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Castlevania |OT| A miserable little pile of episodes - Netflix 7/7

R

Raitaro

Member
Just finished it. It's a miserable pile of..............AWESOMENESS!!!

Sure, there are some pacing issues, the number of episodes could have been more, I would have liked to have seen more creature types as enemies as well as more action and less talking in general, and yes, I do sorely miss any musical references to the themes from the games (I mean the composer is the well known Trevor Morris - if ever there was a Castlevania name in real life that gave me hope for hearing Bloody Tears during a fight scene, this was it!), but apart from those negatives, I friggin' loved it!

Interesting depictions of familiar characters, cool, non-cliche dialogues (especially any involving Trevor's dry sarcasm), good voice acting, a great art style that looks like Vampire Hunter D meets Berserk, good animation in general (especially the fight scenes where Trevor uses his whip, which were breathtaking imo) and cool Gothic depictions of hamlets, forests, churches and ruins that one would hope for in a Castlevania adaptation. I also loved how they set up the world with the Church and the historical locations, the ruins beneath the city, the superstition / religion vs science motif, themes of exile and banishment, the Belmonts being an old noble house etc.

I can't wait for season 2 now as this is what I have been waiting for as a Castlevania fan in terms of non-game stuff. The only other potential negative I can think of is that they aren't following the story and world set by the Lords of Shadow games it seems (where Alucard and Dracula
start out as Belmonts, though in Dracula's case they still could add that twist later I suppose
) since I did kind of liked that but it won't ruin my enjoyment at all. Hopefully season 2 will take the story in interesting directions where we see other parts of Wallachia, more varied monsters to fight during relatively more action scenes, and perhaps see more of the Belmont's future (Simon in particular) since there was a "stories from the future" allusion made here and there.

Wow, from the first hazy rumors and tweets by Adi Shankar to the long silence and vague comments by Waren Ellis and now the sudden release of something that actually turned out very well, I can still hardly believe this is real, especially considering the recent absence of Castlevania games. Bring on Season 2's 8 episodes!

Final thought:...Where was the pirate Grant though?

Edit: came across an older interview with Adi Shankar and if I had read that sooner, I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up about hearing references to older songs: "The first thing I thought about was music and how we needed to avoid the traditional sword-and-sandal orchestra cliche and use the heavy metal electro guitar vibe found in the early games." Sigh...to call the uniquely awesome and imo timeless classic Castlevania scores "cliched" seems wrong on so many levels. Sure, they don't have to be power rock ballads in the cartoon but surely the themes could have come back in a more subdued, orchestral manner Adi! Some pipe organs could have been used here and there at the very least! What's so original and satisfying about yet another very subtle orchestral score without any recognisable melodies like pretty much all modern film scores?
 
S

Snagret

Member
F-Pina said:
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.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm a bit surprised at some of the praise for the dialogue. A lot of it is just flat (or really flowery) moments of characters just describing their motivations.

I liked the stuff with Dracula confronting the town in the first ep, the animation is really great at times and there's some really creative visual moments. But the exposition scenes are dreadfully boring and drag on so long laying out plot details. It's a good example of "telling and not showing".

I doesn't help that I feel like there's something weird going on with the mix. It's like everyone is mumbling under their breath and everything else is too loud. I had to turn on subtitles because I couldn't understand people.

I made it halfway through the third episode, I'll finish it out today and I'm sure it'll leave me interested in season 2. I just hope they find a bit better pacing and balance between action and dialogue. When it shines, it shines pretty bright. Hopefully they'll find more of those moments as it goes on.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Snagret said:
Yeah, I'm a bit surprised at some of the praise for the dialogue. A lot of it is just flat (or really flowery) moments of characters just describing their motivations.

I liked the stuff with Dracula confronting the town in the first ep, the animation is really great at times and there's some really creative visual moments. But the exposition scenes are dreadfully boring and drag on so long laying out plot details. It's a good example of "telling and not showing".

I doesn't help that I feel like there's something weird going on with the mix. It's like everyone is mumbling under their breath and everything else is too loud. I had to turn on subtitles because I couldn't understand people.

I made it halfway through the third episode, I'll finish it out today and I'm sure it'll leave me interested in season 2. I just hope they find a bit better pacing and balance between action and dialogue. When it shines, it shines pretty bright. Hopefully they'll find more of those moments as it goes on.
Click to expand...

Like was said before, I enjoyed how talky it was, especially episode 2 with the townspeople and the bar. It let the show breathe, which was not what I was expecting, I thought it was going to be nonstop action. This was very character driven, which I appreciate.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I'd hope this show actually a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure style with each major story arc being about a different generation of Belmont who are very distinct from one another with their own cast of friends and foes with Dracula lording over it all. They could even do things like introduce characters like Death and Shaft into the scheme.

Mostly I'd just love to see it get up the era of Richter and Alucard (again) so they can do the Rondo of Blood/Symphony of the Night combination. They would of course have to include the classic line from Dracula to Richter.
 
