Six years ago, the first Castlevania series was released on Netflix, giving us what I would call the first memorable action-oriented adult animated show on the platform. It was a show I immediately gravitated towards, as it was vastly different from the far less serious other animated series that are still way more common today. While the first season only had four episodes and a slow start, I became obsessed with the show and its lore. Despite the highs and lows of the final few seasons of the original show, my love for the franchise carries onto the long-awaited sequel series Castlevania: Nocturne.
As a longtime fan of the animated series, I know that the show has never been extremely faithful to the source material. Storylines from the games will be loosely implemented, and legacy characters will often show up with a completely new design. While there are many theories that can be made based on the games, they have always served more as inspiration for the series rather than a set of instructions for story beats to follow.
Taking place hundreds of years after the original, Nocturne introduces us to a brand-new cast of characters. The French Revolution is in full swing, and Richter Belmont has found himself the last descendant of the Belmont clan after his mother was killed by a vampire as a child. He is currently staying with a young revolutionary and magician Maria, and her mother Tera. Vampires are becoming more common in the area, and night creatures have begun to appear. While in a fight, he meets Annette and Edouard, who came from across the ocean to aid Belmont.
Also coming from across the ocean is Olrox, the Aztec vampire who killed Richter’s mother, and swore one day he would kill Richter too. Olrox is a highlight of the season and a huge improvement on his source material. He has landed in France to meet the Vampire Messiah, whose true name is Erzsebet Bathory. There are a few other characters of note, such as Drolta Tzuentes, another vampire who aids Erzsebet, and the Abbot, a priest with shaky morals.
Despite this new set of characters, Nocturne feels very much like the previous show. Once again audiences are treated to beautiful fighting animation, great character design, excellent sound effects, and a whole lot of vampires. But that also turns out to be a bit to its detriment, as it means that the dialogue is not always the greatest, and as is the case with the previous show, we get drawn-out scenes of exposition.
It’s a tricky line to walk to make the descendant of Trevor Belmont (the protagonist of the original series) different than Trevor, but at the same time have similar mannerisms, design, and fighting style. Initially, Richter feels a bit boring. Trevor was a very outstanding character and was known for being drunk all the time and ignoring his responsibilities despite being an incredible vampire hunter. Richter’s main issue is that he is so traumatized by his past that it makes him freeze or run away. Besides that, Richter can come off as a bit bland with his much more reserved personality. While Richter evolves both his abilities and confidence throughout the season, he is just not as iconic as Trevor was.
While there is no denying that Nocturne is a sequel, it is by no means a complete copy of its predecessor. The show finds itself greatly expanding on concepts introduced in the initial series, and unlike pretty much any adult animated show we have seen before, we are treated to many operatic songs sung by Eduoard. His beautiful voice can completely enhance a fight scene or bring beauty to the most devastating moments. There is also the introduction of other Gods in this series, which is a huge leap from the original series which only focused on Christianity. Annette is descended from African gods, and both Erzsebet and Drolta have ties to Egyptian gods. This is a very welcome change, and the writers do an excellent job of introducing this new part of the world to viewers who may have never heard of these deities.
While the Vampire Messiah’s plot to bring eternal night is fascinating, the show really struggles with its pacing. There is quite a big cast of important characters introduced in this season, and the show feels the need to reveal almost all of their backstories with lengthy explanations or flashback sequences. This eight-episode season crams itself with so much character information that there may be very little to reveal and look forward to in follow-up seasons (season 2 has been confirmed after all).
Despite the few issues with this first season, I cannot wait for more of this show. I felt like I was immediately dropped back into the world of Castlevania after years apart. The show has time to grow and obtain the popularity that its predecessor did. With an eight-episode season right off the bat compared to the four episodes of the original’s first season, Nocture will likely have more time to flesh out its story and expand its world, which it has already been doing a good job of. Anybody who watched the original series should check out Nocturne, as they will feel right at home. I do recommend everyone check out the original series before watching this one, but I wouldn’t call it truly a requirement. If you are a fan of vampires, serious animation, or very sexy characters, this is a great show to start watching.
Castlevania: Nocturne is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Despite the few issues with this first season, I cannot wait for more of this show. I felt like I was immediately dropped back into the world of Castlevania after years apart. The show has time to grow and obtain the popularity that its predecessor did. With an eight-episode season right off the bat compared to the four episodes of the original’s first season, Nocture will likely have more time to flesh out its story and expand its world, which it has already been doing a good job of.
- GVN Rating 7.8
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