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Castlevania |OT| A miserable little pile of episodes - Netflix 7/7
- Thread starter GK86
- Start date
"lacking in frames" isn't really a fair critique of budgeted 2D animation
If they got the same actors as the games, I would maybe understand. But they didn't. Apparently, they had Alucard's VA play as Trevor, lol. If it took place in Japan, maybe as well, but it takes place in fake medieval Europe.
Also, lots of stuff is based off anime, it still doesn't make sense to watch it in Japanese (again, unless you are Japanese). I just don't get it, TBH.
Wow. Trevor is a putz of the highest order. I kinda like his hidden heart of gold though. I guess he's the Belmont family's Jotaro Kujo? Kinda wish the Christians weren't all just sheep to the Catholic Church but I guess that was how it was. The show does take place some hundred years before Martin Luther's 95 theses were written after all. I won't deny though it's been a very fun ride thus far. Only one episode to go!
First episode was alright. Dipped hard after that. Last episode showed potential.
Biggest problem for me was just the endless plodding exposition. Some lines were clever but there was just way too much standing and talking and explaining. Voice actors did well with what they had though.
The direction was also pretty mundane for alot of the series, which made for uninteresting staging and scenes despite the fact that the artwork and design was pretty solid. Liked the ultraviolence
Would probably watch if they made more
Biggest problem for me was just the endless plodding exposition. Some lines were clever but there was just way too much standing and talking and explaining. Voice actors did well with what they had though.
The direction was also pretty mundane for alot of the series, which made for uninteresting staging and scenes despite the fact that the artwork and design was pretty solid. Liked the ultraviolence
Would probably watch if they made more
FrostuTheNinja
Member
Environments are top notch and the character designs felt fairly "Castlevania". Tonally, all the "fucks" seem out of place and extreeeeeeme with the rest of the writing coming off as pretty corny. Solid, but corny. Looking forward to more and hope they get a higher animation budget for the rest.
sir_kevith
Member
As a fan of the games I loved it. It's crazy enough that even exists with the state of fuck Konami we're in. CV3 is the perfect choice of game to cover too.
I don't know what the last animated series I watched was but I thought the 3d lighting and surround sound really gave it some depth. The digital post processing looks great. At times it still felt cheap like how Sega CD cinematics took shortcuts but I can't say anything really bothered me.
The last first episode and the last fight scene were definitely the highlights.
I don't know what the last animated series I watched was but I thought the 3d lighting and surround sound really gave it some depth. The digital post processing looks great. At times it still felt cheap like how Sega CD cinematics took shortcuts but I can't say anything really bothered me.
The last first episode and the last fight scene were definitely the highlights.
evilromero
Member
Just finished all four episodes with my friend and I loved it. Great atmosphere, great characters and a really rich backstory. Love what they did with Trevor's character and looking forward to see how he develops in the next season. Just sucks balls it was so short. This is how you do Castlevania.
Sanctuary
Member
Damn, just finished the first episode. NOT what I expected at all. Not exactly what I would have hoped for, but very close and much better than expected for sure. The animation didn't bother me that much honestly either. It didn't seem too bad either until the last few minutes in the bar, but most of the atmosphere made up for it.
Eh, maybe animation wise, but stylistically it was closer to Claymore and Berserk. Oh, and obviously Vampire Hunter D.
Eh, maybe animation wise, but stylistically it was closer to Claymore and Berserk. Oh, and obviously Vampire Hunter D.
Bob Coffee
Member
this hit the spot. like how trevor is salty about the belmonts being excumunicated. and dracula being science master. trevors suit also gives me a makai knight kinda vibe from its design. hell the first four eps give me kind of a garo:the animation vibe in tone. writing is kind of odd, but i'll take it. hyped for season 2. next on the list should be getting on the phone with IGA to get the outline and lets get the 1999 castlevania story animated!
I know it's not a movie but thinking on it, this has to be one of the best video game adaptations ever made (at least in the TV/Movie medium).
Are there any that top this? Gungrave is pretty good too, but it's way different from the game it was based on. Other than that, ¯\_(ツ
_/¯
Not the highest bar to clear, lol, but everyone has to start somewhere. It helps that the show isn't ashamed of the video game it's adapting.
Are there any that top this? Gungrave is pretty good too, but it's way different from the game it was based on. Other than that, ¯\_(ツ
_/¯Not the highest bar to clear, lol, but everyone has to start somewhere. It helps that the show isn't ashamed of the video game it's adapting.
Pilgrimzero
Member
Alucard was the best part about it.
Seraph_Nicholas
Member
Oh god, I need more.
It's a surprisingly straight adaptation. Characterization and lore is fleshed out, but... It's really Castlevania.
