Development
Gankutsuou was produced by Japanese animation studio Gonzo, with support from Media Factory and Kadokawa Corporation. Maeda acted as director, alongside creating the original concept and scenario draft. Maeda's draft was expanded into a full series by screenwriters Shuichi Kouyama, Natsuko Takahashi and Tomohiro Yamashita. The photography director was Takeo Ogiwara, while 3D CGI graphics were animated by Akira Suzuki. The art directors were Hiroshi Sasaki and Yusuke Takeda. Character designs were done by anime artist Hidenori Matsubara, with mechanical designs being handled by Makoto Kobayashi.
Design
The art style of the anime was used by Maeda to combine Western Impressionism with Ukiyo-e, a style of 19th century Japanese painting which strongly influenced the Impressionist movement. Among the artists referenced in the anime's style was Gustav Klimt, who was one of Maeda's favorite artists and provided inspiration for using blocks of strong primary colors. To create the anime's distinct animation style—which saw multiple bold colors and overlaid background and foreground layers—Maeda used a computer graphics program. One of the show's producers, Taichi Hashimoto, later stated that Gonzo wanted to make an anime that "talked" to viewers, something he felt was realized with Gankutsuou. The use of the technique was also inspired by Maeda's liking for clear-cut costumes and outlines in Noh theater, contrasting against the highly detailed traditional animation dominating anime production at the time.
Use of the program came about due to issues created by the source material, which set its events in grand aristocratic houses and consequently made key animation challenging. After trying several different animation types and getting nowhere, Maeda tried the computer-managed layering system, which made the process both possible and much easier than traditional animation. By using the computer program, Maeda could create different texture layers within scenes, creating something simultaneously complicated and minimalist. Because of this style, Maeda had to imagine each scene as being filmed with live-action actors rather than focusing on animation. Maeda wanted to give the impression in scenes that the audience were seeing it from far away, while character gestures held more meaning. This method was also chosen because Maeda wanted to fully express the different textures of character clothing. During the testing stages, Maeda worked with professional stylists, stapling fabric pieces to concept drawings to achieve the desired effect. Because of the use of the program, the illustrators only needed to create the clothing outlines for key frames rather than full character designs. Maeda later described the business side of animation production for Gankutsuou as "a nightmare".
The character designs were created by Matsubara, who had gained notoriety for his work on Oh My Goddess! and the Sakura Wars franchise. Matsubara was brought on at an early stage, when Maeda was putting together internal promotion videos for the project. Matsubara designed the characters based on Maeda's drafts. The character design of Gankutsuou was different from other anime of the time, not using shadows and highlighted elements and instead focusing on vigorous movement and exaggerated posture, communicating a character's personality through movement. Describing his feelings towards the project, Matsubara called designing the adult characters a welcome backlash from his earlier work, which focused almost exclusively on drawing and designing young female protagonists. When Matsubara was given Maeda's draft design for the Count, the character looked like a typical villain; as Matsubara created the final design, he softened the villainous aspects and added noble and sarcastic elements to the Count's expressions. Due to the chosen animation style, Matsubara could not put excessive rumples and creases into clothes as they would be invisible against the underlying textures.
Albert was given multiple outfits to reflect his changing attitudes and roles in the anime; his formal suit reflected his clashing feelings about an arranged marriage to Eugénie. Franz's design was less flamboyant than other characters, reflecting his grounded personality and sense of responsibility towards Albert. Eugénie had the most costume changes of the entire cast, with her styling drawing from 1960s fashion to illustrate the disconnect with her family and her wish to rebel. Haydée's design made her appear doll-like, with one of her dresses being modelled on stained glass and reflective of her melancholy background. Mercedes was designed to show her coldness and fragile spirit in the wake of losing Edmund, with her dress design using ice and crystal as a motif. Fernand was intended to be the polar opposite of the count, clothed in white or similar bright colours; Danglars's golden clothes symbolised his obsession with wealth; and Villefort's clothing symbolised his power of control.
In addition to Japanese designers, Gankutsuou saw a collaboration with American fashion designer Anna Sui. Prior to being approached, Sui had always been fond of Japanese anime. During the Japanese launch of a perfume line, Sui visited Gonzo's studios and was approached by Maeda about a collaboration. Having previously done a collaboration for a Dark Horse Comics project and liking the prospect of working on a full-motion animation project, Sui accepted the offer. Her positive impression of the studio's animation technology and her liking for Dumas's original novel also contributed to her acceptance. The anime uses clothing styles drawn from early 19th century France, showing fashions associated with the time including the "dandy" look and widening hems for women's skirts being incorporated. Sui described these designs as her biggest challenge.
Scenario
When Maeda began the project, he initially wanted to adapt The Stars My Destination, a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Maeda contacted the copyright holders to license an anime adaptation, but he was refused when the holders saw how many changes he proposed to make to the original narrative. Initially disappointed, Maeda searched for another work he could adapt into a science fiction setting and decided upon The Count of Monte Cristo, as Dumas's novel had parallel themes to The Stars My Destination. Maeda first read a simplified version of The Count of Monte Cristo when he was young. When he read the full version as an adult, he saw that the story was far more complex and interesting.
Maeda's initial draft was expanded upon by Kouyama, Takahashi and Yamashita. Faced with adapting a novel that was over 400-pages long into a 24-episode anime, Maeda struggled with including all the novel's key plot points within the anime while keeping viewers entertained. Originally intending to keep the anime firmly within a science fiction setting, his growing appreciation for the novel and its central human tragedy persuaded him to retain as much of the original's 19th century elements as possible. Maeda's first drafts had the Count as the main protagonist of a picaresque romance. As the project went through its draft stages, the focus shifted away from the adult Count and onto Albert, who was made much younger than in the original novel. The shift towards Albert continued the original novel's themes of changing times and clashing views, in addition to altering the dramatic elements by altering character perspectives and relationship dynamics. The anime's late night broadcast also allowed exploration of mature subjects like drug use and same-sex love, elements present in the original novel.
When reworking the Count, Maeda drew from descriptions from Dumas's text of the Count's coldness being attributed to his being one of the undead; his appearance was also influenced by works associated with the circle of Lord Byron, who contributed to both Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and early writing about
Music
Several pieces of original music for Gankutsuou were composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel, bass guitarist for the British rock band the Stranglers. Burnel and Louie Nicastro handled instrumentation and arrangements, additional guitars were handled by Baz Warne, and vocals were provided by Burnel and Phillipa Cookman. Burnel was directly invited onto the project by Maeda, who flew to London to ask him in person. Maeda, who was a fan of Burnel's work, explained his artistic vision for the anime, and Burnel agreed to compose. He worked from his own country, then sent the completed themes to Japan, where they were arranged to fit the animation and pace where needed. Additional musical pieces and arrangements were done by Koji Kasamatsu and Reiji Kitazato. The music covers multiple genres, including opera and electronic dance. Maeda initially intended the Count's character theme to be the Manfred Symphony from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Burnel had already composed an original character theme, and the rest of the production staff successfully overruled Maeda to keep Burnel's work. The Count's theme mixed original music with samples from Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The classical music was arranged by Kasamatsu, who was the series sound designer. The opening theme "We Were Lovers" and ending theme "You won't see me coming" were composed and sung by Burnel. The lyrics for all songs were written by Burnel.
A soundtrack album, Gankutsuou Original Soundtrack, was released on February 23, 2005, through the Victor Entertainment label Flying Dog. The album featured all music used in the anime including the opening and ending themes. A second album featuring the classical music sampled in the main soundtrack was released by Victor Entertainment on April 13, 2005.
