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Castlevania Renewed for Second Season on Netflix, Episodes Doubled

P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Went in with realitvely low expectations (trailer was exciting, but you know... games based stuff...), came away really impressed. This show is well done, well animated, and well paced. Really like how they grasped the atmosphere of the classic Castlevania games so well.
 
S

squidyj

Member
sfried said:
How so is it trash? That's the question I have to anybody who hates it that much.
Click to expand...

dialogue is often garbage, and the delivery leaves a lot to be desired (I suppose I can give the performers the benefit of the doubt here given the material they had to work with)
the characters are paper thin, like... onion paper.
the designs, character and environment are kind of ugly and clunky.
the animation is uneven in it's quality
jesus that entire fucking intro sequence was a joke. It read more like a bad parody than anything else and these were the scenes that were supposed to sell Dracula's emotional investment in this woman.
There's barely a sliver of narrative arc, even talking about something as archetypal and poorly realized as what trevor is in this show you're still only at the very beginning of that well-worn arc.
Hamfisted themes abound.
 
R

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
I thought it was pretty weak and a lot just didn't make much sense. Nothing really stood out for me in a positive way. Animation is janky, voice-acting hit and miss, Dracula is a complete goofy oddball in the first episode, shows takes like 3 minutes to establish an incredibly shaky relationship between him and
Alucards mother
.

Set aside from the valid points made above, some (light) spoiler-related complaints: In the last episode
Belmont organizes the villagers to effectively fight the demons. But we've seen there's hundreds of them, but for this fight, suddenly we only get three and everything's fine after popping those three?

I guess I'm spoiled by better animation, but if this is the best we can get for Castlevania, I'd rather see the franchise dormant.
 
E

Evilkazzzz

Neo Member
Man I loved these 4 episodes.

I'm not sure there's an element of this show I didn't like (besides inconsistent animation).

The tone was on point, the characters played off each other well, the dialogue was well written. I'm honestly amazed that they managed to take the plot of a NES era game and expand this much out of it. And it's so well paced too. Truly felt like the beginning of a solid multipart epic.

Kinda wish there was more fanservice though. Throw in a Medusa heads and a couple music references and it would be perfect.

As a casual castlevania fan I'm more than pleased. Makes me want to replay some of those games again.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
squidyj said:
surprised to see so much positivity for it, I watched the first episode and thought it was trash but I figured i'd stick it out seeing as there were only 4 episodes.
My opinion did not change.
Click to expand...

Trash? Man I've seen a lot of animation that you can call trash end this was not one of them.
 
M

Macchiato

Member
I watched all 4 episodes in one go, and I enjoyed it!

The animation could have been smoother for sure, apart from that final battle, and the show as a whole felt a bit rushed, but it didn't hurt my overall enjoyment.

I think so far the Church was way too muhahaha evil, to the point of being trite, and I found Dracula to be sympathetic in the beginning, so I hope they don't forgo that in the 2nd season.

I'm a little fatigued by the "2 kool 4 skool" type male protagonists though, like Trevor. It isn't too grating but I was hoping his character would be more interesting.
 
M

Mael

Member
WAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short!
I fully expected it to be one of the worst trash product on Netflix I would ever see.
Am I glad I was wrong though!
It was actually so good we watched it in nearly 1 go!
Didn't even need to know much about Castlevania to enjoy the show.
If they had this to go along with a new Castlevania release I would have actually bought the game, so I guess I liked what I saw.
Instead I'm just replaying Igavanias because they're the only things I have :/
Good to know that they're ramping up production on for another season.
 
S

Schopenhauerian

Member
squidyj said:
dialogue is often garbage, and the delivery leaves a lot to be desired (I suppose I can give the performers the benefit of the doubt here given the material they had to work with)

the characters are paper thin, like... onion paper.
the designs, character and environment are kind of ugly and clunky.
the animation is uneven in it's quality

jesus that entire fucking intro sequence was a joke. It read more like a bad parody than anything else and these were the scenes that were supposed to sell Dracula's emotional investment in this woman.

