May 31, 2013
Don't you just love it when your anime has a well done mature story, interesting characters, some nice and unique animation, all accompanied by a great choice of music? Yes? Well who doesn't?
This is exactly what Gankutsuou does. And it's one of the reasons why I liked this anime so much.
The series itself is loosely based on the The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and when I say loosely I really mean it! Now, I gotta say with all the shame in the world that I have never read the original novel. But, I am pretty sure that it didn't
...
have spaceships and giant battle armors. But, this anime does have that, the world itself does have a lot of sci-fi elements which only adds to the uniqueness of it.
Talking about unique, have you seen the animation? Looks pretty weird right? All those colors...all those photoshop textures around the characters and...are those 3D rendered backgrounds? Yeah, better not show it to your father if you don't want him to have a seizure. But no, seriously, the animation is actually one of the strengths of the show. The fact that characters may not have that sense of perspective that is usual in anime, which makes them look flat, may seem lazy at first I actually thought it was a great idea by Gonzo. It adds certain artistic essence to the show and at times the animation just looks artistically beautiful. I take it that not everyone may like this kind of style, but in my case, I do appreciate when studios try to do something different and succeed at it.
Another aspect of the show is the story, which as I mentioned it's a mature story with realistic and flawed characters. The whole show is a roller coaster of emotions, it had me throwing stares at characters, suspecting they might be onto something. I threw a couple of laughs here and there when a certain journalist made a witty comment. It made me cringe at certain characters and it's romantic elements kept me interested. In short, the show is about aristocracy, a world where the unexpected can happen, where people betray each other and when feelings are mere tools in other to keep advancing to the top of society.
The only complaint that I have about the show is that it felt slow at the beginning. And by this, I just mean the first couple of episodes. After that the mystery behind who is the Count of Monte Cristo kept at the edge of my seat, to the point where I marathoned the show. Yeah, it gets THAT good.
In short, you should watch this anime if you are looking for something different when it comes to story and of course, style.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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