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As time passes, the Count insinuates himself further and further into Albert's life and into the lives of the people he knows. But what is the Count's true reason for doing so? Is he, as he claims, a harmless wannabe nobleman who just wants to be introduced into High Society, or does he have a much darker purpose in mind?
 
''[[Gankutsuou]]'' is a 24-episode paraphrase of [[Alexandre Dumas (Creator)|Alexandre Dumas]]' famous novel, ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (Literaturenovel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'', set far into the future 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 [[Unmoving Plaid|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.)
 
One of the better offerings of Studio [[GONZO]] in recent years, this show has everything you'd expect to find in a really good story -- suspense, romance, revenge, violence, tragedy, duels to the death, pot-boiling plot twists and one of the coolest anti-heroes to ever appear in this or any other medium.
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* [[Costume Porn]]: To the point where it makes your eyes bleed.
* [[Courtroom Antic]]: Lots of these occur in the last part of the series, which include [[The Reveal|reveal]]-tacular [[Penultimate Outburst|Penultimate Outbursts]] by and about various characters.
* [[Deal Withwith the Devil]]
* [[Death Byby Adaptation]] / [[Spared Byby the Adaptation]]: 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 [[My God, What Have I Done?]], 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 actually kills {{spoiler|Danglars}}. {{spoiler|Caderousse}} also makes it out alive in this version, and {{spoiler|Franz}} doesn't.
* [[Death Byby Materialism]]: {{spoiler|Danglars}}
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Maximilien, who had a lot more to do with {{spoiler|the Count's redemption}} in the novel.
* [[Devil in Plain Sight]] / [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: 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 [[From the Mouths of Babes]] moment from [[Spoiled Brat|Edouard Villefort]].
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** 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.
* [[Distressed Damsel]]: Valentine's poisoning. Also Eugénie's rush to the altar.
* [[Driven Byby Envy]]: Danglars.
* [[Dropped a Bridget On Him]]: Happens to Albert. Then {{spoiler|Peppo (the 'lady')}} uses it to wind him up for the rest of the series.
** It is possible that this is a case of [[Ambiguous Gender]] since {{spoiler|Peppo may not actually be a guy but the count told Albert that she/he was so that Albert would not fall for Peppo, which Albert most likely would have.}}
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* [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: The Count might be a good case.
** Also, Albert.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Sparkles]]: Haydée attends an opera in one episode wearing what can only be described as the sparkliest dress ever.
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: The Count is Albert's evil counterpart, while Fernand is Franz's. They even hang a lampshade on it with a flashback of Edmond and Fernand at the beach that is a mirror image of an earlier (or is it later?) flashback of Albert and Franz there.
* [[Evil Laugh]]: Fairly late in the series the Count breaks down sobbing, as his next move involves destroying his friendship with Albert - and then the sobs turn to chuckles and soon he's howling with mad laughter.
* [[Eye Scream]]
* [[Facial Markings]]: The "eyes" on the Count's forehead are a manifestation of his power, and are only visible when he's using it.
** These facial (later full body) markings are a [[Homage]] to Alfred Bester's ''[[The Stars My Destination (Literature)|The Stars My Destination]]'' (aka ''Tiger! Tiger!''), one main source of inspiration for the writer.
* [[Fan Disservice]]: {{spoiler|Héloïse's}} masturbation scene and {{spoiler|Andrea's sex scene with Victoria, his mother}}.
** Also, the Count's [[Shirtless Scene]] after {{spoiler|he gets shot by Villefort}}. Turns out {{spoiler|his ''whole body'' is [[Fan Disservice]]}}.
* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]: Nearly all references to foreign countries and customs from the book are replaced with "Eastern Space." Rome is replaced with Luna, a city on the moon that resembles a cross between old world Italy and modern day New Orleans. Haydee, who was an ethnic Turk in the book, is shown as a [[Our Elves Are Different|pale faced, pointy eared alien]] from a civilization that is a cross between Middle Eastern and Chinese influences.
* [[Fat Bastard]]: Baron Danglars. Although flashbacks show that, while he wasn't always fat, he was always a bastard.
* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Let's just say that convicts unlucky enough to end up "incarcerated" in the prison/space fortress, Chateau d'If won't mind execution after being [[Powered Byby a Forsaken Child|literally plugged into its control system]].
* [[Femme Fatale]]: Half averted by Mercedes, who actually has a fairly innocent personality. She dresses every bit like an overly rich [[Femme Fatale]], though.
* [[Foreign Language Theme]]: Both the opening and the ending songs are in English.
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* [[Idiot Hero]]: If only Albert had listened to Franz at, oh, really any point along the way. He eventually wises up...a bit too late.
