I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo <possible spoilers>

[musashi1600]

I bought the anime, then bought the book to read before starting the anime.

There is no way Gonzo can come close to matching Duma as a storyteller. I know Gankutsuou is meant to stand on its own merits, but I'm almost certain its doomed to live in the shadow of the novel in my eyes.

[Levon]

I never read the book, but regardless the anime is still amazing.

[Scandiadream]

I totally loved Gankutsuou.

Was the original Edmond Dantes/Count anywhere near as rancorous and vengeful as the one in the Gankutsuou anime?

[Holy Knight]

Yes, Gankutsuou, although very good on its own, does not compare to Dumas' masterpiece.

I'd already read the book before the anime came out in Japan, so my first reaction was "no way, they're going to desecrate his work". They did with their questionable inclusion on anime archetypes, but it was still handled with respect towards the original. I was pleasantly surprised it managed to blend the original with its own style and it worked remarkably well.

However, it still does not compare to the book. Now, everyone, get reading. The Count of Monte Cristo is 2000 pages of pure bliss in small font. And read it in French, like it was meant to be.

[ryushe]

Never seen the anime, but love the book. I actually read the book prior to the show coming out. I really should get around watching Gankutsuou thou.

[Gendo]

The show is still the best adaptation the book has ever had.

[Lord Timaeus]

And it's still GONZO's best work to date, considering travesties such as Last Exile and Hellsing TV. But it really is unfair to compare any media adaptation to its novel counterpart let alone disregard the adaptation; the novel will be better no matter how well-done the adaptation is, no exceptions.

[Leader Desslock]

Never seen the anime, and having read the original novel (in English, sorry ) I can't say that I'm even slightly interested in seeing the anime. Particularly since it's a GONZO release. I'm happy with Hellsing, and perhaps I should leave it at that. I was going to pick up Blue Sub No. 6 at some point, but that's about it.

Perhaps I should go pick up the French version. Maybe I could shake some of this rust off my francophone.

[Ariel Tsuki]

Originally Posted by musashi1600

There is no way Gonzo can come close to matching Duma as a storyteller. I know Gankutsuou is meant to stand on its own merits, but I'm almost certain its doomed to live in the shadow of the novel in my eyes.

Not to be rude or anything, but well.... duh.

Very, very rarely would an adaption would be better than the actual thing. I loved Gankutsuou from beginning to end and think that all the praise it gets is well deserved. Like Gendo said, it IS the best adaptation that Monte Cristo had so far. My sister, who read Monte Cristo before seeing Gankutsuou, loved the anime to bits too. Heck, we're still trying to buy the box set before it become rare to find and more expensive. But I think part of Gankutsuou's charm is that it was Monte Cristo, but also a different take on it.

I don't know if I'll ever read Monte Cristo, I find it to be a bit dry and my sister complained that Dumas can be too heavy on the descriptions.... maybe one day although I'm much more interested in reading the Three Musketeers or Man in the Iron Mask than Monte Cristo.

But Monte Cristo is one of those few GONZO productions that they did right from beginning to end.

[Gendo]

If anything GONZO improved upon the story in some parts. The story really was the perfect anime story. An epic story, very in depth, and by the end they are tired of it so the ending is rushed and a bit unsatisfying. The book was written by a guy who was paid by the line and was needlessly wordy in many parts. Dumas was tired of writing it by the end and it really does show in the pretty abrupt ending to many of the plot lines.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

... sheesh. people. Gank' didn't exactly say EXACTLY BASED of Dumas' work.

kinda like comparing Romeo and Juliet (the written work) to Romeo and Juliet (the crapfest with mecha).

[Gendo]

Originally Posted by GreatNekoKoneko

... sheesh. people. Gank' didn't exactly say EXACTLY BASED of Dumas' work.

kinda like comparing Romeo and Juliet (the written work) to Romeo and Juliet (the crapfest with mecha).

That's not very fair. Romeo X Juliet is a very very loose adaptation. Gankutsuou was pretty much a faithful adaptation just set in a different time (Think the Romeo and Juliet movie with dicaprio from years back). I still say this anime is the most faithful adaptation of the book I have ever seen (to be fair I have not seen some of the European mini-series that have been done over the years or many of the movies as a 2 hour film can not adapt this book (the book is about the same length as all 3 Lord of the Rings books together, and even they had to cut stuff when they did 3, 3 hour movies)



Gakustuou's main deviations from the book:

show spoiler

-Story told from Albert's point of view not the Counts.

-Count dies in the end, rather than being saved by Hayadee's confession to him at the end.

-A sub plot involving Bertuccio, one of the Count's servants was removed. Bertuccio was the foster-father of Andrea and vowed revenge against both Andrea and Villefort.

-Very expanded roles for the following character, with their exploits from the book.

Beppo (still a she-male in the book), was never seen again after initially luring Albert to Vampa and his gang.

Frantz, first person Count made contact with, but other than that was more of an acquaintance of Albert than a good friend and is hardly even mentioned once they leave the festival.

Eugene, engaged to Albert, but the two shared no attraction to each other. Eugene actually ends disguising herself as a man and running away with another woman.

Overall the story still remained faithful to the book and the level of revenge remained the same. Killing Edmond in the end did deviate from the feeling that redemption is always possible, but even in the book, the man who was Edmond was dead. The man int he end is not the same person we meet at the beginning of the book.

[CMC]

Originally Posted by Gendo

The show is still the best adaptation the book has ever had.

Agreed.

Of course I'm a huge fan of the book, my AN name is halfly based off of the book. (the other half is a car)

[musashi1600]

Where'd the "Possible Spoilers" tag come from? I didn't want spoilers, especially for the anime.ß

[Miduki]

Originally Posted by musashi1600

I bought the anime, then bought the book to read before starting the anime.

There is no way Gonzo can come close to matching Duma as a storyteller. I know Gankutsuou is meant to stand on its own merits, but I'm almost certain its doomed to live in the shadow of the novel in my eyes.

I felt they captured the book and the characters much more accurately than the Live Action movies.

However, I don't remember if Peppo/Beppo was in the book or not, it's been a few years, though Gendo.

Granted I am meeting the director of Gankutsuou on Friday, and Anna Sui's nephew is in my dorm.