I saw the most recent animated Castlevania series at last. Although I had not intended to write a review, I felt driven to write this article since the ending—which I will not reveal—frightened me so much. Please excuse me if any of my criticisms and claims aren’t as obvious as they should be; this review will be spoiler free at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
I’ll talk about the animation first. The series’ visual aesthetic and level of animation are fine in my opinion. Although I’ve seen some critics claim that it’s not as good as the original Castlevania on Netflix, I didn’t think the animation in castlevania nocturne reviews was any worse. Although it is a little different, that does not necessarily mean that it is worse. Having said that, I believe that when it comes to games and cartoons, I tend to be much more forgiving than a lot of people. Netflix offers a number of poorly animated series. For example, I didn’t like the animation in that Dragon’s Dogma episode, which I also critiqued on this blog. Having said that, if you thought the animation in the original Castalia series on Netflix was great and you think the animation in Nocturne is bad in contrast, that’s more of a personal issue than a valid critique of the show’s animation at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
The voice acting and sound mixing in this programme pleased me. Though I think the theme music needs to be more memorable, other than that, I have no issues with the auditory experience. Almost all of the selected voice actors have the voices I would anticipate them having from their illustrations. The actors had a clear voice. Their accents ought to be more distinct, one could argue. While the drama takes set in France and features a cast of characters ranging from French aristocracy to runaway Caribbean slaves, some of them actually sound a lot like average Americans. This was undoubtedly a deliberate decision to avoid offending the white American audience. Heaven forbid that anyone who isn’t watching Japanese anime read the subtitles. However, that isn’t a knock on the audio quality of the programme. They performed well at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
I can commend Castlevania: Nocturne for its excellent audio production and animation, but I cannot commend its text. Let me begin by stating that, in terms of video game adaptations, I think the original Castlevania series to be really close to a masterpiece. As a stand-alone TV series, the show excels, despite my earlier criticism that it doesn’t truly capture the essence of the real games. The characters are compelling and complex, the pacing is excellent, and the plots keep your interest throughout. I didn’t get that impression after watching Castlevania: Nocturne’s debut season. The events of the first series take place some hundred years later in this one. To be honest, I watched the first season of the show with the intention of seeing it as a stand-alone series unrelated to the second. Nonetheless, the show makes a point of making sure you, the viewer, make the connection between the two series on multiple occasions. It isn’t a bad thing, but it lets the show make mistakes in its storytelling. Later on, a bit more on that at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
The French Revolution is raging in the late 1700s when this series is set. The show proper takes place when Richter Belmont, the main character, is a young adult living in France approximately ten years after the opening scene, which takes place in the USA when he is a youngster. The show’s overarching theme is that predatory capitalists are represented by vampires. And by metaphor, I mean that they really turn the majority of slave owners in North America and France into vampires, hitting you over the head with their message djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com/2023/10/18/castlevania-nocturne-season-1-review-6-10/
The show is about the wealthy parasites that prey on the underprivileged and oppressed working classes. To be honest, that’s not a horrible concept at all.The 2012 film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter used the same strategy. The issue lies in the way they obscure the metaphor by presenting a story about racism and class conflict from the perspective of a white man who comes from a wealthy family, then using a Black lady as the main character to represent the great villain. Because of the restrictions of the previously established canon, the current drive for variety in storytelling has essentially wrecked a story about the fight for diversity. However, that isn’t even the main issue with the programme at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
The fact that Castlevania: Nocturne is a mix of mediocrity and lazy is the true issue with it. It’s not so much an excellent programme on its own as it depends a lot on you being a fan of the original series. This season, set in a larger village in the French countryside, is incredibly restricted. Though they don’t actually participate in the revolution, the characters frequently discuss it. In all honesty, no one else seems to give a damn about the vampire epidemic they’re dealing with in this town. Which is very restrictive for a story about the French Revolution, but perfect for a vampire story. The fact that the town’s Catholic priest also happens to be a forgemaster is the only reason the story takes place there. In reality, though, he isn’t even a Forgemaster. He has a poorly functioning machine working for him. Actually, that’s one of the main problems I have with the storyline. It’s acceptable and anticipated that they carry on with the night creature themes from the first series. However, since they’ve given the night creatures a great deal of agency, they are now forming factions. No, I don’t want to witness a spectacular war scene in which the present Belmont and his allies lead an army of friendly night creatures in opposition to a group of vampires and an army of hostile night creatures. If that happened, Trevor Belmont would roll over in his grave at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