There's barely a sliver of narrative arc, even talking about something as archetypal and poorly realized as what trevor is in this show you're still only at the very beginning of that well-worn arc.Hamfisted themes abound.
Click to expand...

This is very interesting to me.

The interaction between Lisa and Dracula lasts for less than 3 minutes, so it was of course ‘telegraphic' & excessively terse/concise in its characterization -- and was only meant to give you the briefest glimpse into how Lisa eventually won over Dracula -- but I thought it did accomplish that and was quite well-done, if we allow for the time constraint. The lines were well-delivered by the actors in that scene as well.

I'd personally be very interested to hear other folks weigh in on that introductory scene (positive or negative opinions). Someone posted the dialogue online, and I've added some annotations, in bold:
http://www.springfieldspringfield.c...s.php?tv-show=castlevania-2017&episode=s01e01
[mechanism clanking] [energy surges] [inhales sharply] [pounds twice] [gasps] [heavy door opens] [hinges creak] [door clangs shut]

[...]

Lisa: Don't mistake me for a witch. Everybody out there already does that. I believe in science, but [Dracula's cape flutters] I need to know more. I've exhausted my other options, and all the stories say the man who lives here has secret knowledge.

[Dracula suddenly appears behind Lisa. From our POV, we see from her eyes that Lisa is now deeply alarmed, as she could be moments from death, yet she determinedly remains still, refusing to betray her alarm or allow her resolve to weaken.]

Dracula: I am Vlad Dracula Tepes, and I do not get many visitors. What have you to trade for my knowledge, Lisa from Lupu?

[Close-up on Lisa's eyes. We see a transition from fear & alarm to renewed determination: she steels herself, turns to face Dracula, and begins to methodically charm & disarm.]

Lisa: Perhaps I could help you relearn some manners. [We are shown Dracula, taken aback by the strength of Lisa's will. She continues.] I've crossed the threshold of your home, and you haven't offered me a drink or even to take my coat.

Dracula: What if I took a drink from you? Or have you loaded yourself with silver, crosses, and garlic in superstitious fear?

Lisa: I might have eaten some roasted garlic earlier. Was that rude? I-it was all I had left. I'm really not interested in superstition, or being some muttering wise woman cheating people with boiled nettles and entrails. I want to heal people. I want to learn. Will you help me?

Dracula: You are definitely different to most humans I have met in recent times.

Lisa: Maybe I can teach you to like people again, or at least tolerate them, or stop putting them on sticks.

Dracula: [Dracula chuckles] I gave that up a long time ago.

[...]

Dracula: I've known you two minutes, and you offer for me to walk the earth like an ordinary peasant while I give you the knowledge of immortals, the true science. [Reveals lab.]

Lisa: [Lisa gasps] Ohh. [gasps] [fluids gurgling] [soft gasp] [mechanisms whirr] My... They won't be peasants anymore if you teach them. They won't live such short, scared lives if they have real medicine. They won't be superstitious if they learn how the world really works.

Dracula: [chuckling] Why should I do that?

Lisa: To make the world better. Start with me, and I'll start with you.

Dracula: [Dracula's face softens, amused/impressed.] I think I might like you.
Click to expand...
 
J

J_Viper

Member
squidyj said:
dialogue is often garbage, and the delivery leaves a lot to be desired (I suppose I can give the performers the benefit of the doubt here given the material they had to work with)
the characters are paper thin, like... onion paper.
the designs, character and environment are kind of ugly and clunky.
the animation is uneven in it's quality
jesus that entire fucking intro sequence was a joke. It read more like a bad parody than anything else and these were the scenes that were supposed to sell Dracula's emotional investment in this woman.
There's barely a sliver of narrative arc, even talking about something as archetypal and poorly realized as what trevor is in this show you're still only at the very beginning of that well-worn arc.
Hamfisted themes abound.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of this. I feel like I'm in another dimension reading all these positive impressions.

I'm still stunned by the Garlic line in the beginning of the first episode. How did anyone sign off on the script?
 
