Episode 20: The Count of Monte Cristo Gankutusuou review
Disclaimer: The following is a review of material owned by Mahero Maeda, Studio GONZO, Del Ray Manga and Funimation, and the Stranglers band this review is my property and is covered by the fair rights usage law.
Note: Italics indicates Nukid speaking.
As we travelled down the halls of a familiar home we hear a piano playing the song titled; we were lovers by Jean-Jacques Brunel as the cameraman ran up the stairs from the basement/garage, through the kitchen, and into the living room we see Airnaruto45 aka The Classic Critic playing quite well before he noticed the camera. "Madams and monsieur's, Bonsoir; me nonde e Critique de Classic." He said in as best French accent as he could before switching to English; "I remember it so you're not required to." He said before getting to the reasons as to why he was wearing a blue long haired wig, his skin was painted blue, he was wearing a black tuxedo complete with matching cape, cane, and top hat, and white gloves on his hands.
"I'm sure you would ask why do I look like this and who am I supposed to be portraying?" He asked for his audience. He was about to answer when heard a knock on his door.
"Hold on folks; I wonder who that is?" He asked himself as he opened the door to find a familiar British author/assassin/critic, Nukid aka The Nostalgia Kid.
"Greetings Air." Nukid said as he looked at the ninja author.
"Welcome Nukid please make yourself at home." Airnaruto replied as Nukid stepped into the house only to be rushed at by two small dogs both of which were male Shih Tzu/Poodle hybrids, one with golden brown fur with a black tipped tail and the traditional white spotted chest area while the other fairly smaller dog was coated in all black fur, these were Airnaruto's dogs Snoopy, and Midnight who began jumping in front of Nukid and barking at him to get his attention. "I take it these little guys are yours." He asked.
"Yes they are Nukid anyway what are you doing here?" The Author ninja asked.
"Well you never had me as a guest co-reviewer for your story, so I decided to throw myself in but what's with the get up did you lose a bet or something?" Nukid asked.
"No and if you quit interrupting I'll get to that." Airnaruto said.
"Sorry please continue." Nukid said.
"Anyway the costume has to do with what I'm reviewing today." Airnaruto said as he pulled out a novel from his underneath his cape. "What I hold in my hand is a copy of one the greatest tales of love, betrayal, friendship, tragedy, and vengeance. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, it's actually very compelling." Airnaruto said before Nukid took over.
"I see so you decided to review the anime adaptation that Studio GONZO released back in 2004 which why you're dressed like the count?" Nukid asked.
"Nukid you spoiled the surprise!" Airnaruto snapped at his sparring buddy.
"Sorry about that." Nukid muttered.
"It's doesn't matter now." Airnaruto grumbled before continuing with the introduction.
"Anyway as the Nostalgia kid pointed out studio GONZO did create an anime version of the book and while the series follows the same themes and plot as the book there are a few tweaks to it such as the order the events take that occur place in the Anime as oppose to the book, the fates of certain characters, and the combination of Science fiction and Fantasy are added to it so it's not a cheap animated copy of the novel for example; the show is actually titled, The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutusuou." Airnaruto explained before Nukid pointed above his head to reveal the word "Gankutusuou" and it's rough translation in bold lettering "Gankutusuou translation: King of the Cavern." The titling said before vanishing.
"Luckily I happened to get the complete series on DVD last week as a birthday present from a friend of mine through the mail." Airnaruto said as he held up the box set, popped in the first of the 4 DVDs into the DVD player, picked up his dogs, put them on the sofa next to Nukid, grabbed a bowl of salsa and a bag of chips and sat right down with Nukid.
"The show begins on the moon in the 5053, and it's time for the lunar carnival." Nukid said before Airnaruto took over.
