Scorch
Explorer
Here is yet another new anime series review by me. Enjoy:
Gankutsuou aka “King of the Cavern” aka “The Count of Monte Cristo”
We all have our little fantasies of revenge over slight and not-so-slight infractions committed against us in life. That guy cuts you off in traffic, you imagine chasing him do and running him off the road. That girl messes up you order in the restaurant, you tell her off in front of her manager. The last person to use the copier jams it without fixing it, you slam their face onto the glass plate and make a hundred copies. The vast majority of us put up with these incidents, think “what if…”, and then shrug and move on with our lives.
But what if the crime committed against you was not so small? What if it was something that stole your one true love, falsely tarnished your good name, ruined your life, and sent you to prison until you died? What if you were then able to escape, change your identity, amass a vast fortune, and then have the time and resources to plot your revenge against not only those who destroyed you but against the whole corrupt system that allowed them to do such a crime? Such is the appeal of Alexander Dumas’s “The Count of Monte Cristo”, a story that has been brought to the big and little screen in many different incarnations. The most current one is airing on Japanese television called “Gankutsuou” (the Japanese name for the original novel) animated by Studio Gonzo.
The twist on this one though is that it is set in the far distant future where intergalactic travel is commonplace but the feel is still 19th century Europe. Paris is a giant walled mega-city that spans across Europe, the elite nobility live within and play at their palace intrigues while the rest of common humanity live, work, and die outside.
Young Viscount Albert Mondego and his fellow noble friend, Franz, have traveled to the Moon city, Luna, for the Carnival. This is their first time away from their families and arranged marriage fiancées. While attending the opera Albert become intrigued with the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo: a tall,blue skinned man with pointed ears, and different colored eyes. Rumors circulating amongst the nobles attending Carnival say that he is a noble whose holdings are on the distant frontier, he may be a con man who bought his title, he is an alien spy, or perhaps a vampire. The vampire bit isn’t too hard to swallow since the count resembles Gary Oldman’s Dracula complete with the hat and pointed teeth.
The two are invited to dine with the Count whose charisma wins over Albert despite Franz’s skepticism. Their meal overlooks the culminating event of the Carnival, the execution of three criminals. The Count proposes they play a game: he has with him an appeal for one of the three criminals. He has three playing cards before him with their initials written on the backs of each. Albert need only pick a card and that criminal will be set free. Albert, despite the warnings of Franz, does so and the most wicked of the three criminals is set free. The Count is obviously enjoying the moral quandary he has placed on Albert. He has a sinister plan and Albert is a part of them.
In the second episode, the Count rescues Albert from kidnappers with the help of his henchmen, obviously former criminals who owe some allegiance to the mysterious man. During the rescue, the chief kidnapper manages to stab the Count who does not bleed. The Count reveals his pseudonym to the kidnapper as “The King of the Cavern”. The kidnapper recognizes who the Count really is before he dies. In gratitude for his rescue, Albert promises to introduce Monte Cristo to his circle of friends and Parisian high society. They agree to meet in Paris in one month’s time.
As the series progresses the Albert holds good on his promise and introduces the Count to his family and friends. The mysterious Monte Cristo sweeps high society by storm as the nobles are taken in by the air of intrigue surrounding him. He is particularly interested in Albert’s Father, the famous General Mondego, and his mother, Mercedes, who recognizes something of her past in the Count that causes a change in her that Albert finds disturbing.
Albert also finds something is changing within him as well. Either his journey outside of the walls of Paris or his meeting with the Count have caused him to take a closer look at Parisian society. He begins to question whether he truly loves his fiancée whom he has known since childhood or just likes her as a friend. He finds a kindred spirit in Captain Maximilian, a soldier and newcomer to his clique of friends. Maximilian is of common birth from Marseilles and he feels out of his depth in Paris. After being manipulated into a duel by the Count over whether noble society was shallow or not the two find they have a lot in common.
