Animated Castlevania Series on Netflix

[Mog]

Anyone catch this on Netflix yet?

It's loosely based on the Castlevania III NES video game. 

The characters got some nice depth and backstory to each of them, and the series upped the gore factor by about 1000 percent (Considering Dracula raises an army from the bowels of hell, those demons do some pretty graphic killings).

The only con is that this first "season" is ridiculously short (clocking in at only 4 episodes long).

But it's a really good series that I'm intrigued to see more of.

[chyll2]

Looks promising.

 

My Nitpicks are:

1. too much cussing making the dialogue feel un-natural

2. story of Lisa should be at least done in a flashback

[jenius]

This is what I wrote in the "what are you watching" thread:

Quote

I watched the first 4 episodes of Castlevania the other night... it's... not awful. It starts really awkward with a sort of unbelievable scene of Dracula being courted by the most progressive woman ever. They could have skipped that scene entirely and jumped right to the moment where Dracula gets very angry. It also vilifies the church in over-the-top ways that work less well than just having the church be manipulative. Like, instead of all priests being swordsmen and archers, they should have just portrayed them as getting the townspeople to do their bidding with maybe one or two priests also knowing how to use a weapon. Some of the other faults could probably just be chalked up to being homages to the video game... like huge falls, ground that has clearly been walked on by others suddenly collapsing... over and over again... etc. 

 

[myk]

I liked it.  I'll stop watching it when they break out the talking penis like they did with that Netflix robot anime that I was loving until said moment happened...

[Big s]

I saw it on the day it was added and wish they added more. It was a bit uneven, but I liked the non kidsy blood and gore. For American animation, it's a good sign that maybe we can get more shows made like this or better.

[Focslain]

8 hours ago, myk said:

I liked it.  I'll stop watching it when they break out the talking penis like they did with that Netflix robot anime that I was loving until said moment happened...

Sidonia, yeah season 2 was wierd. If it continued I'm sure the genocidal war the humans were about to undertake would have been interesting.

Watched this the day it came out, was disappointed that it was so short, but it's already signed up for another 8 eps. So this might have just been Netflix playing it safe since I don't think they counted on what happened with Voltron to strike twice.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Focslain

[Seto Kaiba]

9 hours ago, Mog said:

Anyone catch this on Netflix yet?

It's loosely based on the Castlevania III NES video game. 

The characters got some nice depth and backstory to each of them, and the series upped the gore factor by about 1000 percent (Considering Dracula raises an army from the bowels of hell, those demons do some pretty graphic killings).

The only con is that this first "season" is ridiculously short (clocking in at only 4 episodes long).

But it's a really good series that I'm intrigued to see more of.

Weirdly, I heard about this from a coworker... which was a bit of a shock, as I hadn't been aware any of them actually watched anime.

I've seen some teasers for it and it looks interesting, mostly one with characters I'm assuming are Trevor and Alucard training together.  What I've heard of its actual content makes it sound like a spiritual sibling to Kouta Hirano's Hellsing manga and OVA series... lots of profanity, lots of blood and gore, and vampires as something to be properly afraid of instead of socially maladjusted prats with a body glitter addiction.  Sounds like a good time, albeit not one with an especially complex or deep story.

(I remember the game not-so-fondly from when I was a kid... old school Nintendo Hard.)

 

 

8 hours ago, jenius said:

This is what I wrote in the "what are you watching" thread:

IIRC this Castlevania series is written by Warren Ellis, so it's not surprising in the least that it would villify the church to an extent that some would consider... unnatural.  This is, after all, the man who wrote Transmetropoltian and devoted multiple character arcs and several entire issues to having its main character deconstruct the various evils and abuses of organized religion in general (and a few fictional bland name equivalents of real-world denominations in particular) while periodically losing his cool and beating the stupid out of religious officials.  He probably jumped at the chance to write a church militant getting its arse handed to it.

