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.