Castlevania netflix discussion (use spoiler tags)

The Castlevania Netflix series was short, but oh so sweet. Hopefully by now you have had an opportunity to have watched it. Of course, an editorial from Operation Akumajo is expected so here are some thoughts on the content of the show.

Castlevania lore can be precious to a die hard fan. This series takes liberties on the official game cannon. Fortunately the series also uses the cannon and makes it something new while still upholding the legacy of Castlevania. Let’s talk about some of those liberties.

The Belmonts were feared for their superhuman powers and driven out by the people. The church called upon them for help as a last resort. In the Netflix series the church’s role is very dark. Not only have they exiled the Belmonts and don’t ask Trevor for help, but they set into motion Dracula’s vengeance as they were directly responsible in burning Lisa at the stake. How Lisa and Dracula’s romance started and worked has always been a fascinating yet undefined aspect of the game cannon. The show uses the little bit of established information about Lisa and expands upon it, having her seek medical knowledge from Dracula. There is no mention of her likeness to Elisabetha, and after her death Dracula exclaims she's the only woman he ever truly loved. The show may just ignore Lament of Innocence. When Trevor’s whip makes a demon explode, he simply says it’s blessed to fight against demons and vampires. As far as we know, the show may not be concerned with the passing of the whip and it’s origin.

Dracula mentions the castle is basically a traveling machine. The origin of the castle is still mysterious in both the game cannon and the show. Dracula seems to be a dark mythical force that no one has ever seen, but impales people and can somehow be found by Lisa. I enjoy that the details on how all of that works isn’t really explained. The historical Vlad Tepes, the novel Dracula and Castlevania’s Dracula all seem to overlap, but when it comes to tying it all together it’s best left to ponder in our own headcanons. Sypha is a “speaker”, and this aspect is completely new. How Trevor and Sypha end up in the castle and start the fight with Alucard works for the shot time we had with the story. Think of these four short episodes as a pilot, and they covered quite a bit of ground in the little time they were given.

Although the art hints at Ayami Kojima influences from Dracula’s eyebrows and Alucard’s general appearance, the show has it’s own style which animates well. The things done on screen work well as animation, and I can’t imagine any live action show coming off as good. The visual style of Castlevania is just as important as it’s music. We didn’t get remixes of music from the games in any battle sequence, the short intro or the outro. We did get a few chanting moments though.

The monsters of Dracula’s “horde” all seem to be mostly the same demon with the exception of the talking one with the glowing blue teeth. I was expecting more iconic monsters from the game series. At least we got the Cyclops, and the demons we saw were great.

There is no Grant. Adi Shankar says this is a game adaptation that finally works as a show because it’s not done by cash grabbing Hollywood executives, but actual fans who care about the games. I have no doubt this is true about Shankar himself. This was written by Warren Ellis, and I think at this point we can all agree that we have a good story. However, was Ellis really a fan? Rumor says otherwise. His decision to leave out Grant is easily the most controversial decision made.

So those are some of the liberties that stuck out to me. Let’s talk a little on how they really nailed some great things that we can see are taken from the game. Trevor fights a Cyclops and frees Sypha from being a statue, then comments on how she looked like a boy. I’ve never used the word fangasm before, and I’ll be damned if I start now, but that moment was perfect. She explained that it’s safer to travel if she's dressed like a man. They work it in so well and move on, but that moment is truly for die hard fans and it’s more than appreciated. It’s things like that which make it so fun to watch. In Dracula’s Curse when Trevor fought Alucard, it was an easy fight that ends in an alliance and the introduction to a character that would be loved by so many Castlevania fans. Seeing that fight played out on screen was so exciting. Just like the game where you can tell this fight is just a test and not meant to end your progress, the show uses that to forge the alliance of the three protagonists. It was done right. The sword vs. whip battle was played out, and it was a tie in the end, of course. I really think they catered very well to the fans in this battle. When Lisa entered the castle, it looked immense on the inside, just like the games. We got to see the alchemy laboratory, and surely this was done in hopes to please us. The into shows Alucard shift from wolf to human form, as well as him kneeling in front of Lisa’s burned body. There are a lot of little things that add up to show us that this really is Castlevania in the important ways.

There are plenty of aspects that are new. The show gives us new things to enjoy along side our love for what we are already familiar with. Some of these things will resonate with people, and some will not. Personally, I think Trevor spitting on the pile of dead people was a little much. His attitude of an unwilling hero allows for character growth, which is already made by the end of the short season. The dynamic between the three characters seems like they have enough room to really explore and play with so that they may create an ongoing narrative that will remain entertaining. Even without Grant… The Belmont crest is something I hope to see on merchandise. Physical copies of the series with commentary would also be nice. At the very least, I hope to see fans creating amazing things due to this series. It’s sure to attract fresh blood to the fandom. Sure, Castlevania has it’s roots in campy Universal horror monsters such as The Creature, Wolfman, the Mummy, and so on, but we can’t expect new audiences to be attracted to those things in the way Castlevania needs today. I like the more adult oriented nature of the show because old school fans are adults now. Pitchforks through the necks, intestines strewn about like decorations, demon fetuses raining down from the sky, and all the other gore was entertaining to me personally. Castlevania is about gothic horror, and this stuff fits. I honestly expected nudity for the R rating, but it used all it’s R rating on gore and language.

Well, I have an overall extremely positive opinion over the series. Sure, things could have been different, but this is what they have decided to do. It's a hell of a lot better of a reboot than Lords of Shadow.