Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gonzo. It is a science fiction adaptation of the 1844 novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The 24-episode series aired on Japanese television between October 2004 and March 2005. It was licensed for a Western release first by Geneon Entertainment and later by Funimation. The series was adapted into a CD drama, a trilogy of novels by screenwriter Shuichi Kouyama, and a manga series written and drawn by series creator Mahiro Maeda, with additional story elements written by Yura Ariwara which ran from 2005 to 2008.
Set in the year 5053, the series focuses on the impact of the titular Count: formerly a sailor named Edmund Dantes, he was betrayed by his friends and imprisoned on false charges. Aided by a mysterious force dubbed "Gankutsuou", Dantes escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, determined to exact vengeance on those who wronged him. The series is mainly told from the perspective of Viscount Albert de Morcerf, the teenage son of one of the Count's enemies. While the series adapts much of the original storyline and carries over its theme of revenge, the plot and characters feature multiple differences.
Originally intended as an adaptation of The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, the copyright holders' refusal to allow an adaptation led Maeda to instead use Dumas's novel, which had parallel themes to Bester's story. Maeda created the story and characters, collaborating on the former with Kouyama and the latter's designs with artist Hidenori Matsubara. The anime's artstyle blended Western Impressionism and Japanese Ukiyo-e styles. Fashion designer Anna Sui collaborated on costume designs. Original music was co-composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel of British band The Stranglers, who also composed and sang the main themes. The series was praised by critics and received multiple accolades.
Synopsis Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is set in the year 5053; the two major powers are the planet Earth and the alien-dominated Eastern Empire, who have been at war for an undetermined time. During a visit to the Moon-based city of Lune with his childhood friend Baron Franz d'Épinay, Viscount Albert de Morcerf meets a mysterious self-made nobleman called the Count of Monte Cristo. After the Count helps Franz save Albert from a gang of kidnappers, Albert introduces the Count into the high society of Paris. This includes Albert's father General Fernand de Morcerf and his wife Mercedes; the powerful banker Baron Jullian Danglars, his wife Victoria, and their daughter and Albert's betrothed Eugénie; and the Crown Prosecutor of Paris Gérard de Villefort, his current wife Héloïse, and his first wife's daughter Valentine. Albert later meets the Count's alien companion Haydée and the Marquis Andrea Cavalcanti, a flamboyant nobleman who quickly replaces Albert as Eugénie's fiancée through the Count's influence.
During the course of the story, the Count is revealed to be Edmund Dantes, a former sailor and Mercedes's first love. Twenty years before, he was falsely implicated in a murder by his assumed friends Danglars and Fernand—Danglars due to his hatred of Edmund's honesty, and Fernand to win Mercedes's hand. Edmund is then imprisoned in the Château d'If by Villefort, who sought to protect himself from an associated political conspiracy. With the aid of Gankutsuou, an alien being lurking in the d'If, Edmund escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, committing himself to revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrating Albert's kidnapping to ingratiate himself with Parisian society.
The Count's revenge against his enemies spans multiple fronts. With Danglars, the Count manipulates events to bankrupt him, then later confronts him when he tries to escape his creditors; after revealing his identity, the Count leaves Danglars adrift in space. This event is compounded by the exposing of Andrea as a fraud and murderer, having been set up by the Count as royalty as part of his revenge. Albert helps Eugénie escape Paris, with the two admitting their love for each other. With Villefort, the Count first arranges for Héloïse to poison Valentine, of whom she is jealous. Valentine is saved and removed to Marseilles by her soldier lover Maximilien Morrel with Franz's help. The Count then arranges for Héloïse to poison herself, driving her insane. Villefort attacks the Count and is put on trial. Appearing as a witness, Andrea reveals himself as the illegitimate son of Villefort and Victoria, then poisons Villefort as revenge for his abandonment. The poison drives Villefort insane just after the Count reveals his motives.
Alongside these events, the Count ruins Fernand's name with help from Haydée, whose family was framed and murdered by Fernand as allies of the Eastern Empire, and who was sold into slavery. Albert challenges the Count to a duel for his family's honor, but Franz takes his place and is killed; in the process, Franz inflicts a fatal wound to the Count, who is kept alive by Gankutsuou. Fernand rallies his forces for a coup d'état in Paris, which results in the city being damaged, Andrea escaping prison and Villefort being killed during the ensuing chaos; Fernand's aim is to take over the Earth government and wage fresh war against the Eastern Empire. When Albert and Mercedes try to reason with Fernand after they learn the truth, he injures them and confronts the Count, resulting in a stand-off where Fernand holds Haydée hostage. The Count becomes completely possessed by Gankutsuou and attempts to murder Albert, but Albert manages to banish Gankutsuou; and free from its control, Edmund dies. Albert, Mercedes and Haydée escape, while Fernand commits suicide in an act of redemption. Five years later, peace is being established between Earth and the Eastern Empire. Haydée assumes her place as queen of her world; Maximilien leaves the army to live with Valentine; Mercedes is at peace, though mourning Edmund and Fernand's deaths; and Albert, having rebuilt his life, reunites with Eugénie.