Z

Zutrax

Member
So finally got around to watching it, it was awesome. I never in a million years expected a Castlevania show to happen, let alone one with this much care obviously put into it.

I had a few qualms with it however.

First the obvious, it was short. Too short, it felt like it was just the first act of something much bigger, which I feel might be the point but it was very abrupt and the end gave us something really special but left us hanging on that very quickly.

Second, the sound mixing was all sorts of weird. I can't tell if it's how the voice acting was done or if the mixing was just bad, but a lot of scenes it was hard to tell what was being said. It felt like music was either too loud, or sound effects and voices were too muffled or quiet. It felt off sometimes, and very low budget in regards to its sound design.

Outside Dracula and Trevor, a lot of the voice acting was subpar, but it was tolerable enough to get by. Watching a lot of anime dubbed sort of raises your tolerance to this sort of thing.

Though there was plenty great.

The animation was really something special, during the slower parts it was pretty average stuff, but during the fights, and the opening of the show as well, were incredible looking. Particularly the final fight in the show was something to behold. What a great scene that was.

The characters were surprisingly great, I was attached to Dracula as an anti villain, Trevor was pretty damn funny and really charming, and despite the very short amount of time on screen
Alucard
really had a sense of presence. By the end of this I was quite attached to everyone and their stories they had to tell.

I can't wait for the second season, and only running at 4 episodes everyone even remotely interested should check it out.
 
B

blummer102

Member
I wrote a full review of it here, coming from the perspective of someone who remembers parts of the original script being leaked in 2007.

Really don't agree with those who say the writing/voice acting was bad. Maybe Warren Ellis' style or grim settings just aren't your cup of tea. I feel like a lot of lackluster anime gets praised for writing or voice acting when it's in Japanese, but made-for-English-audiences productions like this one get held up to an extra degree of unrealistic scrutiny.
 
poodaddy

poodaddy

Member
blummer102 said:
I wrote a full review of it here, coming from the perspective of someone who remembers parts of the original script being leaked in 2007.

Really don't agree with those who say the writing/voice acting was bad. Maybe Warren Ellis' style or grim settings just aren't your cup of tea. I feel like a lot of lackluster anime gets praised for writing or voice acting when it's in Japanese, but made-for-English-audiences productions like this one get held up to an extra degree of unrealistic scrutiny.
Click to expand...

There we fucking go. All this truth, weaboo's don't wanna hear it. Some of the people bitching about this are probably the same folks who think Persona 5 has good voice acting; they have literally forgotten what good voice actors sound like due to watching too much dreadfully awful bog standard cliche hammy as fuck Japanese productions.
 
S

SalvaPot

Member
Never played Castlevania besides a few minutes of the first two on the NES and I have to say I really enjoyed the show, I specially liked the dialogue and characters, in for the 2nd season.
 
E

evilromero

Member
Z3M0G said:
Maybe it technically was, when you think about it... but they decided to try it as a series format instead and then chopped it up.
Click to expand...
This was more like a pilot season than anything.

I loved the atmosphere and got major Bloodborne vibes from much of it, which of course made me wish for a new 3D Castlevania with the similar environments but with some bad ass Trevor Belmont acrobatics.

Glad we're getting 8 episodes but I just hope they can keep the quality up without stretching it out.
 
L

low-G

Member
Just watched it.

Holy shit cannot believe how much they literally took
Castlevania 3
and just made it into the series.

Trevor literally fights the cyclops to save Sypha who is turned to stone.
This is
Castlevania 3
the TV series. Crazy.
 
S

ShockingAlberto

Member
Poppy said:
not like konami probably did anything for this other than sign a contract

so yes
Click to expand...

Kiiiinda.

We'll never get confirmation because the people involved will never confirm it, but this seems a lot like Ellis' treatment of
Castlevania III
that he's been working on since 2007. In that, Konami was heavily involved, and Ellis reportedly really resented that Igarashi insisted on tearing up scripts.

Though who knows if the current thing on Netflix is the same as what he was working on before. I guess we'll find out if
Grant is named DeNasty
, because changing that was the thing Ellis refused to budge on. He would not use that name under any circumstances.
 
