Payback’s a bitch

// Synopsis: In this adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ classic, two young aristocrats are on the moon for the Carnival celebration. They meet the very mysterious Count of Monte Cristo who comes to their rescue and then continues their friendship in the high society of Paris. But unknown to everyone, the Count is actually someone they all thought long dead come back to exact his sinister revenge.

// Review: The Count of Monte Cristo is probably the only classic that high school students would want to read. It has everything: action, murder, betrayal, intrigue, adultery, incest and even hints of lesbianism. It’s too bad the movie was an abomination. I was very excited about this anime because it had the luxury of 24 episodes to retell more of the complexities of the novel.

/ Unfortunately Gankutsuou suffers from one enormous flaw: the director refused to go against the anime bible which states that the main character must always be a sniveling, entitled, teenager who goes through a spiritual journey that takes him from naivete to disallusionment. It’s sad because by making Albert the main character, the Count was de-emphasized. The whole point of the story is to be awed by how diabolical his plans are, and at the same time sympathize with him as the protoganist. Instead he is turned into more of a pseudo-villain whose wealth and powers are acredited to an unexplained supernatural element rather than his hard work, intelligence and force of will.

/ I was also disappointed in that his revenge was watered down. For example in the book there is an enemy who is corrupted by greed and lust for money. The Count manipulates the stock market for this character to become insanely rich and then lose everything forcing him to flee with money the Count provides. Then the Count has him kidnapped by bandits who starve him in a cave and charge him hundreds of thousands of dollars for food. He agonizes like this for months and is finally released when he’s broke. In the anime he is put in a spaceship of gold and shot into deep space. Totally weak.

/ Studio Gonzo produced this anime and they are known for using more CGI than a Final Fantasy game. They kind of went overboard to the point where it was distracting. I did like that the setting was in the future but the clothes and architecture were still that of the 1800’s. For all of the clothing and hair, 2D static textures were used on 3D models. It’s a little disorienting at first but really gives it an other-worldly feel.

// Wrap up: It’s a shame this didn’t stay as faithful to the source material as it could have. But the Count of Monte Cristo getting the anime treatment still outclasses the movie. And if you haven’t read the book then you can’t be disappointed by the comparisons.

Entertainment rating: 3.5