Review, Discussion, and Questions on "Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo"
I should preface this by saying that I have read and loved the original novel and was a first time watcher of this anime. I have skimmed through some of the reviews and discussions of the anime. I also don't normally go on forums or message boards or whatever (so forgive me if I don't do things the "right" way) but this anime kept me up for hours after binge watching it in a day and I really need a place to ~~rant~~ express my feelings towards this anime. Needless to say, spoilers ahead.
I have realised how long this is and will put multiple TLDRs summarising parts of the review. I have also boldened some of the text to help identify the main area of focus in each paragraph/section.
Synopsis:
The show is essentially a reimagining of the Duma's classic tale of love, betrayal and revenge but set in the future where cars (and a batmobile pulled by robot horses), space travel, and mechas are commonplace. The story is told through the perspective of the Albert and focuses much more on the younger generation — Albert, Franz, Eugenie — rather than the original evildoers and the count.
~~Rant~~ Review:
With the quick intro out of the way, I going to dive into what I think.
I am going to address what is immediately apparent: the **art style**. It is certainly aesthetically interesting. I can see many people being put off by it, especially by the background. Paris was... something. However, I want to encourage innovation (other than hair colour and style) in anime and I love to see studios do something different. The experimental and unorthodox art style like the static colours of the characters to the background and the architecture of future Paris fusing with past Paris would give viewers a dreamy surprise if they liked it or a at least a shock and a different experience if they didn't, which is a win either way compared to a lot of bland slop of today. I should also point out that the jarring nature of the Luna/Rome and Paris could very well be intentional, signifying the moral depravity of 19th/51th century aristocrats while "barbaric" Marseilles is much softer on the eyes and conventional, representing the natural simplicity that we are born with. Anyways, the visuals (and the fact that this is the only anime adaption of TCOMC) drew me in the anime at first sight, and though it this type of art wouldn't normally be my cup of tea, I have grown to enjoy it. I would happily give the visuals 8/10.
The visuals also lends itself to the **setting** and the wider world of the anime very well. The somewhat dystopian(?) sci-fi 5000s is a great foundation for the story. The count's travels outside of the Europe was sufficiently exotic for Duma's time, but those travels are much less foreign for the modern audience. By setting the story in the future, the story can use the vastness and unknownness (?) of space as the solution to the problem, helping to prop up the Count's image as a enigmatic traveller. The society of 19th century France is dropped directly into this world and it works beautifully; the society feels organic and natural to the world despite somehow also deeply resembling the Parisian society that Dumas painted. It shows that the basest human desires and sins drive society however advanced it is. I think its hard to explain why I feel the setting would work well for this classic tale, but it just feels right. Also its an excuse to draw spaceships which is cool. But seriously, I have seen comments about it being for aesthetic reasons and that could just be the case. Someone thought Space TCOMC was cool and that was that. And they would be right!
However, the anime does not expand upon that great setting. In ep3, we see the young friends on a drive and they climb the walls that separate Paris and the "slums"/outside world. Debray says that everything good is inside these walls; Albert believes that the outside world has great things; Eugenie thinks that it is more like a Prison for them. Great scene, character building and world building at the same time. And the walls don't ever matter again (except the maybe for the symbolism that most of the story happens within this "prison"). The world never really fleshed out. I would have liked to see them explain the world a bit more and how it interacts with the story. We never have a chance to see the world outside of Paris and Luna/Rome. Another complaint I have is the inconsistency. There are times in the anime where people can't find one another. Apparently space battleships and mechas exist but they haven't invented the mobile phone yet. The phone is only one of many problems. I am a picky person for these inconsistencies in storytelling which I can partly ignore if there is a good plot, but it is something writers should consider before picking the setting. Also the moon is a skull... because symbolism.... or smth.
**Some of the characters** are a strong point for this anime. I might be biased here because I am a visual person. I love the original novel and loved seeing the characters come to life. In some ways it improves on the source material by making the some of the cast more human. A key drawback that the novel had for me was that many characters feel like a plot device, a means to an end rather than a person in itself. Being able to see the characters help with recognising them as an individual, but this anime gave them flaws and personalities that make them more real. Debray is a womaniser and sleeps with Madame Danglars which hurts Eugenie, but he understands it as just part of his job and his actions in helping Eugenie and Albert was partly motivated by his guilt (or so he claims). Beauchamp is a seriously annoying reporter that doesn't stop at anything to get a good story but despite working for a third-class gossip newspaper, he shows that he has integrity as a journalist. I never felt anything for these characters in the original novel and just saw them as way to bring down some of the baddies, but the anime manages to make them more interesting and made me care (a little).
Character visual design is another win. The studio leveraged the medium of anime well and created visually compelling characters that would be more difficult in live action adaptations. Maximillian is a big supersoldier; Danglar has terrible fashion sense with big flashy golden lion suits; the count is a tall vampire smurf with a top hat; and Haydee is just downright dazzling. Not only are do the characters look the part, you can glean something from the character the first time you see them. The unique and changing wardrobe and visuals combined with nuance and personality create memorable characters which helps those unfamiliar with the story immensely with the huge cast. Some people did not like the large cast but I enjoyed it. They even include Countess G!
**TLDR 1: experimental looks + expanded side characters + great setting that is not explored + People actually have different clothes and change them in this anime! visuals and setting - 7.5/10.**
I got the positives out of the way so time to NUKE the rest of the anime! I'm kidding, but things do mostly start to go downhill from here.
I deliberately avoided the plot when discussing characters designs because I did want it to taint the praiseworthy parts of the show. Yes, it is that bad.
Lets start with **Albert, Franz, and Eugenie**, the actual main characters of the show. The young group of friends also include Beauchamp, Renaud, Debray, Max, and Valentine but the core ground consists of those three. The friend group is much closer than the original novel. Albert, Franz and Eugenie are BFFs. This is a change that I love and hate at the same time. On one hand, the group of friends feel very realistic. Their interactions are natural. They have quarrels and disagreements but they work them out as best as they can. The core three is designed to mirror the another change: older generation of Edmond, Fernand, and Mercedes who were also besties when they were in Marseilles! Its a clever little tweak that changes the whole meaning and dynamic of the story which I found immensely interesting. I hate them because the title is "The Count of Monte Cristo", not "Albert and Friends". All the screentime given to Albert's POV takes away from the actual character we should care about. Focusing on Alberts POV was a... courageous move that I don't think worked. A lot of the time he just becomes passive observer that does not do anything.
