gankutsuou: spelling???

Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo: anime series

so if you like dumas, and you like space, and you like to have your brain washed by subliminal messages hidden in cartoon clothing patterns, this series is definitely for you.

i really liked it, sort of. i do have possibly unjustifiable reservations. the reservations stem from the fact that, though much of my disposable income goes toward procuring manga, i don't know japanese culture, and i don't speak japanese at all, and so some stuff in it was a little incomprehensible to me, but probably not actually incomprehensible at all. from an outsider's perspective, i didn't always quite get the point of what was going on. but this is all from an outsider's perspective, so just preface every sentence to come with "to my undereducated american eye."

things i liked: there were a lot of really good moments, heart-wrenching stuff and dramatic stuff. a comparison to buffy was even in order when things got darkest--and that is the holy grail of t.v. praise coming from me. i also really liked eugenie. and i think that the turning of dumas's french politics into gankutsuou's imaginary space french politics was pretty damn well done--detailed and nuanced and interesting. also, great titles music.

things i didn't like: it got a little self-involved at times--i think. more interested in showing cool pictures than making a plot happen. again, i think. this is the part where, you know, any knowledge of japanese culture at all would come in handy for me. like it's possible that the parts i thought were kind of self-indulgent might have been metaphors that i didn't understand, etc.

things that i don't know if i thought they were good but i did think they were AWESOME: hmm. giant robot duels--as crow t. robot might say, giant robot duels are the kind of padding i like to see in a film! no matter that it's a space retelling of a classic french novel. throw in giant robots. just throw them in. please. NOW. and all the homosexuality: thank you. thank you for...oh, god, there is no such thing as too much depiction of that relationship between the young men and their older male--what was the term sailor moon used in a similar situation? role models, that's it. role models. also the animation style, with the graphemes that stood still as the clothing they filled in moved: i don't think i was the person who was being subliminally messaged by that clothing, but if i was, i'm sorry for taking down whatever communist government i took down while i thought i was sleeping.

in short, it was a really good retelling of the french novel the count of monte cristo...in japanese...in space...with aliens and giant robots and a vengeful space-mask-spirit instead of a rebellious but holy friar and a vampiric zombie edmond dantes.