Gankutsuou is a loose adaptation of Alexadre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo with a little sci-fi twist. In this anime, Albert, our sweet, naive, privileged protagonist, befriends a mysterious, strange, super secret man of the aristocracy (The Count) while travelling abroad with his friend Franz. Despite Franz's warnings that there may be more to the Count than meets the eye, Albert is drawn to the Count and the excitement that follows him, and so Albert invites him to visit Albert's home in Paris. What follows is a shit show of political intrigue within Paris' aristocracy, romance, espionage, embezzlement, engagements, sex, and every other crazy fucking thing under the sun.
The biggest selling point for this one, if you watch anime purely for the entertainment value, is that the plot for this one always keeps you guessing. You don't have to worry about reading the brick of a book beforehand, because Gankutsuou takes a lot of liberties with its source material. What you'll find is an anime that never seems to let up on the intrigue, but doesn't rely on your complete and utter confusion in order to maintain that disturbing and oh so interesting atmosphere.
I was immediately drawn to this one after the first two episodes just because of how perfectly the art style compliments the show's political commentary. You may have noticed in screenshots or during your mind-reading expeditions that Gankutsuou doesn't seem to have any solid, muted colours or textures on anything except characters' skin. If you've seen the witch Labyrinths in Madoka, you'll know what I mean when I say this show has a beautifully sophisticated scrap book kind of look to it. Everything is exceeding opulent to the point of distraction, and that's what's so genius about it. If you stop and think about it, why does everything look so ostentatious in the life of an aristocrat? Maybe it has to do with the fact that THEY'RE HIDING SOMETHING AND THEY'RE TRYING TO AVERT YOUR ATTENTION. *gasp*
You'll find very quickly that almost every character seems to be hiding something. Members of the aristocracy are excellent at keeping up appearances, with every person either harbouring a dark secret or forbidden thoughts and feelings (including sexy ones, but we'll get to that). Just as the art style seeks to avert your gaze from the unsettling goings-on, every character that Albert meets is an expert actor with a propensity for obfuscation. Basically they're slippery little shits. It's awesome. The extra sprinkly bit about this is that any good-natured pure hearted characters are so much the more relatable. They're little gems in a pile of poopy nuggets. Hopefully that makes sense.
The soundtrack was out of this world. At times the sweeping symphonic orchestra would kick and you'd be like "unf", while at less dramatic moments it would adopt a little more modern beat. Where the show's aesthetic exudes obnoxious beauty for subtle reasons, I'd say the soundtrack is beautiful for its subtlety. It knows when to shut up and let us try to break down crazy developments in the plot, and it knows when to emphasize when those crazy developments are happening DUNN DUH DUUUUUHHHHH.
*not really a spoiler since I'm not talking about any plot points but I'll leave this here just in case**
One thing I'd definitely keep an eye out for, if I was watching it for the first time, is the queer subtext. Queer meaning in this case non-hetero-normative forms of romance, often between people of the same gender. There are so many interesting dynamics between the main characters, and all of them are sexually charged to some extent. You could say I'm reading too much into it, but I really, REALLY think this brings a lot of substantiality to an already dense anime. Character motivations are all the more complex when you factor in the turmoil they experience from these weird and interesting relationships. Keep an eye out, I think you'll be happier for it.
If you're looking for a show that you can just chill out to or you want something that will make you feel better, this one isn't for you. If you're up for a compelling narrative with interesting subtexts and a whole lot of sparkles, you've got to give Gankutsuou a shot.