I saw a lot of complaints about how **Albert** is probably not the brightest bulb and is annoyingly naive which is true, but I do think people give him too much flak given he is a 15/16 YO sheltered nobleman so I tend overlook many of the stupid things he does and says. Moreover, his growth and maturity is a big theme of the show so it would be reasonable to make him a bit more naive at the start of the show. I think the bigger problems for me is what his values are. OG Albert challenges the Count to a duel primarily because the Count has put dirt on his family name which he thinks the Count has no right to do. Anime Albert challenges the Count because his feelings are hurt. AWWWWW THATS JUST SO SAD, but man up dude. Even after he is told of his father's betrayal to Edmond, he doesn't care, he goes through with the duel because *his thinks his feelings were toyed with*. That is worst excuse for a duel ever. OG Albert duels to protect and restore his family's honour while anime Albert duels because he is emo. Man, I hate this Albert.
Then there is **Franz**. He is the cool and cautious; a foil to Albert's stupid optimism. He generally gives good advice and warns Albert against the Count which Albert never listens. I liked him for most of the show (even if I am biased against him because I want the Count to win). He dies. From duelling the Count. Because of ALBERTS IDIOCY. Normally I would be bawling my eyes out because camaraderie and sacrifice always gets me. I was just too stunned and disappointed to have a reaction. The execution of this episode was also just awful. Franz drugs Albert and attends the duel with Albert's mecha and somehow no one, not even Count Genius, notices in spite of him speaking in the mecha. Maybe mecha's speakers were 20th century antiques. Albert manages to arrive just on time to see his friend being slaughtered. Albert screams as he is running and we see other characters on screen like Bertuccio notice and turn in surprise, but he does not arrive in time to stop the Count thrusting his sword through solid metal to kill Franz. It cuts to Eugenie showing her ignorant or the duelling situation, and then back to the duel where everyone just VACATES THE PREMISE just for the two besties to have the cheesiest "final moment" ever. Okay, so what were the other characters' immediate reaction to such a big reveal? It is never shown. The closest thing we've got is a few scenes down Haydee asking the Count to stop and the Count being all like "they're just pawns" but what about Mercedes? She had just seen who she thought was her son getting killed who turned out to be her son's best friend, I think a pretty big reaction is warranted. The next time we see her is her suggesting to Albert to leave Paris. I guess she just walked that trauma off. I wouldn't be surprised if Franz's final message to Albert of "love don't hate" was really just a way of saying "don't go unaliving yourself by duelling the Count again because I won't be there to stop you". I liked this character up until his death.
**Eugenie** was written and portrayed amazingly. Character design was great. I loved the portrayal of her rebelliousness and independent nature but it sometimes did not align with her actions. She only half-heartedly tries to escape one time during her forced marriage arc with Bernadetto/Andrea; she just kinda waited for Albert to come in and save her. It would be great to see her actually do more things. However, her romance with Albert was surprisingly good. I expected the "loveless engangement" to last the whole anime, but their slow realisation of their love for each other as they worked their problems out while their engagement was under fire was so smooth that it totally caught me off guard. Still a little disappointed there was no lesbian piano teacher because I thought her visual style and initial relationship with Albert really called for it but you can't have everything. Moreover, they really are a trio; the Eugenie-Franz relationship isn't ignored and is as important as their link with Albert. Franz and Eugenie trust and confide with each other. Franz's final letter was addressed to Albert but it is shared with Eugenie before she leaves for New York. This makes the friend group feel real instead of feeling like Albert is their mutual friend and they don't know each other.
**TLDR 2: Albert manages to net a great bromance and romance despite having low IQ. Albert - 5/10, Franz and Eugenie - 8/10.**
The way **Dantes/Monte Cristo** was handled was just horrible. I feel like the title character is almost a plot device to the show. It feels like the writers had an ending in mind, then makes Monte Cristo do things that drive it towards that ending. There is zero character development. Part of that has to do with the decision to almost completely delete what I believe are some of the best sections of the story, the prison arc and reduce the Edmond's early life to mere flashbacks. Viewers are thrust immediately into Luna/Rome so the revenge can begin immediately (and somehow people still consider this slow paced). This creates many questions such as why old Morrell would care so much about Edmond to remember him on his deathbed. It only makes sense if he believes that Edmond was the one that saves him which is never shown in the anime, though the Morrells have very little screentime and impact in general. It also means one of my favs, Abbe Faria, is absent. Those familiar with the story will start to wonder: Without the guidance of Faria, how does Edmond gain the skills and mannerisms to navigate Parisian society and get back at the baddies? How does he even escape prison?
From what I have read, most agree that the answer to that question is the worst part about the anime Count. A mysterious entity that feeds off hate and vengeance called **Gankutsuou** in the Chateau d'If magically possesses Edmond, offering its knowledge and power in exchange for his body and soul. It explodes the prison and they escape. Do you spot the problem? Why is Edmond chosen? Because he has deep hatred for the people that put him there? But Edmond has no idea who that is; with Villefort just citing an "annonymous tip", Edmond cannot really place this supposed hatred on anyone. I get it, the anime makes space prison a bajillion times more painful than normal prison, but everyone else in the Chateau d'If should be getting the same treatment and you cannot convince me that the naive Edmond would have more hatred towards someone he did not know about something he hardly knew anything about than all the other actual criminals in the Chateau d'If. Not only does Gankutsuou create plotholes, it completely destroys any character development the Count has because it reduces all the nuances of Edmond's motivations and feelings throughout the story into the doings a glowing demon tattoo on the Counts forehead. The Count never questions the righteousness of his actions, a key theme in the later parts of the book, even once in the anime. He really is just an evil person that does anything for revenge. This combined with the relatively little we see of the pre-Count Edmond takes away much of the empathy I had for the anime Count.
So how is the purple tattoo (Gankutsouo) exorcized? In the most Disney way possible: a true loves kiss. It turns out the entity that caused half of Paris to literally and metaphorically blow up just needed some affection. I don't mind these "power of friendship and love" endings if it makes sense. So what would make sense here? Who gave the kiss? Haydee or Mercedes? Nope, it was ALBERT. *Sigh.* Albert was infatuated with the Count and the Count did show some genuine care for Albert, but still I am yet to be convinced that they had any relationship enough for Edmond to forgo all of his plans of revenge. Then, I kid you not, EDMOND DIES. I did not expect that after Albert bisexual reveal. I hated the Count's death at first but the have slowly grown to appreciate this alternate ending for the Count (especially when tacked on to the novel instead of the anime). Then I realise that he is dying because of a piece of steel stuck in his heart from the first duel which couldn't hurt him until now because of Gankutsuou powers. *Sigh.* This is why small plot and logic problems can break immersion. You will see what I mean a few paragraphs down when I discuss the Count's duels.