It's a surprisingly straight adaptation. Characterization and lore is fleshed out, but... It's really Castlevania.
So who was Trevor's great grandfather? Could have been a hook for a second arc, maybe? Whoever he was, he entered Castlevania and lived to write about it.
DyslexicAlucard
Member
Just finished watching it in one go. It was okay, and gained momentum by the end. I love the style. But, I gotta say, the writing left something to be desired. I think the idea to make Trevor so smarmy was... odd. I guess it makes sense to separate him from the self-serious Alucard, but I don't think he fits the story's tone well.
I also found that the score, while good, was not very "Castlevania." It honestly felt like a mash-up between House of Cards and later Deus Ex games.
Did anyone else have some issues with the sound mixing? I found the dialogue a tad quiet, making it a bit hard to understand at points. I had to go back a couple of times to catch some things. I even had to use subtitles at one point.
And I agree that final battle was pretty good. I hope more episodes come out soon, as starting with just four 20-min episodes is a pretty sparce showing.
For those that enjoyed this and haven't seen it, I highly recommend you watch Helsing. It's far superior, in my opinion. Hell, it even has the better Alucard (which is quite a compliment.) And I'd know about Alucards.
I also found that the score, while good, was not very "Castlevania." It honestly felt like a mash-up between House of Cards and later Deus Ex games.
Did anyone else have some issues with the sound mixing? I found the dialogue a tad quiet, making it a bit hard to understand at points. I had to go back a couple of times to catch some things. I even had to use subtitles at one point.
And I agree that final battle was pretty good. I hope more episodes come out soon, as starting with just four 20-min episodes is a pretty sparce showing.
For those that enjoyed this and haven't seen it, I highly recommend you watch Helsing. It's far superior, in my opinion. Hell, it even has the better Alucard (which is quite a compliment.) And I'd know about Alucards.
Going into this I didn't know anything about the Castlevania franchise beyond gothic horror and whips. Entertaining enough that I will definitely check out the second season.
fake edit: imagining the new berserk series done in this style would be nice, instead of whatever the fuck kind of abomination was released.
fake edit: imagining the new berserk series done in this style would be nice, instead of whatever the fuck kind of abomination was released.
I don't wanna crap on this cos as I said earlier, I liked it, but I think the only really issue I had with the writing was the comic relief. The main reason for this is that it doesn't fit the world. Even in the good scene between the demon and the priest, the demon says something about how the priest makes God want to 'puke'. The word 'puke' did not sound right in the context of that scene at all and it made me think of a middling pop culture obsessed writer sitting at his computer trying to be witty, rather than a demon trying to mess with a priest.
Trevor's dialogue had the most instances of this, the first one that comes to mind is when he steps on a stone which unlocks something in ep 4 he goes 'I didn't do that.'. I just immediately thought 'man, it would have been better if he had just shut the fuck up right there' because the scene was tense and atmosphere and that kind of 90's humour cuts right through it and leaves the scene limp. It was able to recover, but there were frequent little beats like this which are a bit annoying at times.
Trevor's dialogue had the most instances of this, the first one that comes to mind is when he steps on a stone which unlocks something in ep 4 he goes 'I didn't do that.'. I just immediately thought 'man, it would have been better if he had just shut the fuck up right there' because the scene was tense and atmosphere and that kind of 90's humour cuts right through it and leaves the scene limp. It was able to recover, but there were frequent little beats like this which are a bit annoying at times.
Suffers from pacing issues and establishing character motivations. Doesn't help that the voice actors mumble through half of it either. Overall I dig the vibe and see potential. I hope they pick up the ball and run with it rather than meander through another 8 episodes.
Slight spoilers for the whole season:
The writer said there weren't pirates in the area where the show took place, because it was landlocked. Hopefully he gets written into S2.
malikhaing_bayag
Member
Just finished this. The first and last episode was the best for me. Hated the bit in the end
which may make Grant have little chance of appearing in the future.
Potential spoilers about Alucard:
The tale of the sleeping messiah being down in the catacombs for hundreds of years being "future knowledge" of the Speakers hints at Alucard's slumber before Symphony of the Night, no?
I do hope they move on throughout the ages and get through at least Symphony of the Night eventually
I do hope they move on throughout the ages and get through at least Symphony of the Night eventually
Pirates are thieves
I don't know. I never played any Castlevania games. That's just what I heard when looking up stuff on the show.
Sounds about right for Warren Ellis.
Need more goat fucking anecdotes
Wow, that was shockingly great. They nailed the mood with the animation and the voice acting was really good all around. I thought Richard Armitage as Trevor was especially awesome.
