ome believe the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo is a vampire. Others dismiss that rumor as ridiculous. But the idea actually doesn't seem too far-fetched, given his icy blue skin, his pointed ears, his refusal to eat solid food, his mismatched eyes (one green, one an eerie red) and his none-too-vague suggestion of fangs. There's also the fact that he bears a resemblance to the protagonist of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. And then there are the subtler signs, like his chuckling amorality and his ancient, predatory air. But when naïve young Parisian aristocrat Viscount Albert Morcerf meets the count during the yearly carnival on Luna, he sees only a strikingly handsome, graceful and unique nobleman whom he wants to emulate.
Unlike Albert's lifelong best friend Baron Franz d'Epinay, the Count doesn't snort over Albert's dreams of finding a passionate love, a woman who touches his heart in a way foreign to his dismissive fiancée, who was chosen by arrangement between their upper-crust families. The count indulges Albert's romantic fancies, though he also presents him with uncomfortable opinions and ghastly choices, all in the name of entertainment. But in the depths of his hero worship, Albert simply sees all this as further proof that the count is an exceptional and fascinating person. And when Albert's naïveté and temper nearly get him killed, until the count steps in to rescue him, their relationship is sealed: Albert agrees to be the count's conduit into French high society, which, without a sponsor, would be inclined to see him as a backwater-planet upstart or impostor.
But as anyone who's familiar with the original plot of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo might suspect, the star of the futuristic Japanese animated retelling Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo has a complicated revenge plot in mind, and Albert is just the first step. And even those who don't know the original story will certainly suspect something is up when they see the count's initial reactions to Albert's parents, who seem oblivious to his obsessions.
Splashy visuals, deep story
Gankutsuou designer/director Mahiro Maeda tends to make a splash on any project, whether he's handling designs for Last Exile, directing segments of The Animatrix for the Wachowski brothers or helming his own projects, like Blue Submarine No. 6. But Blue Submarine, with its heavily CGI-enhanced layered visuals, may actually be the best preparation for what he's doing visually with his new series. Much of the art glows, as with an inner neon light. The characters' hair and clothing contain complicated textures and patterns that don't move with them. The calculated effect makes it look like everything's in motion, or like the characters are just windows to a separate and more ordered reality. The look is an acquired taste of sorts, and it can be distracting, but it's certainly unusual. And Maeda enhances it with long shots of complicated and vivid backgrounds, from outer-space vistas to incredibly elaborate building interiors. He often seems to be enjoying the design more than the story.
It's hard to get a handle on the tone of that story from the first few episodes—there are too many flavors and too much going on, from the chaotic bacchanalia of the Lunar carnival to the dry, snobbish interplay of Albert's aristocratic Parisian friends. Each of the characters seems to live in a separate world, and odd things happen when those worlds juxtapose: The lights go out when the count enters a room; Albert and Franz's lifelong friendship is suspended when Albert socializes with the count; Albert's cold-fish fiancée becomes warm and friendly around Albert's mother. It's all as dizzying and changeable as a good intrigue novel should be.
And it's all just prologue for more intrigue to come. Viewers may come to this series for the highly lauded visuals, but if they stay, it'll likely be for the character development and the complicated adult interactions. The design is the most distinctive thing about Gankutsuou, but the unhurried, exploratory pace, dialogue-driven emphasis on changing moral and social dynamics rather than physical action, and baroque source material all mark it as a very different sort of series, and one worth keeping up on.
There's not much to the cast and director interview bits on this DVD, but they make a nice touch.
— Tasha
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