Story - 5
The story is meh. I think it starts out well but then goes downhill when you start to get close to the climax. It is a revenge story, but it doesn't feel as intense as you may think it would, and when you do get to super exciting/suspenseful moments, something will happen like someone being destroyed by a hug... not even joking. Or, someone will show how conceited they are and how all they care about is power by literally shooting people close to them for no reason... but then very soon after, be willing to give up their lives for those some people? Now I see how characters can change and go from wanting to kill someone to be wanting to save their life, but we don't see this development at all. Nope, all we see is characters who give the audience every reason to believe they are terrible and only care about money/power, suddenly switch into a good person for no reason.
If you are expecting an exciting story of revenge and manipulation of the main boy, Albert, you will not really get that. It is just not that exciting. Also, most of the punishments The Count plans on giving to the people who wronged him don't even require The Count to use/manipulate Albert, so it feels like Albert could have just not been in the anime.
I do like how we kind of see the development of friendships into romance, and what people are willing to do for the people they love. I wish they had either focused more on the friendship aspect or on the revenge aspect to either make this anime more wholesome or more exciting.
I did like the hallucinations Albert has after something happens to someone he loves.
Art - 6
Even though I am not giving a great score, I will be honest and say that the weird/different parts of this show's art style may seem very distracting at first, but you will get used to it. Basically the biggest thing is how the characters' clothing, and sometimes hair, look like some weird green screen thing and don't move with the character right. They also are just plain odd patterns a lot of the time. But if you are thinking of stopping the anime just because the art style annoys you on the first episode, don't worry about it, again you get used to it.
I am giving an above average score because the art style is obviously very creative, and it is different to see so much detail in characters outfits in an anime. Plus, their outfits change all the time instead of how in many anime, characters wear one or two outfits everyday. However, I am not giving a higher score because frankly I just don't like it. I think it is awesome that there is so much creativity in the art of anime, but that doesn't change the fact that I simply didn't find this pleasing to look at, and I felt it didn't fit in with the rest of the anime's tone.
There is a good amount of CGI, mostly for moving vehicles and the robot things they fight in near the end, but I don't think it is terrible.
There is a very wide array of colors in the anime which I like.
Sound - 4
This is one of the first times I REALLY dislike an opening. Many times I will skip it if it isn't great, but this one I HAD to skip, and even listening through the first time was unpleasant. I just do not like it at all. The ending is okay, very different from the opening. I think that the general soundtrack is alright, it feels like a couple tracks were overused. Nothing amazing.
Characters - 7
I had had this in my to-watch list for a while, but the reason I decided to finally watch it was because I saw the recommendations comparing this to the anime Monster mentioning how well characters are developed. I would agree that the characters are the strongest point in this anime, but in kind of an odd, incomplete way. They do all have personalities and don't feel necessarily forgettable, but at the same time, I don't really care about any of them (except Franz, Franz was the best), whereas in Monster, I remembered AND cared about all the characters. The anime has a good sized cast, and does a good job of slowly introducing you to each of the families involved before bringing things together. I also think The Count of Monte Cristo's whole backstory and character wasn't that bad, but not even NEAR Johan level. Some characters do feel a bit useless and like they only serve for when the writer needs a character other than the main cast to fix something, like Raoul, who I had to look the name up of because I didn't remember it at all.
I thought that Peppo's character was a bit confusing. I feel like maybe they played a bigger part in the book? It just felt like this character should have had more substance instead of just saying quirky things to Albert.
Enjoyment - 5
I thought I would be giving this anime a 6 or 7, but even though it does have some good qualities, I can't see myself ever rewatching it or recommending it. Especially since I think the ending was not well done. Also, I disliked the sci-fi elements of this anime. I thought it was weird how they still ride in a horse drawn carriage and have arranged marriages and behead people publicly, but also travel in space and have huge fighting robots and other insane technology? It's just so weird and feels like the anime wanted to be able to cheat with sci-fi features, while still keeping the french aristocrat era vibe.
Overall - 5
I would not recommend watching this anime. even though it has some good qualities. If you are looking for an exciting story of revenge or an amazing character story line and plot as in Monster., you will not find that here. It is okay, but don't think this is a must watch or insanely amazing.
