"Gallery Fake" is a thirty-seven episode Japanese anime series that focuses on art and art galleries. The series is directed by Akira Nishimori and is produced by "Shogakukan" which has aired on "TV Tokyo" in Japan. It revolves around a small gallery called Gallery Fake owned by a man called Reiji Fujita. The opening theme is pretty jazzy with the vocals in Japanese. Reiji pretty much has a fascination with art. He is also incredibly serious about art as well as in the beginning. In the beginning of the first episode, Reiji threatens to drown a man in the river if he got coffee on this one painting.
He’s not even afraid to pull a gun people that attempt to ruin the valuable pieces of art. It looks that he is familiar with various works of art. Reiji can easily tell which pieces are fake and which pieces are real. Humorously, the gun that Reiji carries on him is mainly fake and for show. It’s merely a lighter in the shape of a gun. He may be portrayed as a villain in the series but it’s not the case. The way Reiji thinks is that people should appreciate art and the artists that have spent their lives to create these wonderful pieces. He feels that art should be shown and appreciated and not used as material wealth.
It is revealed that Reiji was a former curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to a turn of events, Reiji was forced to quit. As a result, he runs the small gallery called Gallery Fake which is located on a wharf facing Tokyo Bay. He is one strange sort of hero that only sells people "fakes" due to people wanting them for some sort of status. However, Reiji is not above stealing paintings from people that do not fully appreciate them.
Gallery Fake is an interesting slice of life story that deals with a protagonist whose sole purpose is to make sure that true paintings lie in the hands of people that appreciate them. This is one series that fully emphasizes the true works of art. In short, Gallery Fake presents that arts of work are supposed to be displayed to and appreciated by everybody. He’s mainly in it for the art and not for the money.
In dealing and stealing paintings, Reiji is very crafty. He could be considered the Lupin of the art world. However, it’s very much grounded in reality with the feel of "Ocean’s Eleven."
It’s a good anime to watch for those whom are interested into go into any aspect of art: painting, drawing, sculpting, art dealing, art galleries, and so forth. The anime looks to fit the feel of Gallery Fake. The animation looks very modern and up to date.
If you truly appreciate art, you’ll enjoy watching Gallery Fake. However, it’s not easily available in North America. It’s unknown if or when it will be dubbed in English and officially released to North America.