Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a trippy sci-fi adaptation of the famous Alexandre Dumas novel. In the year 5053, some guy named Albert travels to the moon where this sexy blue-skinned vampire aristocrat seduces him into pardoning a serial killer on death row. The first episode is slow, with little spoken exposition and a lot of probably cool scenery that just doesn't look like much in 360p on YouTube. There's some intrigue around mysterious powers, the Count's shadowy background and appeal, and a woman who kidnaps Albert at gunpoint in the final minute. The main question viewers will have going into the next episode, though, is a simple one: "what?"
Regardless of your interest in convoluted French revenge, this is a show everyone should be aware of. Visually it is unique. Since Gankutsuou, many shows (e.g. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) have made use of drawn fabric patterns that move independently of the characters in the scene, but none to my knowledge have done precisely what Gankutsuou accomplished, which is to combine hand-drawn animation, physical fabric collage, and computer-generated graphics into a single cohesive and stunning—if sometimes jarring—picture. That this was done in 2004 only makes it more impressive. Funimation does itself a disservice to only offer low-quality streams.
Recommend: Come for the spectacle, stay only if you like a classic (read: tired) plot.