Topic: How Netflixvania misses the point of Alucard's design and what should be done

[DraculaFan1981]

Ayami Kojima designed Alucard with the principles of beauty and tragedy in mind given the Japanese interpretation of vampire legends and Bram Stoker's Dracula. Alucard was designed with an air of beauty, nobility, immortality and tragedy and it shows in his personality and story and I think it's conveyed very well, just like his predecessor, D from Vampire Hunter D, both of them being almost ethereal presences. But that's only the case in Japan.

In the west however, that kind of beauty is seen more negatively and has homosexual connotations and that's especially prevalent in the minds of Warren Ellis, Tumblr and the online shipping community, who arbitrarily decide Netflix Alucard's sexuality on his appearance alone. This is actually not the first time the west has had this mentality involving Castlevania since the western release of Bloodlines redesigned Eric Lecarde to be more masculine for the western cover art for fears of homosexual implications and the views of masculinity at the time.

Alucard's entire arc and the following sex scene was just pointless, edgy and downright insulting to fans of the games. Alucard in the games forsakes close human relationships out of shame for his lineage, the knowledge that he'll outlive everyone he grows close to and the fact that his promise to his mother and desire to uphold it is his main priority in life and the shame of having committed patricide drove him to a centuries long slumber. It's only after he meets Maria that he changes to an extent and decides to live among humans and actively protect them. I feel Warren Ellis missed the point of Alucard's character entirely.

Now onto what must be done in my opinion, not just with Alucard but the entire Netflix series. Years ago, Vampire Hunter D: Resurrection was announced and the staff composition blew me away since it had series veterans working on it despite the new animation being a western production.

In light of the allegations against Warren Ellis, allegations that put season 3's sex scenes under a more sinister light, Netflixvania should be rebooted after season 4 in my opinion, but in the same style as Vampire Hunter D, They can keep the Deats brothers directing, find a writer who actually played the games and, like VHD:R, get series veterans involved, Yamane for the music, Kojima for the art and character design and Igarashi for consultancy and continuity. But those are just my thoughts, what are yours?

[X]

Personally I am glad they decided to change up Eric's design for Bloodlines. I was never on board with the whole 'let's make this man more woman-ish'. Guys are guys, leave us alone for Pete's sake. I looked at the original art thinking: "If his face is that of a woman's then why not just go all out and make 'him' a 'her'? You're half-way there. Might as well." Eric isn't a vampire so there wasn't any need to force that on his character. That's just me though.

I haven't had any issues with Alucard's SotN design. He's still very much male-looking (depending on one's perception), however the more recent Kojima designs do take things a bit too far for CV in my opinion. Issac's design is perhaps the biggest culprit of them all. His outfit as well didn't work for CV of the suggested time period. It's like Kojima took a queue from one of those generic shoujo mangas and inserted the villain into CV without much thought put into it. I feel she needs to reign it in just a bit. But because there was nobody monitoring her during the design process she did her own thing, and IGA did leave her to it. There are ways of bringing about beauty through masculinity but it's like walking a razor's edge. The bigger target audience for CV was North america so she should've kept that in mind.

In terms of the Netflix series they should've just stopped it after season 2. It would have ended on a high note and many would still be praising the show. But Netflix has this problem of pushing for more (see Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, etc) so things kinda crapped out badly. But not everything that is Castlevania absolutely needs IGA, Yamane, and Kojima. CV has existed long before they came aboard and has had good music, art, and decent stories to boot. Those three people aren't the end-all, be-all of CV. I think that others deserve a crack at the franchise and help give us something fresh, especially in the game department. Granted LoS is definitely not the way to go. It was trying to push the AAA format onto CV which was not what the series needed. What the series needs is to go back to its roots but with some new talent. Then we can see if it works or not.

[BLOOD MONKEY]

I will not speak for anyone but myself on this topic, and I will only talk about how it made me feel. Nothing beyond that.
Feel free to pick my brain but do not pick an argument.

