Wayback Series - Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

Reader's advice: Read the original novel before you watch this fictional one.

FOREWORD: I do love Montreal Repuyan's role of the Count. YES I DO.

Are you a fan who loves some French books? Well, in spite of your reading pleasure, I will take you to the future, and to the world of Gankutsuou.

Loosely based on the French novel by Alexandre Dumas, it was produced by Gonzo, and it was directed by Mahiro Maeda, who is Japan's most prominent anime directors of the time, and it was known for directing Blue Submarine No. 6 and Final Fantasy Unlimited. It was broadcasted by Animax and it premiered on October 5th, 2004 to March 29th, 2005 with a total of 24 episodes. The anime is acquired by Geneon Entertainment for its release rights, and later released under the title Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. On about two days after Christmas in 2008, Funimation announces that they had acquire the license and planned to release it the following year.

The anime is well-known for its unusual visual style, it uses layers of Photoshop textures into digital animation, with some backgrounds often rendered into 3D. Whereas the original novel takes place during the Bourbon Restoration following the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the anime takes place in the far future, during the year that is 5053. Although the anime is incorporated with some elements of sci-fi (science fiction) and fantasy, it was also retained many French aesthetics in the 19th centure, in which of course the particularly in regard to wealth and social classes. Each of the episodes (of the JP dub) will begin with a summary that is spoken in French.

Viscount Albert de Morcerf, and his best friend Baron Franz d'Epinay, are visiting Luna for the festival. Then, the two make the acquaintance of a self-made nobleman that is the Count of Monte Cristo. The Count then promises to visit Albert in Paris when they parted. Later on after he had arrived, he introduces himself to the Morcerfs, the Danglars, and the Villeforts; the most powerful families in France. Gankutsuou's general plot is broadly the same as the original novel on which it based, and it changes many of the aspects of the novel's source material. The narrative arc follows the Count chronologically in the novel, while throughout the anime, it begins with Albert and Franz meeting with the Count on Luna (particularly in which occurs, in Rome, into the book with many hundred of pages), and the backstory of the Count is pieced. The plot has futuristic elements, talks on space travel, robots and computer systems, some of the characters' different fates, the altogether different ending and the disposal of several side-plots.

The Count and Haydée

The star-studded voice cast of the anime is indeed worthy of the word 'amazing'. Jouji Nakata (is known for voicing Kirei Kotomine in Fate/stay night) is playing the role of the Count of Monte Cristo, who is a mysterious person and nobleman who lived in luxury. He later transformed into the demonic presence known as 'Gankutsuou' (King of the Cave). Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass) plays the 15-year old viscount boy named Albert de Morcerf. Daisuke Hirakawa (Ukyo Asahina in Brothers Conflict and Rei Ryugazaki in Free!) plays the baron named Franz d'Epinay, who is Albert's best friend, and seems to be matured, cautioning his friend against the Count. A delicate beauty and a skilled harp player, Haydée is voiced by Akiko Yajima (Sakuya in Eureka Seven). She may be one of the members of the Count's estate, she is Janina's former princess, because she and her mom were sold into slavery when her dad betrayed and murdered by a young military officer named Fernand Mondego. Koji Ishii (Mado in Brave Command Dagwon) plays the Count's right-hand man/servant/bodyguard named Giovanni Bertuccio. Baptistin, who is the other right-hand man of the Count is voiced by the legendary Nobuo Tobita (Kamille Bidan in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam). 

Other voice actors starred in the show were Jurota Kosugi, Kikuko Inoue, Shinpachi Tsuji, Naoko Matsui, Chie Nakamura, Yosuke Akimoto, Kumiko Watanabe, Tetsu Inada, Tomokazu Seki and many more. Some of the voice actors (both English and Japanese) are starred in Warriors Orochi (e.g. Nakata played both roles of the game as Kenshin Uesugi and Ieyasu Tokugawa). If you play that game in the JP version, then consider yourself lucky for this. 

Both the anime's OP and ED songs (We Were Lovers and You Won't See Me Coming) were performed by Jean-Jacques Burnel, who is known as the bass guitarist of the British rock band The Stranglers, and of course the ED song is re-recorded as 'See Me Coming' for the 2006 album 'Suite XVI'. If you want to listen to both of these songs, then you have to listen it now.

Relieve the drama, the suspense, and the adventure that is Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.