Y

Yappadappadu

Member
Xe4 said:
Why do you even care? The only reason you'd think it's any better would be because you couldn't tell any better*. It's not like the Japanese dub is the original version anyhow.

*Unless you're actually Japanese.
Click to expand...
Old argument. I don't agree that you need a perfect grasp of the language. That's all I'll say since we have the same damn arguments in every japanese/english dub anime game thread.
Personally, I thought that the secondary characters' english voices, e.g. the mayor (?), were lacking.
 
Y

Yappadappadu

Member
Snagret said:
I doesn't help that I feel like there's something weird going on with the mix. It's like everyone is mumbling under their breath and everything else is too loud. I had to turn on subtitles because I couldn't understand people.
Click to expand...
Problem is that there are no non hearing impaired english subs? German Netflix here.
 
M

Mathieran

Banned
Watched it last night. It was pretty good. Trevor was a surprisingly fun character. I was expecting typical hero archetype, but we got reluctant hero which I always love. Wasn't really expecting Dracula to get a backstory either.

I liked the aesthetics and atmosphere of the show. The animation overall was pretty good but you could tell they had to cut some corners to meet the presumably small budget. I hope season 2 can be an improvement.

Biggest complaint was how short it was though. It just felt like the first episode of a season. Oh well.
 
R

Rhoc

Member
Man i want more ! What a good appetizer i hope we get season 2 early 2018.
And i have to say i usually prefer english VA but i like the german one more in this one. Really great job all around.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
Just binged it this morning. Holy shit was that cool. Violent, but cool. The fight
with Alucard was amazing
. Plus I heard its getting 8 more episodes?? Nice!

I hope this paves the way for more video games into animes. I think it suits it best. Can you imagine a Metroid in this style?
 
C

chefbags

Member
RPGCrazied said:
Just binged it this morning. Holy shit was that cool. Violent, but cool. The fight
with Alucard was amazing
. Plus I heard its getting 8 more episodes?? Nice!

I hope this paves the way for more video games into animes. I think it suits it best. Can you imagine a Metroid in this style?
Click to expand...

The person who produced
created castlevania for Netflix is also doing an anime version of assassin's creed. So with that I think they can do it justice much more than the movie released last year.
 
A

Alucard

Banned
I will say I was irked by the big fall that Sypha and Trevor survived in episode four. I know it's a cartoon and that physics are arbitrary, but I thought they had done a good job of making it feel grounded until that moment. Well, that part and the scene of Trevor tossing a javelin a hundred meters to kill a guy on a rooftop.
 
N

Nephtes

Member
Binged it last night.

Impressions:
Good voice work.
Too few episodes.
Good art style and animation.
Music a complete miss.

For a series with such rich musical history to not use or update any of the well known themes associated with Castlevania is a crime.
I wish the first episode had not happened...
It features all the backstory for why
Dracula is justified in his war with the church
... It would have worked better if it was revealed later as a kind of twist like season 2 or 3 when our heroes finally
climb the tower and confront Dracula and are told they're miserable piles of secrets
.
 
K

kswiston

Member
Does it count as binging when the entire series is a bit over 90 mins? I really wish that Netflix had more confidence in this , and we received the entire first season. "S2" is clearly just the rest of the order.

Dynedom said:
:D

So many screen grabs around GAF had subtitles that I was wondering if I was in a minority...
Click to expand...

Some people watch everything with subs so that they don't need to turn the volume up to hear quiet dialogue.

This is a North American production, so I have to imagine that the voice acting was English by default.
 
H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
Does Netflix not want people to know this exists? I went through recently added and new releases, and it was fucking nowhere in sight. It's not like I don't watch animated shit, either.
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
This was fantastic. Man, I feel like playing Dracula's Curse now.

Just a question:
Why did Sypha blush when Alucard asked her if she knew the whole story?
 
K

kswiston

Member
WrenchNinja said:
This was fantastic. Man, I feel like playing Dracula's Curse now.

Just a question:
Why did Sypha blush when Alucard asked her if she knew the whole story?
Click to expand...

The Speakers were manipulating Trevor into waking Alucard. She was embarrassed that she was hiding what she knew from him
 
C

compo

Banned
Alucard said:
I will say I was irked by the big fall that Sypha and Trevor survived in episode four. I know it's a cartoon and that physics are arbitrary, but I thought they had done a good job of making it feel grounded until that moment. Well, that part and the scene of Trevor tossing a javelin a hundred meters to kill a guy on a rooftop.
Click to expand...

That fall scene pushed my buttons a bit too.
First, that last fall they survived did kind of ruin the physics of this universe, as had been presented earlier in the first 3 episodes. I would have expected them to die. Second, it seemed to go on for a bit too long.
If they would have fallen through another floor after the last one, then I would've sworn the director was trolling us or something. Finally, it seemed to be a bit anticlimactic. The two main characters were just standing outside one second, then they randomly fell to the final boss. So much for the epic journey through the catacombs.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
Honestly, the series is super weak... but it says something that even though it was weak, it still blew my expectations out of the water.

