|
Gankutsuou:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Anime DVD Review
The classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo has been adapted to the screen many times. Now it's getting a futuristic spin and a splashy gothic look in this anime series helmed by internationally-acclaimed director Mahiro Maeda (The Animatrix, Kill Bill). Gankutsuou is supposed to mean "Ruler of the Caves". If that's intended to impress, it succeeds.
Costume designer Anna Sui provides the enigmatic count with a galaxy of flashy outfits as he prowls the streets of a decadent city built on the surface of the moon. There, the mysterious gentleman meets the young and impressionable viscount Albert Mondego, and sucks him into his world of depravity and revenge. Hidenori Matsubara provides character designs that give a nod to Anne Rice as well as Alexandre Dumas. (Are those fangs the count is sporting?) Who will go down for the Count? Check it out if you dare!
Below: Scenes from Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin, January 2006
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
