2003 Anime
Gungrave (ガングレイヴ, Gangureivu) is a Japanese anime television series based on the video game of the same name, created by Yasuhiro Nightow. The series follows Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowell as they rise through the ranks of the Millennion crime syndicate. It was produced and animated by Madhouse, directed by Toshiyuki Tsuru, written by Yōsuke Kuroda, with music composed by Tsuneo Imahori. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2003 to March 2004, totaling twenty-six episodes.
The series was first licensed in North America by Geneon Entertainment[3] and later by Funimation.[4][5][6] It was broadcast on the Funimation Channel in 2011.[7]
Plot
Gungrave opens thirteen years after Brandon Heat is betrayed and killed by his best friend Harry MacDowell. He is reborn through the use of necrolyzation as Beyond The Grave, and begins a quest of revenge against the crime syndicate. The series then backtracks to Brandon's youth, and follows him and Harry as they rise through the criminal underworld, detailing the circumstances that led to their eventual falling-out.
Reception
During the series' beginning, Anime News Network panned Brandon's silent attitude displayed in the series' primitive, comparing him negatively with characters with a similar design.[9] When the anime focused on his Brandon's younger persona, Brandon Heat, ANN still felt it was hard to sympathize with him due to his calm demeanor and the anime's slow pace. Nevertheless, ANN looked forward to the time he and his best friend, Harry MacDowel, become enemies as foreshadowed.[10] By the next review, the same site enjoyed how the character has taken action in Millennium organization alongside Harry while also finding his relationship with love interest Maria appealing.[11] DVD Talk enjoyed the early tragic setting the cast are initially put into and, like how ANN, the two become invested in becoming powerful people.[12] Mania Entertainment enjoyed the backstory due to how such friendly people, Brandon and Harry, would become enemies in the series, making it enjoyable.[13] By a following DVD, Mania enjoyed Brandon's darker characterization as a result of being involved in Millennium and how his loyalty for his boss, Big Daddy, results in his tragedy that would later turn him into Grave.[14] In the final review where Grave's lifespan is reaching its limit while facing Harry's forces was praised by the same site due to how the narrative further explores the friendship between the two main characters despite their current situation.[15]
In a more general review, DVD Talk enjoyed the handling of Brandon and Harry's story due to how it changes their personalities while going for enjoyable character arcs.[16] Manga.Tokyo commented that the friendship between Brandon and Harry were the biggest appeal in the anime despite the setting being chaotic due to the quest the two characters face when becoming mafia.[17] Hardcore Gaming 101 enjoyed how the anime corrupts the young Brandon and Harry when working for Millennium leading to the scene in which the former becomes Grave.[18] IGN compared Brandon to Terminator due to his deadly skills but questioned how depressed he is about his job as a gangster and why he would not quit Millennium alongside his love interest.[19] Tomokazu Seki's vocal performance as the two personas was also praised by Mania over the English dub,[15] with Famitsu offering similar comments.[20]
