Story Summary
Albert de Morcerf, a young aristocrat, meets the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo on a vacation and quickly becomes friends with him and greatly admires and respects The Count. Albert introduces The Count to his family and acquaintances, some of the most powerful people in Paris. Strange and tragic events begin to happen when The Count of Monte Cristo enters Albert's life, but Albert has trouble accepting that The Count may be behind these unfortunate events.

My Opinion
The anime was actually my first experience with The Count of Monte Cristo story. I read the book after the anime, and it is similar as well as different. The anime has such a strange and beautiful look to it, unlike any I've ever seen before. I don't know the name of the animation style, but it uses patterns to color the character's hair and clothing and the pattern is almost stationary as the characters move around, creating the look that the clothes are animated themselves. Very cool to watch, not to mention the story is scandalous, tragic, and fascinating.

Story's Origin
The Count of Monte Cristo is a novel by French writer Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask) and was written in 1844. The story is about a young man named Edmond Dantes who is wrongly accused of a crime and imprisoned for over a decade. With the help of a fellow inmate, Dantes escapes, uncovers a massive buried fortune, and sets out creating a false identity, The Count of Monte Cristo. With his new found wealth, The Count gains status and all he desires to carry out his obsessive revenge plot against those who sent him to prison so many years ago.

Manga
There is a manga adaptation out there of Gankutsuou, and it has been picked up by Tokyopop, but a date of release is yet to be set.

General Information
Original Story/Creator: Alexandre Dumas
Genre: drama
Based on Manga?: no
Episodes: 24
Japanese Production: Gonzo
Japanese Release: 2004
US Distributor: Funimation
US Release: 2005