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Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is an innovative anime series based on the original French novel, The Count of Monte Cristo. I am unfamiliar with the original story, so I can't personally comment on how true it remains to the original story. I think it's safe to assume that the references to space travel were not in the source material. Otherwise, the world of nobility and kingdoms proves rather timeless.
This first DVD volume of the series includes episodes 1-4. Attending Carnival on the moon base of Luna, Albert and Franz, two young French aristocrats, make the acquaintance of a mysterious man calling himself the Count of Monte Cristo. Albert is immediately fascinated with the man, while Franz is suspicious of his origins and intentions. However, when Albert is kidnapped, Franz can think of no one else to turn to except the Count. And so their lives become intertwined, and the stage is set for what looks to be an intricate story.
I was surprised that the series gave away so much of the Count's motivation and true nature in these first four episodes. Many shows would have spaced out these sorts of revelations over the course of fifteen or twenty episodes, and I can only imagine what other stores might be in store for us in the volumes to come.
I watched these episodes with the English voice over, and I found it to be a high quality production. One voice that really stood out for me is Jonny Yong Bosch, the voice of Albert, previously known for his work as Vash the Stampede in Trigun. I thought he brought the right tone of earnestness and wonder to the character. If you're a fan of anime, there will be several other voices that sound familiar, although I can't quite place all of them. While it can be slightly distracting at first to hear a character and think to yourself, "That's Renton" or "That's Fujiko", since there are only a certain number of American voice actors, and some of them only work for specific production companies, this is something you just get used to after a while.
Reading some online material about the DVD after watching it, I did find a complaint about the English voices as compared to the Japanese voices, saying they didn't capture the right spirit of the characters. I may have to rewatch the DVD with the Japanese language track running to compare the characterization. I find in many cases, though, unless a dub is horribly acted or directed, a preference between the English and Japanese voices becomes a matter of personal preference, or which one you get used to, so I would urge other viewers to try out both tracks and come to their own conclusions.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Gankutsuou is its artistic style. I'm not sure if there's an artistic term for this technique, but for many textures in the series, from characters' hair to the clothing they wear and the backgrounds they walk through, an actual static image of a material is used in place of traditional coloring This can be disconcerting when the pattern on a character's jacket doesn't move with him, but it can make scenes come to life in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Some of the CG effects of flying spaceships and such looked a bit out of place, but it's a small complaint in a one-of-a-kind presentation.
There were a few more extras on this DVD than you would normally find on an anime release. A textless ending and opening are almost a given on an anime DVD, but are still a welcome feature. The opening song is a love ballad, while the ending theme is more of a rock number. Created and sung by a Frenchman, they continue the tendency to move beyond J-Pop songs in recent releases. I found myself particularly interested in the ending song, "You Won't See Me Coming". Normally when watching several episodes in a row on a DVD, I skip right past all the credits, but I watched the closing credits all four times. Interviews with the Japanese voice actors and the show's director offer insight into the larger project. Three previews for other Geneon titles round out the extras menu.
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