W

wiibomb

Member
I just saw it, my goodness this is amazing, I loved it so much. I only have 2 qualms here:

The facial animations were rough most of the time, it was hard to see any meaningful expresion from the faces, even when talking, and the expresions were rough when paired with the voice acting, they weren't keeping up to the voices heard.

The voice acting could be better, still I wouldn't say its bad, but it could be better.

Love the show and I'm really glad the made next season 8 episodes, I would say 10 would have been perfect given the pace lf these 4.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
Really, I think my favorite thing about it was the dialogue, I don't mind if there's "too much of it".

I already do all the action myself playing the games, but the dialogue, potential character development, added lore and whatnot can retroactively enrich the games so I'll take it. I also quite like the way it's written, some lines sound very reminiscent of something you'd read in Rondo of Blood or Symphony, I love it.

Or course I like me some action too and the fights are appreciated, but I don't want it to be the focus.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
So i rewatched all 4 episodes tonight with my wife and my best friend and it hold up a lot better on the second viewing... Or maybe it was simply more enjoyable with to people who knew basically nothing about Castlevania.

My wife called every story beat which plays into it being a fairly predictable romp even without knowing much about the series. Still she really liked it. Waiting till tomorrow to talk to my friend about it since it was late by the time we finished watching, but she also seemed to really enjoy it.
 
R

RetroGameAudio

Neo Member
ShockingAlberto said:
We'll never get confirmation because the people involved will never confirm it, but this seems a lot like Ellis' treatment of...
Click to expand...
I believe it absolutely is that, without a doubt. Who knows how much had to be changed, but part of the script we were given is identical, and the events of season 1 match exactly what Warren said
the first movie in a trilogy of movies about CV3 would cover. Movie 1 was supposed to be about Trevor meeting Sypha and Alucard. And with season 2 getting twice the episodes, we can assume that includes what he intended for movies 2 and 3
.

I also don't get what people are saying about the voice acting being bad. It all sounds pretty good to me, much better than the average anime. The dialog itself was decent too- leaning towards over-expository in some places but it wasn't too cumbersome.

The art direction and visuals are pretty solid too. I mean it's clearly an anime budgeted as a tv show, so you're going to see stuff like unanimated crowds, frames that hold still with only one little piece that moves, etc. The question is if that happens to an unacceptable degree, which I don't think it does.

Very much looking forward to Season 2.
 
H

HardRojo

Member
Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Some of the animation and voice direction could use some work, hopefully for next season. Fight between Trevor and Alucard was great.
 
J

JCG

Member
RetroGameAudio said:
I believe it absolutely is that, without a doubt. Who knows how much had to be changed, but part of the script we were given is identical, and the events of season 1 match exactly what Warren said
the first movie in a trilogy of movies about CV3 would cover. Movie 1 was supposed to be about Trevor meeting Sypha and Alucard. And with season 2 getting twice the episodes, we can assume that includes what he intended for movies 2 and 3
.
Click to expand...


I think Warren Ellis is actually pretty transparent about the process, though not the specifics. From a recent interview:

Paste: Back in 2007, you talked about the challenge and potential inherent in writing for an 80-minute film. Establishing plot beats, realistic characters, “killing your darlings,” etc. How has the migration to Netflix benefited or complicated the process of writing Castlevania?

Ellis: I spent a few weeks wishing I still had some hair to pull out. Netflix responded so strongly to the 2007 screenplay that I felt like I couldn’t change it too much for the four-episode season, and also, of course, it’s the version signed off on by the rights holders, the one that obeys the original material. So there was a lot of surgery, scenes thrown out, finding episode breaks, wishing death on my 2007 self, etc.

...