**TLDR 3: Evil purple tattoo replaces Abbe Faria. Deleted Edmond's backstory. Both together cause loss of any nuance and character development of the Count (until he dies from a kiss from Albert). Gankutsuou - 0/10. Even My Little Pony TCOMC animatics on Youtube made me care more about the Count than this anime.**
I really enjoyed some of the ambiguity in which events were planned by the count and which were "fate" or luck when reading the source material. Even when the plans don't work out, we can deduce what the Count's original plan would have been. It does not work in the anime and the ambiguity together with the weak plot translates to **plothole**. As you can already tell, I really hate plotholes.
1. Did the count plan for Albert's kidnapping? We see Vampa's gang and Peppo working with the Count later in the anime which would imply yes, but then why was it necessary to blow up the bandit lair and have a fight scene? One could argue that it was all just a show for Franz and Albert, but then Vampa clearly tries to kill the Count even when there is no one around. This means that Vampa's gang only worked with the Count after kidnapping Albert which ultimately meant that either the Count just miraculously knew or that it was all just a coincidence.
2. Likewise with Villefort, his plans here are not exactly clear. He directly gives Mme Villefort a ring literally designed to poison which is a bit on the head to say the least. Valentine is poisoned and Villefort suspects his wife and the Count which makes sense because of the Count's "game" in Auteuil suggesting he knows about Villefort's secrets, and his wife wearing the poison ring. Wifey goes crazy after being exposed. Villefort attempts to arrest the Count but the Count blackmails him by kidnapping his wife and Eduard and threatens to expose the poisoner to ruin his reputation so Villefort lets him go. Villefort takes matter into his own hands and shoots the Count and is arrested himself. There is way too many variable at play here for the Count to realistically plan for. How does he know that Mme V wanted to poison her family? The novel shows that they have met before, but not in the anime. What was the plan if wifey didn't go crazy and/or Villefort does catch on and/or doesn't choose shoot him? The is no sense of a coherent plan in action or what the plan would be.
3. Fernand stages a coup after being exposed and seizes the presidency. Somehow he has remained as the supreme commander of the Eastern Fleet after he has been exposed of treason in Janina and conducted war crimes by bombarding an entire planet stellaris style without permission, and has subordinates loyal enough to follow him to a coup. SURE. In the final episodes, he seems to have multiple personalities. In the span of a day, he goes from a domestic terrorist to an atoning father, from shooting his wife and son to giving away his leverage because the Count has Albert hostage. BRO, WHY DO YOU CARE? YOU JUST SHOT HIM 20MINS AGO! The Count's final masterplan was also just to fight Fernand in a mecha battle, though I am pretty sure he didn't think it would escalate to this exent. Still, I think anime Count got a fail in his villain planning course.
4. While not a plothole, I might as well include Danglars here to complete the **villain trio**. The novel shows quite intricately how the Count orchestrates each villain's downfall. For Danglars he bribes a telegraph operator to feed false info about a Spanish coup causing him to panic sell. In the anime, he gets Danglars to buy specific bonds and shares which make him profit at first, then a wave of a finger all his investments start plummeting because the Count owns all of them or smth. Danglars AI investment advisor is hacked and he can't sell and loses everything. It just feels much less sophisticated and satisfying than the original. It feels like the Count chanted a spell and Danglars goes broke. Danglars then flees on a spaceship which the Count teleports onto and traps him there forever with a fever dream of gold? The ending sequence for Danglars was probably meant to be metaphorical rather than taken literally; it just felt confusing for me and I much prefer scenes like the original novel where it can both make sense and have a deeper meaning.
Am I picky? Yes, but every small problem accrues and when the ending comes and none of the problems are addressed, I am left feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion.
**TLDR 4: The Count has no idea what he is doing and just wings it which somehow works. Fernand has multiple personalities. Revenge arc - 3/10. Plotholes galore.**
Let us just assume that the **Count** does have a supercomputer living in his head and was able to predict and plan for everything mentioned above. His IQ is also magically lowered whenever the plot asks for it. The Count has two **duels** in the story, and in both duels, he manages to get himself injured in the most stupid ways despite being at an advantage. In the first duel, the Count is outplayed by a sixteen-year-old because after cutting off two limbs off his opponent's mecha, he decides that he has won, exits his own mecha to show off and goes to deliver a coup de grace with a sword. His opponent stays in their mecha and through the slits in the mecha cockpit drives a sword into the Count's heart. REALLY? THE GREAT SCHEMING MIND JUST GOT DESTROYED BY A PIXEL PEEKING 16YO. It really irks me that this is what ultimately kills the Count. Firstly because any sane person would minimise risks even if they thought they were invincible. Secondly because we see the Count receive medical treatment from Ali when he was shot in the shoulder by Villefort, but I guess we should just leave a whole piece of sword in your heart because reasons.
The second duel is with Fernand which is a bit less one-sided, but the Count manages to thrust a sword through Fernand's Mecha causing it to crash onto the ground. The Count, thinking he has won again, declares that he will not kill Fernand because he want him to suffer. That is fair enough, but at least DISABLE THE FUNCTIONING MECHA STILL TRYING TO KILL YOU before taunting them. After looking cool, the Count spasms a bit as Gankutsuou takes over more of his body or smth and Fernand stabs his mecha then stabs the Count as well. He makes the same mistake twice! I love how the writers refuse to even give us any bit of character development even in this aspect. The problem here is an inconsistent character. Not unlike the genders of today, the Count's intelligent is highly fluid and changes on demand.
I was going to diss the Count's inconsistent invincibility as well but I think I have understood the mechanism behind it. The strength of Gankutsuou's power depend on the level of hatred in him. We can see he is near indestructible in most cases, but the one scene where his lackeys say "this is serious" is when Villefort shoots him in his home and Albert tries to stop him. Maybe in that moment as the Count sees Albert try to save his life, his feelings of vengeance wavers which weakens Gankutsuou and his powers, resulting in him getting hurt by a mere bullet while a sword through his heart twice couldn't kill him. There are parts of the anime that are well thought out.
The duel episodes (ep18, ep22/23) were the worst episode of the anime BY FAR because it falls flat on the biggest problem with writing smart characters — that sometimes they become not smart for no reason at all. And that is ignoring the janky 3D mecha duel which I thought looked weird. I can't believe I have to say this: mecha duels should never appear in any TCOMC adaptations, (even in the 5000s). Also, the mechas bleed somehow and the pilots inside scream as if their own limb were dismembered when the mechas are damaged. I mean..... maybe like a neurolink or something? Still doesn't explain the bleeding tho.
