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.

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!

When I fired this up, one of the most amazing things happened. I was 5 minutes in before I openly realized the characters were voiced in English and not Japanese! And really, really good voice acting! I know there have been good American animated shows and movies made, but to me, the last time I saw such great English voice acting paired with Japanese (style) animation was the Spawn animated series. I consider that series a classic and outsider... and now we may well have another!

There are obviously a number of quality pieces put into place to make this series - production, cast, writing. This is exactly the type of project a fan holds their breath and hopes, but does not have too high of expectations. Expectation shattered - this is high quality stuff! Very brutal content including horrific deaths of innocents, graphic violence, and no mercy shown... Hooray!!!

The villain, Dracula, is humanized immediately, which gives him cause and texture - not just a mindless slayer. The hero has a number of anti-hero qualities, which just makes him more interesting. Undoubtedly this series will unfold with a number of awesome battles and conversations that question morality, cause and purpose.

The content obviously will not be for everyone - wholesale slaughter of religions figures, women and children may prove to much for some, but for others? A true surprise and fun refreshing release.

Enjoyed like a fine wine 9/10

edit: finally got to the 2nd season, and while I won't change my score, the 2nd season is a disappointment. Everything is in place for success, production wise, but the content (by comparison to the first season) is restrained, common, Boring. the charm of the first season was how refreshing the content was, which included exciting, entertaining, sinister content. The first scene in season 2 attempts this, but does so in a completely anti-entertainment manner! All the fun of the first season is absolutely smashed right to begin with, then the viewer gets 2-4 episodes of dialog, with very little action, and when thing finally do get going? Not that interesting! What happened? It's like the main creative force behind the first season was intentionally fired, and someone more PC was hired to make a generic, boring (albeit well produced) sequel! I doubt this is what happened, and likely good intentions just led to an average product. But damn! I expected a way better follow up to what I considered an instant classic first season.

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 💕💕