Review Repost- Gankutsuou vol. 1
Not much happening in the world of Asian news today, so here’s some reviews from the old site. Hopefully you’ve forgotten them so they’re like new!
Japan’s Studio Gonzo has something of a reputation (whether it is deserved or not) for creating visually impressive anime with weak stories and flat characters. Using one of Western literature’s most enduring tales as a basis for a new show is probably one of the smartest things they could have done. Gankusuou is a sci-fi retelling of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo and, somewhat surprisingly, it works.
Gankutsuou begins about ¼ of the way through Dumas’ original story, on the planet Luna. Franz and Albert are two aristocratic Parisian teenagers who came to Luna to attend the famous Carnivale there. While gallivanting around in their impossibly foppish costumes, they find their neighbor in the hotel is a mysterious gentleman known only as “The Count of Monte Cristo”. Not knowing anyone on Luna, he requests that they keep him company. The boys, fascinated by his unknown origins and changeable nature, gladly agree. Albert is especially enamored after the Count rescues him from a band of dangerous kidnappers. When the Count announces his intentions of moving to Paris, the boys are happy to introduce him to their families and friends. In Paris the Count seduces everyone he meets, from Albert’s arranged-marriage fiancée to his journalist friend Beauchamp. Despite their association, the Count’s secrets seem buried deeper than ever. But what is his obsession with Marseilles, and why do his eyes grow sad when he meets Albert’s beautiful mother, Mercedes? Albert begins to suspect that the Count’s intentions in Paris may be sinister, but he is too infatuated with the man to bring himself to distrust him.
Gonzo’s version of the Count is everything Dumas could have wanted: charming, sensual, mysterious, eccentric and ruthless. He is also blue and has pointed ears, like a demonic version of a Tolkien elf. Whether his appearance is a quirk of the character designers or has some basis in the story will hopefully be cleared up in later episodes.
Unraveling the tale from Albert’s point of view is a clever idea. In the novel, the children of the Count’s enemies are minor characters, despite the fact that they, in some ways, are the most affected by his schemes. Albert is a likeable young man- innocent, eager, a normal kid caught up in a vengeance planned before he was born. It’s almost painful to watch him worship the man whose only goal is to destroy Albert’s family.
Gonzo’s writers have so far done an excellent job adapting Dumas’ intricate plot for the screen. All the major characters, connections and events are there, albeit not in the same order as in the novel.
Most of Gonzo’s series are artistically done, but Gankutsuou goes above and beyond in that category. The show is nothing less than a feast for the eyes. While the character designs are fairly standard (big eyes, slender frames), the show’s futuristic setting allows for great creativity in style. Paris’ Arc de Triomphe stands beside fantastic futuristic skyscrapers. Albert drives a car modeled on vehicles from the 1920’s while the Count rides in a carriage that resembles a Delorean, pulled by matched sets of cyborg horses. Space ships loom over Paris’ famous opera house. But the show’s creators have also paid homage to the source material with the occasional 19th-century fashion or hairstyle.
Gankutsuou is richly colored and vibrant, with some masterful 3D animation mixed in with the 2D work. When the show was released, one animation technique raised a great deal of fuss- a sort of static imagery used often in the characters’ clothes and hair. The patterns for the clothes were created by fashion designer Anna Sui, which lends the costumes a haute couture feel, but the animation technique can be somewhat disturbing to watch. For instance, when a character in a patterned waistcoat turns at an angle, the viewer expects the pattern of the coat to shift as well so it is also visible from a different angle. The static animation doesn’t do this, and looks oddly flat. While quite attractive, it does take some getting used to.
The voice actors do a fine job in both languages, though the Count sounds deeper and more imposing in Japanese. The DVD is nicely packaged, though the flat patterns that are so impressive on screen don’t transfer nearly as well to paper. The show’s opening and ending themes are polar opposites- the first a mournful ballad about lost love (“We Were Lovers” by Jean-Jacques Burnel) and the second a menacing rock tribute to revenge (“You Won’t See Me Coming”, also by Burnel). Despite the differences in the songs, both fit this multi-faceted story perfectly.
If Gankutsuou can keep up the intensity displayed in these first four episodes, it could turn out to be one of Gonzo’s best anime series. So far it shows every indication of doing so. Keep your fingers crossed.
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