* [[If I Can't Have You]]: {{spoiler|Morcerf shoots his wife and son when he realizes he has lost everything.}}
** To be fair, {{spoiler|Mercedes ''did'' offer him a [[Last Second Chance]] to go away with her and leave everything behind; when he declares [[IveI've Come Too Far...]] and persists in his [[Villainous BSOD]], she tells him that she's leaving him then -- though she'll always be grateful for what's he's done for her and never forget what they shared together -- that's ''when'' he shoots her and then he shoots their son for trying to stop him/avenge his mother.}}
* [[Ill Girl]]: Valentine
* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]: It's ''the future''! Everybody wears these!
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* [[Mismatched Eyes]]: The Count.
* [[More Expendable Than You]]: The above-mentioned [[Heroic Sacrifice]]
* [[Mushroom Samba]]: With its surrealistic scenes, the manga (as of volume 2) sometimes gives the uncomfortable impression that the crazy plot is [[All Just a Dream]] produced by a deranged mind, whether Edmond / the Count is hallucinating the whole thing as a result of smoking his hookah or has gone schizophrenic in prison. Dumas, [[This Is Your Premise Onon Drugs]], happy?
* [[Narrator All Along]]: It slowly becomes apparent that the narrator of the [["Previously On..."]] segments is none other than {{spoiler|Gankutsuou itself}}.
* [[Near-Rape Experience]]: When Andrea Cavalcanti {{spoiler|shows his true colors toward Eugénie}}.
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* [[Parental Incest]]: {{spoiler|Benedetto and Madame Danglars.}}
* [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage]]: Albert and Eugénie. Although Albert initially isn't in love with her (though Eugénie ''was'' revealed to have always been in love with him).
* [[POV Sequel]]: ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo (Literaturenovel)|The Count of Monte Cristo]]'' seen through Albert's eyes.
** According to [[Word of God]], one of the reasons Albert was chosen as the viewpoint character instead of the Count was to put the focus on the ''consequences'' of revenge rather than the satisfaction of it, as the creators worried about glorifying revenge.
* [[The Power of Love]]: [[Cosmic Horror|Gankutsuou]] is defeated {{spoiler|by hugs and kisses dished out by Albert. [[Epic Fail]] for some, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for others.}}
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* [[Scenery Porn]]
* [[Schizo-Tech]]: The setting is an odd combination of the novel's 19th century setting, mid-twentieth century elements (i.e. the cars) and far future technology
* [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]: {{spoiler|Gankutsuou}} was sealed away for a thousand years but released some years before the start of the story.
* [[Second Love]]: Valentine's first love was her fiancé Franz, but she eventually returns {{spoiler|Maximilien's}} feelings and ends up with him.
* [[Secret Identity]]: Not only the Count, but also Fernand, Mercedes, and, to some extent, Villefort and Danglars. And don't forget {{spoiler|Benedetto/Andrea Cavalcanti}}.
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* [[Slasher Smile]]: The titular Count wears a rather terrifying example of this when everything is going according to plan (which usually involves a humiliating and/or painful death)
* [[Space Jews]]: Foreign characters like Ali, Haydée, etc. are aliens. The series uses the term "Eastern Space" for locations that were in Turkey/the Middle East in the novel.
* [[Spanner in Thethe Works]]: Franz becomes this to the Count when {{spoiler|Franz decides to participate in the duel instead of Albert and gets killed. This not only derails the Count's plan to get rid of his Edmond Dantes part of soul completely but also hands him [[Karmic Death]] in the end}}.
* [[Split Personality Takeover]]:{{spoiler|Gankutsuou controls the Count more and more as their pact nears completion.}}
* [[Super Soldier]]: Maximilien is essentially one, but also a [[Gentle Giant]].
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** To a certain extent, he also has some characteristics of a [[Shape Shifter]] (see {{spoiler|his spectacular and painful transformations into Gankutsuou and the fact that when Fernand impales him with the sword of his [[Humongous Mecha]], he turns into a mist and reappears in his own mecha, vampire-style}}).
* [[Tsundere]]: Eugénie, sort of.
* [[Two Guys and Aa Girl]]: Edmond Dantes and Albert's parents. Averted with Valentine, Franz, and Maximilien because of Franz' love interest. Subverted with Albert, Franz and Eugénie.
* [[The Unfettered]]: The Count.
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Franz. Eugénie seems like this in the beginning, {{spoiler|however she becomes [[Victorious Childhood Friend]] in the end.}}
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* [[Villain Protagonist]]
* [[Villains Out Shopping]]
* [[War for Fun Andand Profit]]: The motivation for {{spoiler|the assassination of the Prince}}.
* [[Weird Moon]]
* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?]]: Not the script or premise, but ''the entire universe'' being made of [[Unmoving Plaid]] gives an effect not unlike an LSD trip.
* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: See [[Transsexual]] above.
* [[Yandere]] / [[Cute and Psycho]]: Madame Villefort
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