History Anime / Gankutsuou

* TricksterArchetype: The Count has several personae, tricks people and is occasionally himself tricked, displays a confusing moral ambiguity and a total disrespect for social conventions, is histrionic, and also lives beyond traditional boundaries such as [[spoiler: good and evil, victim and predator, alive and dead or undead, human and monster, earthling and alien]]. He also has some characteristics of a {{Shapeshifter}} (see [[spoiler: his spectacular and painful transformations into Gankutsuou and the fact that when Fernand impales him with the sword of his HumongousMecha, he turns into a mist and reappears in his own mecha, vampire-style]]).

%% Zero Context Examples are not allowed on wiki pages. Please add context before uncommenting.

* {{Tsundere}}: Eugénie, saying how she didn't like being engaged to Albert. It has more to do that it was decided for her instead of having a say in the matter. She mellows out over the series and even shares a BigDamnKiss with Albert.

** Eugenie whose engagement to Albert is cut off just as they begin to be honest with their feelings. [[spoiler: Luckily they share a BigDamnKiss when Albert helps her run away to New York to realize her dreams and are reunited in the DistantFinale.]]

''Gankutsuou'' is a 24-episode paraphrase of Creator/AlexandreDumas' famous novel, ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', set far into the future (thus also sharing some similarities with Alfred Bester's ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'') and viewed through an anime-and-LSD filter. Because it's based on a work of Western Literature, it has an unusual pace and plot for an anime, choosing to ignore many of the most common tropes that one tends to find in that medium. It also has a weird visual style with fantastically rendered CG backgrounds and characters with elaborate clothing patterns that [[UnmovingPlaid remain stationary as the clothing and characters themselves move]]. Some viewers are awed by this aesthetic, while others are so put off by it that they stop watching the show. (You'll know about five minutes in what kind of viewer ''you'' are.)

* DemotedtoExtra: Maximilien, who had a lot more to do with [[spoiler: the Count's redemption]] in the novel.

* EccentricMillionaire: The Count, obviously.

** There's also the whole business with Andrea and his parents - the episode he's introduced in is chock-full of foreboding and creepy visuals, ranging from allusions to the Minotaur and its labyrinth to sculptures of babies and cherubs made horribly creepy by the context.
** [[LampshadeHanging Captured]] by the Count's conclusion to one of his [[spoiler: inner dialogues with Gankutsuou]] in the manga:
---> [[LargeHam AND EVERYTHING WILL BECOME A NIGHTMARE!]]

** Franz had to suffer a lot because of his unrequited love for Albert.
** Albert's platonic (?) crush on the Count.
** Of course Albert doesn't ''know'' that Franz is in love with him (and Franz never planned to let him know) which puts things in a [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging slightly different perspective]].

** Early in the novel, Albert is lured into the clutches of bandits by a young woman who turns out to be a young male bandit in disguise. The young bandit doesn't appear again in the novel, but in the anime he goes on to join the Count's household staff (as a maid) and play a supporting role throughout the series.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: Peppo, the young bandit who poses as a woman to lure marks into the bandits' clutches and then joins the Count's household staff as a maid. Cheerful and friendly, and one of the more wholesome characters in the entire series. As usual for the Japanese version of the trope, is never seen in masculine clothing and entire episodes go by without drawing attention to the fact that the young lady is not what she seems.

* AscendedExtra: Franz was a minor character in the novel. Not so in the anime.

'''This series provides examples of:'''

* WholesomeCrossdresser: See {{Transsexual}} above.

* ThePowerOfLove: Gankutsuou is defeated [[spoiler: by hugs and kisses dished out by Albert. [[spoiler: It wasn't Albert who triggered the reversal the transformation, it was Edmond's own feelings (his soul,) that he'd tried to get rid of (which was the point of his duel with Albert, however Franz stepped in and ruined his plans), awakened by Albert's hugs and kisses.]]

%%* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil / GoMadFromTheIsolation: [[spoiler: Edmond Dantès/Count of Monté Cristo]]

%%* CollapsingLair[=/=]LoadBearingBoss

* DeathbyAdaptation / SparedByTheAdaptation: The poisoner is revealed to be [[spoiler:Héloïse]] much earlier than in the book, far too early for the resultant deaths of [[spoiler:Héloïse]] and [[spoiler:Edouard]] and the Count's MyGodWhatHaveIDone, so those two wind up surviving to the end. On the flipside, in the original their deaths caused the Count to change his M.O. to a less bloody one, whereas in this version he kills [[spoiler:Danglars]]. [[spoiler:Caderousse]] also makes it out alive in this version, and [[spoiler:Franz]] doesn't.