But all this serves as window dressing to the real story as we see the Count of Monte Cristo position himself amongst Albert’s friends and the social clique that his father, the General, moves in. Most notably he worms his way into the good graces of Albert’s soon to be father-in-law, a wealthy banker, and the wife of a powerful court judge. I won’t give away what he is planning for those of you who are familiar with the original novel and movies that it has spawned. Just know that a great wrong was done over decade earlier and blood is going to be spilled.
The world setting is fascinating in that it is a reflection of the world during the early 19th century. There is mention of the “Empire” outside of Earth’s influence which leads me to believe there is a British Empire analog that this French world competes against. There is also mention of other galactic nations that may be Spain and America. Also a war is currently being waged against an alien race that some do not feel are truly intelligent which smacks of “White Man’s Burden” mentality that some in the nobility hold. I was greatly amused by an Earth that is ruled by the French knowing that some would shirk in horror from such a concept but this is just advancing Dumas’s work into a galactic setting along with the fashions and styles of the time.
The animation in the show is done by Studio Gonzo, the people who brought us “Blue Submarine #6”, “Samurai 7”, and “Last Exile”. There is plenty of CGI goodness throughout. One technique they use is unmoving textures on the clothing and sometimes hair of the characters. It was disconcerting at first and took some getting used to but now I find that the graphics used in this technique are like the eyes, a gateway into the soul of the character. The jury is still out, in my mind, whether this is purely an artistic touch of the animators or if it is a technological aspect of the world such as holographic clothing worn by those who can afford it.
The music threw me for a loop. Particularly the opening and ending credits. Normally in anime you get the showstopper song for the opening credits with something more somber for the closing. Here we get he reverse. The opening credits are simple charcoal animation with a slow song by Jean Jacques Burnel. Then the end credits do a complete 180 with a fantastic montage of animation backed by a kick-butt song by the same artist.
Gankutsuou is one of several fantastic series that have come out from Japan this year. It is a story of love and revenge that has been around for almost 200 years and is still fresh. Unfortunately it is not yet commercially available here in America yet since it is still showing in Japan but I am sure someone will pick it up for distribution next year. It is available through the usual fan subtitle channels.
Scorch
Gankutsuou aka “King of the Cavern” aka “The Count of Monte Cristo”
We all have our little fantasies of revenge over slight and not-so-slight infractions committed against us in life. That guy cuts you off in traffic, you imagine chasing him do and running him off the road. That girl messes up you order in the restaurant, you tell her off in front of her manager. The last person to use the copier jams it without fixing it, you slam their face onto the glass plate and make a hundred copies. The vast majority of us put up with these incidents, think “what if…”, and then shrug and move on with our lives.
But what if the crime committed against you was not so small? What if it was something that stole your one true love, falsely tarnished your good name, ruined your life, and sent you to prison until you died? What if you were then able to escape, change your identity, amass a vast fortune, and then have the time and resources to plot your revenge against not only those who destroyed you but against the whole corrupt system that allowed them to do such a crime? Such is the appeal of Alexander Dumas’s “The Count of Monte Cristo”, a story that has been brought to the big and little screen in many different incarnations. The most current one is airing on Japanese television called “Gankutsuou” (the Japanese name for the original novel) animated by Studio Gonzo.
The twist on this one though is that it is set in the far distant future where intergalactic travel is commonplace but the feel is still 19th century Europe. Paris is a giant walled mega-city that spans across Europe, the elite nobility live within and play at their palace intrigues while the rest of common humanity live, work, and die outside.
Young Viscount Albert Mondego and his fellow noble friend, Franz, have traveled to the Moon city, Luna, for the Carnival. This is their first time away from their families and arranged marriage fiancées. While attending the opera Albert become intrigued with the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo: a tall,blue skinned man with pointed ears, and different colored eyes. Rumors circulating amongst the nobles attending Carnival say that he is a noble whose holdings are on the distant frontier, he may be a con man who bought his title, he is an alien spy, or perhaps a vampire. The vampire bit isn’t too hard to swallow since the count resembles Gary Oldman’s Dracula complete with the hat and pointed teeth.
