Anime: Gankutsuou

i have read the classic Dumas novel "count of monte christo" & my review therefore is completely based on comparison with the novel.first of all the anime completely altered the basic theme of the novel which is revenge/hatred of count towards the son of the man who took everything away from him.the height of the ridiculousness is that in the end heart of the count is moved by the same son of the man he vowed to take revenge on!i have never seen such butchering(only word i can think of)of a classic literature masterpiece based on revenge & hatred probably unmatched by any other classic piece of literature.this single fact alone is enough to qualify this anime as a very poor effort made at adaptation of such a classic literary piece.because of this fact i am giving such a low rating to all areas except art/animation & sound.this is the first time i really feel a need for negative vote such is my disappointment for this so called adaptation of one of my favourite novels.:brickwall:

if you have read the novel & understood the theme of revenge & hatred of count like me stay away from this anime at all costs.

edit:
after reading some comments regarding my review of not being objective enough here is my more detailed objective view:
how in the world can a man's heart be moved/changed by the son of a person he hated most in the whole world.even if i hadn't read the novel i can not possibly agree with this.perhaps the people who don't agree with me on this have a heart of gold but i don't.to me a person like count feeling the ultimate emotion in the end towards the son of man he hated most is just like saying Voldemort sympathizing with harry potter/Ron/Hermione in the end.if it was mercedes or haydees i wouldn't have given such low rating.

PROPER MINDSET
Gankutsuou is the retelling of a centuries-old story of revenge and for some weird reason being a show made by GONZO it is not a complete failure. At the same time nobody should expect too much from it, especially if he is aware of the original Alexander Dumas book. The reason is somewhat clear; aside from GONZO being a sign of auto-fail, the series is also directed by Maeda Machiro, whose only other works he was in charge are the most horrible/disgusting/vomiting/atrocious Final Fantasy: Unlimited and the most dull/rushed/lazy Blue Submarine No.6. So anyone aware of what he is getting into would definitely not be eating his nailtips to find out.

ART
The first thing that makes it interesting is the coloring style, which is quite uncommon, monochromatic faces and clothes filled with patterned shapes that don’t even give of the feeling of perspective. In fact, the whole thing looks completely flat when it’s about 3D models and the result is not lazy but artistic; done deliberately cartoony to allow better fluidity of body and face motions. I really liked this part. Too bad GONZO couldn’t hold back and rushed to throw in lots of badly done CGI objects as backgrounds as well, making a farce out of the whole thing. Not only the 2D-3D blend looks bad, but also (as always) any polygon-based objects that come out of that company’s computers are goddamn ugly and have really bad motions. At points they also throw in live action clips as well, such as crowds of people or fireworks, but those are just unimpressive in my eyes and REALLY lazy since they didn’t bother to animate or at least draw over them with ink or something.

So effectively the series is a combination of three different styles (superflat, GONZO fakin CGI, and live action) which I must say don’t blend very nicely. It sure makes the whole thing to look like an abode of experimental animation for the sake of experimental and not because it’s relevant to the plot. I have seen something similar done in Mind Game, Kare Kano, and Tatami Galaxy, which were both based on modern Japan and somewhat excused the live action and superflat use. Over there, they were excusing the mentality of the character, but here it is just a mess of ideas with nothing behind them. It sure makes it stand out from most other anime, it is very memorable and eye captivating, but there is no correlation with what is going on in the story.

CAST
The second thing that makes an impression is the story… which is mostly character-centered and for that I will analyze those first. In this case we see the story unfold mostly through the eyes of Albert, the naive son of one of the nobles the Count is after. That was an interesting twist since this way the Count retains an aura of mystery for most of the show, hiding his backdrop story and motives for a big chunk of the series. On the other hand, Albert is a fakin pussy, the stereotypical ball-less, boring, indecisive, wimp, oblivious, meek, dumb-looking, overused stereotype of modern anime. He is supposed to be Mr. Vanilla Ice-cream, so everybody can identify with his blunt personality. Well excuse me for being a GAR fan who finds this type of a lead hero to deserve public execution on sight. STOP THROWING HAREM LEADS IN SCI-FI YOU IDIOTS!