"Now if you haven't noticed the animation style for this series is perhaps one of the most visually entrancing you'll have ever seen in an anime that gives it an almost surreal feeling, part of that is because the series combines Photoshop textures into digital animation rendered with 3D backgrounds and I know I'm going to get a lot of flames for this but unlike a series like Trigun for example, whose animation style tried to imitate American Superhero comics while trying to stay within standard Anime style but ended up being a visual hit and miss. This shows visual style is a stunning hit I mean the pallet of colors can offset or compliment the mood and scenery so perfectly." Airnaruto said before holding the salsa bowl out in front of Nukid. "Chips and dip?" He asked.
"Sure why not." Nukid said as he took a chip and dipped it into the bowl of salsa.
"Anyway we come across out hero of the series Visconti Albert de Morcerf voiced by Jun Fukuyama and Johnny Yong Bosch in the sub and dub respectively who along with his best friend Baron Franz D' Epinay played by Daisuke Hirakawa and Ezra Weisz have come to the moon for a little vacation so Albert can clear his head about his engagement to his other childhood friend Eugenie de Danglars voice by Chie Nakamura and Michelle Ruff and if you're wondering why I'm saying two actors names I'm revealing who voiced the character in the Japanese cuts first and then who voiced the characters in the dub." Nukid explained before getting back on topic.
"Anyway, while attending an opera they are sent an invitation by the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo who Albert takes an immediate liking to as the count seems quite friendly, easy to like, eloquent, sophisticated, and charismatic." Nukid said before we see clips from a later episode.
"However by episode 9 we find out that the count is not all what he appears to be for deep inside is a cold, dark, and lost soul figuratively and literally hell bent on getting revenge as we find out by episode 17 that he was once a young sailor named Edmond Dantes who was once the fiancé of Albert's mother before the man who would later become Albert's father along with Eugenie, and Valentine's fathers framed him for a crime he didn't commit and had him imprisoned 25 years before the series started. Edmond did escape but only with the help of a demonic spirit of vengeance that continues to eat away his psyche until he has completely taken over Edmond's mind and body." Nukid said this was when Airnaruto decided to take over.
"Our opinion of the count is that for his voice actors we don't think you could go wrong in either language whether it's Joji Nakata or Jamieson Price, whenever the count opens his mouth you get so enticed by whatever he says but aside from that, when Gankutusuou takes over is where the sub shines over the dub, why do you ask? We have only one reason for that…They let Nakata get away with speaking French as both Gankutusuou and during the opening monologue." Airnaruto said to clarify.
"However another shocking voice in the dub that I found was with the count's right hand man Bertuccio." Nukid said before explaining; "Now in Japanese he's voiced by Koji Ishii but let's see if you can guess who this voice belongs to." Nukid said as we see the scene from episode 9 where Bertuccio catches the count and helps him to his main room.
Bertuccio: Excellency are you alright?
The Count: Loyal Bertuccio how far will you follow me?
Bertuccio: I would follow even into the depths of Hell Gankutusuou.
(Cut away to a the breakfast scene from Cowboy Beebop after Edward is done eating a bowl of cereal)
Edward: Seconds!
Jet Black: That's all there is.
"Yeah believe it or not that's Beau Billingslea." Nukid said before the camera cuts to a scene from Invader Zim.
Zim: HE LIES!
"Shut up Zim." Nukid said before Airnaruto took over again.
"Aside from the people we've mentioned, the supporting cast for this show is equally terrific but it's more apparent in the dub in my opinion, for example; you have the talents of Liam O Brien as a con artist who tries to rape Eugenie and marry her before his arrest." Airnaruto said before moving on to the next character and his voice actor.
