Netflix Original Castlevania Review (Season 1)

Episode 3: Labyrinth

The start of Episode 3 sees Belmont entering the Catacombs to look for the Speaker’s lost grandchild. Inside the Catacombs, Belmont discovers the statue of what looks to be a Speaker; he also discovers a giant Cyclops who wants him dead. After defeating the Cyclops (to a very hip synth score), Belmont discovers that the statute is actually the granddaughter of the Elder Speak, Sypha Belnades. Belnades returns to human from and heads topside with Belmont.

Topside, Belmont and Belnades return to the Speakers and part ways. Belmont gets jumped by the Priests he attacked in Episode 2 and they take him to see the Bishop of Gresit. The Bishop has plans of killing all the Speakers and wants Belmont to leave Gresit.

Belmont doesn’t want to leave and instead chooses to face the angry mob at sundown. What follows is Belmont going through the streets killing anyone who gets in his way. The episode ends with Belmont turning the corner and coming face to face with the angry mob.

Thoughts:

I enjoyed this episode much like the others, but feel like I am just starting to get invested in the story and characters and there is only 1 episode left. With that being said, there was a good mix of action and story in Episode 3 and the story is moving full force towards some type of climax. What exactly this will be, I have no idea, but I’m ready. The score of Castlevania is really starting to stand out to me and I really dig it (reminds of The Knick).

8/10

Episode 4: Monument

Inside the Church, the Bishop of Gresit is awaiting news of the Speaker’s deaths. Instead, the Bishop gets visited by a few Demons who basically tell the Bishop he is the reason they are here. The Demons kill the Bishop in the very church he serves in.

After the death of the Bishop, we return to Belmont who is cornered in the town square. As the angry mob advances, Belnades reveals she is actually a magician and cast an elemental protection around Belmont. Belmont uses this time to address the townsfolk about the failings of the Church.

With the townsfolk realizing the Church’s evil ways, they turn on the head Priest. After killing the Priest, Belmont rallies the townsfolk to stand against the advancing Demonic horde. After killing many of the Demons, an explosion destroys the town square and sends Belmont and Belnades into the Catacombs.

Inside the Catacombs, Belmont and Belnades discover a sleeping messiah! It turns out, the sleeping soldier is actually another vampire. Believing the sleeping soldier to be Dracula himself, Belmont believes he needs to kill the vampire. What follows is a pretty epic duel between the two. It turns out the vampire is actually Adrian Tepes the son of Vlad Tepes! The three join up and the season ends!

Thoughts:

This episode seriously hit hard and makes me excited to see where the series goes. The end duel between Belmont and Tepes was action packed and fun and hints at greater battles to come. I also like that Belmont, Tepes, and Belnades are now a solid team and can create more of a character driven dynamic going forward. Overall this was a really good episode and had great action and story.

9/10

Castlevania Review (Season 1)

For a video game based anime, Castlevania really hit it out of the park. The story they have set is interesting and moves the series along at a nice pace. Action wise I loved the gritty, ultra violent fights and monster battles. Other elements I enjoyed of Season 1 include the score (more please), the art style (loved it), Belmont, and the general gothic tone of the series (I’m a sucker).

My only real complaint is that there isn’t more episodes available. While I completely understand that making a Castlevania themed anime is incredibly risky, the series literally had me getting committed by Episode 4, only to then be done. Hearing the positive reaction to Castlevania, makes it seem as though we will be getting more which I will wait patiently for (like Seven Deadly Sins all over again).

I highly recommend giving Castlevania a chance. The team over at Netflix took a serious chance on creating this series, but proved that when done correctly, video game based properties have a depth of content to offer across various mediums. If anyone from Netflix reads this, please give me a Dark Souls anime like this!

Overall Score: 8.5/10