The Count is the BIG BADASS of the series and the main attraction in general. Hell, he is even in the cover poster for Pete’s sake. Hiding his motives by telling the story through the eyes of that other idiot was a nice move but they could definitely flavor Albert more. Anyways, the Count is the SUPER GAR AWESOME VAMPIRE LORD WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL HUGE MECHA AND GAZILLION GIZMOS MASTERMIND and he is an exceptional character to follow through. You eventually see where his personality hails from and why his motives and grief originate from his hatred. He is a full-fledged personality and I like him a lot. So ok, in this version he is a vampire or something and he fights with a huge robot at times which felt ridiculous and a poor excuse for hollow action. Skipping that nonesense he is a very interesting one and practically the only memorable in the whole show.

There are many others in there somewhere but all feel as nothing but pawns in the Count’s plans or short lived adversaries and minor support NPCs. As much as the series tried to focus on them, they were simply not important to the main plot, which was very simply Monte Christo avenging a bunch of aristocrats. In fact, the show lasts so long just because the plot delves into their lives half the time and we see things that eventually don’t matter in the longrun. So ok, they get fleshed out a lot this way but always in the sidelines instead of having more active role in the main story. And anyways, the Count is always three steps ahead of them so even when they try to fight back they are owned badly.

The great flaw with most of the characters comes when they get weird mood swings which feel like they are out-of-character. For example, there is a noble who mistreats his son badly but some time later when his son is in danger he will offer even his life to protect him. Where did that come from? And the Count going all insane, yet calming down when Albert is hugging him? How did that spineless, useless, boring guy manage to affect the SUPER GAR VAMPIRE LORD with a hug? It’s like trying to put out a volcano using a water pistol. This is pure date sim BS where Mr. Vanilla is useless in everything yet his morality monologues win the hearts of all the chicks… including GAR SUPER MASTERMINDS in this case, which is completely retarded.
God, I hate Albert!
Anyways, the character chemistry is interesting but their development feels fake and most of what they do is useless in the longrun.

SCRIPT
The story is also not that complicating outside of Monte Christo’s quest of vengeance, with half of the duration being talking with characters that don’t matter. That is why the pacing is very slow to the most part and you usually need to wait a lot for something important to happen while suffering through some really dull moments, all done deliberately for building up tension by slowing down the progress. Well it didn’t work for me; especially with Albert and his boring stunts at the helm. I mean just look at the finale, which is a calm event years after the final showdown. You will clearly see how Albert is so spineless, it took all this time just to come and see again a person he vowed to care for all his life. That is so stupid. Overall, a rather simple tale, done in slow motion with a weak ending.

SOUND
As usual, I find very little to say about the sound department. The soundtrack leaves me indifferent with its combo of ballads and electronics; hard to find them memorable for any given reason but I guess they fit the mood of the series. The speech was an interesting part though, the songs were in English lyrics, the intro to each episode was in French (a tribute to the original) and the Japanese dialogues were not retarded. Sound effects were ok but sure felt worse because of the GONZO effect on the visuals.

VALUE
Amongst the best of GONZO’s works but it could sure be a lot better. I find little reason to rewatch it since the plot is so damn slow and has some ridiculous fights and resolutions. Plus, there is much more of Albert than of the Count Very memorable for its animation style but messy in its presentation.

ENJOYMENT
It is not a bad show and I did dig the artistic side of it. It’s just that the original story had a lot less to tell in equally a lot less amount of time and thus felt more concrete in its overall feeling. Plus I have read and watched V for Vendetta, which is a very well done graphic novel, also adapted to film, based on the same story as well. It was clearly a far more mature and captivating version without the dragging and ridiculous mecha action. Being aware of the original and having seen something better means I was not fazed much by Gankutsuou. My negative bias towards GONZO had something to do with it too. But it is not a bad series, especially for non-veterans and those who don’t care about fast pace or good screenplay. In fact, most people who liked it are those who are not aware of the original story or were simply mesmerized by the funky visuals to the point they lost their sense of time. It works for the less demanding audience but for veterans like me it feels too long and pretentious.

