From the beginning, the accounts did not come out. In just ten episodes of less than half an hour, it was impossible for the fourth and final season of the Castlevania animated adaptation to shape the highly hinted plots of Symphony of the Night and Curse of Darkness . And that the Netflix series has left wonderful and very convenient loose ends in its more than thirty episodes and each of its advances. A missed opportunity? Quite the opposite.
The ten episodes that make up this epic finale to Trevor Belmont’s journey, which we began with just four chapters in 2017, is all that video game fans, those passionate about dark fantasy, and those who have simply enjoyed themselves can hope for. of the Castlevania animated series despite its flaws, which there are. And that is already an achievement in itself.
Because to the enormous viscerality to which Powerhouse Animation Studios has accustomed us, and there is much of that in this intense batch of episodes, we must add the greater weight of characters who have found their own maturity and who, in the process, become they face threats on a much larger scale. Taking the viewer along with Trevor, Sypha and Alucard himself , towards a spectacular outcome that, after the halfway point of the season, already begins to leave some great sensations and an intentionally marked farewell tone.
In a way, laying down and laying the foundations for all those animated projects that Netflix currently has in production. Establishing, in the same movement, the trail to follow of the next adaptations of the video game to the small screen.
The fourth season of Castlevania is made up of ten intense episodes in which the devotion of its creators to the most celebrated installments of the cult saga is palpable and, in the process, channels its contents and strong brushstrokes of the original material into a story that Despite being a very dignified and legitimate adaptation of Castlevania and its universe, it ends up finding its own identity.
In other words: Netflix’s Castlevania knows when and how to deviate from Konami’s legacy and is right when it comes to taking its own licenses, but it is also fully aware of what the most picky fans want to see on screen. A double challenge that, as we will see, the producer of Adi Shankar passes with flying colors.
Action, emotions and gushing blood for a tremendous final act
Even after the defeat of Dracula himself , the armies of the great vampire houses and the creatures of the night continue to plague all of Europe. And while some have not yet given up hope in these dark times, weariness is increasingly marked on the faces of the unorthodox hero Trevor Belmont and the scholar Sypha Belnades .
For weeks, the vampire hunting couple have had to deal with all manner of beasts and abominations as they continued their increasingly intense purge across the old continent: there are more and more signs that the dark forces are trying to bring into the world of the living. the Lord of Evil and fatigue begins to take its toll on his lashes and spells.
Following in the footsteps of Trevor and Sypha, a huge trail of guts , mutilated limbs, and pools of blood from what were once creatures of the night and sympathizers of evil. However, the Dracula legacy is not the only threat emerging strongly in these increasingly dark times: the growing vampiric army of Carmilla and her sisters takes up positions, and very soon their most powerful weapon will have been forged.
In one of the highest rooms in Styria Castle, Hector is shaping his new hammer. Under the direct orders of the noble vampire Lenore, the master smith creates the tool with which he will provide the emerging clan of Carmilla with an army of monsters and creatures emerged from beyond life. The objective: to generate an army with which Carmillas herself can feed her growing thirst for conquest and domination. Expand your domains throughout the known world.
Meanwhile, in the twisted and increasingly withered Castle of Dracula, the half-vampire and rightful heir to the vampire lord Alucard , who seemed doomed to live a thousand lives in solitude, receives an unexpected message: not far from his stronghold, a small town is being besieged by creatures of the night. Its inhabitants, desperate, ask for help from the lord of the castle.
Alucard’s human half bows to helping those in need. His other nature, the one that will truly be decisive in containing the forces of evil, sees an even greater threat taking shape. In either case, the son of Dracula will take part in the conflict carrying his shield and keeping his other hand close to his lethal sword.
As in the three previous seasons, the final arc of the Castlevania animated series is well-littered with action with very explicit violence. Its designs and aesthetics, unabashedly influenced by Japanese anime and Ayami Kojima’s illustrations, marry well with the dark fantasy tone that each chapter radiates.
In this regard, everything that shone with success in the 22 previous Castlevania episodes is present in this fourth season, although there is a new nuance in the equation: despite the fact that all the characters, heroes, villains and even the new additions, give off A certain gloomy or melancholic air, as each plot and loose end is channeled towards its end, a certain positivism is given off. Curiously, far from breaking with the general trend, that suits the group especially well.
Despite the fact that, as we mentioned at the beginning, we will not see the events of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the small screen or Hector will not have his great moment of prominence as we saw in Curse of Darkness, the Netflix series knows how to insert generously moments, very specific animations, more than obvious details and subtle winks that show that these games (and many others, like Rondo of Blood) are part of the project’s DNA.
Which is not at odds with the creation of new characters for the occasion and the consequent succession of events that are not limited to shaping and making the protagonists and antagonists evolve, but rather successfully cement each and every one of the many plot licenses. Castlevania as an animated series until it becomes a unique and, at the same time, legitimate version within the enormous lore produced by Konami for decades.
Because what began as a very worthy adaptation of Castlevania III , one of the unquestionably best video games of the entire Konami saga, has resulted in a story with its own weight. With his own version of the character of Alucard, Saint Germain or Dracula himself. And, in the process, blurring the viewer’s concepts of light, darkness, heroism and redemption.
Of course, violence, blood, deformations and mutilations due to nightmares have their deserved prominence in the first nine episodes of this final arc, with Shankar’s producer reserving one last episode in the form of an epilogue with which she closes all the ends. On the loose and, for a tip, he manages to steal more than one smile from the viewer by giving each lead actor their just and deserved fate.
Castlevania, one of the best video game adaptations ever made for the small screen
We could debate at length about whether the Castlevania animation is what the Konami cult saga deserved, but the truth is that it falters when it comes to giving weight to the plot and knows how to shine when the circumstances and the action require it: in This fourth season Powerhouse Animation Studio s continues to give intensity to the most intense sequences and, in the process, manages to give the viewer a climax and an epilogue at the level of the series as a whole.
It is true that many of the paths opened throughout the third season are channeled and closed based on accommodating the last ten episodes of just over twenty minutes. Shankar’s production company is fully aware of this and takes the trouble to give Isaac and Saint Germain , characters with enormous potential, the minutes necessary to justify their decisions and the future of their own destinies. In fairness, this is something the Castlevania series has done very well.
On the other hand, and as a counterpoint to the above, all the great protagonists and antagonists of history have lots of moments to show off in a big way. Not only through action scenes in very well-chosen environments to remain faithful to the aesthetics of the original games, but also through dialogues and pretensions that manifest on screen the long emotional journey that they have gone through since the two first seasons.
In this regard, Castlevania , the animated series, is right to reimagine the universe of video games and, from devotion to them, sweep home and spin an interesting story with characters with their own voices and motivations in a time of decadent fantasy and bleak. Evoking anime sensations without being anime and without brazenly falling into shonen clichés, although many of these become more or less unavoidable during the final bars.
As a result, Castlevania doesn’t need a fifth season or a spin-off starring those who can still bring a lot to this animated universe. A world of dark fantasy that constantly moves between what is known through video games and what is custom created for video game fans. Not for Netflix, not for merchandising.
Which, on the other hand, makes us have high hopes for everything to come on the Video on Demand platform. At least by Shankar Animation and Project 51 Productions. Because Dragon’s Dogma is definitely another matter.
For now, what began with four episodes and became a free adaptation of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse , with countless elements taken with some impudence from different installments of the saga, ended up forging into a totally essential series for fans of the Belmonts and the troubled lineage of the Tepes.
Thus, Castlevania, the animated series, consecrates itself as a true love letter to a video game saga. Divided into four seasons and 32 episodes, some better than others, which evoke and retain the essence of a series of games that – despite the very long period since the last published installment – not only resist being forgotten, but are also remembered with a special devotion . More or less, like the one that Dracula himself awakens.