Voice cast Character Japanese voice cast English voice cast Count of Monte Cristo/Edmund Dantes Jouji Nakata Jamieson Price Albert de Morcerf Jun Fukuyama, Aya Endō (child) Johnny Yong Bosch, Wendee Lee (child) Haydée Akiko Yajima Stephanie Sheh Franz d'Épinay Daisuke Hirakawa, Tomoe Hanba (child) Ezra Weisz, Melissa Fahn (child) Fernand de Morcerf Jūrōta Kosugi Paul St. Peter Mercedes de Morcerf Kikuko Inoue Karen Strassman Baron Jullian Danglars Shinpachi Tsuji Doug Stone Victoria Danglars Naoko Matsui Mari Devon Eugénie Danglars Chie Nakamura Michelle Ruff Gérard de Villefort Yōsuke Akimoto Tom Wyner Héloïse de Villefort Kumiko Watanabe Julie Ann Taylor Valentine de Villefort Junko Miura Dorothy Elias-Fahn Maximilien Morrel Tetsu Inada Tony Oliver Lucien Debray Jin Domon Doug Erholtz Andrea Cavalcanti Tomokazu Seki Liam O'Brien
Themes The anime is a science fiction adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, a French adventure novel written by Alexandre Dumas in collaboration with his regular partner Auguste Maquet, beginning as a newspaper serial in 1844. The Count of Monte Cristo is considered a literary classic, and in the years since its publication has received numerous adaptations. According to series creator Mahiro Maeda, while the theme of revenge is retained, the original story's Christian elements—including the concepts of forgiveness and divine retribution—were cut out to make the story more accessible to the audience. He also believed the Count would not have enacted his revenge in the face of these Christian themes. As a consequence, the anime's central theme became how the cast's actions are influenced by their emotions.
The anime's ending differs from the novel, particularly with the involvement of Albert and the Count's eventual fate. While Albert is initially a pawn in the Count's schemes as in Dumas's original story, Maeda says that the Count slowly begins to see his old self in Albert's pure and trusting nature, but is still driven by his need for revenge. In the end, the Count is possessed by Gankutsuou and overtaken by their combined lust for revenge when he realizes their similarity. Maeda described the parallel yet contrasting perspectives of Albert and the Count as an expression of the original novel's final words "Wait and Hope"; the question put to viewers was how far the Count would go with his revenge and how Albert could reach him, also tying into words spoken by Franz earlier in the series about love and hate both stemming from a person caring for others.
Production Development Gankutsuou was produced by Japanese animation studio Gonzo, with support from Media Factory and Kadokawa Corporation. Maeda acted as director, alongside creating the original concept and scenario draft. Maeda's draft was expanded into a full series by screenwriters Shuichi Kouyama, Natsuko Takahashi and Tomohiro Yamashita. The photography director was Takeo Ogiwara, while 3D CGI graphics were animated by Akira Suzuki. The art directors were Hiroshi Sasaki and Yusuke Takeda. Character designs were done by anime artist Hidenori Matsubara, with mechanical designs being handled by Makoto Kobayashi.
Design
The art style of the anime was used by Maeda to combine Western Impressionism with Ukiyo-e, a style of 19th century Japanese painting which strongly influenced the Impressionist movement. Among the artists referenced in the anime's style was Gustav Klimt, who was one of Maeda's favorite artists and provided inspiration for using blocks of strong primary colors. To create the anime's distinct animation style—which saw multiple bold colors and overlaid background and foreground layers—Maeda used a computer graphics program. One of the show's producers, Taichi Hashimoto, later stated that Gonzo wanted to make an anime that "talked" to viewers, something he felt was realized with Gankutsuou. The use of the technique was also inspired by Maeda's liking for clear-cut costumes and outlines in Noh theater, contrasting against the highly detailed traditional animation dominating anime production at the time.
Use of the program came about due to issues created by the source material, which set its events in grand aristocratic houses and consequently made key animation challenging. After trying several different animation types and getting nowhere, Maeda tried the computer-managed layering system, which made the process both possible and much easier than traditional animation. By using the computer program, Maeda could create different texture layers within scenes, creating something simultaneously complicated and minimalist. Because of this style, Maeda had to imagine each scene as being filmed with live-action actors rather than focusing on animation. Maeda wanted to give the impression in scenes that the audience were seeing it from far away, while character gestures held more meaning. This method was also chosen because Maeda wanted to fully express the different textures of character clothing. During the testing stages, Maeda worked with professional stylists, stapling fabric pieces to concept drawings to achieve the desired effect. Because of the use of the program, the illustrators only needed to create the clothing outlines for key frames rather than full character designs. Maeda later described the business side of animation production for Gankutsuou as "a nightmare".