_Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo_
The opening theme is in English. It's panning of black and white line-art on sepia-tone background with very little animation.
Arriving via convertible at the tail end of Carnival, are our boys, Franz and Albert. Despite looking like a cross between Mardi Gras and an acid trip, this is Luna, and this is a red carpet opera night.
A mysterious man throws a bouquet to the singer.
He calls himself a count, and has been the talk of the town for the last month or so.
Albert notices that he's dropped his pocket watch. It's engraved thus: Death is certain, its hour uncertain.
Before he can return it though, the count leaves.
Albert wants to use it as an excuse to meet the count. But before that can happen, he gets an invitation from the count anyway. It looks like they're staying at the same hotel.
Franz thinks he's probably a con man or something, not a real aristocrat.
They have dinner with the count. By which I mean they eat and he watches, eating only a few pills.
They discuss love. Albert has an arranged fiancée he doesn't care for.
His hands are cold. Is he a vampire?
He invites them to lunch the next day, to view the public executions.
Three men are to be killed: one claims he was framed, one forced by circumstance, on unrepentant.
The count has one letter of pardon. Would Albert like to draw a name at random to be spared?
He does.
The unrepentant man is freed.
Sickened by his part in the execution, Albert wanders off in a funk.
A girl tells him the last day of carnival is no time to be alone. Is this seduction?
No, it's a trap. She pulls a gun on him.
Albert is being held by Luigi Vampa, a major criminal. He want $5M by dawn, and Franz can't take money out of the bank because the connection is down due to solar winds.
Who can he turn to for a $5M loan at this time of night?
Well, there's always the Count.
The Count confronts Luigi and calls himself Gankutsuou, the King of the Cave.
Luigi stabs the Count, but he cannot be killed. He threatens Luigi with his own blade.
They spring Albert. In exchange, the Count asks for a simple favor: to introduce him to high society in Paris.
Peppo, the girl who entrapped Albert has a falling out with the rest of the bandits over torturing Albert. She ends up getting a serving job at Albert's house.
He's also actually a boy.
The Count comes and meets Albert's friends and parents.
The Count dissembles on where he's from and who he is. After all, they wouldn't even be interested if not for the mystery.
And speaking on mystery, why can't the count be captured on film or ave his voice recorded?
And what is his history with Albert's parents?
The Count stays for dinner. When Albert's mom notices he's not eating, he tries the soup. It reminds him of Marseilles, is she from there?
No, she has nothing to do with Marseilles. This sounds like a lie.
She and the Count may have a history.
On a visit to the count's house, the conversation turns to love (as it often does in this show.)
Maximilian is offended that aristocrats marry to preserve their fortunes and not for love.
Albert is so offended by this that they have a swordfight. The Count eggs them on.
The Count sows discord among he aristocracy. They don't really need help, what with the affairs and insider trading and all. A little nudge could bring the whole thing crashing down.
Maximilian is in love with Valentine. Valentine is engaged to Franz.
Valentine's stepmother grows poisonous plants. The count has seduced her and given her a Borgia's Ring with a hidden spike.
It's really not a matter of If, but When and How things fall apart.
The count invites all the others, both youth and adult to his villa.
This is a plot to let Victoria Danglars and Gerard Villefot know that he knows about their secret love child.
The count also reveals to Albert that he has contracted a degenerative disease.
Franz overhears a conversation with the Count and learns the name Gankutsuou.
Albert is accidentally poisoned. It was meant for Valentine, who is now in a bad way. We know it's her stepmother.
Andrea Cavalcanti, the Count's other protégé, implies things, mysteriously.
The three heads of household receive an invitation to a funeral. The sender is a man they had betrayed, who they thought was dead.
Their coconspirator in this was also invited.
The youths sneak Valentine out of her house, but are caught in the act.
I can confirm that this is streamable on Crunchroll. Rumor insists that it's also available on Hulu and Funimation, but I can't find it there.