The speed of this show is awful. It makes much too many significant revelations in far too short a time, none of which are given the chance to be developed beyond the surface. For example, a character that would unquestionably improve the show gets introduced in the middle of it. But after that episode, you never see that character again. He should have established himself as a main character going ahead, but I suppose he’ll make a comeback in a later season. Similar to this, the show closes with an outrageous revelation that is undeserved, awful, and totally unexpected. I wasn’t sure if I would watch a second season by the time I reached the finale. I couldn’t resist committing to watch another season after they made a huge reference to the original series in the very last scene of the season’s final episode. That’s not, however, good writing. Hack writing is what it is. The authors of a show didn’t deserve my recurring viewing if I watched a full season and wasn’t interested in continuing, only to be convinced to watch another season by a single reveal at the very end that references an entirely different series. The authors of the other series wrote them. Richter Belmont and his pals don’t really matter to me. I wasn’t interested in them after watching the show. But [redacted] is something I really care about. Except for the last scene, the first eight episodes of this show had nothing to do at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
Despite its seeming paradox, Castlevania: Nocturne should slow down. In eight episodes, they introduced three major bad guys, a Forgemaster who towed the line between the human and vampire factions in the conflict, and seven (eight if you include the reveal in the last scene) characters who were willing and able to battle vampires. One of those vampire hunters was slain and raised from the dead in those eight episodes, another was transformed into a vampire, a fifth was introduced and never saw again, and a sixth fell in “love” with a vampire. Three major villains emerged:
one became a good guy, one turned evil, and one proved to be strong enough to bring about an endless eclipse. This is well than enough for just eight cartoon programmes! Consider the first season of the television show Castlevania. It’s really simply an introduction of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard, along with Dracula’s purpose. That is all. Nothing is settled, one bad guy teams up with three nice guys. However, at the conclusion of those four episodes, you find yourself rooting for and understanding each of those characters. Dracula himself.
By the time the first season of Nocturne ended, I could definitely sympathise with a number of the characters. But none of them really interest me. There are simply too many of them introduced too soon, and there are hardly any calm periods for character and relationship development. A lot of fighting occurs. Considering the age and experience of the main characters, there are a lot more vampire deaths than I would have predicted. But the majority of the private moments are merely memories of prior crimes or disagreements over the best course of action regarding the numerous dangerous individuals that are out there. Alucard and Trevor don’t laugh when they learn that the Speakers view God as their enemy due to the Tower of Babel myth at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
There is no ridiculous trick of freezing someone’s beverage using magic. which is unfortunate given how many characters on this programme are magicians. There are a lot of mages in Nocturne. The show does a great job of making me feel sorry for the characters, but it falls short of doing nearly enough to win my approval. That also applies to the bad guys. In contrast to Dracula and even Carmilla in the first series, the antagonists in this one, with the possible exception of Olrox, who hardly qualifies as a villain, lack any true personal reasons. Simply put, it says, “Everyone should bow before us in fear because we are the top of the food chain.”
That is all. For some reason, the season has a number of prominent villains, all of whom are living examples of conceit and classism. not driven by personal interests. No sad history. just the conviction that vampires ought to rule. Many of them aren’t even interested in killing most people. All they want is to be used as slaves and to serve them. The allegories used to describe predatory capitalism are far too severe at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
In the end, Castlevania: Nocturne is not the worthy sequel to the first series. I doubt I would have watched a second season of the animated series if I hadn’t already been a big fan of the first one. Had it not been for the shocking conclusion, I might not have thought twice about watching a second season. Of course, I think the show could be better. There’s undoubtedly room for improvement. The issue is that the first season gives off the impression of having already jumped the gun in many areas.at djmmtgamechangerdoc.wordpress.com
Too many significant people and too much authority have been introduced too rapidly on both sides of the dispute. Before making the next big revelation, they really need to control the pacing and give things some time to grow. I heartily suggest watching the first Castlevania series on Netflix if you haven’t already. It will, however, make Nocturne more difficult to enjoy if you intend to watch it before Nocturne, which you should for canonical reasons.