Alucard was a deeply frustrating watch for me, but not because I did not like what they were doing with him. I'm frustrated that these changes never stick.
As someone who feels an attraction towards all sexes, and as someone who has struggled with femininity and masculinity, I want nothing more than to watch characters that I can relate to and reflect on. Not saying I can't do that with characters I don't sexually align with, but there's a different kind of belonging and affirmation seeing that stuff gives you. It reminds you that you're not a dark part of our culture and society.
The frustration comes from the fact that it just came and it went. That's how it always is, some big reveal and then why they can't be together. It gets them points for inclusivity, but keeps conservative ratings organizations and critics from being incredibly harsh on it.


For eons, man has slept with man and woman has slept with woman. It is an unavoidable fact of this world. Why would an immortal vampire not at least entertain the thought of same-sex-relations?


I hate the notion that you can't be a feminine man. You don't need to be born XX to want to look pretty, or to openly display any other "feminine" qualities. In fact, I'd say in those cases it serves even more as a compliment to the masculinity.
Sexuality and romantic feelings aren't two sided.



I'm totally fine with the show being a separate universe from the games. And I can't say if I like the changes made to him since we really haven't gotten to see the changes yet.

[SecretWeapon]

Dude, Alucard and Richter were designed after Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire. That's it



Regardless, Netflixvania is their own little universe so they can do whatever they want. However I wouldn't say that Alucard having sexuality or a crisis of "faith" is against the main series character as his CV3 story is quite barebones and the aftermath consists of him just going to sleep again.

Netflixvania might get cancelled after S4. Sadly

[DraculaFan1981]

Dude, Alucard and Richter were designed after Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire. That's it



Regardless, Netflixvania is their own little universe so they can do whatever they want. However I wouldn't say that Alucard having sexuality or a crisis of "faith" is against the main series character as his CV3 story is quite barebones and the aftermath consists of him just going to sleep again.

Netflixvania might get cancelled after S4. Sadly

I always thought Alucard was based on D from Vampire Hunter D since the novels and first movie were big in Japan back in the mid 80's to 1997, physically and in terms of personality, Alucard's closer to D than Lestat. Vampire Hunter D was far more popular in Japan than Interviews with the Vampire at the time.

I'm well aware that Netflixvania is its own canon like Lords of Shadow. And I think 4's the last season since Warren Ellis said he wrote it as a conclusion and unless they do a time jump or a reboot, yeah, the netflix cartoon's probably getting cancelled. Which sucks because I wanted at least a rough adaptation of Curse of Darkness.

[X]

The CV3 Alucard most likely came about due to the movie 'Son of Dracula' (1943) as Dracula's son is also called Alucard. The SotN redesign I also feel was inspired by Vampire Hunter D.

[DraculaFan1981]

The CV3 Alucard most likely came about due to the movie 'Son of Dracula' (1943) as Dracula's son is also called Alucard. The SotN redesign I also feel was inspired by Vampire Hunter D.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the reference for Castlevania III Alucard. The plot twist of that movie was interesting, there being no actual Alucard but only Dracula in disguise. In terms of characterisation and design, yeah, Alucard was based on D. I think retconning him from a full vampire in CVIII into a dhampir in SotN was also influenced by D.

[whipsmemory]

I personally felt like Alucard giving the middle finger or pushing out oneliners was more out of character than having sex with a male, but as a whole, yeah i feel like the Netflix adaptation missed the character completely.

[DraculaCronqvist]

I personally felt like Alucard giving the middle finger or pushing out oneliners was more out of character than having sex with a male, but as a whole, yeah i feel like the Netflix adaptation missed the character completely.

This, basically. Then again, I think they didn't do most of the characters justice, Alucard just being one of many here.

[Belmontoya]

But the greatest offense; they made his hair yellow instead of white.

[DraculaFan1981]

I personally felt like Alucard giving the middle finger or pushing out oneliners was more out of character than having sex with a male, but as a whole, yeah i feel like the Netflix adaptation missed the character completely.

Turning Alucard into a vulgar rendition of an MCU character was dumb, I agree.

[DraculaFan1981]

This, basically. Then again, I think they didn't do most of the characters justice, Alucard just being one of many here.

The worst example is Hector.

[DraculaFan1981]

But the greatest offense; they made his hair yellow instead of white.

I agree, not making him platinum blonde was weird.

[Belmontoya]

Luckily there are way better shows to watch on Netflix like The Queen's Gambit.

[Gaawa-chan]

I have no problem with them making Alucard bi.  I have a problem with pretty much everything else they did, tbh.