 

 

8 hours ago, myk said:

I liked it.  I'll stop watching it when they break out the talking penis like they did with that Netflix robot anime that I was loving until said moment happened...

... and now my sinuses are full of Diet Coke.  Do I even want to know the context of that?  Does it even make sense in context?

[Focslain]

41 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

... and now my sinuses are full of Diet Coke.  Do I even want to know the context of that?  Does it even make sense in context?

It's a bit of a spoiler, but....

 

In season 2 they get a weird hybrid of the suit and Gauna (the villious aliens) to work. It has a young femine style to it and adds to the growing harem for the MC. But it's main body is a 3 story mech so it intracts with the human characters via a talking tendrail which it's eye looks, well odd.

Here's a pic

Edited July 20, 2017 by Focslain

[Mog]

The story so far has got some depth.  

I'm glad they took the time to explain ol' Vlad's motivation for letting loose the dogs of war (and not just lean on the trope that DRACULA EVIL!!!!111).

Also,

 

they show Dracula showing mercy to the woman and her family that was mourning Lisa's death.

They go a little into why Trevor's the way he is, especially after his family gets "excommunicado'ed."

And you've got Alucard observing and stating outright that all three mains have burdens they have to carry from their families' legacies.

Again, it shows promise.  So, hopefully with a longer second season, we can get those key flashback scenes/episodes to flesh out the backstories more.

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by Mog

[Focslain]

19 minutes ago, Mog said:

The story so far has got some depth.  

I'm glad they took the time to explain ol' Vlad's motivation for letting loose the dogs of war (and not just lean on the trope that DRACULA EVIL!!!!111).

Also,

  Reveal hidden contents

they show Dracula showing mercy to the woman and her family that was mourning Lisa's death.

They go a little into why Trevor's the way he is, especially after his family gets "excommunicado'ed."

And you've got Alucard observing and stating outright that all three mains have burdens they have to carry from their families' legacies.

Again, it shows promise.  So, hopefully with a longer second season, we can get those key flashback scenes/episodes to flesh out the backstories more.

 

Not much of a spoiler, but Dracula gave the town a year to clear out/admit thier mistake. A whole year. Fact that they ignored him just pissed him off further.

[Mog]

Season 2 comes out this Friday:

 

[Big s]

I liked the first short season. Hoping this one will be good.

[Mog]

Thoughts after watching Season 2?

It's not as action packed as the shortened first season.  Although it develops the newly introduced characters alright, there's just a ton of backstory to get through in the front end of the season.

Also, the banter between the main three protagonists can be a bit much at times (if this were an anime series proper, I feel like they would have gone full-bore and chibi-fied the characters during these scenes).

And although I understand the ending, some could view it as being a little bit emo.

But when those action scenes hit, this series absolutely shines!  Loved the team work that was on display during these moments.

And they did a good job of fleshing out the characters of Dracula and Isaac quite well, making you ALMOST sympathize with them.

Although it has some flaws and meh parts, I'd still give Season 2 a recommendation.

[Bolt]

I found both seasons and the overall story very pleasing. No need to pick it apart here. 

Obviously there plenty of room for another season ... but I’m not sure they should ..

[Metal_Massacre_79]

Hopefully not too off-topic, but rumor has it that this same team might be working on a Zelda series.

Anywho, liked the first season a lot. The wife and I will probably start watching the second season tonight. We're both looking forward to it.

[Big s]

It’s definitely flawed, but great at the same time. The banter would probably be my least favorite part, but I gotta say that this is the best U.S. animated action series in almost a decade. 

[Mog]

Guess they went and did a Season 3:

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by Mog

[Bolt]

Ok then.  I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Big s]

Flawed or not, I’m definitely looking forward to it. If this show could get a great writer then it would really help. I think most of the voice actors are at least decent and the animation is good, just needs better writing and it would be unforgettable.

[chyll2]

Hoping more from this series until it gets to a great success that they will tackle at some point the War of 1999.

[Mog]

So, I wound up going through all of Season 3 last night. 