Only downside is it being over so quickly. Like others have said, kinda just feels like a long pilot. Hopefully we get a few full-length seasons in the future.
Only downside is it being over so quickly. Like others have said, kinda just feels like a long pilot. Hopefully we get a few full-length seasons in the future.
Wolf Akela
Member
SotN:Potential spoilers about Alucard:
The tale of the sleeping messiah being down in the catacombs for hundreds of years being "future knowledge" of the Speakers hints at Alucard's slumber before Symphony of the Night, no?
I do hope they move on throughout the ages and get through at least Symphony of the Night eventually
Pirates are thieves
I'm actually hoping we get to see the Succubus fight in SotN.
he was my favorite character to play but i'm not really sure he has a place in this story. could pan out either way though
Cave Johnson
Member
Me before watching: Watched it expecting another video game to media trash-tier.
Me after watching: When the fuck is the next episode???
Me after watching: When the fuck is the next episode???
SchrodingerC
Member
Do we really have to wait until 2018 for new episodes? The show just got started D:
MHWilliams
Member
No clue. The only Belmont in the main timeline before Trevor is Leon, who was like 400 years earlier.
Red Arremer
Member
Show is good. Has a few flaws, but given the fact it was only 4 episodes that are used to set up the scenario, I can forgive most of them. Had a few really cool shoutouts to the series
.
The biggest issue I had is that it was gory just for goriness' sake, and that the church was a bit too comically mustache-twirling evil.
Also where's Grant?
(e.g. Sypha being petrified by a cyclops boss just like in CV3, and Lisa using the quote from SotN)
The biggest issue I had is that it was gory just for goriness' sake, and that the church was a bit too comically mustache-twirling evil.
Also where's Grant?
Dark Ninja
Member
Finished watching it and while I liked it, man was the animation quality all over the place the fights looked decent but everything else was bad. What was up with the terrible lip syncing. Art direction was good but some of the characters looked bad in certain scenes. Backgrounds were really amazing. Too much damn talking.
Red Arremer
Member
Also, I would've loved some remixed classic Castlevania themes during some of the scenes. I kind of hummed various themes like Bloody Tears, Mad Forest and Clockwork in some corresponding scenes, and thought a more orchestral/cinematic version of them woulda been fantastic.
Oh, and definitely agree with the people saying the
was the best scene in the show so far.
Oh, and definitely agree with the people saying the
demon in the church
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
hope they are taking in all the feed back for season 2 need way more castlevania monsters and music if next season dosest end with evergreen playing as they watch castlevania crumble to dust they done goofed
Trevor does get developed in the PS2 Curse of Darkness. And yes, he's an arrogant motherfucker and I love it.
Wolf Akela
Member
I'm probably one of the few who are actually glad they didn't use any tracks from the game.
As much as I love the games' tracks, it would be better for the show if they carve an identity through sheer quality instead of fanservice. I would like more original tracks, rather than the 20th remix of the same track I've been listening to all these years. Very subtle motifs would be alright I guess, like how XV inserted FF Prelude for like 2 seconds and you could miss it if you weren't really paying attention. Game background music don't usually translate well into media.
As much as I love the games' tracks, it would be better for the show if they carve an identity through sheer quality instead of fanservice. I would like more original tracks, rather than the 20th remix of the same track I've been listening to all these years. Very subtle motifs would be alright I guess, like how XV inserted FF Prelude for like 2 seconds and you could miss it if you weren't really paying attention. Game background music don't usually translate well into media.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I remembered back when Paul WS Anderson was attached to a Hollywood Castlevania, I'd hoped they'd embrace the campiness and have a good time, because sure as hell, no one would adapt the subject matter seriously anyway.
It's nothing short of a miracle that this Netflix show exists, treats CV and its themes with the utmost reverence, has a mature tone, and was released well after #FucKonami.
It's nothing short of a miracle that this Netflix show exists, treats CV and its themes with the utmost reverence, has a mature tone, and was released well after #FucKonami.
Vampirolol
Member
Absolutely loved this, it blew out my expectations.
Red Arremer
Member
That's the kind of stuff I would've loved.
In the first episode
when Dracula was crying blood over Lisa
A bit divided.
Things took took long to move with lot's of exposition done in the most basic of ways.
Design was cool but animations sometimes were so-so. The fight in the bar and the entire confront was weird, some strange animation with some badly drawn anatomy but then the fight with Allucard was really cool and well done.
Things took took long to move with lot's of exposition done in the most basic of ways.
Design was cool but animations sometimes were so-so. The fight in the bar and the entire confront was weird, some strange animation with some badly drawn anatomy but then the fight with Allucard was really cool and well done.
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
at some point this series is going to cover everything i hope