Gankutsuou – The Count Of Monte Cristo (Animé TV)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

With little notice, Alexandre Dumas’ classic The Count Of Monte Cristo is one of the most made and remade tales in film and television, something that has not let up much lately.  Besides the underappreciated Disney production with Jim Caviezel, there is a new Japanese Animé version called Gankutsuou (2004) that sets the story in the future and puts a twist on the Animé style with some clever CG work and a style of cut out figures that are filled in by designs that do not move as the figures do.

 

Mahiro Maeda, who is responsible for The Animatrix, delivers one of the best such series in recent Animé years.  It manages to walk the fine line between the classic text and imaginatively transport it into a future world that is not so overly fantastic as to be distracting.  Dialogue is not bad, though the “talk at” is still here, which would be in line with the source material instead of being just pretentious for a change.  The first four episodes featured here are:

 

1)     At Journey’s End, We Meet

2)     Until The Sun Rises Over The Moon

3)     5/22, Stormy

4)     A Mother’s Secret

 

 

I would put the show up there with Gungrave as one of the few series being produced today that is going to hold up 10 to 20 years from now.  It is for ages 16 and up, but not for shallow exploitive reasons.  This includes in its playback performance.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is stylized, but only has mild definition and detail limits, which is a pleasant surprise.  The result is a more layered, complex image that may even point to a new direction for Animé in general and the rare use of the overly white cliché is another asset.  The sound is here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds in English and Japanese, both of which are fine.  Too bad there is not a 5.1 mix, especially DTS, because the visuals merit such treatment.  Extras include a storyboards comparison section, interview with Maeda, promo trailer, three additional Geneon Animé trailers, opening and closing credits without text and on-camera comments from the Japanese voice actors about working on the show.  That is one of the best sets of bonus materials Geneon has had on an Animé title in a while, but this one is worth it.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo