Greetings and salutations, fellow vampire hunters! As you’ve probably known by now, the streaming giant Netflix is no stranger to adapting pre-existing properties into live-action remakes, movies, serials, and even to anime. One their more successful adaptations has to be Castlevania based on the popular video game of the same name- so popular in fact that it achieved universal acclaim for its amazing visuals, deep and very bloody story, and the franchise’s signature style of music.
With the final season premiered back in 2021, loosly based on 1989’s Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, sees our three main heroes; vampire hunter Trever Belmont, magician Syapha Belnades, and half-vampire Alucadrd facing off against the last remnants of the vampire/demon army. By the end of the series with our heroes triumphant against the forces of evil and have an some-what happy ending and small measure of peace. But as any Castlevania fan would know, peace is merely momentary, and fans of the animated series didn’t have to wait long as June of 2022, Netflix made an announcement that a spin-off/pseudo sequel is in the works based on one of the best in the franchise- 1993’s Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and it sequel Symphony of the Night.
Here’s the link to the Japanese Dub version of the trailer which sounds way cooler to be honest- so cool in fact that I’ll probably watch it again in Japanese for for my second viewing.
Here is the official synopsis for the series: France, 1792 – the height of the French Revolution. In a remote part of western France, the counter-revolutionary aristocracy has forged an alliance with a terrifying Vampire Messiah, who promises to ‘eat the sun’ and unleash an army of vampires and nightcreatures to crush the revolution and enslave humanity. Annette, a sorceress from the Caribbean, seeks out Richter Belmont, last descendant of the long-fabled family of vampire hunters, to lead the resistance.
On the production side of things, Kevin Kolde who was the co-executive producer of the original Castlevania series will be returning as showrunner alongside Clive Bradley. While Clive Bradley will be taking most of the writing for Nocturne as previous writer and showrunner, Warren Ellis, will not be returning for the spin-off. Also, Project 51 Productions and Powerhouse Production will return to animate this series as they did with the original- and with each season getting better and better in quality, fans can expect great animation and fight scenes to come.
Again, I can’t reiterate this enough, it’s Castlevania, and the forces of evil will always comeback, and it’s up to another Belmont to rise again to and wield the vampire-killer whip once more. Nocturne will focus on Richter Belmont, a descendent of Belmont vampire-hunting clan, as he teams with an unlikely crew of hunters and magicians to prevent an apocalypse set to the backdrop of French Revolution era Paris. Also, to avoid any confusion, Castlevania: Nocturne is not a direct sequel to the previous series with there being a 300-year timeskip between them.
So, you might be wondering, how does Nocturne relate to the original series, well due to big time jump, its very unlikely any of our beloved human characters would be making a return- besides from flashbacks or namedrops. Although, Alucards voice actor James Callis would be making an appearance since it’s partly based on Symphony of the Night. Now, back to Richter, as previously mention he is a descendant of Trever and Sypha, while clearly not their child but is related by blood by several generations apart.
To highlight his heritage, from the trailer we Richter shares similarities to his ancestor Trevor Belmont. We see they have the same fondness of swearing to express his emotions- and if we’ve learned anything from past season is that we can expect some comedic moments to lighten the dreary mood. Another callback to the original series is that Richter will be traveling alongside the magician Maria Renard, and will fight alongside him much like Sypha did with Trevor.
If you’re curious about the history of Castlevania as a franchise, just watch the video below by GameSpot:
Now, Castlevania: Nocturne will be on streaming on the 28th of September of this year, will all eight episodes set to be released on day one like its predecessor. As an added bonus, the first three episodes can be live streamed on the Netflix’s DROP 1 showcase event. The event will also feature sneak peaks from the platforms other upcoming animated shows.
So, are you hyped for the series as much as I am?
Di sini, saya akan senarai tajuk anime terbaru yang di tayangkan di negara Jepun untuk musim sejuk (WINTER) 2024 yang akan berlangsung dari bulan Januari hingga Mac 2024
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Hey the vampire hunters! Netflix is back with another season of Cast;evania, this time with a new protagonist, Richter Belmont. But before we watch the upcoming series, let’s catch you up to speed
