Topic: Castlevania Animated Series to be on Netflix?!

[Lumi Kløvstad]

That's actually the problem with adapting Castlevania. The things that make it an enjoyable game don't translate correctly to film or prose. Castlevania's excellence is derived principly from things that are rather intrinsic to gaming as a medium, and any adaptation made without them doesn't feel right but no adaptation will ever come close to hitting them on the nose either. There are many ways to make a movie, book, or series that is AKIN to Castlevania, but I feel Castlevania itself as a defined entity is intrinsically unadaptable imo.

[zangetsu468]

That's actually the problem with adapting Castlevania. The things that make it an enjoyable game don't translate correctly to film or prose. Castlevania's excellence is derived principly from things that are rather intrinsic to gaming as a medium, and any adaptation made without them doesn't feel right but no adaptation will ever come close to hitting them on the nose either. There are many ways to make a movie, book, or series that is AKIN to Castlevania, but I feel Castlevania itself as a defined entity is intrinsically unadaptable imo.

I agree. I don't believe it can't be adapted, but I think the issue with Castlevania is "someone else adapting it". (Mercury Steam was one example of a long running project which ultimately didn't end well for the series imho.) If it was a case on an in-house team of past-Konami doing something similar to what SE did with FFVII Advent Children, it could have been successful.

'Could have' being the operative term, it's clear now that Konami no longer cares so they'd probably butcher this too if it was to ever happen today. So although I don't believe this is an impossible task, I believe that right now probably isn't the best time to be doing this. Having said this, if the series turns out to be a decent and faithful adaptation then by all means I would be glad for the fans (particularly the oldschool fans).

[AlexCalvo]

I honestly think you guys are way off, Castlevania, especially Dracula's Curse, is an extremely adaptable series.  It has a story with a few broad strokes, but ample room for interpritation, a great base to build on left open enough to allow for artistic license.  It relies heavily on classic story elements, and lends itself very well to heavy action, family drama, gothic horror tropes, and has a cast of very interesting but far from fleshed out characters.  Really it's a dream to whoever is making it, the plot of cv3 is like a very vague outline of a very interesting story, with great creatures, characters, and broad strokes.  It really seems almost ready made for this kind of thing.  Now that's not to say that it couldn't be done very poorly, but even if it is that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a very adaptable game/story.  Cv1 has too little to work with, SoTN has a smidge too much, Cv3 is just right.

[zangetsu468]

I honestly think you guys are way off, Castlevania, especially Dracula's Curse, is an extremely adaptable series.  It has a story with a few broad strokes, but ample room for interpritation, a great base to build on left open enough to allow for artistic license.  It relies heavily on classic story elements, and lends itself very well to heavy action, family drama, gothic horror tropes, and has a cast of very interesting but far from fleshed out characters.  Really it's a dream to whoever is making it, the plot of cv3 is like a very vague outline of a very interesting story, with great creatures, characters, and broad strokes.  It really seems almost ready made for this kind of thing.  Now that's not to say that it couldn't be done very poorly, but even if it is that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a very adaptable game/story.  Cv1 has too little to work with, SoTN has a smidge too much, Cv3 is just right.

See I understand what you're saying, in terms of a broad and overarching story they might not botch it (though potentially leaving out Grant may prove otherwise). However, COD gave gamers more insight into Trevor's character; whereas in 8bit times we had no idea what type of personality Simon, Trevor, Grant, Sypha, etc had. At least in the game's English version, COD portrays Trevor as hot-headed and somewhat arrogant upon his first meeting with Hector. He exclaims he doesn't require help or intervention from Hector (this is of course until things develop later in the story). It's not typically what one would expect from a "hero", but it gives the character of Trevor different facets. (This is one thing I have to actually praise MoF for getting right; Trevor in general - prior to Trevorcard - his character was spot on).

I hope they find a way to bring elements like this into the series.

[AlexCalvo]

While I think it would be awesome for them to incorporate elements from later games, like Trevor' s characterisation from CoD, or a reference to the events of LoI, or even a mention of "Chaos" as it relates to Dracula's power.  But we have To remember that when it comes down to it this series is an adaptation of Castlevania 3, so if it forgos any type of reference or acknowledgment of the wider continuity, especially for games that came out decades after, I wouldn't be too bothered.  If it is faithful to the original NES game I will be satisfied.

That said I am very interested to see what they will use. We already know that events from SoTN are being incorporporated, but beyond that?  I even posed this question on the Bloodstained forums in the adi shankar interview thread.

And can we drop the Grant thing already? They told us literally a decade ago that he will be in it, just not in the first 3rd.

