Gankutsuou – The Count
Of Monte Cristo (Volume 2/Animé
TV)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C Episodes: B-
The new animated version of Alexandre Dumas’ classic The
Count Of Monte Cristo called Gankutsuou (2004) continues with a
story set in the future and puts a twist on the Animé style with some clever CG
work and a style of cut out figures that are filled in by designs that do not
move as the figures do. Mahiro Maeda,
who is responsible for The Animatrix, continues to deliver one of the
best such series in recent Animé years.
It manages to walk the fine line between the classic text and
imaginatively transport it into a future world that is not so overly fantastic
as to be distracting. Dialogue is not
bad, though the “talk at” is still here, which would be in line with the source
material instead of being just pretentious for a change.
The show does not improve in any significant way from the
last DVD volume, but is consistent enough that if you start watching from that
volume, you will likely enjoy the show.
The next four episodes featured here are:
1) Do You
Love Your Fiancée?
2) Her
Melancholy, My Her Melancholy
3) The
Secret Flower Garden
4) A Night
In Boulogne
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image again is
stylized, but only has mild definition and detail limits, but continually
impresses with its uniqueness. The
result is a more layered, complex image that may even point to a new direction
for Animé in general and the rare use of the overly white cliché is another
asset. The sound is here in Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds in English and Japanese, both of
which are fine. Too bad there is not a
5.1 mix, especially DTS, because the visuals merit such treatment. Extras include a promo trailer for this and
three additional Geneon Animé trailers and on-camera comments from the Japanese
voice actors about working on the show.
That is not as good as the previous volume, the one anyone should start
with to begin with, but Geneon might do better there on the next volume.
- Nicholas Sheffo
