
It's mad, he manages to be in every single episode of the anime (even the last five, when he's supposed to be DEAD) yet he's only in 11% of the book. insane

and no. nothing much happens to him: he just goes off to venice after albert leaves rome and goes back to paris & i dont think we see him again: i could be mistaken; i havent finished the book recently so i cant remember, i shall check at somepoint.

[jess]

Hehe. I guess Mahiro Maeda just decided he really loved Franz. =p

...although not enough to give him his drugged-up scene with the count. XD

[Xzamuel]

I find this obsessive attraction to fictional cartoon characters most disturbing!

Though I really should say, it does look like a very beautiful piece of animation.

I fancied Jessica Rabbit at one point, but that was when I was 6, and who didn't?

[onikate]

ari said:

Hehe. I guess Mahiro Maeda just decided he really loved Franz. =p

...although not enough to give him his drugged-up scene with the count. XD

YEAH!! Would have LOVED to see that. XD

xzamuel said:

I find this obsessive attraction to fictional cartoon characters most disturbing!

Though I really should say, it does look like a very beautiful piece of animation.

I fancied Jessica Rabbit at one point, but that was when I was 6, and who didn't?

of course it's beautiful, it's about beautiful ppl innit?

jessica rabbit?......
......
..........
................
*light dawns* you mean as in roger rabbit's wife? the lady in the red dress? randomness... who REALLY came up with that idea: marrying Roger to her?!?... wierd ppl. maybe they'd 'partaken' of some of the count's hasish.

[ash]

xzamuel said:

I find this obsessive attraction to fictional cartoon characters most disturbing!

Though I really should say, it does look like a very beautiful piece of animation.

I fancied Jessica Rabbit at one point, but that was when I was 6, and who didn't?

hehe... i still do fancy jessica rabbit!!
talk about the hotteste cartoon character ever
hehe

[nerve]

I really really really want to see this! Everybody make a solemn oath that they will vote for it next thursday lest their organs fall out.
<deadly serious expression>
either that or someone could suggest a good dl site?

[jess]

haha, i'd pretty much given up on ganku getting voted in, since i've been bringing it almost every week since the start of the year, and yet... XD
well, i'll try again on thursday.
unfortunately i think most of the torrents for it are dead since it's been out a while, and is also licensed. :/
i do have all the fansubs on a dvdrw though, so i could just bring that for you to borrow at some point if it doesn't get shown again =p

[onikate]

ari said:

haha, i'd pretty much given up on ganku getting voted in, since i've been bringing it almost every week since the start of the year, and yet... XD
well, i'll try again on thursday.
unfortunately i think most of the torrents for it are dead since it's been out a while, and is also licensed. :/
i do have all the fansubs on a dvdrw though, so i could just bring that for you to borrow at some point if it doesn't get shown again =p

YAY!! IT GOT SHOWN!!! *dances*

[ash]

indeed it did!! and i thought it was very good - i wouldn't mind seeing an episode every week!!