And now for some excused scorings.

Hey AniDB, so a review on a very unique anime, Gankutsuou. There is a lot to say here, so please bear with me as we try to break down the anime retelling of the greatest story ever told. Here’s my two cents.

Animation
I hear the artwork is both unusual and awesome. Can you explain that?
Can try, but your best bet is to youtube a few clips because the unusual animation style is unrelenting for the entire series. If you hate it, move on now. I personally found it artistic and a great fit to this particular anime. Gonzo Studios uses a technique here in where they replace the characters coloring with an intricate static textile image, creating a detailed pattern coloring mask of sorts. It’s primarily used for all the characters hair and garments but is not restricted to just that.

Uh, what?
Listen, look at the picture on the AniDB entry page. See the inside of the cape? That gold and red detailed pattern? Well picture the cape flowing, but that inside of the cape stays just like that. That pattern stays still, the animation moves around it. Same thing for when the camera pans around. It’s a funky effect that to a lesser degree we’ve seen before briefly in Paprika or on Cartoon Networks Chowder. Gankutsuou takes it to the next level though and uses it everywhere in excess.

Right, yeh, uh we’ll have to see that for ourselves. So what else do we see?
A lot of colors, excellent use of the palette, very vibrant and psychedelic at times, it’s a real feast for the eyes. Backgrounds are in CG, vehicles and mecha too, both equally as crazy looking as the coloring/masks technique. Good general line quality throughout, excellent choreography and great camera angles. It’s a kaleidoscopic experience and all I can really say for certain is that you need to treat yourself right by viewing the highest quality you can find to really immerse yourself in the distinctive experience.
• Looks/Visuals : 10/10

Sounds
What kind of soundtrack to compliment this unusual animation?
Gankutsuou makes use of quite a few classical pieces, like Rachmanioff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. It’s done tastefully and really fits in. There’s also a lot of silence. Just letting the characters perform. And then there’s a bunch of dark, eerie and sad original themes that are played usually softly throughout mixed in. It’s handled creatively and compliments the animation exceptionally with a sophisticated tragic/romantic sort of vibe.

Opening/Ending theme song
Jean-Jacques Burnel (the bassist from the Stranglers) writes two original pieces to bookend the series. Really solidifies the series despite the stark contrast of these songs styles. “We Were Lovers” is used for the opening and “You Won’t See Me Coming” for the closing. Both sung in English. The latter is catchy as all hell. New-wave upbeat rocking guitar, synth-heavy song. The former is a very slow moving piano/violin piece, very somber. Heavy contrast to each other, but excellent lyrics for both that seem directly influenced from the story help bring them together.

And the voice actors performance?
I went Japanese audio and the seiyu do a pretty damn good job nailing the most important character, The Count of Monte Cristo. He’s voiced by Joji Nakata (Alucard/Hellsing) who has good range and can express being both emotionally cold and passionately heated very well. He’s well spoken and his voice is deep, but not so much bass that he doesn’t fit the Counts slender frame. Albert, performed by Jun Fukuyama(Lelouch/Code Geass) is a great voice too as he’s got the ability to quickly go from kind hearted to die-defending-my-honor heated that suitably fits his character. The rest of the cast does a solid job taking their characters seriously as well. Above average performances all around.
• Score/Voice Acting : 9/10

Story
Okay, so Gankutsuou is based on the classic French novel by Alexandre Dumas. This doesn’t exactly look like Paris during the 1800s though.
Gankutsuou isn’t a straight retelling of a tale. Imagine it more like a new twist on a classic flavor, swapping out the early 19th Century European setting for a new futuristic/intergalactic backdrop. The main city is still called Paris, but instead of carriages now we have spaceships. The theatre in Rome is now the theatre on the Moon. The Count himself, instead of a ghastly white visage now has blue skin. Stuff like that. Swap out the historical elements for new sci-fi ones and surprisingly it still works because the core story is mostly intact.

