For this edition of TYMNHS, I will talk about the animated series Castlevania. The series is ongoing and will have four seasons in total.
Castlevania is based on a video game of the same name. For those that are squeamish about swearing (myself included), the f-word is a common occurrence. That shouldn’t stop you from watching the compelling series.
Castlevania is gothic storytelling through animation.
The story centers around a human-hating vampire (As a reference, he decorates his front yard with human heads on spikes 😱). Dracula lessens his disdain and hatred of humankind when he falls in love with a mortal woman, Lisa Tepes.
He marries her and with her encouragement, sets off to travel the world alone. Through his journey, he hoped to understand humans better. Perhaps, even hate them less.
Things quickly go from a fairy-tale to a nightmare for Lisa Tepes. As she is a healer, she stays behind to treat the villagers. She is still an outcast for her thoughts: A woman who loves science and medicine. She lives in a time period when anything out of the ordinary is considered as witchcraft. She is burned mercilessly at the stake.
Dracula learns of her death after he returns from his journey. He goes mad and vows to unleash hell on the town of Wallachia and on Earth. He vows to wipe the planet off of the scourge of humans.
I thought he was bluffing.
Turns out he wasn’t 👀☠
He opens a portal which brings many demons from Hell to Earth. Dracula’s heart is in agony. He wants to burn the world in his anguish🔥
I had wondered why the series was not named Dracula, as he truly is a enigmatic figure… overwhelmingly at times. The reason is that there are other compelling characters like him.
Most of the characters in Castlevania are outcasts. I thought that would be hard to pull off, but it works beautifully in the series.
If you are hiding and ashamed of your powerful lineage, because you regret the mistakes of your ancestors. Meet Belmont. A disillusioned monster hunter.
If you are misunderstood for your talents and magical powers. Meet Sypha. A feisty speaker.
If you are the only creature with a shred of humanity among truly horrible humans and vampires. Meet Alucard. Half-vampire, half-mortal. Dracula’s son 😮
The only link left to his beloved wife Lisa.
Honorable mention also go to the two demon forge-masters, Hector and Isaac. Two humans working with Dracula, willing to wipe the rest of human population for him. Their loyalties to Dracula, however, are mixed.
The series is unique as the characters are complex and wonderfully flawed. They are stronger working together, than apart. I liked the first two seasons better because of the trio and of course, Dracula.
I wasn’t as invested in the third season maybe because of the vampire sisters’ storyline. Dracula might return in the fourth season, so I will be tuning in then 😊
I hope that you liked today’s blog post. I hope that you discovered something new in my Things You Might Not Have Seen Blog Series.
Thank you for reading!
Gifs source: https://tenor.com/search/castlevania-gifs
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