Castlevania Netflix

[KerfuffleMach2]

So, this was released today.

Castlevania Netflix trailer

Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

How about you guys?

[Pendragonx]

just watched ... animation looks good if nothing else.. It's very weird hearing english voices with japanese style animation, as I generally always watch my anime subtitled

[Giggling Ghast]

Between this and that Dark Crystal prequel, someone at Netflix programming obviously has a major hard-on for 80s nostalgia.

It's scripted by Warren Ellis? Not sure if that's good or bad.

[JoshL]

Not sure what to think, given that game adaptations rarely work well. But i always watch them and usually enjoy them (even the terrible ones), so I'll definitely give this a shot. Looks nice at least!

It's scripted by Warren Ellis? Not sure if that's good or bad.

That ramps up my interest and optimism considerably! He's one of my favorite writers in comics, and I really loved the GI Joe series he wrote.

[random11]

Eagerly waiting for the episode where he climbs the clock tower to get double jump ability...

Seriously, it's not like the game was heavy on plot so there is no real way of guessing how the show will be, or even what it will be about (other than "let's kill Dracula").
Nothing to do but sit and wait.

[Vogie]

Between this and that Dark Crystal prequel, someone at Netflix programming obviously has a major hard-on for 80s nostalgia.

It's scripted by Warren Ellis? Not sure if that's good or bad.

Stranger Things too

The main thing that Netflix has that no other media thing before it had was deep information on who is watching what. Not the individual who, as in "John Peters, you know, the farmer", but rather the collective who, as in "the group of people who repeat watch Family Guy, are currently watching Friends, and every Adam Sandler film". They backed House of Cards originally because they knew that people like Kevin Spacey and dark political dramas, and it paid off huge.

And that makes sense - the main chunk of people who are cutting cable are those under the age of 45, and Netflix is a main source of content for them. If their young Gen Xs, Gen Ys, and Millennials all want the same thing, that's just smart business.

[Giggling Ghast]

That ramps up my interest and optimism considerably! He's one of my favorite writers in comics, and I really loved the GI Joe series he wrote.

I do like Nextwave, but I'm indifferent to Planetary and The Authority. Haven't read any of his other stuff.

[Velaryon]

I'm interested, but not as interested as I would be in a proper (i.e. 2-D and not based on Lords of Shadow) Castlevania game.

[Blackhawk748]

Looks sexy, and Netflix has a fairly solid track record with their series, so i am hopeful.

[Kyberwulf]

Meh. It looks...

Like a standard Anime. It's gonna be some overpowered guy. going against some other overpowered guy. The overpowered guy is going to lose until one of his friends is hurt. Then the overpowered guy is going to find a special power, from friendship, to overpower the overpowered guy. OH the overpowered guy is going to be from some special .. thing that will give him this overpoweredness.

That and judging from the opening ...40 seconds, it's going to be kind of pretentious, all flash kind of show.

[S@tanicoaldo]

It looks a lot like Bayonetta anime, and I didn't really liked.

But I will watch it, castlevania has proven that it doesn’t work in 3-D games, let's see if 2-D animation is another medium this series won't work well.

[KillingAScarab]

It's scripted by Warren Ellis? Not sure if that's good or bad.

There was an X-Men anime which Warren Ellis also wrote for, but the final product was closer to average than great, I think. On the one hand, I don't know how many conventions of anime were included on his initiative. The X-Men functioned a bit more like a sentai team or exorcists, the latter of which I would especially expect from a Castlevania adaptation. There were also entirely new members of the Lords Cardinal introduced which weren't really interesting at all. Marsh, Rat and Neuron didn't seem at all capable of intrigue, just action. The action found within it could have been good, but then you have great ideas like "Wolverine fights an airborn mutant atop the rushing Blackbird jet" being executed with impossible to follow animation. I blame that on Madhouse, also "breasts and teeth as far as you can see." So, Ellis might be a good pick, but we'll see how well he works with the animation studio.

[Legato Endless]

I'm interested, but not as interested as I would be in a proper (i.e. 2-D and not based on Lords of Shadow) Castlevania game.