**TLDR 5: Schrodinger's count is smart and incredibly dumb at the same time. Edmond Dantes' intelligence -1/10. Please don't do mecha battles.**
I will try to cover some of the other changes that popped out to me.
**Maximillian and Valentine's** story was completely changed. Look, I love them both in the anime and the novel, but the way their story was done meant that they were almost completely irrelevant to the main plot. Originally, Valentine being poisoned leads to Max, as a close friend of the Count, to beg for his help. This was a key turning point in the Count's redemption arc where he realised that revenge affects innocents and those he was indebted to as well. So the Count takes action to right his wrongs. He fakes Valentine's death, reveals the poisoner (Mme Villefort), and transports Val and Max to safety so they could live happily ever after through elaborate schemes and disguises. In the anime, Max barely knows the Count; the Count is completely absent during Valentine's poisoning; the group of friends show up to rescue Val in the most braindead way possible. The waltz right in, take the unconscious Valentine, waltz right out, and are somehow surprised that Mme Villefort finds out and stops them. They escape anyways with a car chase. That's not even the main problem, but this is the kind of writing that makes me lose the 2 brain cells I have left. Max and Valentine get to Marseille and live happily ever after. The main problems are that they have absolutely nothing to do with the Count in the whole story other than the Count supplying the poison she succumbed to and taking the spotlight away from the Count to the friend group (which I have outlined before). We only see them later because Nortier (Val's grandfather) who has gone with them was the top dog in the govt and Franz wanted to find out about Gankutsuou which only he knows about. All in all, it wouldn't matter much to the main story if we removed Val and Max. I know Val is meant to symbolise the innocents that the Count hurts on the road to vengeance but there so much time is spent on showing their love and relationship that their role needs to be more than just that (especially because it is not even effective in doing that).
Some very important scenes in building **tension between Mercedes and Edmond** were changed and much less effective. The chapter "bread and salt" where they half-reminisce about their past becomes less dramatic in the anime (ep4). Instead of Mercedes leading him to a greenhouse, they sort of just appear in a balcony. Mercedes doesn't offer him anything to eat because she already did that in the previous dinner scene and he drank the soup from Marseilles. Its meant to show his love for the happy days in Marseilles or something but it takes away a lot from the current scene. Sure, he says that "we are in France, not Arabia; and in France there is no more eternal friendship than there is sharing of bread and salt," (this is taken from the book as I believe there is a translation error in the anime) but it is quite clear that he believes and practices those customs. So actually drinking stuff weaken this moment. Then they have a vague conversation about Marseilles and muscat grapes' scent. Slightly baffling. What I think is the most tense scene in the whole book, the scene where Mercedes begs the Count for Alberts life the night before the duel, is also butchered in my opinion. Unlike book Mercedes, anime Mercedes wasn't clever enough to figure out that his dumb son was about to do something stupid after his father's downfall so she just kinda comes to the Count asking to speak to the "real Edmond" without any particular questions or requests (ep17). The conversation goes like this:
"I want the real Edmond!"
"Nah, he's gone. See? my hands are cold."
"No! I don't believe you!"
"Come tomorrow at 5 am to see your son get slaughtered."
"Cool, see ya."
Gosh. What a disappointing scene. Throughout the anime, I just felt that the Edmond-Mercedes tension was not there.
**TLDR 6: Max and Val don't matter in the anime. There isn't any tension between Ed and Mercedes due to the huge changes in the plot which pivotal scenes have to accommodate for. Max & Val - 3/10**
Concluding thoughts:
My final grade for this anime would be: 4/10 as a TCOMC adaption and 5.5/10 as a standalone anime. I think the viewing experience probably differs depending on how familiar one is with the story of TCOMC. It become a bit more of a mystery if you don't know the story at all because of being in Albert's POV and change in structure which could add to its score, while if you know the story, you were simply waiting for the events to unfold and probably have a preconception of each character. I understand the not every character has the be the same as their counterparts in the novel. For example, I can see how they are trying to make the Count less relatable and more evil than the OG Count. However, most of its problems still stands even when not considering the original source material. Also no one is forcing them to call it "The Count of Monte Cristo".
"Disappointing" would be the one word to sum up this anime. It had potential to be amazing even if it just followed the original plotline and added their weird innovations; the writing and plot was a major letdown. Finishing this review took much longer and ran on much longer than expected and in this time I sometimes question whether I am dumb and just didn't get the "deeper meaning" behind this anime, but the novel, though not without its own flaws, presented no such problem for me. I am left with the conclusion that this anime, praised by many, simply was not for me. Despite me taking pot shots and making fun of this anime for 5000 words, I liked many parts of it (why else would I binge it in a day?). Art is an inherently subjective experience which are all equally valid. So please don't take it personally if you liked the anime. Thank you for reading all this. I welcome all discussions and criticism and for people to change my mind.
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Questions about the anime:
I will be first to admit that I don't have the highest EQ, so sometimes I don't understand character motivations so bear with me. In addition to all the non-rhetorical questions above. I still have some questions about this anime.
1. Why doesn't Albert just go and see Eugenie after the conclusion of the main story? There are no physical barriers or emotional baggage (I think), unlike Mercedes and the Count in the original story. Albert becomes a workaholic in fear of being "trapped by the past" and "hating someone". Still doesn't really make sense to me.
2. Why is Fernand painted in such a positive light and what motivates his self-unaliving at the end? They literally buried Fernand next to Edmond which brough out a laugh. Mercedes looking at both graves and Albert "living in Fernand's place" suggest that they still have some respect for him. Why? He is a crazed warlord, traitor, war criminal, and liar. Yes, yes, I know its about the memories and time spent together blah blah; I wouldn't cherish any memories of my family if they were built upon blood and lies.
3. What is Andrea/Benedetto's motivation in exposing Villefort and stabbing him? Is it revenge? Even in the novel I didn't really get it...
4. I've mentioned this already but... WHY DOES HE DRINK THE DAMN SOUP IN EP4? NOT EATING WITH THE ENEMY WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BREAD AND SALT CONVERSTAION. AHHHHHHH.
5. In ep10/11, Why does Franz beg Mme Villefort to step aside when she stops them trying to bring Val away from the Villefort residence? Nortier already showed them Mme V was the poisoner with a literal snapshot of Franz's big head imply he understood him. But they kinda stand there until Mme V faints then they run away? Honestly a little baffling why they didn't just run in the first place if they could...
