Do you know the date of that Japanese ad?
No, I'll have to find out in which magazine it appeared. Unfortunately, a lot of Japanese game magazines haven't been scanned yet, which makes that a little bit tedious and costly (but not impossible).
The timings make sense. Regarding the SotN development dates, I'd have to go through some of Igarashi's interviews again, but I seem to remember the game did take a while, over a year, maybe almost two years? That would be something like early or mid 1995 to early 1997 all right.
IGA mentioned in the notes for SotN's official soundtrack that he was working on the game's scenario while also writing the scenario for the PS remake of Tokimeki Memorial, which was released in October 1995. So early or mid 1995 seems to be correct.
I also found this another scrap of information in the February 1995 issue of EGM:
"Konami is also in the Q-Mann's loop this month, working on versions of Contra, Castlevania, Mystical Ninja and those Mutant Ninja Turtles for the Playstation. The games will be released in conjunction with the launch of Sony's big machine..."
The Playstation was released in North America on September 1995, so this seems to indicate Konami was planning on releasing a Playstation Castlevania title during that time.
There's also this brochure from the 1995 (or 1996?) Consumer Electronic Show:
Here we can see a "Castlevania: The Bloodletting" developed for the Playstation and Sega Saturn. This is not a fake brochure because Konami actually trademarked this title in 1995 (you can check for yourself in the United States Patent and Trademark Office database). The name "The Bloodletting" is commonly associated with the cancelled 32X Castlevania game that IGA worked on before being moved to SotN. However, IGA mentioned the following in an EGM interview from 2006:
EGM:
Is it true that SOTN is connected to the doomed Sega 32X game Castlevania: The Bloodletting?
IGA:
Well, there was another Castlevania title being developed on the 32X, but I don't believe the title was The Bloodletting. The game was canceled before the name was confirmed. This is actually the game I worked on after Tokimeki Memorial. The team for this game was disbanded, but several members, including myself, went on to work on SOTN.
So The Bloodletting and the 32X title must have been two different projects. So what was this Playstation Castlevania game? I can't proof this but I suspect The Bloodletting was actually the name of an early version of SotN back when Toru Hagihara was still director. It's possible that before IGA took over directing duties, the game was more of a convential sequel, which would explain why Konami was already planning on releasing it in 1995.
This is what I think happend:
- 1994: Two different sequels to RoB, one for the SNES (Akumajou Dracula X II) and one for the 32X (no known title), are in development at the same time.
- Late 1994 or early 1995: The 32x games is cancelled for whatever reason. IGA starts working on the PS remake of Tokimeki Memorial, while also working on the scenario for SotN. At this time, SotN was still being directed by Hagihira and was planned on being called "The Bloodletting" in North America. At some point in 1995 or 1996, IGA takes over as director and the project evolved into SotN as we know it today.
- January 1995: The Kobe earthquake happend. Development for the SNES sequel gets messed up, Konami tries to save the project by reusing assets from RoB.