The two are invited to dine with the Count whose charisma wins over Albert despite Franz’s skepticism. Their meal overlooks the culminating event of the Carnival, the execution of three criminals. The Count proposes they play a game: he has with him an appeal for one of the three criminals. He has three playing cards before him with their initials written on the backs of each. Albert need only pick a card and that criminal will be set free. Albert, despite the warnings of Franz, does so and the most wicked of the three criminals is set free. The Count is obviously enjoying the moral quandary he has placed on Albert. He has a sinister plan and Albert is a part of them.
In the second episode, the Count rescues Albert from kidnappers with the help of his henchmen, obviously former criminals who owe some allegiance to the mysterious man. During the rescue, the chief kidnapper manages to stab the Count who does not bleed. The Count reveals his pseudonym to the kidnapper as “The King of the Cavern”. The kidnapper recognizes who the Count really is before he dies. In gratitude for his rescue, Albert promises to introduce Monte Cristo to his circle of friends and Parisian high society. They agree to meet in Paris in one month’s time.
As the series progresses the Albert holds good on his promise and introduces the Count to his family and friends. The mysterious Monte Cristo sweeps high society by storm as the nobles are taken in by the air of intrigue surrounding him. He is particularly interested in Albert’s Father, the famous General Mondego, and his mother, Mercedes, who recognizes something of her past in the Count that causes a change in her that Albert finds disturbing.
Albert also finds something is changing within him as well. Either his journey outside of the walls of Paris or his meeting with the Count have caused him to take a closer look at Parisian society. He begins to question whether he truly loves his fiancée whom he has known since childhood or just likes her as a friend. He finds a kindred spirit in Captain Maximilian, a soldier and newcomer to his clique of friends. Maximilian is of common birth from Marseilles and he feels out of his depth in Paris. After being manipulated into a duel by the Count over whether noble society was shallow or not the two find they have a lot in common.
But all this serves as window dressing to the real story as we see the Count of Monte Cristo position himself amongst Albert’s friends and the social clique that his father, the General, moves in. Most notably he worms his way into the good graces of Albert’s soon to be father-in-law, a wealthy banker, and the wife of a powerful court judge. I won’t give away what he is planning for those of you who are familiar with the original novel and movies that it has spawned. Just know that a great wrong was done over decade earlier and blood is going to be spilled.
The world setting is fascinating in that it is a reflection of the world during the early 19th century. There is mention of the “Empire” outside of Earth’s influence which leads me to believe there is a British Empire analog that this French world competes against. There is also mention of other galactic nations that may be Spain and America. Also a war is currently being waged against an alien race that some do not feel are truly intelligent which smacks of “White Man’s Burden” mentality that some in the nobility hold. I was greatly amused by an Earth that is ruled by the French knowing that some would shirk in horror from such a concept but this is just advancing Dumas’s work into a galactic setting along with the fashions and styles of the time.
The animation in the show is done by Studio Gonzo, the people who brought us “Blue Submarine #6”, “Samurai 7”, and “Last Exile”. There is plenty of CGI goodness throughout. One technique they use is unmoving textures on the clothing and sometimes hair of the characters. It was disconcerting at first and took some getting used to but now I find that the graphics used in this technique are like the eyes, a gateway into the soul of the character. The jury is still out, in my mind, whether this is purely an artistic touch of the animators or if it is a technological aspect of the world such as holographic clothing worn by those who can afford it.
The music threw me for a loop. Particularly the opening and ending credits. Normally in anime you get the showstopper song for the opening credits with something more somber for the closing. Here we get he reverse. The opening credits are simple charcoal animation with a slow song by Jean Jacques Burnel. Then the end credits do a complete 180 with a fantastic montage of animation backed by a kick-butt song by the same artist.
Gankutsuou is one of several fantastic series that have come out from Japan this year. It is a story of love and revenge that has been around for almost 200 years and is still fresh. Unfortunately it is not yet commercially available here in America yet since it is still showing in Japan but I am sure someone will pick it up for distribution next year. It is available through the usual fan subtitle channels.
Scorch