I'm not sure whether to flair this with Essay or Review after checking the rules because I'll admit it was kind of a rant and not really that analytical, nor am I recommending this anime but I can't put discussion because apparently I don't have enough comment karma here soooo essay it is!
I have realised how long this is and will put multiple TLDRs summarising parts of the review. I have also boldened some of the text to help identify the main area of focus in each paragraph/section.
Synopsis:
The show is essentially a reimagining of the Duma's classic tale of love, betrayal and revenge but set in the future where cars (and a batmobile pulled by robot horses), space travel, and mechas are commonplace. The story is told through the perspective of the Albert and focuses much more on the younger generation — Albert, Franz, Eugenie — rather than the original evildoers and the count.
~~Rant~~ Review:
With the quick intro out of the way, I going to dive into what I think.
I am going to address what is immediately apparent: the **art style**. It is certainly aesthetically interesting. I can see many people being put off by it, especially by the background. Paris was... something. However, I want to encourage innovation (other than hair colour and style) in anime and I love to see studios do something different. The experimental and unorthodox art style like the static colours of the characters to the background and the architecture of future Paris fusing with past Paris would give viewers a dreamy surprise if they liked it or a at least a shock and a different experience if they didn't, which is a win either way compared to a lot of bland slop of today. I should also point out that the jarring nature of the Luna/Rome and Paris could very well be intentional, signifying the moral depravity of 19th/51th century aristocrats while "barbaric" Marseilles is much softer on the eyes and conventional, representing the natural simplicity that we are born with. Anyways, the visuals (and the fact that this is the only anime adaption of TCOMC) drew me in the anime at first sight, and though it this type of art wouldn't normally be my cup of tea, I have grown to enjoy it. I would happily give the visuals 8/10.
The visuals also lends itself to the **setting** and the wider world of the anime very well. The somewhat dystopian(?) sci-fi 5000s is a great foundation for the story. The count's travels outside of the Europe was sufficiently exotic for Duma's time, but those travels are much less foreign for the modern audience. By setting the story in the future, the story can use the vastness and unknownness (?) of space as the solution to the problem, helping to prop up the Count's image as a enigmatic traveller. The society of 19th century France is dropped directly into this world and it works beautifully; the society feels organic and natural to the world despite somehow also deeply resembling the Parisian society that Dumas painted. It shows that the basest human desires and sins drive society however advanced it is. I think its hard to explain why I feel the setting would work well for this classic tale, but it just feels right. Also its an excuse to draw spaceships which is cool. But seriously, I have seen comments about it being for aesthetic reasons and that could just be the case. Someone thought Space TCOMC was cool and that was that. And they would be right!
However, the anime does not expand upon that great setting. In ep3, we see the young friends on a drive and they climb the walls that separate Paris and the "slums"/outside world. Debray says that everything good is inside these walls; Albert believes that the outside world has great things; Eugenie thinks that it is more like a Prison for them. Great scene, character building and world building at the same time. And the walls don't ever matter again (except the maybe for the symbolism that most of the story happens within this "prison"). The world never really fleshed out. I would have liked to see them explain the world a bit more and how it interacts with the story. We never have a chance to see the world outside of Paris and Luna/Rome. Another complaint I have is the inconsistency. There are times in the anime where people can't find one another. Apparently space battleships and mechas exist but they haven't invented the mobile phone yet. The phone is only one of many problems. I am a picky person for these inconsistencies in storytelling which I can partly ignore if there is a good plot, but it is something writers should consider before picking the setting. Also the moon is a skull... because symbolism.... or smth.
**Some of the characters** are a strong point for this anime. I might be biased here because I am a visual person. I love the original novel and loved seeing the characters come to life. In some ways it improves on the source material by making the some of the cast more human. A key drawback that the novel had for me was that many characters feel like a plot device, a means to an end rather than a person in itself. Being able to see the characters help with recognising them as an individual, but this anime gave them flaws and personalities that make them more real. Debray is a womaniser and sleeps with Madame Danglars which hurts Eugenie, but he understands it as just part of his job and his actions in helping Eugenie and Albert was partly motivated by his guilt (or so he claims). Beauchamp is a seriously annoying reporter that doesn't stop at anything to get a good story but despite working for a third-class gossip newspaper, he shows that he has integrity as a journalist. I never felt anything for these characters in the original novel and just saw them as way to bring down some of the baddies, but the anime manages to make them more interesting and made me care (a little).
Character visual design is another win. The studio leveraged the medium of anime well and created visually compelling characters that would be more difficult in live action adaptations. Maximillian is a big supersoldier; Danglar has terrible fashion sense with big flashy golden lion suits; the count is a tall vampire smurf with a top hat; and Haydee is just downright dazzling. Not only are do the characters look the part, you can glean something from the character the first time you see them. The unique and changing wardrobe and visuals combined with nuance and personality create memorable characters which helps those unfamiliar with the story immensely with the huge cast. Some people did not like the large cast but I enjoyed it. They even include Countess G!
**TLDR 1: experimental looks + expanded side characters + great setting that is not explored + People actually have different clothes and change them in this anime! visuals and setting - 7.5/10.**
I got the positives out of the way so time to NUKE the rest of the anime! I'm kidding, but things do mostly start to go downhill from here.
I deliberately avoided the plot when discussing characters designs because I did want it to taint the praiseworthy parts of the show. Yes, it is that bad.
Lets start with **Albert, Franz, and Eugenie**, the actual main characters of the show. The young group of friends also include Beauchamp, Renaud, Debray, Max, and Valentine but the core ground consists of those three. The friend group is much closer than the original novel. Albert, Franz and Eugenie are BFFs. This is a change that I love and hate at the same time. On one hand, the group of friends feel very realistic. Their interactions are natural. They have quarrels and disagreements but they work them out as best as they can. The core three is designed to mirror the another change: older generation of Edmond, Fernand, and Mercedes who were also besties when they were in Marseilles! Its a clever little tweak that changes the whole meaning and dynamic of the story which I found immensely interesting. I hate them because the title is "The Count of Monte Cristo", not "Albert and Friends". All the screentime given to Albert's POV takes away from the actual character we should care about. Focusing on Alberts POV was a... courageous move that I don't think worked. A lot of the time he just becomes passive observer that does not do anything.
