I’m just curious if Netflix just greenlighting anything they can get their hands on? Not saying it’s a bad thing but an animated web series adaptation of a popular gothic 2D side-scroller starring vampire hunters is a bit of a gamble. But hey, if a show about a disillusioned talking horse navigating through life in Hollywood can make it then I suppose there’s no reason to see why this can’t. Castlevania makes one heck of a first impression with its relatively short run of 4 25-minute episodes. This was clearly Netflix pulling out a wild card but should they double down on it or quit while they’re at it? Let’s find out.
The series is rather economical in its approach to its storytelling. Almost at times, it feels like with each episode is pitching to us what their world and characters are shaping to be. It opens with the vampiric lord of Wallachia Vlad Dracula Tepes who encounters Lisa, an enlightened doctor who seeks to expand her knowledge of medicine to better humanity. It doesn’t take long for the both of them to form a connection and it takes even shorter for her to become the tragic backstory to the series’ main antagonist. Lisa gets burned at the stake by a bunch of fanatical Christians and Dracula proceeds to unleash literal hell upon the church and city. I mean it never quite reaches Hellsing Ultimate level of mayhem but it’s not far off. I was pleasantly surprised by the pacing of this episode. What was expected to be a rushed origin story manages to establish a strong ethos that resonates throughout the rest of the episodes.
Sadly, the other three never quite reach the soaring heights of the first one, in terms of narrative and visuals. The second episode “Necropolis” introduces our hero Trevor Belmont, getting into trouble at a local pub and getting into a drunken bar fight. I know this world is full of death and destruction but can we please stop beating this dead horse? I get that the whole drunken brawl trope is an easy shorthand to tell us that our hero has a checkered past and has a sense of humour. There’s just got to be a better a way to tell it is all I’m saying. After that, he enters the city of Gresit, plays hero for a bit (reluctantly of course) and gets mixed up with a group of magicians, the Speakers. The third episode picks up with Belmont saving Sypha Belnades, a powerful sorceress and grandchild of the Speakers’ elder. The two middle acts of this gothic action drama are fun if albeit predictable. It’s worth keeping in mind that the first season of Castlevania is meant to be more introductory than expository.
This grim and mythical take on the dark ages of Europe is experienced through its characters in lieu of long Galadriel-like monologues. The corrupted priests are there not just to reveal the hypocrisy of the church but to also to set up the conflict between mages and religious authorities. Characters like Lisa and Sypha are there to act as a sort of voice of reason in a time of superstition and blind fanaticism. The sub-text that the characters carry can at times feel slightly heavy-handed, especially when it comes to the evil bishop that hates science and suppresses knowledge to keep the peasants under the boot of the church. Oh yes, that’s original. Belmont plays your asshole with a heart of gold that has a great destiny he has yet to fulfil. Among all of these characters, it is Dracula that truly stands out. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing particularly inventive with his story but the way it was executed was just so damn amazing! His wrath, his melancholy is all so fiercely and confidently expressed both visually and emotionally.
The final episode sees Gresit beset by the hordes of Dracula with Trevor and Sypha rallying the citizens together to fight against them. They end up falling into a catacomb and waking up the only warrior that may actually stand a chance against the Lord of Shadows himself. It is none other than Dracula’s son, Alucard. One might say that he is similar and yet different to his father in many ways…besides his name basically being Dracula spelt backwards. He fights on behalf of humanity with the vampiric powers he inherited. There isn’t a lot of time to develop on Alucard but the few minutes we have with him indicates that he’ll be the straight-man to Trevor’s more quippy personality. The show leaves off on a cliffhanger that certainly teases that it has a lot more installed for the characters. I found myself quite invested with the duo turned trio struggle at that point and I was ready for more.
The animation is also a big draw for me with fluid action and ambitious visuals that swept across my screen. The fight scenes and the use of elemental magic are flashy and well drawn. The series takes clear inspiration from animes like Berserk and Vampire Hunter D. Every time Dracula took on his more demonic form, I was in a state of giddy and delight. When he addressed the town’s people in a great wall of flame, it was just SO METAL! The animation was rather reminiscent of the art style from 2010’s Dante Inferno: An Animated Epic, just more polished.
The first season of Netflix’s Castlevania offers up a lot of good bloody fun with vampires, mages and hunters populating its world. It’s clear that a lot of love went into it and for fans and newcomers of the property, it shows. A solid way to kill two hours, even when a few gripes were found. Please Netflix, more Dracula! You can check out the first season on Netflix while you wait for the second one to hit in late October.
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