Gallery Fake

This is one of my favorite anime series that I have watched. This isn't really a review but more like a very short summary. The show is just so fun to watch. You just have to watch it. Every episode is really interesting and it makes me wonder what the next episode will showcase.

The story is clean, makes you wonder about the historical nature of the paintings and other works of art. Its just wonderful. I actually read about some of the paintings and their painters after I watched the series. I learned alot from my ... own readings on the items shown in the anime.

This show also gives me the chuckles because of the personality of the characters. Fujita and his assistant Sara are so fun to watch. Their verbal sparring is clean and light hearted.

Sara's personality is pretty cute. Fujita seems like a typical money hungry art-dealer but he really loves what he does and he will do anything to help the people that needs it.

Fujita's nemesis Mitamura becomes a very likable and caring character as the story progresses.

I love the music used throughout the anime especially during the revealing moments. The story and music fit like a glove.

In my eyes, Gallery Fake is not perfect, but it appealed strongly to my personal tastes. It balances a fine line between interesting (borderline educational) information about the art world, characters with mature goals and emotions, and good clean fun. Sometimes that line is completely out of balance, but the show is never boring and always charming. I would call it a much more down-to-earth, less adventure-driven Lupin III, but only to compare and contrast the genre similarities and differences.

I thought the insight into the world of fine art would be my biggest draw, but it was actually the main characters that kept me ... coming back for more until I was binging the final episodes. Fujita to me was like a Sherlock Holmes character with a dash of James Bond, with Sara's spirited but youthful energy making the duo wholesome /in general/. I will give a warning that there are more than a handful of episodes in which Fujita's behaviour towards Sara is piggish, cruel, and/or callous. I can't turn a blind eye to it as it was upsetting to me on a personal level, and sometimes even infuriating due to the whiplash in Fujita's behaviour between episodes. However, I can try to give the series my good faith as this was a common trope at the time the show was made and the episodes are probably not in chronological order, as most of them are a self-contained story with little to no reference to previous episodes. For all the viewers know, communication being excellent between Sara and Fujita could have happened later chronologically from when things were difficult to watch. At the times when things were good, I loved watching the cozy found family dynamic the two of them have with each other - it's clear that both deeply care about each other, just in their own way.

I have to also give props to all the opening and ending themes of the anime - they are varied in nature, and I loved watching until the very end of each episode in order to get my music fix. Pushim's "Anything For You", the third ending theme, is still stuck in my head right now as I type this paragraph... and I finished the series over a month ago!

There are only two things which prevented this series from being a masterpiece in my eyes. The first of these is due to the aforementioned self-contained story in most episodes. This leads to some characters appearing only once and then disappearing, never to be heard of again - including one very important character in the later part of the series, whose continued existence could have caused a lot of interesting drama for the main characters. I really think that that plot thread could have at least been concluded with a quick exposition or at least a throwaway line or two in the following episodes if there was no intent on having the character stick around. The second is that there is a varying quality in the writing of episodes, but I will say that most to me are at a comfortable mid-tier.

Overall: if you are a fan of the seinen genre, I definitely recommend Gallery Fake.

Gallery Fake is a a perfect example of the seinen genre. It is sophisticated, realistic, and logical . . . and yes, it does have its light hearted moments. Each episode features a "mystery of the week" but what sets it apart and makes it so intriguing for me is an amazingly accurate look at the intricate workings of the art world. I have a deep love of Art History and this series touches on one great master in many episodes. It also explores other things that are art as well; things like antique watches, photo-journalism, and Pre-Columbian civilization and artifacts. ... It is very much like the live BBC series Lovejoy, a long running story about a brilliant but slightly shady antiques dealer.

It is not surprising that because the series is about art, the look of the anime itself is top notch and I love the sound track, especially the opening song. Awesome, upbeat jazz with a vintage feel.

If you are looking for something different, give this one a try.

I have to agree with the previous reviewer and give it an overall it gets a 10.