I saw a lot of complaints about how **Albert** is probably not the brightest bulb and is annoyingly naive which is true, but I do think people give him too much flak given he is a 15/16 YO sheltered nobleman so I tend overlook many of the stupid things he does and says. Moreover, his growth and maturity is a big theme of the show so it would be reasonable to make him a bit more naive at the start of the show. I think the bigger problems for me is what his values are. OG Albert challenges the Count to a duel primarily because the Count has put dirt on his family name which he thinks the Count has no right to do. Anime Albert challenges the Count because his feelings are hurt. AWWWWW THATS JUST SO SAD, but man up dude. Even after he is told of his father's betrayal to Edmond, he doesn't care, he goes through with the duel because *his thinks his feelings were toyed with*. That is worst excuse for a duel ever. OG Albert duels to protect and restore his family's honour while anime Albert duels because he is emo. Man, I hate this Albert.
Then there is **Franz**. He is the cool and cautious; a foil to Albert's stupid optimism. He generally gives good advice and warns Albert against the Count which Albert never listens. I liked him for most of the show (even if I am biased against him because I want the Count to win). He dies. From duelling the Count. Because of ALBERTS IDIOCY. Normally I would be bawling my eyes out because camaraderie and sacrifice always gets me. I was just too stunned and disappointed to have a reaction. The execution of this episode was also just awful. Franz drugs Albert and attends the duel with Albert's mecha and somehow no one, not even Count Genius, notices in spite of him speaking in the mecha. Maybe mecha's speakers were 20th century antiques. Albert manages to arrive just on time to see his friend being slaughtered. Albert screams as he is running and we see other characters on screen like Bertuccio notice and turn in surprise, but he does not arrive in time to stop the Count thrusting his sword through solid metal to kill Franz. It cuts to Eugenie showing her ignorant or the duelling situation, and then back to the duel where everyone just VACATES THE PREMISE just for the two besties to have the cheesiest "final moment" ever. Okay, so what were the other characters' immediate reaction to such a big reveal? It is never shown. The closest thing we've got is a few scenes down Haydee asking the Count to stop and the Count being all like "they're just pawns" but what about Mercedes? She had just seen who she thought was her son getting killed who turned out to be her son's best friend, I think a pretty big reaction is warranted. The next time we see her is her suggesting to Albert to leave Paris. I guess she just walked that trauma off. I wouldn't be surprised if Franz's final message to Albert of "love don't hate" was really just a way of saying "don't go unaliving yourself by duelling the Count again because I won't be there to stop you". I liked this character up until his death.
**Eugenie** was written and portrayed amazingly. Character design was great. I loved the portrayal of her rebelliousness and independent nature but it sometimes did not align with her actions. She only half-heartedly tries to escape one time during her forced marriage arc with Bernadetto/Andrea; she just kinda waited for Albert to come in and save her. It would be great to see her actually do more things. However, her romance with Albert was surprisingly good. I expected the "loveless engangement" to last the whole anime, but their slow realisation of their love for each other as they worked their problems out while their engagement was under fire was so smooth that it totally caught me off guard. Still a little disappointed there was no lesbian piano teacher because I thought her visual style and initial relationship with Albert really called for it but you can't have everything. Moreover, they really are a trio; the Eugenie-Franz relationship isn't ignored and is as important as their link with Albert. Franz and Eugenie trust and confide with each other. Franz's final letter was addressed to Albert but it is shared with Eugenie before she leaves for New York. This makes the friend group feel real instead of feeling like Albert is their mutual friend and they don't know each other.
**TLDR 2: Albert manages to net a great bromance and romance despite having low IQ. Albert - 5/10, Franz and Eugenie - 8/10.**
The way **Dantes/Monte Cristo** was handled was just horrible. I feel like the title character is almost a plot device to the show. It feels like the writers had an ending in mind, then makes Monte Cristo do things that drive it towards that ending. There is zero character development. Part of that has to do with the decision to almost completely delete what I believe are some of the best sections of the story, the prison arc and reduce the Edmond's early life to mere flashbacks. Viewers are thrust immediately into Luna/Rome so the revenge can begin immediately (and somehow people still consider this slow paced). This creates many questions such as why old Morrell would care so much about Edmond to remember him on his deathbed. It only makes sense if he believes that Edmond was the one that saves him which is never shown in the anime, though the Morrells have very little screentime and impact in general. It also means one of my favs, Abbe Faria, is absent. Those familiar with the story will start to wonder: Without the guidance of Faria, how does Edmond gain the skills and mannerisms to navigate Parisian society and get back at the baddies? How does he even escape prison?
From what I have read, most agree that the answer to that question is the worst part about the anime Count. A mysterious entity that feeds off hate and vengeance called **Gankutsuou** in the Chateau d'If magically possesses Edmond, offering its knowledge and power in exchange for his body and soul. It explodes the prison and they escape. Do you spot the problem? Why is Edmond chosen? Because he has deep hatred for the people that put him there? But Edmond has no idea who that is; with Villefort just citing an "annonymous tip", Edmond cannot really place this supposed hatred on anyone. I get it, the anime makes space prison a bajillion times more painful than normal prison, but everyone else in the Chateau d'If should be getting the same treatment and you cannot convince me that the naive Edmond would have more hatred towards someone he did not know about something he hardly knew anything about than all the other actual criminals in the Chateau d'If. Not only does Gankutsuou create plotholes, it completely destroys any character development the Count has because it reduces all the nuances of Edmond's motivations and feelings throughout the story into the doings a glowing demon tattoo on the Counts forehead. The Count never questions the righteousness of his actions, a key theme in the later parts of the book, even once in the anime. He really is just an evil person that does anything for revenge. This combined with the relatively little we see of the pre-Count Edmond takes away much of the empathy I had for the anime Count.
So how is the purple tattoo (Gankutsouo) exorcized? In the most Disney way possible: a true loves kiss. It turns out the entity that caused half of Paris to literally and metaphorically blow up just needed some affection. I don't mind these "power of friendship and love" endings if it makes sense. So what would make sense here? Who gave the kiss? Haydee or Mercedes? Nope, it was ALBERT. *Sigh.* Albert was infatuated with the Count and the Count did show some genuine care for Albert, but still I am yet to be convinced that they had any relationship enough for Edmond to forgo all of his plans of revenge. Then, I kid you not, EDMOND DIES. I did not expect that after Albert bisexual reveal. I hated the Count's death at first but the have slowly grown to appreciate this alternate ending for the Count (especially when tacked on to the novel instead of the anime). Then I realise that he is dying because of a piece of steel stuck in his heart from the first duel which couldn't hurt him until now because of Gankutsuou powers. *Sigh.* This is why small plot and logic problems can break immersion. You will see what I mean a few paragraphs down when I discuss the Count's duels.