[affinity]

the problem with TV/movie medium, is the hollywood wannabes follow a really closed minded and boring mold, being more talk than action,

 typically glorifying a single character as the center of the universe (though the games are also guilty of this for the most part),and trying to prove themselves to be poetic narrative composers than actually focusing on matters,

which is the situation, action, travels, violence and survival aspects, not the psychological dissection of the characters and why they do the things they do.   The industry is already a cesspool of the usual tropes that waste so much time on exploring the character, instead of their situation, travels, battles and survival circumstances.

a vampire hunter doesn't need their backstory explored, nor their social skills tested to just go on a journey, survive, and slay every threat that gets in their way.

a Castlevania TV show, should be about the journey itself, the violence, the exploration, not delving deep on the characters, with contrived reasons and psychological nonsense that just gets in the way of the objective and what they are best at doing.

but yea due to how the idiots in the TV industry tells stories, now the mainstream are mindless sheep that are dependant on shows/movies force feeding them explanations and reasons for everything, as well as trivial flashbacks and soap operish nonsense that bloat stories, adventure stories in particular, with unnecessary hoopla.

a Castlevania series shouldn't be treated like a soap opera, but more of a life experience that progresses instead of explaining and examining things every step of the way, or between conflicts like some commercial that tries to remind people why the character matters and what they do matters.  That stuff is self explanatory.  but yea the industry storytelling is so screwed up and really don't know what's best.

on top of that, whether animated or live action, production companies are TOO LAZY with delivering more action scenes, and rather mostly animate the characters mouths to fill most of the show time.  it's so much easier to talk than fight, evade, and counter in various ways and using different subweapons strategically and stuff.

so the general TV show is mostly a talk a thon, and that is not suitable for a Castlevania, which are more about the journey, the fighting, the slaying and overcoming survival, than having conversations.  Even in groups of hunters, being chatty can draw more attention to them by unseen creatures and stuff and raise the likelyhood of being ambushed.  It is smart to hunt in groups, but not smart to be some nosy comedy relief character that tries to learn more about each other, when that is NOT THE POINT of being a hunter.

Very very few in the world would do a Castlevania series right, and fewer would express the authentic natural experience that vampire hunter(s) would go through in a Castlevania worthy adventure.

Also while Castlevania is known for its mostly solo hunters (mostly due to gameplay limitations), it is more natural for a vampire hunter to be accompanied by other hunters, especially considering even Belmonts are human, and the is strength in numbers.

it would be fascinating for the series have a Belmont receive the aid of other hunts along the way, and their contributes and sacrifices would add to the dread and threat level of Dracula's forces and creatures of darkness. They could travel together without prying about each others lives, and viewers could still care about the characters without them having to pull out a pendant with a photo of their relative to invoke artificial pity and emotion towards the character.

but yea who knows if they'll even get half of the things right, it remains to be seen if the character designs are even tolerable.  and if they really are committed to delivering a epic vampire hunter(s) journey to and through a castle,
or just settle with cheesy half baked fanservice that's all talk and little action.

[X]

See I understand what you're saying, in terms of a broad and overarching story they might not botch it (though potentially leaving out Grant may prove otherwise). However, COD gave gamers more insight into Trevor's character; whereas in 8bit times we had no idea what type of personality Simon, Trevor, Grant, Sypha, etc had. At least in the game's English version, COD portrays Trevor as hot-headed and somewhat arrogant upon his first meeting with Hector. He exclaims he doesn't require help or intervention from Hector (this is of course until things develop later in the story). It's not typically what one would expect from a "hero", but it gives the character of Trevor different facets. (This is one thing I have to actually praise MoF for getting right; Trevor in general - prior to Trevorcard - his character was spot on).

I never did like how Trevor's attitude was presented in CoD (one of the reasons I'm not fond of the game's story). Considering Trevor's family background, what he was trained for, his mission, willingly accepting help from Alucard, Grant, and Sypha, it just doesn't make sense to have him come off as arrogant. He should have had more wisdom then that. Whenever I was playing CVIII I never, ever saw Trevor as he was shown up in CoD. They're almost like two different people. If he was acting out of concern for Hector's safety then that should have been handled differently. Trevor's not the type of hero who fell from grace. That simply did not happen to him to bring about any sort of ego-inflated mindset.

[Dracula9]

Good to know you consider people who value quality storytelling to give a story's action more weight as "mindless sheep."

You may kindly go make sweet passionate love a cactus, good sir.

[zangetsu468]

And can we drop the Grant thing already? They told us literally a decade ago that he will be in it, just not in the first 3rd.

Yeah well I've only learned about this 2-3 weeks ago, so please pardon me if it's come off this way - unintentional.

I never did like how Trevor's attitude was presented in CoD (one of the reasons I'm not fond of the game's story). Considering Trevor's family background, what he was trained for, his mission, willingly accepting help from Alucard, Grant, and Sypha, it just doesn't make sense to have him come off as arrogant.

Well was it helping or was it a group of wanderers winding up together out of circumstance to face Dracula? Remember Trevor actually defeats Alucard prior to him joining the squad. It's never outright told but I see it similar to how Alucard joined Sonia in Legends; they both realised they had a similar goal and so for the time being they joined forces. It could be they just wound up assisting one another without the initial intent to do so, as it happens in COD.

He should have had more wisdom then that. Whenever I was playing CVIII I never, ever saw Trevor as he was shown up in CoD. They're almost like two different people..... That simply did not happen to him to bring about any sort of ego-inflated mindset.

