Gaga for Gankutsuou! pt.I

Since the summer began I've had this inexplicably insatiable craving for anime. It's not that I haven't seen my fair share of great anime films and series this year, what with Mr. P-Funk Drum Wolf and I devouring nearly half of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, and at least 7 of Studio Gibli's Dizz-knee distributed re-releases- still, I HUNGER! What began as an inquisitive search to discover if Cowboy Bebop creator Shinchiro Watanabe, has led me not only to his equally-lauded Samurai Champloo, but to a whole world of quality anime that seemed to have passed me by while I was still pining for the good old days of the original Ghost in the Shell and Akira. I recently got hooked up with a bootleg of the complete Samurai Champloo on eBay, the first volume of the skullfuckingly psychedelic superhero series Karas: The Prophecy, and the first season of Studio Gonzo's gratuitious and notorious Gantz. This won't end here..

I've promised myself that I will not pick anything else up DVD until at least July, that way I can give my bank account and my ocular cavities a break. However, in the meantime I've recently discovered a website that's been hiding right under my nose for quite some time, a certain youtube.com where several blessed otaku have uploaded full series of anime onto the internet in 10 minute bursts. You can stream them anytime you want for free, and you don't even need to be a member. Thanks to this recent discovery, and the Independent Film Channel's "Anime Festival"- here is the list of anime I've watched over the past 3 weeks:

-Memories (three clever short films from acclaimed Japanese directors, under the guidance of Akira-creator Katsuhiro Otomo)
-Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (known in North America as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie)
-Blood: The Last Vampire(a shallow, depthless exercise- but nevertheless enjoyable short feature)
-Ghost in the Shell (One of THE classics, if you haven't seen it, shame on you)
-Karas: The Prophecy (setting the new standard how cel-shading, traditional 2D, and 3D computer animation can converge and give birth something breathtaking)
-Fist of the North Star (a bloody classic- only for those who enjoy the old school 80's breed of hyperviolent, apocalyptic anime)

and of course...

a new classic series, based on Alexander Dumas classic novel (which I *cough* have not read, but intend to)

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo



A review of Gankutsuou will be posted once I'm through all of the episodes, and it barely took me a day to finish the first 8.
I'll post a full list of the "Non-Anime" films I've seen in a day or two, and maybe post some record reviews while I'm at it.

Peace.
-Sea