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Offline xscientist5000

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2017, 08:23:01 PM »
0
Watched 2/4 so far and loving it.
Ultra violence. Adult themes.
They did a good job on this.
Think about how bad they could have messed it up. The trailer didn't do it justice.

Offline AlexCalvo

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2017, 08:34:05 PM »
+2
http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/239108/castlevania-2017/
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/castlevania/266172/netflixs-castlevania-review
Professional reviews are starting to roll in. They are very positive to say the least.  I think there is little bit of "self fulfilling prophecy" going on here with some of the hate, as most the people who had major problems with the series are the same as those who have been very negative since well before release... but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  This is shaping up to be a huge hit.  And that is GREAT for the franchise.  Things are looking better than they have in a long while.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 09:15:36 PM by AlexCalvo »
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13104670/1/Castlevania-Birth-of-the-Dragon

Dracula was not always a monster. He was once a man named Mathias Cronqvist. A flawed, conflicted, genius of a man. How did the educated, aristocratic, crusader who piously served the church become a vampire, and eventually the Dark Lord himself, the opposing force to God? From a very young age terrors and tragedy shaped the man into the king of all evil. This is his story.

Offline Foffy

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #17 on: July 07, 2017, 09:09:23 PM »
0
I felt kinda mixed on it. Animation was fine, some of the scenes were pretty damn cool, but the two biggest gripes I had with it is the first season really kinda goes nowhere in terms of major events; the whole thing feels like a pilot in a sense. And Sypha's voice is prettttty bad.

Good thing they doubled the episode count for season 2. Also, this had no right being as good as it was, being a show in the womb for about a decade.

Offline GigaDan

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #18 on: July 07, 2017, 09:17:56 PM »
0
WELL MET CASTLEVANIA DUNGEON! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME!

I did a review this morning expressing how I felt about it. Please enjoy!



DO YOU THINK WHEN TREVOR GETS REALLY DRUNK

HE RALPHS?
Classic! Glad to be back here! XD
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 09:20:24 PM by GigaDan »

Offline aensland

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #19 on: July 07, 2017, 09:48:56 PM »
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7/10

Good:
(click to show/hide)


Bad:
(click to show/hide)

The Ugly
(click to show/hide)

Offline GuyStarwind

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #20 on: July 07, 2017, 10:26:09 PM »
0
7/10

Good:
(click to show/hide)


Bad:
(click to show/hide)

The Ugly
(click to show/hide)

I really agree with your first point on the bad. I'm still a little worried about this.

Offline Reinhart77

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #21 on: July 07, 2017, 10:46:08 PM »
0
wow, yeah, that pacing didn't fit a miniseries at all.  can't not watch them all in one setting.  i hope if they ever do a blue ray release of this, that they skip the episode breaks and just release it as a movie as originally intended.

i craved a little more monster hunting than what i got, but we still got two "movies" to go, so i'm sure i'll get plenty more of that then, it didn't have to all be right away.  the cyclops and alucard battles were awesome. 
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 10:49:36 PM by Reinhart77 »

Offline Inccubus

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #22 on: July 07, 2017, 11:22:22 PM »
+2
I pretty much agree with Nagumo, Laina, Sindra, Foffly, Aensland, and Reinhart77.

I liked it most when I suspended my disbelief as a Castlevania fan.
But if I have to do that to enjoy this, then it is a fail as a version of the Castlevania III story.
So this is once again the writers putting their creativity before the canon and the producers mindlessly grabbing at a franchise license with no actual confidence that it can stand on it's own for what it is.
It felt very much like Akumajou Densetsu as seen through the the stained glass window of Vampire Hunter D.

I didn't mind Sypha's accent because at least it wasn't cockney.
As much as the average viewer might find it cliche, I would have preferred eastern European accents for the villagers.
And a better Spanish accent for Sypha FERNANDEZ would have been better.
Could they just correct that horrible mistranslation, please?
Would it kill them to acknowledge this finally?

