Anime in Focus: Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo) episode 1

Well, I was feeling pretty random, and decided it was time that I watch that show about the Counto of Monte Cristo… IN SPACE! This is part of a relatively small genre of shows that revolve around taking those books you were forced to read in English class, and making them awesome.

This show starts out in a rave ON THE MOON on the same day as a holiday in Rome. We then see our main character, Monsieur de Morcerf entering an Opera featuring a singer wearing a bloody dress.  Out on one of the expensive balconies, a strange man with blue skin and fangs goes and throws her a bouquet of roses in the middle of the play. We learn that this man is none other than the count of Monte Cristo, the new self appointed noble that has all of the aristocracy talking.

Strangely, Morcerf notices that the count accidentally drops an incredibly fancy gold watch, and tries to give it back to him, unsuccessfully. Even weirder, Morcerf and his friend Franz have been invited to dinner with this mysterious count. During this they learn a bit about the count’s philosophies, and are invited to his private balcony to watch an execution. While Franz objects to this sort of thing, it inspires the rebel within Morcerf in order to go check it out, as he seems to greatly admire the count. Unfortunately, this admiration causes Morcerf to learn a bit about the Count’s sick sense of humor that he really wishes he hadn’t taken part of.

This show gets off to a pretty solid start, introducing a few characters and showing some of the more interesting facets of their personalities. The art in this show likes to take liberties at almost any chance it can get, as shown by the character’s clothes, which manage to appear borderline holographic. Furthermore, these clothes seem to react to light in ways that most modern fabrics would never react. Thankfully, it is quite obvious that the artist’s intended to use this style in order to spice up the visuals in the show, in order to give it its own highly recognizable style.

I will most certainly be watching more of this show sometime later.

Coming soon! Episode 2

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