Tag Archives: Vlad Dracula Tepes

TV Review: Castlevania, Season 2

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Back in February I reviewed Castlevania, season 1. It’s high time to move onto season 2. I’ll leave my warning upfront and center for anyone who’s made it this far.

Castlevania is not for kids. Don’t let the animation fool you. There is extreme gore, violence, innuendo and mature themes.

And, I still think it’s amazing. All the elements that make up my favorite stories are in here so I’m certainly going to continue watching.

Meet one of the necromancers, Hector.

The Story

At the end of season one we left Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades in the aftermath of a massive battle between Dracula’s forces and the people of Gresit. During the battle, the two of them fall into deep catacombs beneath the city and find Adrian Tepes, who is the half vampire son (also known as a dhampir) of Vlad Dracula Tepes and his wife Lisa.

Adrian, now known as Alucard (which is dracula spelled backwards) fights Trevor and Sypha to test them before joining them to challenge Dracula and stop him from wiping out all mankind.

Season two follows their journey and also steps back to fill in the gaps left by season one. We see details on Lisa’s arrest and subsequent execution – the reason why Dracula has become incensed and feels driven to make the world of men pay. We also see Dracula’s world and the political forces within it, including a few human necromancers who create the undead army of grotesque creatures. This is important, because not only is this a fight between Dracula’s forces and the world, but there is also plenty of tension between the vampires and the necromancers.

Meanwhile, Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha return to Trevor’s destroyed childhood home and uncover the massive secret underground library which contains the answers about how they can possibly stop Dracula’s forces, as well as several specialized monster hunting weapons.

All of this leads up to several heated conflicts and battles. Several of Dracula’s vampires have agendas of their own, and will stop at nothing to see them through. There is an attack on another city as well as a showdown at the Belmont Estate where undead creatures work to eliminate our three heroes.

We end the season with a epic vampire battle between Alucard and Dracula, the outcome of which changes everything.

We also meet Carmilla, one of the vampire queens with a massive agenda.

My Review

Where many second seasons suffer from a lack of focus and a sense that the writers never planned on continuing the story, Castlevania flourishes. All the hectic story building in season one slows down and we finally get to see things happen at a much more reasonable pace. When there needs to be a flashback, it’s satisfying and fits into the story in a way that enriches the experience instead of distracting from it.

The complexity of the plot is Castlevania’s two-edged sword. People are going to love it or hate it because of just how many storylines are running amok. This complexity comes from the massive cast of important characters, all of which have relevant backstories that need to be explored to make the decisions they are making in the present make sense. This means lots of flashbacks to build up these stories. Some might feel this slows down the story and the action too much and takes away from the good parts of the story that’s unfolding in the present.

For me, it makes the conflict all the more interesting and meaningful. No one in this story is a mindless puppet. Each one carries an emotional wound that they are desperately working to heal in often the most dramatic way possible. In a way, Game of Thrones tried to do the same thing. Each kingdom had an agenda and the viewer spent lots of time learning the motivations behind them. Where GOT fell short was not fulfilling any of those agendas even in a clever way. No one in GOT found satisfying closure to their stories, which is why everyone hated the end of season eight.

For Castlevania to be successful, each character with an agenda needs to end up with what they deserve and it needs to be a poetic twist on what they wanted.

Trevor gets a new powerful toy, an enchanted morningstar.

Recommendations

While season one seemed to delight in shocking the audience, season two made up for it by adding additional depth. There is still plenty of gore and violence, but it now feels balanced to what the story is trying to accomplish.

This one is for high school aged viewers and up. Period.

I give Castlevania, Season 2, 5/5 stars for it’s depth of story, stunning art, and complex characters.

Thank you for joining me as I reviewed Castlevania, season 2 today on the blog. If you enjoyed reading this review and would like to see more, please consider connecting with me by either following the blog here on WordPress, liking my Facebook page, or subscribing to my newsletter. As an added bonus, newsletter subscribers receive free books, stories, and special offers every week.

TV Review: Castlevania, Season 1

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Warning – this dark animated horror fantasy isn’t for the kids and contains extreme gore, violence, foul language, innuendo, and mature themes.

That said, it’s awesome. I’m a sucker for great characters, engrossing stories, and in this case, some very impressive artistry. Castlevania has all three.

The Story

A little history. Castlevania was originally a Japanese video game series by Konami and follows the story of Trevor Belmont, Alucard, and Sypha Belnades as they defend their homeland against Dracula and his minions.

We begin with the story of Vlad Dracula Tepes and see his love for Lisa, a vivacious and determined human woman who forced herself into his life, grow into something special. Twenty years later, she is accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake – an event that destroys Dracula’s faith in humanity and sets him on the path to kill every citizen who lives in Wallachia.

Enter Trevor Belmont who comes from a long line of famous monster hunters. The Belmont family is legendary in their efforts to rid the world of dark monsters. Here in season 1, Trevor is still reluctant to take up the family tradition and instead stumbles from town to town seeking out the next tavern and mug of ale. That is until he meets Sypha, a magician historian who is seeking a way to end the monster attacks plaguing the countryside. She’s got the knowledge, he’s got the brawn.

Sypha follows a legend saying that there’s a sleeping soldier in the catacombs deep beneath the city of Gresit who is capable of stopping Dracula. This soldier turns out to be the cast off half-vampire son of Dracula himself, Alucard.

The season ends with Alucard agreeing to help Sypha and Trevor challenge Dracula and end the conflict between vampires and humans for good.

My Review

Season one of Castlevania is super short, only four episodes. In that time, the history of why Dracula turned on humans needed to be revealed, Trevor and Sypha needed to be compelled to work together, and the first big enemy, the Bishop of Gresit, faced and defeated. That’s a lot of ground to cover so it’s no surprise that the story feels a bit disjointed as we get to know the characters and what’s at stake for each. The sheer immensity of the backstory trying to break through is impressive. By the end of the first season the viewer knows that there is so much more going on, but isn’t quite sure what.

Yes, they fridged Dracula’s love interest. It’s a common trope in the genre as a reason for the bad guy to be bad or the good guy to keep fighting. In this instance there are enough other factors also in place that it doesn’t feel forced.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and I found the characters to be likable and charming each in their own curmudgeonly way. The gore is a little much for what is needed to tell a good story, but is an expected aspect of the genre so is forgivable.

I look forward to seeing how the story unfolds and how the stakes are raised.

Recommendations

This series makes a place for itself by offering over-the-top brutal violence in an animated feature. I’ll say it again. IT’S NOT FOR KIDS. Highschoolers, maybe. But not kids. Beyond the violence and gore, there is also frequent swearing and reference to plenty of mature themes.

That said, compared to other similar stories, Castlevania has strong moral undertones. They characters show grit and determination to do what’s right, not because they’ll gain from it, but because it’s the right thing to do. They stand up against evil, protect the weak, and are willing to sacrifice themselves should it come down to it.

I give Castlevania 4/5 for amazing characters, a solid story, and a compelling villain.

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