The core story, please sum it up.
Will do. Gankutsuou is a tale of romance, adventure and conspiracy. Not a lot of action but more so angst and thrilling plot revelations. In a nutshell it’s the tale of innocence being lost. So yeh, it starts when while on an indulgent vacation the young son of a nobleman from Paris befriends a peculiar and lavish man who calls himself the Count of Monte Cristo. He’s unusually captivating to the boy. He’s got money, is independent, fascinating and is just cool and mysterious on a lot of levels. So they meet, and it turns out the Count is interested in taking up temporary residence in Paris. The young boy innocently invites to hook him up with his influential aristocratic friends and family back home. The boy thinks it’ll be refreshing to his mundane existence to befriend a character like this. And as for the Count, it’s all just another step in his master plan…

That doesn’t sound “that” interesting. What is the Count, a vampire?
Something like that. Yeh, the classical vamps of old don’t raid your house but wait for that invitation in and then wreck havoc. He’s a man with a past, and like I said, it sounds innocent because this is a tale of innocence being lost. It’s an intricately woven tale, an elaborate plot to destroy lives through a means other than wanton violence.
• Story : 8/10

Characters
Alright. Well the real strength of every good story lies in its characters, who you’ve kind of described already. I take it the boy is our hero and the Count our villain?
This story isn’t so black and white but the Count is most certainly the push that makes things move. The main character is our young, naïve and idealistic Albert Morcef. He’s got that cushy life; money, a loyal best friend, parents to look up to that have taken care of his future. All just handed to him; born with the silver spoon so to say. He’s inquisitive in nature and has a genuinely good heart. But well, he’s kind of bored with how easy it’s all always been. The Count in contrast is this enigmatic mysterious man new to the scene, full of self confidence, surrounded by exotic luxury, has an air of danger and adventure to him and has a visible dark weight to his being, like a tormented soul. In Episode 1 you fully see how he can go from one extreme (generosity) to the other (disregard for life) in the blink of an eye yet remain consistent to himself. He’s the sinister version of the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World if you can picture that.

They sound complicated already.
Yup. And that’s only scratching the surface, there is a very large cast here but I don’t have room for all them. The character development is one of the highlights of Gankutsuou. The cast is full of emotion; they display anger, jealousy, rebelliousness, boredom, fear, love, inner conflict, etc. They also all have a past, a motive and a goal in life. They’re not just floating around aimlessly and don’t all want the same one thing. The secondary characters too (there are many) make good use of their limited screen time and aren’t completely cardboard. For anime, it’s kind of unusual. But don’t worry. Albert has enough typical anime angst at times to be on the level of a Shinji (Evangelion) or Shiro (Fate Stay/Night). They’re all based on European characters but still have some Eastern anime archetype in them.
• Characters : 9/10

Value
I take it you read the book and are an enthusiast?
Indeed I have and it is my favorite book, so I am most certainly bias in my opinion. But it’s a 160+ year old story that still is considered significant for a reason. It’s undeniably got to have “something” working for it.

Do I need to know the book to enjoy the story?
No, it’s independently handled very well and to be honest with you, of the interpretations I have seen Gankutsuou does the original source the most justice so far.

