Topic: Why didn't Dracula make any change after SOTN?

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Apparently, and I just now Googled this, there were was a Total Solar Eclipse on March 19th, 1094 AD. and after that, there was (according to NASA who should be knowledgable about these things) a second annual solar eclipse on September 12th, 1095.

Neither eclipse passed remotely close to Europe though.

I'm not gonna stretch credulity and say that Walter Bernhard died on either of these dates, but hot damn Mathias became Dracula on an Eclipse Year and died on an Eclipse Year. Depending on how strictly or liberally we apply my previous logic and explanations, this too may have been fate if Walter DID die on either of those dates.

The hell guys.

[theplottwist]

Yeah but it's not the same eclipse. The eclipses on 1999, 2017 and 2035 are all the same, with many total solar eclipses of different cycles happening inbetween, suggesting that the eclipse's specific cycle plays a role on all this.

Walter also didn't die under an eclipse. He died during a night, as Mathias states upon his death: "Dawn is coming. Death, he's all yours."

We can see this confirmed in the opening as Leon runs to the forest under a night time, and in the ending as the sun is rising. Even though Walter had the Eternal Night, his death still occurred during a period of nighttime OUTSIDE the artificial night.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Yeah but it's not the same eclipse. The eclipses on 1999, 2017 and 2035 are all the same, with many total solar eclipses happening inbetween, suggesting that the eclipse's specific cycle plays a role on all this.

Walter also didn't die under an eclipse. He died during a night, as Mathias states upon his death: "Dawn is coming. Death, he's all yours."

We can see this confirmed in the opening as Leon runs to the forest under a night time, and in the ending as the sun is rising. Even though Walter had the Eternal Night, his death still occurred during a period of nighttime OUTSIDE the artificial night.

True, and I'm not disputing any of those points. I just thought it was interesting and it makes for a good narrative bookend.

Dracula was figuratively born during the sign of the eclipse and would die under the same, albeit a later cycle.

As a writing device, it has the perfect levels of fate, coincidence, and irony to make a great beginning and end to a saga.

[theplottwist]

True, and I'm not disputing any of those points. I just thought it was interesting and it makes for a good narrative bookend.

Dracula was figuratively born during the sign of the eclipse and would die under the same, albeit a later cycle.

As a writing device, it has the perfect levels of fate, coincidence, and irony to make a great beginning and end to a saga.

-snip-

[Shiroi Koumori]

I think the changing of Soma Cruz to an American makes sense, or at least making more sense as to why a kid with a Hispanic surname grew up in Japan (which would be quite a doozy irl given that the Japanese aren't noted for being fond of immigrants).

There are some plot holes the change introduces, but I feel these can by and large be logically hand waved and explained and it then fits the real world astrological and astronomical events even better.

In that sense, the localization improved the logic of the premise.

I just felt the need to write this down.
Soma's name is supposed to be translated as Soma Kurusu. Translators just preferred to use the Cruz surname since it sounds the same and it refers to the Cross. I know of another anime/videogame character with a Kurusu surname but of different kanji for "su".
Japanese will accept children of immigrants provided they are of Caucasian descent which is obviously what Soma's ethnicity is from.
From my experience with the Castlevania localizations, I tend to view the Japanese original as canon.

[Donvermicelli]

Well, I have something that *might* blow your mind a little more, but it'll have to be through inbox. It deals with the interesting circunstances surrounding Dracula's death, but is not really directly related to Dracula. If you are interested, PM me 

Count me as interested

[Lumi Kløvstad]

I just felt the need to write this down.
Soma's name is supposed to be translated as Soma Kurusu. Translators just preferred to use the Cruz surname since it sounds the same and it refers to the Cross. I know of another anime/videogame character with a Kurusu surname but of different kanji for "su".
From my experience with the Castlevania localizations, I tend to view the Japanese original as canon.

The English and Japanese versions both give him a meaningful name.

"Cruz"="Cross", to establish that he's a better person than Dracula. While I am uncertain if the localization team was aware of this "Soma" is a drug in Aldous Huxley's iconic dystopian novel Brave New World.

Huxley.net points out the word has 4 meanings:

1. A plant, or the intoxicating juice of the plant, used in ancient Indian religious ceremonies. Inevitably, given the Indian tradition, the plant and its juice were personified as a god, Soma.

2. The imaginary "ideal pleasure drug" in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World (1932). Its chemistry and pharmacology are undefined. As described, the drug resembles a hangoverless tranquilliser or an opiate.

3. "Soma" is the most common brand name of the muscle-relaxant carisoprodol. [...] Soma/carisoprodol is broken down in the body into the active metabolite meprobamate. Meprobamate is a Schedule IV sedative-hypnotic, an anticonvulsant and anxiolytic muscle relaxant. It was first marketed in the USA from 1955 under the brand name Miltown as an anti-anxiety agent. The "miracle drug" of its era, Miltown was immortalised by the Rolling Stones as "Mother's Little Helper".

4. The body of an animal or plant excluding the germ cells.

Presumably, the 3rd or 4th definition would be more fitting -- demonstrating his more relaxed attitude and emotions (which seldom get the better of him in-game, unlike Mathias who was more or less ruled entirely by his emotions), or the definition of "the whole body" to indicate his status as the One True Heir to Dracula's legacy.

And, as the Castlevania wiki notes:

His Japanese name is Kurusu Sōma (来須蒼真); Sōma is his given name. The kanji that compose his name mean, in order, 'come/next' (kuru), 'by all means' (su), 'pale/blue' (sō), 'truth/reality' (ma). Taken together, the name hints that he is the true inheritor of Dracula's power, and will definitely receive them. The kanji for 'pale', interestingly, is also used as a euphemism for being inexperienced or unripe. [This hints that] Soma has not yet reached his full potential.

No matter how you slice it, his name has plot relevant meaning.

AND I LOVE THAT.

[zangetsu468]

Soma in Latin = "Nectar of eternal life"
This is indicative of Dracula's past resurrection cycles, as well as his rebirth as Soma Cruz
Soma in Greek = Body
Indicative of his new body as Soma

The term "soma" was the impetus for the term "somatic" referring to somatic cellular division, which refers to the above terms.

Also I thought Soma meant "tiny devil" in Japanese?