Castlevania Animated Series - On Netflix

[Taiso]

I love Trevor's dialogue and demeanor, and Dracula is awesome. I'm only on ep. 2 so far, but damn is it good. Great set pieces, great animation aside from a few flubs here and there (a few facial transitions with missing in-between animations), great voice cast and acting.
I'm shocked, because, like many, I was expecting very little.

I feel that this show's intentions are in the right place and that it's attempting to tell a compelling story using the Castlevania mythology. It's probably the main reason I was able to forgive the technical shortcomings. Much like with the first Star Wars film, it felt like they did the best they could and ended up with a diamond in the rough. I'll take a flawed presentation with heart and soul over a technically impressive but creatively dead one any day. The same could be said for video games, actually.

 

[Renmauzo]

I feel that this show's intentions are in the right place and that it's attempting to tell a compelling story using the Castlevania mythology. It's probably the main reason I was able to forgive the technical shortcomings. Much like with the first Star Wars film, it felt like they did the best they could and ended up with a diamond in the rough. I'll take a flawed presentation with heart and soul over a technically impressive but creatively dead one any day. The same could be said for video games, actually.

Agreed. Now that I've watched all four episodes, the personality really shines through and helps the show overcome where it falters. It's stuck with me how genuine all the dialogue and character interactions feel; the organic reactions from Trevor are refreshing.

 

[Taiso]

Yes. The writing feels as though the characters are reacting to the situations on their own for the most part. Obviously it's all in service to the story, but this show has done a good job giving us characters that feel alive.

Spoiler:

I still feel that the series could have used an episode to focus on Trevor's transition back to pure heroism. That was the only time that the development felt rushed for the sake of driving the plot. I knew Trevor would get there because he's Trevor Belmont, but just because you know how a story's going to go doesn't excuse bad pacing. Perhaps an episode showing how the church turned it's back on House Belmont would have been a good framing sequence to establishing Trevor's disillusionment with his responsibilities and then sprinkle in situations where Trevor could naturally begin to see how his negligence has led to the world's decline and of how much worse the cost to his soul could be if he doesn't find his moral compass.

 

[FOMOCO&CO]

You all are saying too much, howabout "I like that one part where guy throws that thing up at that dude and he shoots the other dude in the back" part.
Or. 'Haha, that eyeball part'

 

[cdamm]

You all are saying too much, howabout "I like that one part where guy throws that thing up at that dude and he shoots the other dude in the back" part.
Or. 'Haha, that eyeball part'

sorry im out of practice.
hows the finger?

 

[Taiso]

You all are saying too much, howabout "I like that one part where guy throws that thing up at that dude and he shoots the other dude in the back" part.
Or. 'Haha, that eyeball part'

You've been at NG.com for 14 years.

 

[opt2not]

I'm digging this series. CV3 is my favourite Castlevania, so this appeals to me right off the bat.
The characters are written well, the religious aspect vs ancient beliefs tension is great, the action scenes are all pretty awesome. There's very loose indication of lore so far, but I hope they include more history snippets going forward. Lol The eye gag was pretty funny and surprising. Speaking of eyes, the Sypha/Cyclops scene was great, felt like a good translation to that boss fight from the game. .

Season 2 has been greenlit and apparently going to be double the amount of episodes. Also won't be ready till for at least one year, which sucks to wait that long. But hopefully it'll be worth it.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I only watched a part of the first episode. I hate with a passion the western approach to anime. it has never worked for me (only in Adult Swim stuff but in those cases it's down to it being parody). that for me makes it difficult to overcome and see it for what it is. the dialogues seem a little hoaky, forced. I'll watch some more, but I was expecting something different. not trying to offend any sensibilities here, apologies if I do

 

[FOMOCO&CO]

sorry im out of practice.
hows the finger?

Bingo, that's what I'm looking for.

 

[Hot Chocolate]

Yes. The writing feels as though the characters are reacting to the situations on their own for the most part. Obviously it's all in service to the story, but this show has done a good job giving us characters that feel alive.

Spoiler:

I still feel that the series could have used an episode to focus on Trevor's transition back to pure heroism. That was the only time that the development felt rushed for the sake of driving the plot. I knew Trevor would get there because he's Trevor Belmont, but just because you know how a story's going to go doesn't excuse bad pacing. Perhaps an episode showing how the church turned it's back on House Belmont would have been a good framing sequence to establishing Trevor's disillusionment with his responsibilities and then sprinkle in situations where Trevor could naturally begin to see how his negligence has led to the world's decline and of how much worse the cost to his soul could be if he doesn't find his moral compass.

