Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo

**Gankutsuo:  The Count of Monte Cristo** is an anime series written by Shuchi Kouyama, directed by Mahiro Maeda,

    musically composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel, and produced by Studio Gonzo.  It originally aired from October 5, 2004 to March 29, 2005, with a total of 24 episodes in the end.  It was adapted from a popular and famous French novel called Gankutsuo written by Alexandre Dumas in the 1800's.

## Plot

*Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo* is set in the year 5053; the two major powers are the planet Earth and the alien-dominated Eastern Empire, who have been at war for an undetermined time.[1] During a visit to the Moon-based city of Lune with his friend Baron Franz d'Epinay (Daisuke Hirakawa[2]/Ezra Weisz[3]), Viscount Albert de Morcerf (Jun Fukuyama[2]/Johnny Yong Bosch[3]) meets a mysterious self-made nobleman called the Count of Monte Cristo (Jouji Nakata[2]/Jamieson Price[3]). After the Count helps Franz save Albert from a gang of kidnappers, Albert introduces the Count into the high society of Paris; these include Albert's father General Fernand de Morcerf (Jūrōta Kosugi[2]/Paul St. Peter[3]) and his wife Mercedes (Kikuko Inoue[2]/Karen Strassman[3]); the powerful banker Baron Jullian Danglars (Shinpachi Tsuji[2]/Doug Stone[3]), his wife Victoria (Naoko Matsui[2]/Mari Devon[3]), and their daughter and Albert's betrothed Eugénie (Chie Nakamura[2]/Michelle Ruff[3]); and the Crown Prosecutor of Paris Gérard de Villefort (Yōsuke Akimoto[2]/Tom Wyner[3]), his current wife Héloïse (Kumiko Watanabe[2]/Julie Ann Taylor[3]), and daughter by his first wife Valentine (Junko Miura[2]/Dorothy Elias-Fahn[3]). Albert later meets the Count's alien companion Haydée (Akiko Yajima[2]/Stephanie Sheh[3]) and the Marquis Andrea Cavalcanti (Tomokazu Seki[2]/Liam O'Brien[3]), a flamboyant nobleman who quickly replaces Albert as Eugénie's fiancee through the Count's influence.

During the course of the story, the Count is revealed to be Edmund Dantes, a former sailor and Mercedes's first love. Twenty years before, he was falsely implicated in a murder by Danglars and Fernand—Danglars due to his hatred of Edmund's honesty, and Fernand to win Mercedes's hand. Edmund is then imprisoned in the Château d'If by Villefort, who sought to protect himself due to being part of an associated political conspiracy. With the aid of a demonic being called Gankutsuou that was lurking in the d'If, Edmund escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, committing himself to revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrating Albert's kidnapping to ingratiate himself with Parisian society.

The Count's revenge against his enemies spans multiple fronts. With Danglars, the Count manipulates events to ruin him, then later confronts him when he tries to escape his creditors; after revealing his identity, the Count leaves Danglars adrift in space. This event is compounded by the exposing of Andrea as a fraud and murderer, having been set up by the Count as royalty as part of his revenge. Albert helps Eugénie escape Paris, with the two admitting their love for each other. With Villefort, the Count first arranges for Villefort's ambitious wife Héloïse to poison Valentine—although she is saved and removed to Marseilles by her soldier lover Maximilien Morrel (Tetsu Inada[2]/Tony Oliver[3]) with Franz's help—then has Héloïse poison herself, driving her insane. Villefort attacks the Count and is put on trial. Andrea appears and reveals himself as the illegitimate son of Villefort and Victoria, then poisons Villefort as revenge for his abandonment. The poison drives Villefort insane just after the Count reveals his motives.

Alongside these events, the Count ruins Fernand's name with help from Haydée, whose family were framed and murdered by Fernand as allies of the Eastern Empire, and who was sold into slavery. Albert challenges the Count to a duel for his family's honor, but Franz takes his place and is killed; in the process, Franz inflicts a fatal wound to the Count, who is kept alive by Gankutsuou. Fernand rallies his forces for a coup d'état in Paris, which results in the city being damaged and Andrea escaping prison; Fernand's aim is to take over the Earth government and wage fresh war against the Eastern Empire. When Albert and Mercedes try to reason with Fernand after they learn the truth, he wounds them and confronts the Count, resulting in a stand-off where Fernand holds Haydée hostage. The Count becomes completely possessed by Gankutsuou and attempts to murder Albert, but Albert manages to banish Gankutsuou, and free from its control Edmund dies. Albert, Mercedes and Haydée escape, while Fernand commits suicide in an act of redemption. Five years later, peace is being established between Earth and the Eastern Empire; Haydée assumes her place as queen of her world; Maximilien leaves the army to live with Valentine; Mercedes is at peace, though mourning Edmund and Fernand's deaths; and Albert, having rebuilt his life, reunites with Eugénie.

## Why It Rocks

1. Incredible animation.
2. The art of this anime is very unique and inventive.
3. The story is the best part of this anime, and some even argue that it's superior to its literary source.
4. The voice acting is amazing in both sub and dub.
5. The pacing of the story is also worth praise, it's not too slow, not too fast, and each episode is able to perfectly end on a cliffhanger to make you interested in continuing.
6. While not solely focused on its action scernes, there is a fight scene at the end of the show, and it looks incredible, both in terms of art, animaiton, and tension.
7. The payoff and conclusion of this anime is almost flawless, very satisfying.
8. The plot twists are all interesting, satisfying, and well foreshadowed.

## Bad Qualities

1. While the visual style is unique and inventive, it can also be hard to look at for prolonged periods of time.
2. This series focuses heavily on creating incredible plot twists, which can make it less enjoyable on subsequent viewings for some people.

## Reception

*Gankutsuou* was acclaimed when released in North America, with sources such as Anime Insider,[54] DVDTalk,[41] Newsarama.com,[55] Animeondvd.com[55] and Anime News Network[56] judging it to be among the best releases of the year.

Reviews have generally been extremely positive. Reviews mainly focused on the visual effects of the show, both to its benefit and its detriment. Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews commented, "While beautiful most of the time, the show can be quite hard on the eye at times."[57]

Theron Martin of Anime News Network awarded *Gankutsuou* Series of the Year.[56] It also won the Best TV Series award at the 10th Animation Kobe Fair.[58][59] Helen McCarthy in *500 Essential Anime Movies* praised its "dazzling visual inventiveness".