Gallery Fake

Having finished this one, I have to give it 4 stars. The anime is subtitled, so it's definitely not for dub only anime fans. This anime came out in 2005 and the artwork definitely clings to the more realistic style that I prefer. The voice acting is fine. But what I really loves is the good hearted "criminal" who is the center of the feature.

Reiji Fujita is the owner of Gallery Fake. It's an art gallery where are the works in the front of the shop are fakes but he does black market deals behind the scenes. He's also an expert on art restoration and makes side money restoring art for his less than scrupulous customers. Throughout the series, he's often called on by the authority figures in the art world when they have something they want repaired, because only the best of the best will do. He is accompanied by Sara, his assitant. She's the sole survivor of a royal family in the middle east somewhere and she has a good eye for what's real and what's not. She's also in love with Fujita.

But the true highlight of Gallery Fake (at least for me) was the fact that you really start to get an appreciation for fine art. Many of the historical facts and details about art, artists and the other antiques mentioned in the show are true. I know because I looked up most of them. I was really impressed by the level of research conducted. Or maybe it was personal knowlege on the manga artist's part. Either way, I love watching things where I can learn stuff that I didn't already know. I even found a piece of artwork in one episode that I loved so much I had to order a poster print of it. In case you're wondering it is La Femme A La Pearl by Corot.

The picture was featured in an episode where they talked about the history behind the Mona Lisa and who was the woman in the portrait. I personally found this Mona Lisa style painting to be more beautiful and alluring than the famous one housed at the Louvre. Before anyone gets their underwear in a bunch because I don't like the Mona Lisa, remember that art like music and books is subjective. To each their own.

Anyway, I recommend Gallery Fake. Watching Fujita get in and out of trouble with the police is entertaining enough. But you just may find yourself pining for a piece of art as well.