Castlevania

Really solid production from Netflix that knows its target audience and doesn't pull any punches. Make no mistake; this is animated fare strictly for adults. And that's perfectly fine.

The 2016 production of Berserk has sadly skimped on production values, leaving fans of the longtime manga series with a sour taste in their mouths. Castlevania, however, scratches much of that same itch. It's gratuitously violent, dark as pitch, and set in a medieval fantasy world. The writers go straight for the jugular and pull no punches, obviously inspired by Berserk and other series like it. It's refreshing considering that the original owners of the Castlevania IP, Konami, have taken an obvious downturn in the quality production of their various legendary properties recently in favor of instead developing pachinko and gambling machines and firing longtime creative leads such as Hideo Kojima. Fans of the series need not worry, plenty of the classic Castlevania feel is here, treated with proper reverence by the shows writers and directors.

The animation is very good, and the art in particular is superb. Animated features and series have been steadily improving since the dawn of the HD era, and Castlevania continue to represent them well. The English voice cast shines as well, with Armitage's performance standing out among the others. He does a fantastic job as Trevor Belmont.

My only complaint here is the brevity of the series. Four ~23 minute episodes is not that much content, and it makes me wonder whether Netflix wouldn't have been better served to put this "season" out as a feature-length prologue film instead in order to advertise a lengthier season 2. But all-in-all, it's worth the time, especially to those interested in the Castlevania series, but even to those unfamiliar with it and in search of a gritty, well-animated, well- acted piece of dark medieval fantasy.

Netflix made a good choice adapting this franchise. Castlevania has a fluid history line, with iconic characters and a beautiful art design. The soundtrack is not bad either, some Gothic and melodic songs, that make you chill with every encounter through the series. The only problem with Castlevania is the lack of explanation in some parts, and the size of the first season (only 4 episodes).

Castlevania is loyal to the games and has some incredible art design.It deserves your attention.

This show is really really perfect and so underrated, i wanna thank the creators and all who contributes to make this show, please make more shows like this 💕💕

I'll cut this short. Castlevania is only 4 episodes due to it being the prequel to the actual show, Season 2 will feature 8 episodes based on Castlevania 3. Adi Shankar might have questionable taste in makeup, but his work ethic is incredible. Every person working on Castlevania was made to play Castlevania 3 on an NES from Ebay. This show wasn't made to rake in dollars, its first and primary concern is to make it into a goddamn masterpiece and while its not finished so I really should be more responsible with the way I'm rating it, from what I've seen I'm damn impressed. The animation quality is incredible, above most Japanese anime which this show clearly mimmicks. Voice acting is perfect across the board, the action is visceral and gory, but not mindless. The story and its pacing is unique and doesn't pick up on many generic tropes. It's a unique prequel to what is yet to come.

This show is for adults, its almost objectively the best western "anime" (Korra was primarily animated by a Korean studio, that said I'd still rate this higher) and unless you like good bad movies enough, its the best video game adaptation I've ever seen.

Honestly I haven't felt hyped for anything for possibly a decade now, I've learned that hype results in nothing, but considering the directors work ethic, his past work, experience and what Castlevania is right now, I can't feel anything but hype.

This series, based on the Castlevania video game saga, did not have it easy from the start.

Low budget, animation, which although not bad, was far from what it ended up being in its fourth season. Not in vain, there were 4 chapters in its first season.

Why did it triumph so much in critics and in views? Because it had a very strong script, an extremely interesting story, and main characters with fantastic chemistry.

The main trio of Sypha, Trevor and Alucard was explosive from the beginning and that marked the future of the following seasons.

Dracula as the main antagonist during half of the series and, later, replaced by Carmilla and his sisters were the ideal counterpoint.

However, this series also had very strong secondary characters in Hector, Isaac and St Germain himself, which gave this series, already interesting, something even more.

Animation that improved between seasons, gore, violence, terror and massacre. All this combo generated a legion of fans who, knowing that the series does not follow the canon to the letter, accepted it and enjoyed it.

All this until reaching the last season that overflows with energy and action. With a final fight between Trevor and Death that is beyond any record. It is shocking and rivals the best animation that can exist in other parts of the world and other studios.

I think it is a well-rounded series, it has its flaws, true, but it is one of those animations that can be recommended without fear of failure...and not all can say that.