* DevilInPlainSight / UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The count is ''blue'' and has ''fangs'' but almost no one seems to notice/comment on it. One of the only times it's acknowledged is in a FromTheMouthsOfBabes moment from [[SpoiledBrat Edouard Villefort]]. Some of the aliens in the background in this show are pink and have ''heart-shaped'' heads. The weird thing about the Count is really just that he's blue and ''human''.
** The Count looks like he belongs to the same species as Haydée with his blue skin and pointy ears - just his fangs set him apart. Of course their similar appearance is just a coincidence, since the Count is human and Haydée is not, but your average observer probably couldn't tell the difference.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha / LikeThatShowButWithMecha: The fight between Mondego and the Count. Also, the fight between [[spoiler:Franz]] and the Count. And again, this is based on a classic book that has no robots.

%%* {{Yandere}} / CuteAndPsycho: Madame Villefort

* UnmovingPlaid: Taking to such extremes that it defines the series' entire art style in a LoveItOrHateIt fashion; it's used not just for clothes, but for absolutely everything with a texture.

%%* MindRape: Edmond undergoes a major one in prison, although it's ''way'' more explicit in the manga.

* {{Lolicon}}: In the anime, everybody starting with Albert thinks that [[spoiler: Haydée is the Count's mistress]], which it is strongly implied ''isn't'' the case (especially since [[spoiler: the fact that the Count's body is as cold as a corpse's and that part of his skin and muscles show his internal organs makes him unable to get intimate with anyone in the first place]]). This also changes the ending of the novel, in which [[spoiler: the Count leaves with Haydée to live happily ever after as a cool couple even though he explicitly views her as his adopted daughter.]]

* TransformationTrauma: Boy, does [[spoiler: the Count's transformation into Gankutsuou]] in the anime look (and ''sound'') painful. In the manga, [[spoiler: his first transformation in prison]] is even worse, as it involves [[spoiler: violent hallucinations, mangling, [[FreudWasRight rape metaphors]], and of ''course'' a demonic entity]]. His look of utter "What the hell was this!?" when he looks at his hands in the aftermath says it all, really.

* {{Badass}}: The Count, Fernand, Bertuccio, and Baptistin show their badassery in one way or another. Maximilien also shows his rank isn't just for show.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Two out of the three prominent blond males are wicked, wicked men. (On the other hand, the third is consistently one of the nicest characters in the whole series.)

** Eugenie whose engagement to Albert is cut off just as they begin to be honest with their feelings. [[spoiler: Luckily they share a BigDamnKiss when Albert helps her run away to New York to realize her dreams and are reunited in the DistantFinale.]]

* HotShounenMom: Mercedes, who is drop dead gorgeous for being in her forties.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:For both the Count and Morcerf. The former fought off Gankutsuou so he could die as Edmond Dantes instead of the Count. The latter told Albert to always look to the future before taking his own life due to the crushing weight of his own crimes.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The kids are free of the sins and control of their parents and can live their own lives. Valentine and Maximilien are living in Marseilles peacefully while Eugenie has realized her dream as a concert pianist, Albert has matured into a responsible young man and Haydee is on the eve of her coronation. However, it came at the price of innocents such as Franz who gave his life for Albert, their families were brought to ruin, and the Count's redemption ended with his death.]]

%%* IllGirl: Valentine

* ThePowerOfLove: Gankutsuou is defeated [[spoiler: by hugs and kisses dished out by Albert. [[spoile: It wasn't Albert who triggered the reversal the transformation, it was Edmond's own feelings (his soul,) that he'd tried to get rid of (which was the point of his duel with Albert, however Franz stepped in and ruined his plans), awakened by Albert's hugs and kisses.]]

%%* AnimatedAdaptation

%%* BreakTheCutie: Edmond, Albert, Mercedes and Franz.

%%* CostumePorn:

%%* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A central theme in the case of the Count.

%%* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Albert.
%%* HotShounenMom: Mercedes.

%%* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: It's ''the future''! Everybody wears these!

%%* PragmaticAdaptation

%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:For both the Count and Morcerf.]]

%%* SuperSoldier: Maximilien is one, but also a GentleGiant.
* SymbolicBlood: Shed in large quantities by the mechas during the duel scenes.
%%* ThatManIsDead

%%* {{Tsundere}}: Eugénie, sort of.

** Revenge will consume your soul. [[spoiler:Affection and forgiveness will redeem your soul.]]

%%* AristocratsAreEvil

%%* {{Badass}}: The Count, Fernand, Bertuccio, and Baptistin.

%%* BestServedCold:

%%* BittersweetEnding

%%* DeathByMaterialism: [[spoiler: Danglars]]

%%* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler: Gankutsuou]] qualifies.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Tchaikovsky's "Manfred symphony" is used a lot - the first movement is the Count's own theme and excerpts from latter movements are also used here and there. Eugénie plays the first movement (edited, though) of Rachmaninov's "Piano Concerto No. 2" and [[RobertSchumann Schumann]]'s "Traumerei" during her performance in the Opera, on Luna Albert and Franz meet the Count during a performance of "Lucia di Lammermoor", later in Paris the Count invites Albert to a performance of "Robert le Diable"... and the opening theme song is based partly on Chopin's "Etude Op.10 No.3."