The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutsuou

I only watched the first episode but as you can see in the "Poster art" for this, the kaleidoscope imagery really ruined it for me. I couldn't even pay attention to what was going on with all the unnecessary movement within the hair and clothing. It would have been fine if the pattern moved with the art, but as the characters moved the pattern stayed stagnant in their individual cells creating visual chaos. I get what the artists were trying to do, but it's just too much. Less is absolutely more in this case. As far as the beginning of the story line, it didn't really pull me in. Sure, the initial description of the count was alluring but nothing made me care about anything that was about to happen.

Sure, this series is not an exact adaptation of Alexander Dumas' brilliant revenge novel of by the same name (save for the "Gankutsuou" part) but I enjoyed the liberties this series took with its time setting and characters. The stylized animation with the glittering clothes is pretty unique, but it took me a couple episodes to get used to it. The CGI animation was kind of poor, though--especially when knowing the fact that this series was originally released around 2004.Bottom Line: If you're interested in the book and love anime, give this show a try~you may be able to find a gem in this diamond in the rough.

it reminds me of chowder with stained glass, and future aristocrats. Sooo many colors. I pity the blind.

I enjoyed this show quite a bit and i ended up watching it just over a few days. The visual style stunning and the overlying thematic elements actually do mirror what you would find in the book... betral, revenge ect. The general idea stays the same but most of the non-essential parts of the original storyline has been changed.I really enjoyed it, but of course im not much of an anime snob... i dont have a whole lot to compare it to.

This series seemed to have a lot going for it. Good artwork, particularly with all the kaleidescope-ish colors and so forth, interesting characters, retelling of a classic tale...but I just couldn't get pulled into the storyline. I tried watching it several times and made it through 3 or 4 episodes, but I got bored with it each time and ended up not paying attention at all. I typically like dark-themed anime, too, but this one just didn't do it for me.

This adaptation for the book didn't exactly meet my expectations. Years ago, I checked this anime out for it's differences against other anime, but quickly left it alone because I couldn't follow the storyline. Months later, I saw the movie and quickly became interested. So upon returning to this anime, I was hoping for some awesome revenge-lust action, acristocratic drama, and some awesome dialogue. Three episodes into the anime and I felt betrayed by the title. The sequences of events are similar but taken a few revisions and the content in the anime was nothing more than what I called "dialogue trash." Particularly, when the Count starts ranting about fate and when the kid start going off about "peace, friendship, forgiveness" and among other unbearable dialogue.The only thing left was the graphics and even then, much of it was too "classy" and repetitive.Whatever made me watch the whole series was beyond me.