I call it season one, it feels very much like this was a feature length pilot that was cut (pretty roughly) into four episodes to establish the set-up of the "Castlevania" series going forward. I was somewhat familiar with the games series, I played the NES originals and have occasionally had a few goes on the later ones. I knew that Trevor Belmont was the protagonist in the 3rd game - and I recalled that it took place a couple of hundred years before the first two games - but in terms of lore beyond that, I would be struggling.
With his human bride burned by the church for the crime of being a witch, Dracula (voiced by Graham McTavish) swears a deadly revenge on humanity, unleash hordes of ravenous Monsters each night. The legendary, but disgraced warrior, Trevor Belmont (voiced by Richard Armitage) rescues a group of monks from angry townfolk that are blaming them for the attacks. In doing so, he's asked to travel to the catacombs of the city and recover the remains of the elder monk's grandchild. Whilst undertaking this quest, he learns that the prophecy of a Warrior sleeping under the city, may not be the bunkum he thought it was.
Visually, the show is fine though not strikingly amazing. It's a gory production, full of fight scenes, action and death. Framerate wise, it's more in keeping with Japanese animation techniques. The stylised poses also is inspired by anime shows. Oddly the vocals feel as if they are an overdub of a foreign original, though this isn't the case as the show is primarily an American production. Performances are a bit of a mixed bag. Occasionally jarring and rarely subtle but sometimes hilarious. Richard Armitage particularly does well with the dead pan Belmont.
It ends just as its getting going, although from my point of view I have the second series to crash straight into.
With his human bride burned by the church for the crime of being a witch, Dracula (voiced by Graham McTavish) swears a deadly revenge on humanity, unleash hordes of ravenous Monsters each night. The legendary, but disgraced warrior, Trevor Belmont (voiced by Richard Armitage) rescues a group of monks from angry townfolk that are blaming them for the attacks. In doing so, he's asked to travel to the catacombs of the city and recover the remains of the elder monk's grandchild. Whilst undertaking this quest, he learns that the prophecy of a Warrior sleeping under the city, may not be the bunkum he thought it was.
Visually, the show is fine though not strikingly amazing. It's a gory production, full of fight scenes, action and death. Framerate wise, it's more in keeping with Japanese animation techniques. The stylised poses also is inspired by anime shows. Oddly the vocals feel as if they are an overdub of a foreign original, though this isn't the case as the show is primarily an American production. Performances are a bit of a mixed bag. Occasionally jarring and rarely subtle but sometimes hilarious. Richard Armitage particularly does well with the dead pan Belmont.
It ends just as its getting going, although from my point of view I have the second series to crash straight into.
