It’s a pretty dense book and it’s really great for such a format. I haven’t seen Gankutsuosu in a long time, but I definitely recall The Count of Monte Cristo movie from the 90s and the omission of Haydee in the movie was a real detriment to Edmund’s development. He didn’t get to realize that his happiness was to be found completely apart from his past. Having Haydee in the anime was a good choice, but I can’t remember the end at all other than not liking it. Didn’t the count die? Changing the focus to a son of the antagonist was a cool idea, but you don’t get that catharsis of revenge nearly as well. I remember thinking that it was interesting, but not nearly as good as the book. I guess it’s the trend to make the main character younger and oblivious in anime to allow for better exposition.
I guess the point is that it’s such an incredible story, it’s hard to mess it up. But it’s easy to not live up to the the source material.
Maybe I should watch it again.
It’s a tough act to follow, with an entirely new cast. And it’ll be an established world that the audience isn’t really finding out about for the first time, so the novelty won’t be there as much. But I hope they can pull it off.