I disagree with this in part. The Belmonts were outcast from society and they were feared because of their abilities. However, Trevor was the only one strong enough to go and face Dracula (arguably one of the times Dracula was the most powerful) and still required the assistance of others to defeat him. How would you feel if your people made you an outcast? Where would you live, what would you do? Yet the Belmonts are trained to hunt creatures of the night, they are of a specific bloodline. The inflated ego is likely due to these factors and the fact that destroying Dracula, which nobody had done previously, was Trevor's thing (as well as others which he mentions) it's quite possible he let that go to his head, and he simply didn't want interference. He could have also thought Hector was just another enemy, like Isaac. His attitude also seems to generally match his fighting style, fierce and unrelenting.

[X]

He could have also thought Hector was just another enemy, like Isaac. His attitude also seems to generally match his fighting style, fierce and unrelenting.

When Hector and Trevor first met, yes I agree. Trevor only recalled the details of the second forge master after the fight. But I didn't see any reason for the attitude during their second encounter (after the fight between Trevor and Issac.) The story should have handled that scene a little differently. The final scene between Hector and Trevor in the Abandoned Castle was okay as well. Though Trevor didn't tell Hector that it was a test to see if Hector was ready to enter into the infinity corridor. And there should have been an ending conversation with the two to help round things off a bit more. To help complete the story.

Good to know you consider people who value quality storytelling to give a story's action more weight as "mindless sheep."

You may kindly go make sweet passionate love a cactus, good sir.

For almost a month on end you've been harassing other members here with this attitude of yours. You were never this bad in the past prior to that. Did something happen to you to want to attack other people like this? Seriously it's very concerning.

[Dracula9]

but yea due to how the idiots in the TV industry tells stories, now the mainstream are mindless sheep that are dependant on shows/movies force feeding them explanations and reasons for everything, as well as trivial flashbacks and soap operish nonsense that bloat stories, adventure stories in particular, with unnecessary hoopla.

Not talking to you, X. Mind what pertains. Getting real sick of people make wide insult swathes or generalized tear-downs towards people who hold a certain opinion (most of which apply to me if you've been paying attention to what you're calling "harassment"). Whole threads were made dedicated to it. Things have come up for the series that have made the snobbish parts of the fandom rear back up, and I'm not putting up with that "only this style or whatever is 'right' for the series" bullshit. If I'm an asshole when I throw an insult or two around, then so are they.

That staff not intervening should indicate how serious or not the charges presented are, so don't worry about it. That's their concern, not yours. You're not a mod and I owe you no answers that I don't wish to disclose.

And I'll have you know I have some cactus friends that are absolute sweethearts if you can get past their prickly exterior.

[theplottwist]

I never did like how Trevor's attitude was presented in CoD (one of the reasons I'm not fond of the game's story). Considering Trevor's family background, what he was trained for, his mission, willingly accepting help from Alucard, Grant, and Sypha, it just doesn't make sense to have him come off as arrogant. He should have had more wisdom then that. Whenever I was playing CVIII I never, ever saw Trevor as he was shown up in CoD. They're almost like two different people. If he was acting out of concern for Hector's safety then that should have been handled differently. Trevor's not the type of hero who fell from grace. That simply did not happen to him to bring about any sort of ego-inflated mindset.

What exactly is the vision you have of Trevor?

I did imagined Trevor as a tad too cocky, but his behavior comes off differently to me on CoD. There he seems to be acting tough because he doesn't fully trust Hector both due to him appearing to be too weak to be of assistance and due to him having been a servant of Dracula.

My image of Trevor's cockyness came from SotN's Fake Trevor. When you die, he does a pose that is pretty arrogant. Sure, that was not really Trevor, but they're entities impersonating the real deal, so I think they'd mimick the behavior too.

That and well, Trevor was the one to kick Dracula's ass after the people turned their backs on him. I know if everyone turned their backs on me, then came calling for my help and I did the job, I'd be PRETTY damn smug too.

[Chernabogue]

>Sees all that discussion about one poster
>Imagines what will happen when a trailer drops

[Dracula9]

This, most likely.

[X]

What exactly is the vision you have of Trevor?

A warrior who has a job to do, and has no time for self-indulgence of the arrogant nature. Because he knows that humanity's very existence is at stake (no pun intended) should he falter in the slightest. His parents would have taught him better then to submit to arrogance. Ego is not the way of a Vampire Hunter, and we can look at Reinhardt as an example of this as he mentions to Rose about how his father taught him to never attack the weak. A man who's arrogant would not care for such a small yet equally, and very important life lesson. If Trevor was arrogant then I don't see him accepting help from Grant (a man with vengeance in his heart), Sypha (a Witch), or Alucard (the very son of humanity's most hated enemy). It doesn't make a whole lot of sense in that regard. A man who's egotistical would brush their offers of aid aside and boast that he can defeat Dracula without anyone's help (which he could since he's a Belmont and it is his destiny), but Canon-wise/story-wise it doesn't happen that way.