So to get the full effect of the characters and story, do I watch the anime or read the book?
Well the anime will take you what, about ten hours? The book is LONG. Very thick, very complicated, many side stories, more characters, lots more depth. If you can finish the book in less than ten hours you are a mutant. A freak. The book is almost always going to be better but it’s a good timeless story regardless of the medium you prefer.
• Value : 8/10

Enjoyment
Such high ratings, think you may have set this review up to be over-rated?
Maybe, but what could I change? Unquestionably the animation is something extreme. I so happened to like it. You can’t really knock classical music, it’s very good and fits this anime. And the source material story is one of the best of all time, giving us some of the best characters ever (The Count). It’s a high rating anime and I enjoyed it so…

Did you only enjoy it for the homage?
No. I think if you have an open mind and the animation style doesn’t induce nausea for you, then you’ll like Gankutsuou and find it refreshing on many levels, it’s peculiar for anime. The homage is great but there are also many new elements that were handled quite tastefully and give the anime its own identity. They seem to play out more towards the end, but it’s a good thing as the series if translated scene for scene would be longer then this review.
• Enjoyment : 10/10

Overall : 9

If you read it, please rate it, even if you hate it
Thanks!

There are a few classic hero characters out there of which I am absolutely sold to: Zorro, Cyrano de Bergerac, and the Count of Monte-Cristo. Every time I watch an adaptation of their story, I try not to expect anything (expectation very often spells out as disappointment), and try to keep my judgment for the end. Well, here I am.

This series is loosely adapted from the original work by Alexandre Dumas. It does borrow the characters, the places, and the theme of revenge, but it utterly fails at depicting it in any epic manner. Revenge is an awesome subject to write stories about, but one has to understand why the main character would come to such despair and extreme anger towards his targets. Unless you have read the book, don't expect to connect with the Count on this matter until you have watched more than half the series' episodes.

I did not expect fidelity from the authors, since this is an adaptation, and I do not feel they bashed in any way the main flow of the story doing so. It was just... boring and bland. Not knowing the Count's past, nor the antagonists', made the story and characters superficial and barely two-dimensional for way too long in the series. I would have loved to see more of the Envy, Appetite for Power, Jealousy and Greed, all those wonderful corrupted feelings that lead to this epic story in the first place. I feel trading these for the simple mystery of one's past revealed drop by drop was not the best choice for Gankutsuou.

The ending's content also leaves much to be desired. Without wanting to spoil it for you, if you remove the ever winning formula of blending the nostalgic opening theme with the end credits while showing glimpses of smiling characters, you are left with one question: was there redemption for the Count, or was he condemned? No one knows. There's no sense of completion at all with HIS story arc. Booh!

On other topics, to quickly recap without ranting on:

-Animation is very interesting in itself, using immovable texture backgrounds instead of coloring. I was first attracted to it, but it quickly became an eye-sore, especially with the end credits. Still worth a good look though, for 24 episodes. The computer animation were simply horrible and didn't blend at all with the rest of the anime though, texture and too-perfect-looking CGI simply didn't work at all together.

-Sound leaves much to be desired. The opening theme will make you cringe, the ending is some catchy tune that makes it up to the average catchy tune ranks, and only the piano tracks were a good support overall, conveying the "classic" noble era of the original story settings.

-Voices: nothing extraordinary to mention, except the Count's voice, which was an amazing performance. I just loved those deep resonating lines! Wow.

I enjoyed watching this series overall, merely as entertainment and out of curiosity. Whether you have read the original story or not should not change the appreciation of this series. If you can see through the amazing looks and the great voice performance of the Count though, you may be left pondering at the absence of elements that would have made this story go from average anime to great adaptation of a classic.

Wow.... this anime shattered all my expectations and found its way into my top 10. Where do i begin? I downloaded this anime out of boredom and purely random. I had heard about it and seen some glances, but i did not listen or pay attention, until one morning when i woke up thinking i was supposed to have class but it was cancelled. Pissed off, i came back and watched this anime for no reason.

I kept on thinking before i watched it, how can the count of monte cristo aguably the greatest book ever written IMO being made into an anime be interesting when i have seen and read the story many many times.

And then i watched it. Holy shit. That is all i said after each episode. This anime gets all 10s because it is perfect in every way. Each episode left me dying for more... and lo and behold, i watched every single episode in a row. I have only done such a thing twice. Planet ES being the other time.

The animation is just astounding, breath taking and original. The animation transported you to their time and world.

The sound was just incredible. every episode began with someone speaking fluent french summarizing the previous episode. And the impact of the ED after the last scene of an episode hits u like a shovel on the head.