And the biggest problem is with demonizing the church in general then having to make up a cockamamie group of spell casters for Sypha to be a part of.
There was nothing wrong with the original story's premise.
If they needed to make a distinction between "the church" which burned Lisa as a witch, and "the church" that sends mages and to fight Dracula and search out an exiled Belmont they could have blamed the Inquisition which was relevant in the time frame of the setting.
This would have left more time for character development instead of wasting it explaining what this new group they pulled out of their collective asses was.

The lack of monster variety was unforgivable. I'm no insider, but I think the studio could have been able to throw in a few skeletons and zombies here and there.
Hell, I thought when Trevor first went down into the catacombs that suit of armor was going to be an Axe Lord. Missed opportunity or cut content?

I guess I would give this a 7/10 because it was entertaining in a very least common denominator sort of way.
As a retelling of CVIII, I give it a 4/10. And I have no confidence that the rest will be any different.

PS- I get the feeling that all of the violence and heavy metal talk from Ari was reigned back by the rest of the producers. Just a thought.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 11:34:56 PM by Inccubus »
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Offline Wallachia

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #23 on: July 07, 2017, 11:32:01 PM »
0
I'm in the middle of it now. I'm just floored we get a show!!

Armitage is great.

I feel the second season will go full bore. This was a conservative (in the story and content sense) pilot episode split in 4.

That scene of the bat demons shredding up the town - I was in awe.


"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better" - Albert Einstein

Offline Sumez

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #24 on: July 08, 2017, 03:52:11 AM »
0
Gonna go through this point by point, and decided to go to this forum to voice my thoughts as I figure most people wouldn't care about all these details anywhere else :)
Sorry if there's any spoilers - I'd consider anything mentioned here pretty minor and expected for a review thread.

  • I love the way they describe Dracula and his castle. He's both a magician and a scientist, which goes well in hand with the games. While the games have always had anachronisms, it's never been a major plot point, but I love the way the series embraces it, featuring electric lights and mechanical creations among Dracula's (and Alucard's) contraptions.
  • Expanding on above, they hit a perfect blend of the original gothic horror inspirations (ie. bram stoker, monster legends and classic horror movies), and the games' own lore. Dracula remains the classic tall brooding vampire (ignoring the stupid retcons in LoI), while also playing the role of "pretty much Satan". I can't possibly think of a better way to adapt the general mood and lore of the CV series, and I'm looking forward to seeing if they are gonna incorporate Death as a character, as well.
  • I love that they took an entire episode to give Dracula some character. Lisa being burned on the stake pretty much lifted directly from SotN and still fitting perfectly into the story? Fuck yeah.
  • As others have mentioned, I feel the violence and swearing didn't really fit in that much. I think it's great that they don't censor it, and especially the acts of the monsters need to have impact, but it feels unnecessary for Trevor to take out a finger or an eye just because "violence is cool". It was minor though, and I didn't mind it. Considering everything Shankar had said, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't dominate the series. Trevor's excessive swearing feels forced as well, but again it's nothing too bad.
  • The bishop was maybe a little too psychotic. I like the ambiguity of the church not being as good as it thinks of itself as, but this guy is just straight up evil. After all, the Belmonts have always used holy power to fight Dracula, so when Trevor suddenly requests holy water to fight the monsters, that does seem almost awkward.
  • Needs more episodes. Like way more episodes. I have to wait for probably more than a year for only 8 more 20 minute episodes? Booh :(
  • Best video games adaption I have ever seen, by far. Not that the competition is particularly tough, but this series is actually good, which is already more than I dared expect
  • Proper handdrawn 2D animation, sure it had some mistakes, but it's well above the standard for western animated series at the moment.
  • Not too impressed with the voice acting, but it gets the job done. Armitage does a fine job, but the character you see often doesn't fit his tone particularly well.
  • Trevor not knowing what Dracula looks like is a nice twist. I mean, it obviously makes sense, but I like that the series accentuates on it, and it helps set him up as the mysterious final boss that you know from the games and rarely get to see until the end.

