Dracula Returns in New Netflix Series: Castlevania

Of all video game adaptations to get announced, Castlevania was the last property I thought would get it. To make things even more interesting, it got turned into an animated series exclusive to Netflix. I had a chance to sit down and watch the entire season, and I’m here to tell you if it was worth seeing!

There is nothing happy about this setting...

The show starts off with a woman falling in love with Dracula, then quickly changes to her being burned and then Dracula wanting to exact revenge on mankind as a result. This is the first episode in a nutshell, and is indicative of the show as a whole: a pacing nightmare. Keep in mind this first season is only 4 episodes, which means it’s essentially the length of a feature film. This could work, but unfortunately there is a lot of rushed development for the sake of story progression that leaves us wanting more, but is never quite satisfying. That’s not to say that this is a terrible adaptation, but this was the first thing that crossed my mind as I finished watching the last episode. It was over way too fast.

Making Dracula angry is never a good idea.

Starting off the review in such a negative manner is a bit misleading though. In the short time given, the show does a pretty good job of world building via Trevor Belmont’s travels and showing us what he sees. The show, artistically feels very much like an anime, with a lot of great inspiration pulled from some of the best anime out there, while still feeling American made. It’s a nice blend. As a result, the show ends up looking and feeling like Castlevania, right down to the gruesomeness that some of the games have shown. It’s clear they put a lot of love into trying to capture the overall spirit of the games and convert it into something that works on screen. The music and mostly solid voice-acting help to solidify all of this into an experience that is aesthetically pleasing for fans of the franchise and newcomers alike.

Trevor isn't exactly heroic when we first meet him.

If you haven’t figured out by now, this show is a loose adaptation of Castlevania III (originally released on the NES), though you don’t need any prior knowledge of the series before jumping in. With the focus being on Trevor Belmont, his development is the only character’s development that feels right. Everyone else, while mildly interesting, is pretty much non-existent to the grand narrative. To clarify, when I said the pacing was a nightmare, I’m talking about how we aren’t given enough background on anything to really settle in with the concepts. Richard Armitage’s performance of Trevor helps to push the show along in a fun way that kept me interested though, even if he’s a little stiff at times, but we get introduced to two other characters by the end of the show who we should care about, but can’t due to lack of time for development.

You'll notice a few of the classic weapons used.

There are many things wrong with the show, as mentioned, but overall it’s a fun experience and a worthy adaptation of a beloved game franchise. It’s too bad that it’s over so fast, that there is barely any of Dracula’s castle in the series and that we have to wait until next year for Season 2 (which will be 8 episodes, and hopefully far meatier). This felt more like a short introduction than anything else. Be warned that it won’t satisfy you, but I can still recommend it, since it is a fun watch.

- Teepu

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