**TLDR 3: Evil purple tattoo replaces Abbe Faria. Deleted Edmond's backstory. Both together cause loss of any nuance and character development of the Count (until he dies from a kiss from Albert). Gankutsuou - 0/10. Even My Little Pony TCOMC animatics on Youtube made me care more about the Count than this anime.**
I really enjoyed some of the ambiguity in which events were planned by the count and which were "fate" or luck when reading the source material. Even when the plans don't work out, we can deduce what the Count's original plan would have been. It does not work in the anime and the ambiguity together with the weak plot translates to **plothole**. As you can already tell, I really hate plotholes.
1. Did the count plan for Albert's kidnapping? We see Vampa's gang and Peppo working with the Count later in the anime which would imply yes, but then why was it necessary to blow up the bandit lair and have a fight scene? One could argue that it was all just a show for Franz and Albert, but then Vampa clearly tries to kill the Count even when there is no one around. This means that Vampa's gang only worked with the Count after kidnapping Albert which ultimately meant that either the Count just miraculously knew or that it was all just a coincidence.
2. Likewise with Villefort, his plans here are not exactly clear. He directly gives Mme Villefort a ring literally designed to poison which is a bit on the head to say the least. Valentine is poisoned and Villefort suspects his wife and the Count which makes sense because of the Count's "game" in Auteuil suggesting he knows about Villefort's secrets, and his wife wearing the poison ring. Wifey goes crazy after being exposed. Villefort attempts to arrest the Count but the Count blackmails him by kidnapping his wife and Eduard and threatens to expose the poisoner to ruin his reputation so Villefort lets him go. Villefort takes matter into his own hands and shoots the Count and is arrested himself. There is way too many variable at play here for the Count to realistically plan for. How does he know that Mme V wanted to poison her family? The novel shows that they have met before, but not in the anime. What was the plan if wifey didn't go crazy and/or Villefort does catch on and/or doesn't choose shoot him? The is no sense of a coherent plan in action or what the plan would be.
3. Fernand stages a coup after being exposed and seizes the presidency. Somehow he has remained as the supreme commander of the Eastern Fleet after he has been exposed of treason in Janina and conducted war crimes by bombarding an entire planet stellaris style without permission, and has subordinates loyal enough to follow him to a coup. SURE. In the final episodes, he seems to have multiple personalities. In the span of a day, he goes from a domestic terrorist to an atoning father, from shooting his wife and son to giving away his leverage because the Count has Albert hostage. BRO, WHY DO YOU CARE? YOU JUST SHOT HIM 20MINS AGO! The Count's final masterplan was also just to fight Fernand in a mecha battle, though I am pretty sure he didn't think it would escalate to this exent. Still, I think anime Count got a fail in his villain planning course.
4. While not a plothole, I might as well include Danglars here to complete the **villain trio**. The novel shows quite intricately how the Count orchestrates each villain's downfall. For Danglars he bribes a telegraph operator to feed false info about a Spanish coup causing him to panic sell. In the anime, he gets Danglars to buy specific bonds and shares which make him profit at first, then a wave of a finger all his investments start plummeting because the Count owns all of them or smth. Danglars AI investment advisor is hacked and he can't sell and loses everything. It just feels much less sophisticated and satisfying than the original. It feels like the Count chanted a spell and Danglars goes broke. Danglars then flees on a spaceship which the Count teleports onto and traps him there forever with a fever dream of gold? The ending sequence for Danglars was probably meant to be metaphorical rather than taken literally; it just felt confusing for me and I much prefer scenes like the original novel where it can both make sense and have a deeper meaning.
Am I picky? Yes, but every small problem accrues and when the ending comes and none of the problems are addressed, I am left feeling unsatisfied with the conclusion.
**TLDR 4: The Count has no idea what he is doing and just wings it which somehow works. Fernand has multiple personalities. Revenge arc - 3/10. Plotholes galore.**
Let us just assume that the **Count** does have a supercomputer living in his head and was able to predict and plan for everything mentioned above. His IQ is also magically lowered whenever the plot asks for it. The Count has two **duels** in the story, and in both duels, he manages to get himself injured in the most stupid ways despite being at an advantage. In the first duel, the Count is outplayed by a sixteen-year-old because after cutting off two limbs off his opponent's mecha, he decides that he has won, exits his own mecha to show off and goes to deliver a coup de grace with a sword. His opponent stays in their mecha and through the slits in the mecha cockpit drives a sword into the Count's heart. REALLY? THE GREAT SCHEMING MIND JUST GOT DESTROYED BY A PIXEL PEEKING 16YO. It really irks me that this is what ultimately kills the Count. Firstly because any sane person would minimise risks even if they thought they were invincible. Secondly because we see the Count receive medical treatment from Ali when he was shot in the shoulder by Villefort, but I guess we should just leave a whole piece of sword in your heart because reasons.
The second duel is with Fernand which is a bit less one-sided, but the Count manages to thrust a sword through Fernand's Mecha causing it to crash onto the ground. The Count, thinking he has won again, declares that he will not kill Fernand because he want him to suffer. That is fair enough, but at least DISABLE THE FUNCTIONING MECHA STILL TRYING TO KILL YOU before taunting them. After looking cool, the Count spasms a bit as Gankutsuou takes over more of his body or smth and Fernand stabs his mecha then stabs the Count as well. He makes the same mistake twice! I love how the writers refuse to even give us any bit of character development even in this aspect. The problem here is an inconsistent character. Not unlike the genders of today, the Count's intelligent is highly fluid and changes on demand.
I was going to diss the Count's inconsistent invincibility as well but I think I have understood the mechanism behind it. The strength of Gankutsuou's power depend on the level of hatred in him. We can see he is near indestructible in most cases, but the one scene where his lackeys say "this is serious" is when Villefort shoots him in his home and Albert tries to stop him. Maybe in that moment as the Count sees Albert try to save his life, his feelings of vengeance wavers which weakens Gankutsuou and his powers, resulting in him getting hurt by a mere bullet while a sword through his heart twice couldn't kill him. There are parts of the anime that are well thought out.
The duel episodes (ep18, ep22/23) were the worst episode of the anime BY FAR because it falls flat on the biggest problem with writing smart characters — that sometimes they become not smart for no reason at all. And that is ignoring the janky 3D mecha duel which I thought looked weird. I can't believe I have to say this: mecha duels should never appear in any TCOMC adaptations, (even in the 5000s). Also, the mechas bleed somehow and the pilots inside scream as if their own limb were dismembered when the mechas are damaged. I mean..... maybe like a neurolink or something? Still doesn't explain the bleeding tho.