It's almost impossible for me to guess what someone who isn't a fan of the games would think, but I think it's extremely obvious that the people behind the show (or at least Ellis and Shankar) didn't just play the games for research, but are clearly familiar with them, or at least CV3 and SotN, obviously. The show is filled with tasteful callbacks or references, such as:
  • Dracula teleporting in a pillar of light? Check!
  • Sypha relying on fire and ice? Check!
  • Trevor rescuing Sypha from being turned into a statue, byt defeating a cyclops? Check!
  • Walking on huge cogwheels? Not a clocktower, but still, check!
  • Alucard's SotN coat? Check!
  • Burke's "the only way for evil to triumph" quote, rewritten, but essentially the same
  • Trevor shedding his cape when he finally decides to take up his duty after having lived in seclusion most of his life. Even if he still kept wearing the cape in CV3 after the small intro, it feels like an apt callback
  • Sypha's gender being ambigious until she is rescued, along with Trevor's comment that she's dressed the same as a guy. Obviously any fan would realise immediately who he's headed out to rescue, but it's a clever reference to the way the localization of the game was originally handled
  • Probably a billion other things I didn't notice or remember from the first viewing

Really hoping for this to be succesful, so Konami might finally realise what the fans actually want. Or at least just so we can get more seasons. It would be easy to build on Simon's and/or Richter's stories for sequels.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 03:56:23 AM by Sumez »

Offline Sumez

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2017, 04:32:11 AM »
0
Yes, it might disregard aspects of the original series that we veterans might take a bit of offense or dislike to.

Yes, it might alter this or that element for its own purpose.

But you know what? I like it all the same.

I think it's actually become very clear now that it's out that this was not a series intended as a fanservice love letter to the series veterans and the series veterans alone for enjoy with dozens of little injokes and references nobody else would get.
I agree with pretty much your entire post except from this. I was surprised how little was changed. I can't think of anything that was genuinely changed from the original premise of CV3 apart from things that obviously HAD to be moved around to make sense in a stoy narrative - it's not like the entire series should be a side view of Trevor fighting various monsters and bosses, and I can't think of what anyone could have wanted other than this.
I think the series is very much a fanservice love letter, it just manages to do it without coming across as awkward and nerdy. It makes it hard for me to remain unbiased, and I still have yet to see what someone without preceeding love for the games would think of it.

Bad:
(click to show/hide)
I really agree with your first point on the bad. I'm still a little worried about this.
You guys serious? The character that was
(click to show/hide)

« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 04:33:47 AM by Sumez »

Offline AlexCalvo

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https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13104670/1/Castlevania-Birth-of-the-Dragon

Dracula was not always a monster. He was once a man named Mathias Cronqvist. A flawed, conflicted, genius of a man. How did the educated, aristocratic, crusader who piously served the church become a vampire, and eventually the Dark Lord himself, the opposing force to God? From a very young age terrors and tragedy shaped the man into the king of all evil. This is his story.

Offline aensland

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #27 on: July 08, 2017, 09:33:27 AM »
0
You guys serious?
Yes
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 09:35:37 AM by aensland »

Offline AlexCalvo

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #28 on: July 08, 2017, 09:35:56 AM »
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I strongly disagree that alucard takes the focus away from Trevor.  My favorite aspects of the series are the way it slowly builds the Belmont legend with offhand remarks, and Trevor's turn from bitter, damaged outcast to true Belmont hero.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13104670/1/Castlevania-Birth-of-the-Dragon

Dracula was not always a monster. He was once a man named Mathias Cronqvist. A flawed, conflicted, genius of a man. How did the educated, aristocratic, crusader who piously served the church become a vampire, and eventually the Dark Lord himself, the opposing force to God? From a very young age terrors and tragedy shaped the man into the king of all evil. This is his story.

Offline Sumez

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Re: Animated series reviews.
« Reply #29 on: July 08, 2017, 09:58:47 AM »
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(click to show/hide)
Well that's pretty much the premise of Castlevania 3. Trevor was an outcast and the church turned to him as their only hope. I don't really care much for lore in video games, but I like these little tidbits of worldbuilding from the intro scroll of CV3 and the manual. The show really managed to build well on that.

Also, what the post above me says. Trevor wouldn't be an interesting character if he started out as a hero from the get go.

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