It's Warren Ellis, going by his history with other properties he doesn't own he wrote a vampire story and someone else went back in to line it up to the actual IP

 

[Mr Bakaboy]

Honestly for the most part I liked it but didn't really like the idea of the church not asking Trevor for help. That was a main sticking point to the original mythos. The church f'ed up big time and searched high and low for a Belmont.

It easily could have been fixed by killing all the guilty parties at the 1st skirmish since they were there, and make whoever is left in charge (probably some I don't want this job guy) have to try and fix the problem. Who took over that role really wasn't that necessary other then the one main character.

Also Trevor seemed a little too much like Spike Segal to me. Maybe because I expected something totally different. Oh well at least it was fun to watch.

 

[munchiaz]

Honestly for the most part I liked it but didn't really like the idea of the church not asking Trevor for help. That was a main sticking point to the original mythos. The church f'ed up big time and searched high and low for a Belmont.

It easily could have been fixed by killing all the guilty parties at the 1st skirmish since they were there, and make whoever is left in charge (probably some I don't want this job guy) have to try and fix the problem. Who took over that role really wasn't that necessary other then the one main character.

Also Trevor seemed a little too much like Spike Segal to me. Maybe because I expected something totally different. Oh well at least it was fun to watch.

I actually really liked that change, and thought the speakers asking Trevor for help was better in this medium. It built up the tension with the Church like instantly and made you side with the characters that are important to the story in the first place.

Anyway, I thought the show was great. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.

 

[radiantsvgun]

I actually really liked that change, and thought the speakers asking Trevor for help was better in this medium. It built up the tension with the Church like instantly and made you side with the characters that are important to the story in the first place.

Anyway, I thought the show was great. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did.

Yeah I really enjoyed it. Honestly I'm glad that they did some backstory with Lisa and Dracula, since that was never explained in the games. Hopefully next season they introduce Grant. Unfortunate that we won't get it until next year. I was skeptical as they didn't go with Simon Belmont, but I guess Dracula's Curse works better since they have more characters to make a story.

 

[munchiaz]

Yeah I really enjoyed it. Honestly I'm glad that they did some backstory with Lisa and Dracula, since that was never explained in the games. Hopefully next season they introduce Grant. Unfortunate that we won't get it until next year. I was skeptical as they didn't go with Simon Belmont, but I guess Dracula's Curse works better since they have more characters to make a story.

Yeah I was hoping to see Grant, since hes so fun to use in the game. I think we'll see him in season 2. Also, i think going with CV 3 was the right choice, because if it really takes off they'll go into Rondo of Blood and symphony of the night

 

[norton9478]

I know,....

Nothing can top that.

 

[Taiso]

It's quite possible that in the second season, the entity known as 'the Church' will go to Trevor and ask him to assist. We really don't know if 'the Church' is of one mind in this show or if there's factionalism going on. The show's politics are a bit more complex than I was expecting so it's possible we might get some 'GoT lite' style interactions before it's all said and done.

 

[Ip Man]

just finished watching it. really enjoyed it, although i did think the tone of the series was a lot darker than in the games. vampire hunter d kind of nailed it in that department.

the characters were done really well, especially alucard. just like how i would of imagined him to be like. sophisticated but tough. trevor reminds me a lot of dante from devil may cry but more scruffy. really liked his dialogue and the whole "not give a shit" attitude, but always stepped up when he was needed and how he presented him self as a belmont.

the action was great and the scene with alucard and trevor was by far my favourite. over all the episodes were good but a little short. the whole thing felt like more of an introduction rather than an actual first season. even so i still highly recommend this and really looking forward to season two.

 

[RAZO]

I'm just disappointed that it's over. Jeez, 4 episodes and that's it. Hardly a season and more like a introduction just like Bogard said. I like it though, last scene with Trevor and Alucard was really cool. Looking forward to the next season.

 

[Taiso]

The tone of the Trevor-Alucard duel was spot on. Both of those characters were perfectly expressed in that fight:

Alucard-imperious otherworldly power and a dominating presence

Trevor-As skilled as he, resilience and innovation are probably more valuable resources against a vampiric lord.

I liked how even though Trevor got the better in that fight (in my opinion), once Alucard got his footing he put Belmont on his heels and the resolution was more about Trevor scraping out a victory rather than completely destroying Alucard in the duel. Dying is fine, but losing to his prey is not. That just seems appropriate for a fight of this type-if Trevor was a total badass that couldn't be hurt and couldn't lose a fight against a 'mini-boss' like Alucard, I'd have been rolling my eyes.

