Castlevania Season 1 Review

“For no more do I travel as a man.”

The trailer for this looked great, and the underlying games this seems to be based on (Castlevania III and Symphony of the Night) are two of my favorites of all time, so my anticipation for this was off the charts. It easily met my expectations.

Castlevania is as always a story about Dracula threatening humans and a vampire hunter rising up to challenge him. The great part here is that the characters involved and story (written/adapted by Warren Ellis, known primarily for his superb comic books) are well developed and things build and unfold at a pitch perfect pace.

The scope of this initial four episode season is relatively small, which allows the tale proper room to breathe, yet covers a lot of information at the same time. In a lot of ways these episodes are setup for the larger adventure to come, but still contain important events, wonderful feelings of foreboding and suspense, and plenty of action.

The approach is appropriately dark and (at times) disturbing, and is brought to life by beautiful, atmospheric animation. The series doesn’t shy away from it’s subject matter, and between often gruesome depictions of violence, a foul mouthed main character (who admittedly has ample legitimate reasons to behave thusly), and the harsh realities of the world presented this is firmly aimed at an adult crowd. The story is nicely layered and already shows great judgment in what elements and moments are being included from the games. Time is wisely spent on the background and motivations of several different characters. There are numerous factions and agendas intertwined, which adds good depth.

The attitude of one of the main characters is a little jarring at first, but it all makes sense in the context of this story, humanizes him a bit, and is well done.  The music is largely there just for underscoring the mood and is honestly fine but unremarkable. This didn’t bother me as it allowed the characters, story, and visuals to take center stage, but Castlevania is well known for amazing music so I can imagine some disappointment from some viewers at that approach and at the fact that the series’ classic themes are nowhere to be found.

The fights are great and wonderfully over the top when they happens, and in particular there’s a phenomenal one towards the end that helps the season feel satisfying and complete despite its short length. This was pretty much everything I hoped it would be and I can’t wait for future episodes.