We're getting Bloodstained, but even so I sympathize. Not much from the trailer, just your standard action quick cuts. I was honestly more interested in the framing device with the Nintendo of an 80s style of Netflix's original series. Or Netflix shows as retro videogame adaptions.

[JoshL]

So, Vampire Hunter C...I mean, Castlevania is out! I loved it! Very over-the-top, in a classic anime gore sort of way, just enough humor, nods to the conventions of the game. Cliche, but not in a bad way, in a way you'd expect for a cartoon about vampires based on a video game to be. And not padded out; 4 episodes of 22 minutes. Leaves you wanting more rather than beating the concept into the ground. As such, it ends cliffhanger-y, but finished enough of an arc to be satisfying. I'd love to see more game adaptation cartoons hit Netflix. There's a rumor of Assassin's Creed, and as much as I'd love it, not holding my breath for, say Metroid or Zelda.

[HardcoreD&Dgirl]

I only dabbled in this series (except symphony of the night that I played out on my old PS) but I like the idea.

I do wonder if Dracula and Vampires are a bit too played out though...

That ramps up my interest and optimism considerably! He's one of my favorite writers in comics, and I really loved the GI Joe series he wrote.

was that the one joes died in...I think bazooka got taken out in the first episode...I can't find the name of it.

[BWR]

I do like Nextwave, but I'm indifferent to Planetary and The Authority. Haven't read any of his other stuff.

You should read Transmetropolitan. It's frickin' amazing, much much better than Planetary or the Authority.
Freak Angels is decent, and free.

[JoshL]

was that the one joes died in...I think bazooka got taken out in the first episode...I can't find the name of it.

That was the one. GI Joe: Resolute was the name
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1259299/

[Lacuna Caster]

Oh, speaking of retro-nostalgia- I stumbled on this guy doing a wood-block print series of video-game characters. Here's Yokai Dracul!

[Lacuna Caster]

So, this was released today.

Castlevania Netflix trailer

Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

How about you guys?

The animation looks nice at least. Can't comment much beyond that.

[VariSami]

I have watched the first two episodes thus far, with Japanese dubbing. The mouth movements are fairly uncanny, I will have to say. The animation is... Somehow kitschy. I get vibes similar to what I had with the Wolverine anime. Kitschy is probably not the right word here since it is not intentionally outdated or bad and at least the art might not necessarily be that bad but it is just so lifeless. There is hardly anything happening at any given time, at least outside combat, and you only have whatever is currently in focus move at all. Many small manoeuvres such as the angry peasant's spitting are pretty half-arsed - I am pretty sure I saw his spit in only two frames total, for a jarring 'it is there and then it is not'. Obviously, I do not want to see more of peasant spit but this is an example of a detail that detracts from the overall feel.

I have also been watching too many Youtube tutorials on video editing of late since I am beginning to see just how jarring certain details can be. For example, Dracula's walk to his burnt house was really annoying somehow - there were so many shots we as the audience did not need to see for they contributed nothing but the idea that Dracula is walking. That does have some slight story relevance but it would have been conveyed with much less.

This is not to say that I am not kind of enjoying the show - there is some decent banter and I love hating on the medieval forms of Christianity. The MC has potential although execution thus far has been leaving me mostly cold. With the amount of gore the show is willing to show, there might be some interesting action scenes in the future as well.

Overall, it feels like... Some old cartoon like He-man which is hybridised with some anime aesthetics and modern sensibilities concerning what is allowed or expected, such as more guttural violence. I think this is what I mean by it feeling kitsch. That nagging reminder of old, 'realistic' art style Western cartoons lurks within the show, both on its visuals (art and editing) and in its writing.

[Chromascope3D]

Having never played a Castlevania game, I have to say, that was pretty rad. I'm on board for whatever comes next.

I have watched the first two episodes thus far, with Japanese dubbing.

Personally, I'd recommend the English version as Richard Armitage's performance as Trevor Belmont was actually really great, imo, and the other voice actors (aside from maybe Sypha's) were pretty stellar as well.