We need more heroes like Snake Plissken in fiction-smart fighters that are capable and creative but not combat monsters that don't ever take their licks against the true enemy.

 

[Wachenroder]

I was blown away by how good it was. Finally somebody got it right!

 

[HDRchampion]

I dozed off every episode...Seem like a 2hr introduction episode split into 4 mini episodes. The interesting part was Dracula himself, i wasn't feeling Trevor at all but grew on me a bit. When will the next episodes come out?

 

[Montatez]

We need more heroes like Snake Plissken in fiction-smart fighters that are capable and creative but not combat monsters that don't ever take their licks against the true enemy.

Truth.

 

[MattBlah]

I watched all 4 episodes last night and really enjoyed it. It really just felt like an extended intro, rather than a series. I suppose it's a good taste of what is to come and I hope they can keep up the same quality when extended over more episodes.

The only thing I found a bit... off, was Trevor's one liners. I liked them and it matched his whole attitude, but during some parts they just came one after the other and I felt it was a bit too much. I think they'd have been funnier if they'd done them a bit less often.

 

[Tron]

I was blown away by how good it was. Finally somebody got it right!

2nd that it's the closet i've seen to a adaptation on castlevania.

 

[opt2not]

Yeah, only 4 episodes is totally a market test for continued production. It's that drug dealer hook, "first sample is freeeee". Luckily it was a success that they got approval for an 8 episode season 2.

Here's my thoughts on season 1, posted on another forum. My apologies for it being long.

TLDR: I'm all in this bitch. Enjoyed the changes in lore, the gore, and character choices for the most part. Wished it was longer.

Spoiler:

Watched it this weekend. I'm hooked.

Now I don't care much for anime. Whether Japan made, or made in the US. I'm an animator by trade, and I've never cared for the cheapness of animation when it came to the series anime. Features and OVA's I love, but these serial shows are just a dance of corner-cutting laziness. That isn't to say the style of art and drawing quality is to be scoffed at, I actually like the drawing style. I just don't like how most anime series' try to use the minimal amount of keyframes for everything but action sequences. It's like watching robots talk during dialog scenes.

That being said, I think this series steps up from the standard corner-cutting quite a bit. The sheer number of shots per episode that were actively animated is impressive for an anime. I really dig the darker, gorier art-style of the show, it's very visceral and gritty which is something I've always wished the games to push even more towards.

I like the voice acting, for the most part. Trevor has a good blend of a pompous sounding aristocrat and a vagabond, something you'd expect a member of a great house to have after being excommunicated/exiled.
Sypha was a bit disappointing though, she sounds much too European compared to the rest of the Speakers. In fact, all the Speakers were mixed in accents. I guess it makes sense for a bunch of nomads, but it felt too extreme.

The changes in the history I'm totally on-board with (maybe because it speaks to my own contempt with Christianity's culture), but I like conflict between religious faith and ancient beliefs that predate it. Though I would have liked to see more development between Dracula and Lisa to establish that deep love, enough for Dracula go to apeshit vindictive. I enjoyed seeing him briefly as not the kill-kill boss man though. Just wished there was more.

I really liked that scene when the Bishop got his. The build-up of the speaking Gargoyle and the Bishop's realization that faith wouldn't save him was a very sweet moment. "But we love you...without you we wouldn't be here. Let me kisssss you". Awesome.

The scene when Trevor finds Sypha was well done. Had a good update to the encounter to from the game, and I'm on board with the whole Dracula's Castle entrance idea. But wasn't clear to me if it was, or only just Alucard's domain. But I've always wanted more context to why Castlevania 3 started off so far from the actual Castle grounds. This kinda gave a cool idea that the prerequisite to the Castle is part of this path they're on. They changed the clock tower gear stage well, with the mechanized underground of the city and the "traveling castle" idea. Though, I wish they elaborated a bit more on the technology of the Castle.

I thought Trevor's character writing was decent. I didn't mind the swearing, like I said he holds a fine line between aristocrat and a drunken vagabond.
My only beef with him is that I would have liked Trevor to have a more introspective switch between not caring and caring for saving the people of Wallachia. More than just the moments with the Speakers, or realizing his role and following the family tradition when confronting Alucard.

All said, I really liked the short season 1. I just wish there were more development in the characters and world. Some people want to watch these things for action-action-action, but I'm more interested in the lore, specifically the translation of a game IP to a TV/Film. Lets face it, game stories are pretty shallow. The changes they made to the backstory I think were good choices for a more enriching tale.

I'm looking forward to double the amount of episodes in season 2, which apparently won't be released for a year!