After watching the first ep of Gankutsu-ou, I'm tentatively of the opinion that the Count comes across as a much more appealing figure later if you don't watch the first ep of Gankutsu-ou. I see how the action fits thematically with stuff the Count says later- and it sends a chill down my spine- but in the end it has a distancing effect on the whole after-relationship. To the extent that Franz x Albert looks not merely cast in concrete (another side-effect of ep 1; start from ep 3 and it looks quite arbitrary) it seems the OTP. And the Count dwindles into Mephistopheles.
