I just want to start this off by saying that I have never played Castlevania in my life and know next to nothing about it besides that it was a video game. So when people started coming up to me at work and texting me that I needed to watch the anime I was kind of confused. They said I should check it out because there's vampires, it's a horror anime, and it's based on a video game and those are literally three of my favorite things so I gave it a shot and was not disappointed!
The first thing I loved about the series was that the first season is only four episodes long! I mean after having watched it, that sucks because I wish there was more to watch, but at first that was really appealing to me. I also love the premise for the show (and I'm not sure if it's the same as the game's premise) which is that Dracula's human wife was killed for witchcraft and in response he released an army of hell upon the world to get revenge. But now a ragtag group consisting of a vampire hunter, a scholar, and a vampire human hybrid are out to kill him. The four episodes managed to encapsulate a lot within them and the animation was gorgeous. It was done by Powerhouse Animation which isn't a super well known animation studio; Castlevania is their most notable work by far. I was super impressed with the visuals throughout each episode, you could really tell a lot of work was put into them. This turned out to be an extremely well done for a western animation project.
This might be the new goriest anime I've ever watched. There is absolutely no censorship for language or gore and that is so cool to me. I've mentioned this before, but I really hate censorship in things like video games and anime, and seeing people be cut in half and having their guts strung up around the town was very refreshing. The army from hell was really brutal and the first scene where they enter and blood rains down on everyone really impressed me. I personally felt sympathy for Dracula because his beloved wife was burned at the stake simply because she liked learning about medicine and I can understand why he would be upset about losing her. So I didn't feel too appalled when he sent his revenge army to kill everyone. I also really like the protagonist, Trevor, too! He's your classic I act like I don't care but really inside I do care kind of tough vigilante guy. His character design was super cool and he was fun to watch.
I really wish I could give you a better perspective on this as someone who has played the game, but honestly it was a little before my time as a gamer and I never got the chance to play it. However, after watching this anime I really, really want to play it! But I probably won't because I don't want my expectations to be too high and have them ruined after actually playing this very old game. But as someone who knew nothing about this series previously, this is a very good stand alone show and I think people should watch it! It was entertaining, gory, and filled with drama. When the vampire human son was revealed I couldn't believe it! (I mean I could because it's such an obvious thing to do, but the twist was still appreciated) I really can't wait to see where this is going to go and who knows, maybe I'll play the game. (But probably not)
-Bookwyrm
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