The characters in this anime depict humanity in such a way, that the concept of art is transformed into reality. I loved every single character through their flaws and greatness.

The story of this anime is the crown Jewel. Animes like Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's rain, Berserk and Planet ES show us why anime to most of us has surpassed hollywood and their bullshit. Gankutsuou's Story though an adaptation is simply phenomenal in its truth and embodiment. You will laugh, you will awe, you will thrill and you will cry. Not only does this anime surpass the concept of its genre, it stands on its own and it stands tall.

I wish more people would give this a chance and get their heads out of crap like naruto and bleach (which i used to like) and watch an anime that touches, stimulates and exhilerates you.

Gankutsuou is a masterpiece. A pure masterpiece.

This is my first review ever for the site, and I am writing it mainly because I feel that a dissenting voice is necessary concerning this anime. First, it should be admitted that I love Dumas' novels and in particular The Count of Monte Cristo, and because of that I really did not want to watch this anime. I generally detest adaptations of novels into other media forms because I am a literature snob. However, after reading pantha's review on this page, I decided to take the advice of another English major and give the series a try. Unfortunately, I found it to be far less rewarding than others evidently have.

Animation
I found my opinion of the animation of this series changed quite a bit over the course of the series. It is, without a doubt, one of the more interesting and original animation styles that has been attempted lately. At first, I found myself thoroughly seduced by this originality, so much so that I for some time ignored some of the other problems with the anime. However, by the end of the series, I found that the style was rather tiring. It is hard on the eyes, and despite the fact that the (mosaics? textures?) are used to very good effect often, I took some points from this category because a few times I found myself simply confused by shifting textures (and not in a good, visually sumptous way) or just with strained eyes from the "Magic Eye" effect the anime has.

Moreover, there are a number of (in my opinion) poorly done CG scenes. Some of them are just unnecessary and would have been better animated, and none of them are what one could call seamlessly integrated into the other art work. It often just felt out of place. Do not let all of these negative comments detract from the score of 8, however. Make no mistake, Gankutsuou is, from start to finish, a fascinating visual experience and can almost be recommended solely by virtue of the interesting artistic design.

Sound
This category is, as most others have realized, nothing terribly impressive. Although I find that OP and ED opinions are always almost completely subjective, I didn't like the two this show had to offer. The OP is particularly unbearable (I skipped it every single episode after the first) and the ED is unmemorable, generic rock noise. The background music serves its purpose well. It is rarely very memorable, but a couple of dramatic scenes gave me those little chills you get as the music swells. All in all, it was effective and did its job without standing out as something for which it should receive extra points. As for the voice acting, it is quite passable all around, with each of the seiyuu presenting (though generic) acceptable, character-consistent dialogue. One stand-out was the count, who had a wonderfully creepy tone. He actually managed to be chilling, which is impressive. His performance alone brings this score up a point.

Story and Character
Okay, here's where everything falls apart. Now, as I have already admitted that I am a huge fan of the novel, I am sure that everyone will assume that this score is because of that. However, though my love of the novel did contribute to the enjoyment score, I am attempting (keep in mind attempting) to review the story without the influence of that particular fact. Since it starts with the same premise as a phenomenal novel, the potential and beginnings of a winning story are certainly there. The first few episodes managed to bring up a number of interesting themes and start the ball off right. Though slow-paced, these first episodes are quite interesting character studies and the sense of mystery really adds a lot to the tension.

However, the story begins rather quickly to go downhill shortly thereafter due to a phenomenon that I have always personally called fuzzy anime logic. Essentially, it consists in the characters doing what I can only as completely random things for the sake of advancing the plot. For example (this is not a spoiler from this anime, it is a general example of fuzzy anime logic):
"I must go to him."
"But why?"
"Because choosing is what must be done by man in this world in which we now live."
"But I love you, and he doesn't even know you exist. Stay with me and we can be happy forever!"
"But my mother is dead. Goodbye."
At this point any sane person would point out that very few of these statements have anything to do with each other, but this seems to be how the majority of the plot of Gankutsuou was strung together in my opinion. The revenge of the Count was a consistent vein that added logic to the proceedings, but because so many of the other characters were so tangential or unnecessary in the source material, I think the writers had trouble finding things to do with them, and so their actions rotating around the revenge of the Count are random, unmotivated, and ultimately uninteresting. And because the narrative chooses to focus far too much on them, it lends the entire tale a disjointed, illogical feeling.