**TLDR 5: Schrodinger's count is smart and incredibly dumb at the same time. Edmond Dantes' intelligence -1/10. Please don't do mecha battles.**
I will try to cover some of the other changes that popped out to me.
**Maximillian and Valentine's** story was completely changed. Look, I love them both in the anime and the novel, but the way their story was done meant that they were almost completely irrelevant to the main plot. Originally, Valentine being poisoned leads to Max, as a close friend of the Count, to beg for his help. This was a key turning point in the Count's redemption arc where he realised that revenge affects innocents and those he was indebted to as well. So the Count takes action to right his wrongs. He fakes Valentine's death, reveals the poisoner (Mme Villefort), and transports Val and Max to safety so they could live happily ever after through elaborate schemes and disguises. In the anime, Max barely knows the Count; the Count is completely absent during Valentine's poisoning; the group of friends show up to rescue Val in the most braindead way possible. The waltz right in, take the unconscious Valentine, waltz right out, and are somehow surprised that Mme Villefort finds out and stops them. They escape anyways with a car chase. That's not even the main problem, but this is the kind of writing that makes me lose the 2 brain cells I have left. Max and Valentine get to Marseille and live happily ever after. The main problems are that they have absolutely nothing to do with the Count in the whole story other than the Count supplying the poison she succumbed to and taking the spotlight away from the Count to the friend group (which I have outlined before). We only see them later because Nortier (Val's grandfather) who has gone with them was the top dog in the govt and Franz wanted to find out about Gankutsuou which only he knows about. All in all, it wouldn't matter much to the main story if we removed Val and Max. I know Val is meant to symbolise the innocents that the Count hurts on the road to vengeance but there so much time is spent on showing their love and relationship that their role needs to be more than just that (especially because it is not even effective in doing that).
Some very important scenes in building **tension between Mercedes and Edmond** were changed and much less effective. The chapter "bread and salt" where they half-reminisce about their past becomes less dramatic in the anime (ep4). Instead of Mercedes leading him to a greenhouse, they sort of just appear in a balcony. Mercedes doesn't offer him anything to eat because she already did that in the previous dinner scene and he drank the soup from Marseilles. Its meant to show his love for the happy days in Marseilles or something but it takes away a lot from the current scene. Sure, he says that "we are in France, not Arabia; and in France there is no more eternal friendship than there is sharing of bread and salt," (this is taken from the book as I believe there is a translation error in the anime) but it is quite clear that he believes and practices those customs. So actually drinking stuff weaken this moment. Then they have a vague conversation about Marseilles and muscat grapes' scent. Slightly baffling. What I think is the most tense scene in the whole book, the scene where Mercedes begs the Count for Alberts life the night before the duel, is also butchered in my opinion. Unlike book Mercedes, anime Mercedes wasn't clever enough to figure out that his dumb son was about to do something stupid after his father's downfall so she just kinda comes to the Count asking to speak to the "real Edmond" without any particular questions or requests (ep17). The conversation goes like this:
"I want the real Edmond!"
"Nah, he's gone. See? my hands are cold."
"No! I don't believe you!"
"Come tomorrow at 5 am to see your son get slaughtered."
"Cool, see ya."
Gosh. What a disappointing scene. Throughout the anime, I just felt that the Edmond-Mercedes tension was not there.
**TLDR 6: Max and Val don't matter in the anime. There isn't any tension between Ed and Mercedes due to the huge changes in the plot which pivotal scenes have to accommodate for. Max & Val - 3/10**
Concluding thoughts:
My final grade for this anime would be: 4/10 as a TCOMC adaption and 5.5/10 as a standalone anime. I think the viewing experience probably differs depending on how familiar one is with the story of TCOMC. It become a bit more of a mystery if you don't know the story at all because of being in Albert's POV and change in structure which could add to its score, while if you know the story, you were simply waiting for the events to unfold and probably have a preconception of each character. I understand the not every character has the be the same as their counterparts in the novel. For example, I can see how they are trying to make the Count less relatable and more evil than the OG Count. However, most of its problems still stands even when not considering the original source material. Also no one is forcing them to call it "The Count of Monte Cristo".
"Disappointing" would be the one word to sum up this anime. It had potential to be amazing even if it just followed the original plotline and added their weird innovations; the writing and plot was a major letdown. Finishing this review took much longer and ran on much longer than expected and in this time I sometimes question whether I am dumb and just didn't get the "deeper meaning" behind this anime, but the novel, though not without its own flaws, presented no such problem for me. I am left with the conclusion that this anime, praised by many, simply was not for me. Despite me taking pot shots and making fun of this anime for 5000 words, I liked many parts of it (why else would I binge it in a day?). Art is an inherently subjective experience which are all equally valid. So please don't take it personally if you liked the anime. Thank you for reading all this. I welcome all discussions and criticism and for people to change my mind.
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Questions about the anime:
I will be first to admit that I don't have the highest EQ, so sometimes I don't understand character motivations so bear with me. In addition to all the non-rhetorical questions above. I still have some questions about this anime.
1. Why doesn't Albert just go and see Eugenie after the conclusion of the main story? There are no physical barriers or emotional baggage (I think), unlike Mercedes and the Count in the original story. Albert becomes a workaholic in fear of being "trapped by the past" and "hating someone". Still doesn't really make sense to me.
2. Why is Fernand painted in such a positive light and what motivates his self-unaliving at the end? They literally buried Fernand next to Edmond which brough out a laugh. Mercedes looking at both graves and Albert "living in Fernand's place" suggest that they still have some respect for him. Why? He is a crazed warlord, traitor, war criminal, and liar. Yes, yes, I know its about the memories and time spent together blah blah; I wouldn't cherish any memories of my family if they were built upon blood and lies.
3. What is Andrea/Benedetto's motivation in exposing Villefort and stabbing him? Is it revenge? Even in the novel I didn't really get it...
4. I've mentioned this already but... WHY DOES HE DRINK THE DAMN SOUP IN EP4? NOT EATING WITH THE ENEMY WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BREAD AND SALT CONVERSTAION. AHHHHHHH.
5. In ep10/11, Why does Franz beg Mme Villefort to step aside when she stops them trying to bring Val away from the Villefort residence? Nortier already showed them Mme V was the poisoner with a literal snapshot of Franz's big head imply he understood him. But they kinda stand there until Mme V faints then they run away? Honestly a little baffling why they didn't just run in the first place if they could...
I'm not sure whether to flair this with Essay or Review after checking the rules because I'll admit it was kind of a rant and not really that analytical, nor am I recommending this anime but I can't put discussion because apparently I don't have enough comment karma here soooo essay it is!
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