What to Watch: Castlevania

by Opaque Senator, Video Game and Media Expert

What all have you been watching on Netflix/Hulu/YouTubeRed/CBS All Access etc etc these days?

One great thing about these quarantoasted times (copyright Opaque Senator 2020) has been the ability the binge a number of series. I am naturally a pretty busy person. I go out multiple nights a week for various activities. There were numerous series that I was looking to catch up on. This list includes the Marvel shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Defenders, The Witcher, and House among others. But one series that lingered at the back end was Castlevania. I am familiar with the series of games, though I've only dabbled in them. To this point, 3 seasons of the series have been released, and I just binge watched the full thing over two days. I'll give my spoiler free thoughts in the following article, since it is such a new series and season three is out within the last 2 months, I will not do major plot-spoilers at all.

Castlevania is not an anime, though one could definitely be forgiven as it definitely gives off those vibes. The first two seasons follow a band of three protagonists as they work through what is similar is structure to Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for plot structure while season 3 takes a different direction. Our main three protagonists include last-of-the-Belmont's Trevor Belmont, Speaker Sypha Belnades, and Alucard, son of Dracula himself. This series does a serviceable job with the characters in seasons 1 and 3, though I would argue things get a little lost in season 2. Overall the mood and intensity of the show is what really sets it apart. It's a dark series, and even though it is animated, it is not for the squeamish. There is violence aplenty, and many gory deaths can be viewed.

Animation truly can take things to a place that is difficult to replicate in real life.

There are also some excellent musical tracks and ambiance throughout the series. The ending credits theme has a Gregorian chant aspect to its sound. You will hear scattered throughout area themes from the game make their way into the series. One of the best remixes is by far “Bloody Tears,” the well-known track from the last levels of the games. Their remix of it in season 2 is well done...

The voice acting is mostly stellar, though the main character Trevor Belmont (voiced by Richard Armitage) leaves a bit to be desired, especially when juxtaposed to the other two leads, Sypha (voiced by Alejandra Reynosa) and Alucard (James Callis). It sounds like he does just throw away lines. The real interesting voice acting comes from many of the side characters. There's a bishop early voiced by Matt Frewer that oozes radical extremist religiosity, Peter Stormare does a great voice over for one of the vampires named Godbrand.

Season 3 hits it out of the park. Bill Nighy as the character Saint Germaine has a very layered performance, and also the Judge of the town played by Jason Issacs brings a steely, consistent, but strict town mayor type character. Again, this is just me, but I wish they had a different actor for a Belmont lead, as the others are just so solid. The titular Dracula is well voiced, with detached sadness and depravity by Graham McTavish.

Thematically, the series taps into the heavy darkness that exists within humanity, especially the truly dystopian world of the Middle Ages. Religion is a primary theme, as right from the first episode we see misguided religious zealots leading people into despair through their actions, other religious groups trying to find salvation and help, the apathetic, the the purest senses of evil and the many ways with which it can be drawn out of a person.

The series ends up having many villains, human and vampire alike, as well as numerous creatures of the night. But even in this dark time period, we see flickers of hope, which are all the more powerful when the backdrop of the series is so destitute. Over and over those flickers of hope are all but put out. They keep coming back though, and at times are even rewarded. All in all, it’s nothing that thousands of other shows have not hit thematically. I found the uniqueness in the darkness of it all as a nice juxtaposition of forces at play, and it made themes of hope and love hit that much harder.

All in all, if you don't mind an extremely dark and gory animated adventure with a series full of lore behind it, I think you will like Castlevania. I'll link one clip that happens early on in season 1, its a great fight scene between the leads, you can get a sense of the animation style, voice acting, and music to see if its something you are interested in...

With so much darkness in the news, I know a lot of people where they are just looking for something light and fun to watch these days. If you are in that crew, I may save Castlevania for a more positive time. It can be very dour. But its solid and I am excited for season 4 now that it is confirmed.

Until next time, in this truly opaque world, I hope this makes things a little more clear...