So I watched Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Crisco.
This show is actually really great? I wasn't expecting anything much coming in. I never heard a thing about this anime and I didn't look into the plot synopsis either. Just jumped in and watched a show.
I was met with one of the best drama animes I've ever seen. Seriously, there was never really a moment in this show where it felt like the drama was forced. You know how a lot of stories force dramas by having a character do something completely out of character or have stupid misunderstandings that could have been easily avoided. Sometimes a show creates drama by just having something come completely out of left field that could not have been predicted.
Gankutsuou never does this, it tells its story beautifully without making anything feel forced. Not to mention, the story has this crazy sci-fi world to it. It doesn't even bother explaining it to you, it just shows you.
Crazy right? An anime actually following the rule of "show, don't tell". Maybe because I expose myself to so much bad anime that good storytelling is like a novelty for me,, I don't know. What I do know is that I could not find any real flaws in this anime. Really, I tried to find them. I guess I could say the dub is lame? I only gave the dub one episode and it seemed pretty lame.
Anyway, back to praising this show, the animation is incredibly unique. You know the cartoon Chowder? It had an animation style where the characters are animated over static textures. Gankutsuou uses the same style in a wonderful way. Plus, even if it wasn't using this style this anime would still look unique. The character designs are nothing like your average anime. Everything is presented in such a nice way. Huge props to the animation here. It's not crazy good like Violet Evergarden, but it's enough to give it such a good style that I'm sure would be memorable to anyone who watches it. Reminds me of how The Last Airbender is stylized in a certain way to keep it very memorable (although, not in a way that's glaringly obvious like Gankutsuou is).
It blows my mind that I've never heard of this. This show is most certainly good enough to be discussed by anime enthusiasts, but nope! There's even LGBT characters in this show that feel real. There's no jokes at there expense and they don't do anything stereotypical (I think), they're just presented like people with different interests. Nothing more.
Why haven't I seen LGBT people talking about this? I know I don't participate since I'm straight, but like, the representation was really cool!
An anime like this should be celebrated. I haven't even discussed what actually happens because I don't want to disclose anything that happens. Experience it for yourself, it's just 24 episodes! If you like a good drama this show is incredible. I don't even like drama and I got super invested.
The only warnings I'd give is that this show is a mature one. It doesn't explore mature themes super often, but it doesn't try to hide them either. Also the first few episodes have a good amount of action in it, but don't expect that for most of the show.
If anything I said interests you, I implore you, give this anime a try. It still baffles me I never heard of this myself.
