Castlevania

I went in expecting a fun romp, perhaps with a nice homage or two. What did I get? Video Games answer to Game of Thrones.

I am not too heavily invested in the original Castlevania series. My first and really, only game that I played was "Symphony of the Night". Truly a work of art, a masterpiece but I didn't play the games prior and only saw the games after on YouTube walkthroughs. Though I learned a bit about the rather rich lore.

When I heard this was being made, I didn't know what to make of it. There are way too many bad movies and TV shows based on video games (which is sadly nearly all of them) and some of them had NO RIGHT to be bad. Max Payne, Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed immediately come to mind in that regard. Even the Final Fantasy movie, Spirits Within was rather lackluster and it was directed by the series creator and visionary, Hironobu Sakaguchi (Though I think there were production issues and "too many chefs in the kitchen" during that time)! I had just given up on VG to screen adaptations.

Then after many friends told me to watch these few episodes, I was curious at most... but then it grabbed my attention when I heard that after the series premiered and got critical acclaim; a second season was confirmed and announced IMMEDIATELY after it was released. So I made time for it... and I am so sorry I didn't watch it earlier. It is nothing short of spectacular!

It opens up with a scene which was heavily inspired by Symphony of the Night (I won't dare spoil it) and it shows WHY Dracula is the world's enemy... and it's really friggin' heart breaking! Then we're introduced to Trevor Belmont in a way that is both epic and hilarious!

I think that's where I should stop because I don't want to spoil even the slightest detail. The characters are great, the voice acting is absolutely brilliant! Kudos to Armitage, Reynoso, McTavish, Frewer and ESPECIALLY Callis! I did not expect that voice to come from James Callis, so low and rich and he's surprisingly intimidating when he wants to be.

The score is great too, but it's Trevor Morris. I've come to expect good work from him. Seriously, I don't get why he hasn't composed a score for something like a Marvel movie yet he really knows how to work the scenes.

The writing is outstanding. Warren Ellis is a very solid writer, his work on the 2011 X-Men animated series is truly something to admire. The animation is BEAUTIFUL! Absolutely stunning! Anime inspired styles done by a Western is something I do have a soft spot for, even the ones which are a bit "standard" !but this is just gorgeous-and where, WHERE did they find Sam Deats!? What an incredible debut! Apparently, this is the first thing he has ever worked on as a director... That is hard to believe. This is definitely a love project, you could FEEL the respect that was being put into this!

It goes to show that when creative freedom is given to the right people, you really can make artistic magic with ANYTHING! Right here is proof that video game to screen adaptations can work. It took nearly two score and twain, but they finally did it!

Kudos to Sam Deats and the entire cast and crew for this masterpiece! Also, expect a few Annies to go to this series. I'm expecting Callis to get the award for voice performance as Alucard.

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 💕💕

MUUSST WATCH , Every episode is much better than the previous one all actions all twists and full of enjoyment you will never regret it and please leave good ratings so people watch it too

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.

I think the show is fantastic both first and second season, but I am disappointed in the way that there is simply too little, like the Warcraft movie, if you are gonna do it do whole heartedly, why not start at the beginning with Leon Belmont and how Dracula came to be, and workout a series of good seasons based on one of the best game storylines ever created?

I'm done with season 2 and I just want more, and I really hope too see some lord of the shadows spin off down the line. I'm just hoping Netflix will continue their work on this series because GOD I think it's good with potential to be completely amazing!