Of note:

[*]Dracula's reactions are weird... "I'm crying blood and upset! You need to leave this town tonight! This town has a year!
[*]Trevor and his characterization are nice, but his motivations are muddy and hard to follow his line of thinking.
[*]Sypha's whole introduction is a beautiful callback, being turned to stone and fighting a cyclops
[*]Sypha is unbearable as a character
[*]Everything relating to the church beyond the first episode felt filler as fuck and the whole thing ends very unsatisfactorily with the demon killing the Bishop
[*]Everything with Alucard feels very weird... he's supposed to be in his early 20's, but had a giant study built under a city that was apparently old enough to be crumbling
[*]The final fight was beautifully choreographed but ruined by the whole "It's destiny!
Hunter and Scholar and Vampire team go!"

I'm hoping the second confirmed season will do it's best to stop with the monologing, work on characterizations, and just improve the dialogue in general... I have high hopes that they'll push through the awkwardness... but until I see Season 2, there is no way I could recommend anyone watch Season 1 by itself.
 
Astral Dog

Astral Dog

Member
KojiKnight said:
Honestly, the series is super weak... but it says something that even though it was weak, it still blew my expectations out of the water.

Of note:

[*]Dracula's reactions are weird... "I'm crying blood and upset! You need to leave this town tonight! This town has a year!
[*]Trevor and his characterization are nice, but his motivations are muddy and hard to follow his line of thinking.
[*]Sypha's whole introduction is a beautiful callback, being turned to stone and fighting a cyclops
[*]Sypha is unbearable as a character
[*]Everything relating to the church beyond the first episode felt filler as fuck and the whole thing ends very unsatisfactorily with the demon killing the Bishop
[*]Everything with Alucard feels very weird... he's supposed to be in his early 20's, but had a giant study built under a city that was apparently old enough to be crumbling
[*]The final fight was beautifully choreographed but ruined by the whole "It's destiny!
Hunter and Scholar and Vampire team go!"

I'm hoping the second confirmed season will do it's best to stop with the monologing, work on characterizations, and just improve the dialogue in general... I have high hopes that they'll push through the awkwardness... but until I see Season 2, there is no way I could recommend anyone watch Season 1 by itself.
Click to expand...
I agree it was sloppy about everything except the church, i mean what isn't filler? The stuff added directly from the game? The anime needs lots of that stuff to makr sense i like how it paid off at the beginning of ep4 even if it was too soon
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
Vampirolol said:
Absolutely loved this, it blew out my expectations.
Click to expand...

Same

What a pleasant surprise this whole thing was

Blown away that we even get an adaptation like this at all and that its actually quite good and loving of the source material

Alucard brought to life... makes me want to play SOTN again
 
A

Alucard

Banned
Add me to the list of people who had to search for this on Netflix and didn't see it advertised anywhere on the front end. I'm in Canada.
 
O

OnPoint

Member
I finished it last night and I'm coming down on the positive side. I'm looking forward to more.

I liked:

They really didn't hold back on the brutality and horrific imagery
Dracula has motivation other than "But he's eeeeeeevil"
Trevor, eventually, when he became Trevor
The Sypha callback
The dialogue and voicing was decent enough, but most of all, not cringy
Shortening the intro in all episodes but the first is genius
The backstory between the Belmonts and the Church

I disliked:

How short is this though! It really did feel like one long premiere episode cut into 4
Trevor basically being Jack Sparrow for everything except the last episode or so
Sypha's accent. Yuck
A lack of memorable music, one of the hallmarks of Castlevania. I didn't need callbacks,
just something good
Did the audio balance seem extra quiet to anyone else?

All in all, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to seeing on how they capitalize on the setup with this mini-season.
 
K

kswiston

Member
Alucard said:
Add me to the list of people who had to search for this on Netflix and didn't see it advertised anywhere on the front end. I'm in Canada.
Click to expand...

I am in Canada as well and it was the Netflix banner show. I guess Netflix algorithms decided that someone monikered Alucard wasn't interested in a Castlevania show :p
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
Sub Boss said:
I agree it was sloppy about everything except the church, i mean what isn't filler? The stuff added directly from the game? The anime needs lots of that stuff to makr sense i like how it paid off at the beginning of ep4 even if it was too soon
Click to expand...

The pacing of the series is off because so much time is spent on unnecessary things. Why have the bishop exist at all as a character if nothing really comes from him?

We also didn't need 5 different scenes with different ways to say the Belonts are persecuted. Trevor's introduction did that well enough alone. We didn't need the scene at the church, the scene with the speakers, etc etc.

Honestly the series would have been better paced to be shorter, since i assume we didn't see as much action wise because of budget. 3 episodes or a single movie would have played better imo.


All that said, they did far far far better than i would have guessed and i eagerly await season 2 and hope it only goes up from there... It's just hard to justify recommending the series as it's to anyone.
 
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