“Bide your time and hold out hope”
Based on one of my favorite novels, The Count of Monte Cristo that sets not in the French Revolution but thousands of years in the future. Although it mixes both Aristocratic society and futuristic society. With its themes: love, betrayal, sadness, vengeance, and revenge are amazingly integrated into a wonderful narrative of revenge.
Gankutsuou starts with the Count of Monte Cristo befriending our young Albert de Morcerf and Franz d’Epinay in Luna. Events after that are all planned by the Count for revenge. The best thing about Gankutsuou is engaging its themes while not ruining the narrative. Most revenge stories fell into these traps, its use of themes are sometimes not really engaging and ruins the narrative. Gankutsuou does both exquisitely. Another thing that is amazingly done by the show is setting up its atmosphere. The atmosphere of revenge. This is all possible due to the characters and the art which I be discussing next.
Characters of Gankutsuou comprises of both aristocrats and the ordinary but I really like them for the same reason. They symbolize the dirtiness of the upper echelons of society. The evils of the rich people and people blinded by power. This is pretty much the reason of why the events of Gankutsuou takes place. The whole show symbolizes the poor vs rich, the oppressed vs the powerful. The Count is an oppressed person, oppressed by his own friends or coworkers. The Gankutsuou himself symbolizes the hope of the poor, the hope to rise again and fight against their oppressors. Gankutsuou’s power became The Count’s power and rises up again. Which can be seen that he is filthy rich. This is Gankutsuou’s power but in exchange you gave your body and soul. The Count is no different from his oppressors now like Danglas, Villefort, or Morcerf, after receiving Gankutsuou’s power, he himself was blinded by not power but by vengeance and revenge. In the end, he realized this and finally forgave them and then at the same time Gankutsuou disappeared from The Count. This explains why Albert successfully changed The Count’s mind when he hugged him. This anime shows the terror of power to hurt someone by the society and the effects of vengeance.
Gankutsuou’s amazing tale is combined by surreal art and landscapes that is full of patterns that weirdly fits in a scifi world. This art helps make a weird atmosphere that makes Gankutsuou extra special. CGI are decent but needs improvement. Music is incredibly soothing. The opening song’s lyrics are the words of The Count himself, his sentiments.
Final words:
Gankutsuou is a show that is really unique. It combines its thematic and technical aspects to create one beautiful tale.
