Warning: This article may contain spoilers.
“Castlevania” is an animated show that takes place in the 1400’s in Wallachia, a historical region of Romania. Based originally off the 1986 video game series, this Netflix series premiered on July 7, 2017. The series follows the last member of the Belmont family, Trevor, as he battles the beastly creatures Dracula has unleashed on the region after being scorned by a hideous church practice. Yes, you read that right, Dracula, as in the famous vampire. The Belmonts were excommunicated from the church for dabbling in dark magic and fighting vampires. The series is full of dark magic and mythical creatures as well as a fair share of gore and blood.
Previous Season Recap
The first episode introduces the event that carries the series, the burning of Dracula’s wife. Lisa Tepes comes to Dracula seeking knowledge so she may become a doctor to help the sick in her village. The village and the church don’t agree with her practices and outcast her as a witch. When Dracula finds out about this, he promises the village that he will have their revenge on them after a year. Despite their doubt, Dracula indeed exacts his revenge and the village is torn apart. Literally.
In the next episode, we meet our hero, Trevor Belmont, who has the attitude of Theon Greyjoy and the heart of Jon Snow. Trevor stumbles his way into the almost empty town of Gresit where he comes across the Speakers, a group of scholars also persecuted by the church. He aids them and they end up combining forces in the final episode of the season to raise the Messiah in hopes of defeating Dracula. A major plot twist (that I won’t mention) in the final episode will keep viewers on the edge of their seat wanting more.
There are four episodes in the first season and each is about 25 minutes. Season 2 of the show is set to release sometime in 2018 and will be eight episodes long.
To Binge or Not to Binge?
The series has intricate animation that truly brings the story to life, and Trevor’s wicked sense of humor adds an uncanny taste to the show, considering that the world is literally ending. He’s got the hero vibe that we get from characters like Jon Snow and Oliver Queen, but he’s also got nothing to lose. The most interesting character of the show dies in the first episode and although the effects are done well, the show falls a bit flat after that.
Perhaps I’m biased in my review because I’m not traditionally a fan of anime shows. Maybe I’d be more invested if I had gotten into the video game. In a sense, we love film adaptations of our favorite books and this is similar to that. But in my opinion, you shouldn’t binge this show unless you are into anime and looking for something new and short to get through on Netflix. I wouldn’t binge it because it’s quite boring apart from the few shining moments that Trevor and Lisa are given. Vampires are cool, but there’s two ends of the spectrum: sparkling Edward Cullen and Dracula. I’m more of an in-between girl who prefers The Vampire Diaries.
Best Episode: Season 1, Episode 1: ‘Witchbottle”
Similar Shows: “The Secret Saturdays”, “Attack on Titan”, “Ajin”, “Blame!”
Trigger Warnings: Lots of trigger warnings with this one. There’s copious amounts of blood, violence, gore, swearing and death.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
“Castlevania”
Available to stream on Netflix
4 episodes, Approximately 1.5 hours
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