Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (Blu-ray) Unboxing

So after a pretty insane delay, the remainder of the anime I ordered from the Anime Limited Christmas sale arrived in one go. For this title the standard edition went on sale on the bonus 13th day for £5 which was a good opportunity for me to finally check out this series.

Note: The photos in this unboxing have been updated on 16th May 2019, but the content is identical.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a 2004 anime series from studio GONZO that is loosely based on the novel Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by French author Alexandre Dumas. The loose term comes from the fact that one of the differences is that the anime takes place in the future with a science fiction setting.

ADV Films dubbed and released the series on DVD in North America, which Funimation eventually rescued along the way. However, there was a Blu-ray version that came along (though it was upscaled) which never got brought over to any English territory until Anime Limited came along and acquired the UK & Ireland rights. The show has a unique presentation where the characters and designs use a wallpaper-esque look to it which makes it stand out among the rest of the anime when it had aired.

The Blu-ray transfer is questionable at best due to the upscale, which sacrifices the detail on the animation so if you have access to an NTSC DVD then feel free to hold on to that. As the US release eventually went into the S.A.V.E. edition on DVD, the UK release is Blu-ray only with two iterations – a collector’s edition steelcase and a standard edition. I opted for the standard edition as steelcases lack spines for the shelves (there’s no title on the spine of the steelcase unless you use a small slipcover).

The UK standard edition release includes the complete series across 4 Blu-ray discs in a standard case. There is also a reversible cover for those interested. As the release was authored by French AllTheAnime (@Anime), the audio & subtitle options available are English, French & Japanese. The English subtitles are white-coloured and locked during playback while the discs are region locked to B.

You can order the standard edition release on AllTheAnime and Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: English, Japanese, French
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0, French DTS-HD MA 2.0
Video: 1080p High Definition Upscale format with 16:9 ratio
Region: B
Subtitles: English, French
Locked Subtitles: Yes
Discs: 4

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

Born into an aristocratic family in Paris, Albert sets out on a journey with his best friend, Franz, to escape his privileged yet dull life. They travel to Luna, which is on the surface of the moon, and meet a very wealthy man named The Count of Monte Cristo. Becoming completely fascinated with The Count’s mysterious charm, Albert welcomes him into Paris high society unaware of the consequences that will follow…