I watched the first episode of the new Netflix animated series based on the Castlevania games.
I hated it.
I had a great rant all saved up to tell you about it too, and then Brian Niemeier went and made all the same brilliant points in this stellar episode of Geek Gab:
Go give it a listen.
They're absolutely correct about the historical inaccuracies, but then again it's not like Castlevania series was ever striving for that since it's pretty much its own divergent history, what with Dracula showing up every 100 years or so and him bearing no actual resemblance to the historical Vlad (what with him being born as Mathias Cronqvist in the 11th century and all) :P
ReplyDeleteFrom all appearances, this show looked like the games put to animation.
Despite mentioning the two games the series was based on, I feel like they haven't played the games. All of the negative things they point out were pretty much lifted straight from the games. Lisa WAS burned for being witch because she used more advanced medicine during that time. Dracula WAS passive during the time he was married to her, and then became violent after her death to seek revenge. The Belmont clan WAS excommunicated by the Church because they feared their knowledge, and because the Church (incorrectly) thought they could handle things better. Nothing was changed here. The only real difference is that in Castlevania 3 the Church backpeddles and asks Trevor to help out because they're getting their shit wrecked by Dracula and his minions.
Dracula has also always been a vampire of science, and despite his claims otherwise it's pretty obvious from the opening scenes that he's no good guy. All of the sympathetic set up is stuff stated to have happened in the past in Symphony of the Night.
Considering the Belmonts were excommunicated because the Church thought they could fight monsters better, it's not a surprise that there's corrupted members led by a crazy Bishop in their order. Pretty much nothing there is out of place with Castlevania 3's story.
In the episode where the big demon tells the Bishop that god has abandoned him, my wife agreed with the demon, but it's pretty clear to me that God sent Trevor and the Speakers (well, Sypha more specifically) there, and that the Bishop was just too crazy to see what had happened. Despite this, the power of Christ isn't impotent in this show. Trevor still calls on a priest towards the end to make holy water in order to fight monsters.
Overall I found it to be a really faithful adaptation of Castlevania 3 and the backstory of Symphony of the Night (Except for Grant, whom I'm hoping shows up in season 2).
Actually heard they chose Trevor specifically because he had the least personality in the games.
DeleteI can definitely see your point about the synthesis of C3 and SotN, but this still seems to ignore large chunks of the games.
I still don't get how Dracula is a "vampire of science" and things like crosses and holy water would matter. If his power is not based in supernatural evil, why would supernatural good bother him?
Honestly Simon wouldn't have mattered much either. The NES games, but their simplicity, had very little. There's zero in game dialogue in the first Castlevania.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't ignore anything. It so far has followed pretty exactly what happened in that Castlevania 3 period. Recall that these earlier games were fairly light on story.
That comment was more aimed at the Geek Gab guys comments about all his scientific stuff. That's always been a part of Dracula, even back to the first game with Frankenstein's Monster as a boss and levels like the Clock Tower. Later games that fleshed out his backstory showed him to be a talented scientist and alchemist even in the 11th century.
I never said his power isn't supernatural evil, it definitely is (he just supplements with science). Crosses and holy water DO work on him, but Dracula is so powerful that their effect is muted. That's why in Castlevania 1 you can't insta-kill Dracula with the cross or holy water weapons. They're powerful tools, but not one shot KO's like they are against lesser evil creatures.