Our first four episodes are really kind of a compressed, headlong experience, but the liberation from hard and fast run-times means we can take a minute here, two minutes there, and let each beat of the story breathe, visually, in a satisfying way. Not being locked into a strict container of time is probably the biggest and most important change that streaming services have ushered in, and I think it’s a huge change for the better. In 2007, we would have been locked into an 80-minute runtime, I believe, and while we could have done it, I think the 2017 edition is the best version of that story.
Click to expand...

https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...is-on-castlevania-the-legacy-of-hammer-h.html
 
D

Dalius

Member
I thought it was fun to watch. A shame that they didn't use any music from the games, though. I also thought the voice acting wasn't horrible. I dunno if it was the final audio mix or what but it was a bit difficult to hear some of the lines; felt like the voice actors were whispering at times.
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
Wow, I can't believe he hasn't played the games, the series is super fan service-y. Good job to the animation studio I guess?
 
S

squidyj

Member
blummer102 said:
I wrote a full review of it here, coming from the perspective of someone who remembers parts of the original script being leaked in 2007.

Really don't agree with those who say the writing/voice acting was bad. Maybe Warren Ellis' style or grim settings just aren't your cup of tea. I feel like a lot of lackluster anime gets praised for writing or voice acting when it's in Japanese, but made-for-English-audiences productions like this one get held up to an extra degree of unrealistic scrutiny.
Click to expand...

poodaddy said:
There we fucking go. All this truth, weaboo's don't wanna hear it. Some of the people bitching about this are probably the same folks who think Persona 5 has good voice acting; they have literally forgotten what good voice actors sound like due to watching too much dreadfully awful bog standard cliche hammy as fuck Japanese productions.
Click to expand...

I mean if we're gonna take shots then honestly the only way you could think the show is well written is if you're normally used to consuming shounen anime and j-dramas.
Try to have some standards.
 
R

Retro

Member
ShockingAlberto said:
I guess we'll find out if
Grant is named DeNasty
, because changing that was the thing Ellis refused to budge on. He would not use that name under any circumstances.
Click to expand...

There's a noble house named
Dănești
that rivaled the historical Dracula's family for control of Wallachia, I always assumed it was referencing them in Konami's characteristically joking way. Then again, maybe that's why he wanted to avoid it.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
squidyj said:
I mean if we're gonna take shots then honestly the only way you could think the show is well written is if you're normally used to consuming shounen anime and j-dramas.
Try to have some standards.
Click to expand...

Try not to fall off your high horse. I enjoyed the dialogue and writing aside from a few duds or poor line delivery here or there.
 
M

mantidor

Member
J_Viper said:
I agree with all of this. I feel like I'm in another dimension reading all these positive impressions.

I'm still stunned by the Garlic line in the beginning of the first episode. How did anyone sign off on the script?
Click to expand...

What is the problem with the line?

Are you people even familiar with Castlevania?
 
Shai-Tan

Shai-Tan

Banned
The dialogue and story could have been a lot better but it had a good final fight which made it worth watching to me. I'll definitely watch the second season.
 
G

GuitarAtomik

Member
Thought the show was pretty damn good. Only annoying thing is how short it is. Voice acting was great and I thought most of the dialogue was well written. That scene between the
main demon and he bishop was perfect "Your work makes God puke"
. Animation was pretty good especially during
Alucard and Trevor's fight
. Can't wait for more especially when it has more room to breathe.
 
M

Maedhros

Member
Animation was so so, but I've watched animes that were worse than it.

Watched it in japanese and really liked the voices. Planning to rewatch in the original audio to see if it's better. But I really liked the show and the humour.
 
T

The Silver

Member
Never played CV besides Lords of Shadow, I really liked it, just too damn short, way too damn short.


Also it made me go into a deep dive into the Castlevania wiki, they really never made a game out of the 1999 event? wow.
 
M

Mr_Antimatter

Member
Finished it, rather think it's very much on point. Feels like the games mixed with a bit of old school Vampire Hunter D.

Hope next season we see more classic series monsters. Animation and fights seemed on point.
 
H

How About No

Member
Maedhros said:
Animation was so so, but I've watched animes that were worse than it.

Watched it in japanese and really liked the voices. Planning to rewatch in the original audio to see if it's better. But I really liked the show and the humour.
Click to expand...

image.php


im so sorry

im not sorry
 
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