Netflix Castlevania Series!!

Nandemoyasan

Nandemoyasan

Standing guard
AKA
Johnny
I have binged the Season, and I now will give my (spoiler-free) hot take.

The mistake that all video game adaptations before this made, in my humble opinion, is presuming that people who love video games aren't concerned with stories, and just like lots of action and stuff getting blowed up real good.

I think what Castlevania gets right, is that it acknowledges that gaming can be (and has been) used as a storytelling medium unto itself. It's not a book, it's not a comic book, it's not a movie, it's not a show, it's not a song, but it incorporates elements of all those other things, while allowing a person to experience things directly. Arin Hanson's old "Sequelitis" episode about Mega Man X makes this point better than any other quote I've ever heard, regarding the unbeatable boss at the end of the intro stage, Vile (riding his Mobile Suit Armor):

Egoraptor said:
The feeling of helplessness happens directly to you.
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It isn't just conveyed thru dialogue, music, visual symbolism or theme, it is directly experienced by the player playing as X. That being said, when you take that out of the equation, games with good stories can usually still stand up on their own. Mega Man X's story is surprisingly good, even today, taken as a whole. People who come into a gaming franchise to adapt it into a non-interactive medium presume that a gamer will get bored if they try to tell too much story; in fact, gamers do like intricate stories and ideas and good dialogue; games that have stories have sold surprisingly well since the mid-to-late 90s, as the existence of this very forum can attest.

And (sorry if this is really a roundabout way of coming to my point), Castlevania realizes this, and, now that its 4 season arc is closed (and nicely done, might I add), it has woven an intricate, literate story that even has a lot to say about how things are in our world, if you are so inclined to look for it.

On another level, it does work as just a simple Hero's Quest story, for a few different heroes (its tendency to whip POV over to another character at random is one of its weak points, tbh, but I feel that's a nitpick). It is multifaceted, and deep, and emotionally satisfying, too.

I mean, I don't think I can say enough nice things about this four season animated series. Castlevania (the show) is maybe even better than any of the games ever were. It can be a bit shaky on its legs at times (Sumi and Taka's side story in Season 3 was kind of messed up), but as far as gaming adaptations go, this is one for the ages.

That's some good Vampire Hunting. I, Beldar, approve.
 
Theozilla

Theozilla

Kaiju Member
Just finished binging season 4 of Castlevania. Definitely an improvement from Season 3. Still has some wonky pacing (which the series has had since season 2) and the waxing monologues can get noticeable, but I enjoyed nearly all of them. Really great finale. While season 2 may still have the best finale episodes, I do think Season 4 was on par with the quality of Season 2 overall, if not better than it, if just comparing their nonfinale episodes. Wonder what the spin-off series will be attempting to adapt, especially with the major plot twist at the end of the last episode. Kinda hope they try to adapt the Soma Cruz era games in some manner, as it has an interesting story and doesn't risk being repetitive to the setting of the first series like how many of the games can be.

Also the action animation really captured the feeling of going through video game mooks and then fighting a final boss at the end, in the good way.
 
Odysseus

Odysseus

Ninja Potato
AKA
Ody
I wonder if they'd even do direct adaptations of other games. It doesn't really feel like they'd make Dracula a villain again to me, his arc has already been done and anything more would feel like regression imo. Given the ambiguous standing of a number of characters at the end of the season, I imagine any future work would be mostly original, even more so than it already has been.
 
Theozilla

Theozilla

Kaiju Member
Odysseus said:
I wonder if they'd even do direct adaptations of other games. It doesn't really feel like they'd make Dracula a villain again to me, his arc has already been done and anything more would feel like regression imo. Given the ambiguous standing of a number of characters at the end of the season, I imagine any future work would be mostly original, even more so than it already has been.
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Oh yeah definitely. I don’t see them using Dracula as a villain either. It just wouldn’t mesh narratively. That’s why I suggested Soma Cruz (or Leon Belmont since it would be a prequel) would be the easiest to still adapt to the current animated series, since his situation doesn’t require Dracula being the antagonist anymore.
 
Nandemoyasan

Nandemoyasan

Standing guard
AKA
Johnny
Odysseus said:
I wonder if they'd even do direct adaptations of other games. It doesn't really feel like they'd make Dracula a villain again to me, his arc has already been done and anything more would feel like regression imo. Given the ambiguous standing of a number of characters at the end of the season, I imagine any future work would be mostly original, even more so than it already has been.
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While I agree, I still think that it would be nice if they did Simon's arc, simply because he is the original CV protagonist. It seems kind of a letdown to think that Simon Belmont would never be fleshed out in the way that Trevor/Sypha/Alucard have been.

And is it just me or is "Greta of Dinesti" kind of a nod to the absence of Grant Dinesti? ?
 
Lulcielid

Lulcielid

Eyes of the Lord
AKA
Lulcy
Finished the season yesterday, overall a solid and satisfying season season, what worked well from previous season is better than before while still having the same wonky road to get there.

As a whole I prefer the first half of Castlevania to the second mainly for the more cohesive structure and excution, season 3-4 had the same problem of the first half feeling a bit aimless until the later episodes gets the stuff together. Both S3-4 also had the same problem of Trevor and Sypha being the weaker storyline of the season.
 
Theozilla

Theozilla

Kaiju Member
I mean no surprise there. I am pretty sure that was already stated before when they said Ellis was leaving after season 4, that his scripts for season 4 were nearly almost done and would still be used. Still had to finish whatever he had been contracted for.
 
Nandemoyasan

Nandemoyasan

Standing guard
AKA
Johnny
Theozilla said:
I mean no surprise there. I am pretty sure that was already stated before when they said Ellis was leaving after season 4, that his scripts for season 4 were nearly almost done and would still be used. Still had to finish whatever he had been contracted for.
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Yeah, I don't think there would be time to have someone come in and do a new script, even in a normal year, and especially not in 2020.
 
Prism

Prism

Pro Adventurer
AKA
pikpixelart
I haven't seen the new season yet, but I'm suepr glad they're going to make the next series star Richer Belmont - Rondo of Blood is my favorite Castlevania game as of now. I liked what they did with Trevor, but I hope they make Richter more plainly righteous and less cynical (basically, more like how he's characterized elsewhere)

Also, they're clearly using this to set up Symphony of the Night and Alucard's dramatic return, so I'm all for that.
 
Nandemoyasan

Nandemoyasan

Standing guard
AKA
Johnny
That line of the aria being sung at the end of the trailer, "Che troppo sai," according to my partner, means "I know too much." I'm also given to understand that it's more of a "South Italy" expression.
 
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