[JadedDM]

Not only that, but in the English version, Tony Amendola plays the elder speaker. I always enjoy hearing Bray'tac's voice.

Anyway, I'm not big into Castlevania myself. I've played two games...the very first one, on the NES. And an old PS1 one...I forget what it was called, but you played as Alucard. And both were played many years ago. So I'm not really a big expert on the series. I know who the Belmonts are, and Dracula, and Alucard. That's more or less it.

Still, I really enjoyed it. My only problem was that it was way too short. It felt like it was just getting started when it ended. Hopefully the success it's enjoying will ensure season 2 will be longer than 4 episodes.

[Metahuman1]

Question: What's it like in the sex/nudity/skimy clothing department? I ask because if the answer is something in line with "Well there isn't any" then I can watch it on a slow night at work.

[scalyfreak]

Question: What's it like in the sex/nudity/skimy clothing department? I ask because if the answer is something in line with "Well there isn't any" then I can watch it on a slow night at work.

Well. There isn't any.

It's monsters eating people and angry lynch mobs. Not the sort of environment where nudity and sex tends to happen (and when it does, it's not on Netflix). I would consider this work safe, as long as you wear headphones. The dialogue is realistic in the cussing department, which means situations that call for an OH ****!, get exactly that.

[Metahuman1]

Cussing's not a problem actually, I'm working grave shift, so as long as looking at internet history there not seeing sex/nudity/skimpy clothing, they really don't care were I'm working.



As for the environment, maybe, didn't stop Vampire Hunter D though form working it in.

[Kato]

I watched it and enjoyed it. The animation was mostly fine with a few weird bits. The bar fight felt weird for some reason. Not sure what they were going for.
It was too short, yes. Felt more like a trailer than a season. As such it worked well enough.
I'll gladly watch more even though nothing was mind boggling.

[Giggling Ghast]

Question: What's it like in the sex/nudity/skimy clothing department? I ask because if the answer is something in line with "Well there isn't any" then I can watch it on a slow night at work.

No sex, though there are some really filthy jokes. And extreme violence.

The bar fight felt weird for some reason.

I think it was mostly there to work in some ribald humour and to establish how the Belmonts are now hated in Wallachia.

[Kato]

I think it was mostly there to work in some ribald humour and to establish how the Belmonts are now hated in Wallachia.

Yeah but the balance between him being drunk and superior and not caring was.. strange. I expected him to either get beat or beat them but by how even it was it felt strange.

I'm not sure how I feel about humane Dracula.. I like it in general but with castlevania...

[BWR]

Yeah but the balance between him being drunk and superior and not caring was.. strange. I expected him to either get beat or beat them but by how even it was it felt strange.

I'm not sure how I feel about humane Dracula.. I like it in general but with castlevania...

Though I thought the show as a whole was pretty meh, these things did not bother me in the slightest. I'm not sure exactly what you have against the bar fight, since the final sentence there doesn't really make sense, but it worked just fine. He's trying to get out without a fight and with more booze, he gets jumped and even staggeringly drunk as he is, he beats the tar out of them. I don't really see what the problem is.

As for a humane Dracula...not really. He was acting somewhat human for his wife's sake but once she was gone he was instantly an inhuman monster again. His first act is to decide to kill every human except that one old lady, then tear apart his son for trying to stop him, then unleash the hordes of hell on the countryside. Hardly what you would call humane.

[Giggling Ghast]

Well, I think we've seen enough of "monstrously evil Dracula" that a portrayal of the character with slightly sympathetic motives isn't out of the question.

As I remarked on Twitter, I'll shed not one tear for the people of Targoviste; even if the burning of Lisa Tepes was not unconscionable, they deserved a horrible end for their sheer stupidity. If Dracula appears before you and promises bloody vengeance in a year's time, you take that year to shore up your defences. Where were the soliders to fight the monsters? Why did none of the townspeople carry crucifixes and holy water? Morons.

Still, slaughtering an entire country goes a wee bit too far.