The vast majority of the characters are not nearly deep enough to support the amount of screen time they receive. Frankly, the only character who can support the weight of the series is the count himself, and for a sad majority of the film he is relegated to a background position. The objects of his vengeance are very little more than allegorical figures, and it is therefore very difficult to take them seriously at all. Also, I felt throughout the entire show that the story was being told from the wrong point of view. It was telling the story through the eyes of a boring bystander (Albert). This had many effects. First, it prevented (to a certain extent) sympathy with the most important (supposedly) central character, the Count. Second, it bogged down the narrative terribly as the viewer is forced to wade through the emotional, uninteresting mess of Albert's life (which is horribly stereotypical anime fare) to get to any good the series has to offer. While this point of view seems to be standard at this point (indecisive troubled guys are in), it really detracts from how good the story could have been if it had focused on the infinitely more interesting Count.

Finally, there were a number of plot holes that I noticed even on my first viewing of the series, which were partially attributable to the random fuzzy logic of the characters and partially just the fault of slightly sketchy continuity on the part of the writers. Oh, and as a final killing blow, it had mecha. Mecha can very rarely be used so that they don't turn out ridiculous and absurd. Those animes that manage to make effective use of them generally succeed in spades, but it is a very difficult plot device to pull off with any level of either believability. Allow me to merely say that this anime does not manage to do so. And if mecha aren't mind-blowingly awesome, they are staggeringly pathetic.

Value
I don't really feel that there would be a whole lot of rewatch value to this title. I've seen it twice, but the second time was only because I didn't want to sound like an idiot when I wrote this review. I can't image wanting to watch it again. It starts, it ends, and it's never emotionally compelling enough to really merit another attempt at the whole thing. The only real rewatch value it would have is if one wanted to put in a single episode (one of the good ones) just to be visually stunned by the graphical acrobatics. Other than that, it's a once-through.

Enjoyment
Here, I will unapologetically reference the novel. As the most subjective section of the review, I cannot deny that I despised this series for being such a pitiful shadow of such a wonderful novel. After the first couple of episodes, when I first realized that they were slaughtering the original work, I wanted to stop watching immediately, but I stuck with it. Not only do they abandon (in large part) the overarching theme of the novel for a cliche anime surrogate theme, they change around characters, back stories, and motivations with nary a care in the world. I do think that this number would have been at least a little higher if I did not have such a high standard of comparison. If you have never read the novel, I can slightly more strongly recommend this anime, although still for no more than one viewing. If you have read the novel, then watching this anime sully one of the most intricate, fascinating, and involving plots of all time may break your heart, as it did mine. I had to read the novel again after watching just to get the taste of the series out of my mouth. Even if you haven't read the novel, the show is still rather generic anime fare, complete with nonsensical protagonist, cliched plot devices, and contrived claims to morality. For just that it would recieve a mediocre 4 or 5 here, but its destruction of what could have made it one of the best animes ever must bring my personal score here down to a gut-wrenching two.

Final Thoughts:
If you've read the book (as I think I've made clear), I would avoid this one like the plague. However, if you haven't, and don't mind some of the ubiquitous problems that plague the majority of anime anyway, Gankutsuou is worth a glance simply for the originality of its design. It's just certainly not the be-all, end-all that nearly everyone who has reviewed it so far seems to think it is.

Also, if you managed to get through this beast of a review, please give it a ranking. It's my first attempt, and any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated, as I intend to continue reviewing. A number or an essay are equally welcome.