Take A Pick Tuesday

Take A Pick Tuesday

 

 

 

Every Tuesday we will spotlight an anime that will help you get through that long week, some you might know, some you might not and some you might have wanted to watch for a long time now. This will be an excuse. If you haven’t heard of this hopefully you wonder how come you never have and explore for yourselves. Each pick for each week can be different ranging from one genre to another, from the classic to the fairly recent and somewhere in between.

 

                                                 Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

 

The year of its release it was considered one of the best and rightly so. This retelling of the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas is placed in a far future setting that mirrors the novel by being multilayered, holding on to most of the characters you might be familiar with from the novel but with some interesting twists to them and some you hadn’t read in the novel.  In fact having it loosely based off the novel instead of it as a direct adaption adds to the mystery of the story and gives it its own unique stamp of individuality all the while paying respect to the original. The Count himself appears alien by Earth standards which would make sense in this adaptation that has a science fiction background mixed in it, it isn’t uncommon for people to travel beyond earth, in fact it’s where the main character Albert would meet the Count, in a sort of lunar like mardi gras.

 

 

    Interestingly enough the perspective is focused on the possible victim and center for revenge Albert who has ties to anyone else that Count has on his list to exact retribution towards. Which gives for an interesting relationship, there are times both Albert and The Count really seem like they’ll connect, then there are other times when The Count’s intentions seem to show themselves quite clearly. One instance was shortly after the two had met and Albert fascinated with The Count is invited to watch an execution take place, the excitement is quickly drained when The Count offers him what was in his possession and full pardon for one of the three that are set for execution.  The choice almost seeming like a trap and precursor to what might come shows itself as Albert chooses the most horrible of the three to be pardoned while the others are sent to their death. This plays well against the actual growing bond among the two in the show even a possible hesitation The Count may have to exact the revenge at the cost of Albert and the people he cares about.

 

Along with the powerful storytelling goes the beautiful visuals, the glimmering colors are never repetitive and nearly all patterned. To what the characters wore was actually created by famous fashion designer Anna Sui, helping to complete the partisan look of the nobles, The Count and all the others in between. The wonderful inventive designs don’t stop there, they even dive into mecha like suits of armor and spaceships and somehow go back to normal cars. One of my favorite designs though lies within The Count’s mansion, a place that’s showed that seems to defy  both time and space as if only something powerful like Gankutsuou could make such a marvel. The very thing that aids The Count in his thirst for revenge in fact using it seems to mean that he must exact this revenge. But that is something you’ll have to try to understand as you watch the show for yourself.

 

 

Whether you believe he’s right or wrong it becomes clear that there are many despicable people on his list of revenge, liars and frauds, plenty have skeletons in their closet that The Count is just waiting to open in front of everyone.  Strangely enough it all plays to a love that was forced not to be.  If you want a different pace in Anime, something that seems far from what you’re used to seeing, a breath of fresh air if you will then by all means get hooked on to this show this week. If you find it’s a show that isn’t mentioned in the conversation of anime you have with your friends than watching it is a good excuse for it to become a part of it. If you find you love Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo and have never read the original source material than I urge you to check it out. Even the crew that worked on the show urges you to!