"Paul St. Peter takes on the role of General Morcef/Mondego Albert's father, who instigated the plot against Edmond. Tom Wyner shines as the crooked judge Villefort, and his daughter from his first wife Valentine is voiced by Dorothy-Elias Fahn. Other characters include the bold honest and honorable soldier Maxmillien Morrell voiced by Tony Oliver, Yuri Howenthal as Albert and Franz's car loving friend Raoul de Chateau Renaud, Kirk Thorton as Baptistin the count's other right hand man, Karen Strassman as Albert's mother Mercedes, Doug Erholtz voices the political ladies man Lucien Derbay, Erik Davies plays the scoop hunting journalist Robert Beauchamp, and Stephanie Sheh plays Haydee the princess of the planet Janina whose father was murderer by Albert's father as we find out in episode 15 which begins the plunge into some truly effective pathos for Albert as everything in his life begins to collapse beginning with Franz's death in episode 18 but when gets the truth out of his mother as well as the count he realizes that he has to keep living and not only stop the count from getting his revenge but also stop his father from burning Paris to the ground." Airnaruto said as we see General Mondego bombarding Paris hoping to eradicate the ghosts of his past as well as the final confrontation between Albert and the count in episode 23.
(Albert kisses the count on the cheek while Gankutusuou is in control the end result is the count screaming in agony.)
The Count/Gankutusuou: AAAAAHHH!
"The score for the series in the musical sense is a well done combination of guitar whether it be acoustic or electric and classical pieces such as; The Manfred Symphony, Rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 2, and the score from the Donizetti opera Lucia de Lammermoor. This along with the voice casts, setting, and the characters make this show very much worth the watch and listen." Nukid said before they got to the flaws of the show.
"Personally for me the problems I had with the series is that while the plot was good it wasn't perfect and the 2D animation didn't mix well with the 3D style. Other than that I can't find anything wrong with the series." Nukid said as he finished his complaints.
"My complaints with it were that while the series was more or less true to the original book it does have a few events chronologically mixed up, they don't let Jamison Price get away with speaking French through the whole opening, and at times the colors in the background kind of hurt my eyes a little bit but again other than that I liked it." Airnaruto said before he and Nukid moved on to their final thoughts.
"All in all, in my point of view this is the true magnum opus of studio GONZO with a great cast, score, characters, plot, and visual style that all grab you and never let go from beginning to end. It can get a little frightening at some points but it helps build up the drama of this series as it focuses on whether or not one should take vengeance into their own hands, or if everything does happen out of necessity." Airnaruto said turning to Nukid. "So Nukid what did you think of the series? Did you like it?" He asked
"Indeed but again the story does have a few hiccups in it and some animation doesn't seem to fit into the show but it's still as close to a 4 out of 4 on my scale as I'll give it." Nukid said before giving his final rating. "I give it 3 and half stars out of 4." He said before Airnaruto decided to close it out with his rating.
"My opinion on the series is that I was enthralled and amazed by it from start to finish so I give it my highest rating of 5 gold stars." Airnaruto said giving his individual rating before giving the combined average rating. "So together Nukid and I give this anime a rating of 4 and a half stars out of 5." He finished before the camera cut back to the two of them.
"Well that's it for now folks; I would like to thank the Nostalgia Kid for joining me as my guest co-reviewer for today's show." He said pointing to Nukid.
"You're welcome Airnaruto so I'll see you around and remember I'm the Nostalgia Kid; I remember it because you're all idiots." He said before getting up until Airnaruto asked him a question.
"Hey Nukid we're still on for the Hellsing Ultimate vs. Trigun bit right?" He asked to which Nukid nodded before he left. "Well I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to and remember bide your time and hold out hope folks as for me I'm going to take a shower to see if I can get this paint off." He said as he went upstairs for a shower as we hear "You won't see me coming" by Jean-Jacques Brunel playing in the background.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Gankutusuou final ratings
NK: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
CC: ***** out of 5 stars
Overall rating: ****1/2 out of 5 stars
Pros: Great visuals, versatile musical score, great voice cast in both languages, sub allow the count to speak French in the introduction and when possessed by the demon.
Cons: The 2D animation occasionally doesn't mesh well with the 3D CGI, the colors will be a bit of an eyesore in some spots and the story is a little jumbled up.
A/N: well folks there you have after 2 months of writer's block I'm back in the saddle read and review and always remember bide your time and hold out hope.