Can something be so freakin’ good . . . and a bit too much at the same time? 

Even considering the past two seasons, Season 3 can be too gratuitous at times (in more ways than just the goriness).  And depending on your sensibilities and tastes, it can be a bit much.

But damn is the character work off the charts here!

Much like Season 2, this season starts off slow then gets crazy closer towards the end.

But I honestly didn’t mind the leisurely pace of the beginning.  It gave the characters a chance to breathe and just be.

The character work and “quieter” moments this season were nice ways to give depth to most of the characters.

I know Isaac is a villain with an insane goal, but all the foils he gets to interact with really elevated his story arc.

Spoiler

 

Carmilla’s three “sisters” are great additions too.  

But geez were there a lot of gut punches at the end.  

The Judge seemed like a level-headed guy, but his “look” just screamed hidden bad guy.  Guess that’s what makes his ending so upsetting.

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop in Alucard’s story, but it went Black Lagoon’s Hansel & Gretel-level dark at the end there.  I don’t completely buy the betrayal of the two, but that ending was definitely disturbing for a number of reasons.

We knew Hector was gonna wind up building that army, but damn did Lenore own him completely. 

 

Gonna be an interesting Season 4.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Mog

[Bolt]

Can't wait to sit down to this one. Won't get to it until later in the weekend. Gotta get some sailing in first 

[Tking22]

I haven't even watched season 1 or 2 yet, I'm way behind! I didn't know season 3 was already out, I may have to blast through the whole series this weekend, I've heard nothing but good things. 

[sqidd]

9 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I haven't even watched season 1 or 2 yet, I'm way behind! I didn't know season 3 was already out, I may have to blast through the whole series this weekend, I've heard nothing but good things. 

It's good.

[Bolt]

Really enjoying season 3. My favorite line so far is "wtf is toilet paper..?"

[Mommar]

On 3/6/2020 at 5:09 PM, Tking22 said:

I haven't even watched season 1 or 2 yet, I'm way behind! I didn't know season 3 was already out, I may have to blast through the whole series this weekend, I've heard nothing but good things. 

I have a different opinion from most.  I’d say at best it’s so-so.

[Mazinger]

Is that what I think it is?  Now I'm gonna be watching out for some Pilar men references.

ゴゴゴゴ   ゴゴゴゴ   ゴゴゴゴ  ゴゴゴゴ

[Mog]

Season 4, May 13th

"Why the f*@k would anyone do that?"

 

[Mog]

Tore through Season 4 last night.

Much like Seasons 2 and 3, the season starts with a lot of quiet character moments then builds up to some crazy fights.

But one difference is that early on you’ll see a few of the characters taking some cuts and wounds by the hordes of baddies.  You definitely feel how the constant barrage of fights wear down two of the characters.

Seeing as this was announced as the final season, they definitely went for broke with these animated fights.

Those bothered by the cussing in the past few seasons will find that they upped the cuss-count exponentially for this season.

Spoiler

Though Sypha’s cuss-rant was pretty amusing!

The gore is still there, but the “excesses” of Season 3 (think, Alucard and his two trainees or Hector-Lenore) aren’t really present.

All in all, I enjoyed the thought they put into making the characters more well-developed and am pleased how they ended the series.

One last curiosity:

Spoiler

Was that Isaac loitering around in that last scene at the inn?

 

[Mog]

Looks like we’re getting a new series with Richter as the main:

No date announced. . . yet.

[Big s]

35 minutes ago, Mog said:

Looks like we’re getting a new series with Richter as the main:

No date announced. . . yet.

Nice. The last season ended in a way that felt like a good closing point for those characters. Can’t wait to start with the new. And really glad that with Netflix animation having so many shows getting the axe and some like Bone getting dumped before even getting started, that I feel lucky that this survived

[sh9000]

[Big s]

The preview definitely looks good 

[Mog]

Is it just me, or does it almost sound like everyone is saying “Victor” instead of Ritcher?

[sh9000]