Written by: Kevin Berge
I just wanted to spend the whole season watching Alucard's day-to-day self-isolating. It would have been illuminating. (Image Courtesy of: vox.com)
Quick Take: Castlevania Season 3 fully commits to its premise in brutal, violent, sexually-charged glee. It is intensely mature yet openly philosophical with the imagination to take bold moves to advance the story and ideas of this brutal vampire series.
Castlevania Reviews: Season 1 | 2
***This review will contain complete spoilers up to the end of the third season of Castlevania. If you have not seen this latest season and plan to do so, know that it is worth watching and give it a try before reading ahead.***
Everyone is a monster. This is the fundamental message of season 3 of Castlevania, the absolute best season to date. Abandon all hope ye who enter here for this show is about to change everything.
The fundamental story of Castlevania as a franchise is that of the vampire hunters, the Belmonts primarily, against Dracula. The series used as a basis for its first two seasons, which ended with the death of Dracula.
Such a massive end left many potential openings for Castlevania, and the show knows what it wants to do. It wants to take its time and showcase the world. It reveals that Dracula was just one threat and far from the most vile.
This season divides its focus into four parts: Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades' investigation of Lindenfeld, Alucard's first guests as host of Dracula's castle Taka and Sumi, Hector's taming at the hand of The Council of Sisters, and the growing army of Isaac.
Each has its pros and cons, but all of them reach a satisfying conclusion by the final episode. This series builds in disparate pieces, but it comes together to reach this overarching common consensus that humanity is just as foul as any vampire (though vampires are terrible too).
The best microcosm of the series' focus is the journey of Isaac to find Hector and avenge the death of Dracula. Isaac does not do much as he builds his army, but again and again he tries to show patience and peace only to be given mistrust and violence.
As he progresses, he gets to arguably the best moment in the series in its strongest episode "The Good Dream" where he speaks to one of his creations. He tells Hector how he was twisted by the cruel expectations of those around him then killed for playing by the rules.
From that moment on, Isaac accepts the violence, even revels in it. He sees truly and absolutely that Dracula was right, all humanity must die. He murders a vast swath of humanity, sometimes just by consequence, and he makes his way to Styria.
***This review will contain complete spoilers up to the end of the third season of Castlevania. If you have not seen this latest season and plan to do so, know that it is worth watching and give it a try before reading ahead.***
Everyone is a monster. This is the fundamental message of season 3 of Castlevania, the absolute best season to date. Abandon all hope ye who enter here for this show is about to change everything.
The fundamental story of Castlevania as a franchise is that of the vampire hunters, the Belmonts primarily, against Dracula. The series used as a basis for its first two seasons, which ended with the death of Dracula.
Such a massive end left many potential openings for Castlevania, and the show knows what it wants to do. It wants to take its time and showcase the world. It reveals that Dracula was just one threat and far from the most vile.
This season divides its focus into four parts: Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades' investigation of Lindenfeld, Alucard's first guests as host of Dracula's castle Taka and Sumi, Hector's taming at the hand of The Council of Sisters, and the growing army of Isaac.
Each has its pros and cons, but all of them reach a satisfying conclusion by the final episode. This series builds in disparate pieces, but it comes together to reach this overarching common consensus that humanity is just as foul as any vampire (though vampires are terrible too).
The best microcosm of the series' focus is the journey of Isaac to find Hector and avenge the death of Dracula. Isaac does not do much as he builds his army, but again and again he tries to show patience and peace only to be given mistrust and violence.
As he progresses, he gets to arguably the best moment in the series in its strongest episode "The Good Dream" where he speaks to one of his creations. He tells Hector how he was twisted by the cruel expectations of those around him then killed for playing by the rules.
From that moment on, Isaac accepts the violence, even revels in it. He sees truly and absolutely that Dracula was right, all humanity must die. He murders a vast swath of humanity, sometimes just by consequence, and he makes his way to Styria.
Dracula is gone, and in his place, a quartet of female vampires are spending the season talking about sisterhood. It's so much better. (Image Courtesy of: animationmagazine.net)
This parallels the main journey of the season as Trevor and Sypha investigate a town that seems to be quietly corrupted. They ultimately solve the mystery of the priory where monks are performing a ritual to revive Dracula, and they stop it with the help of Saint Germain (Bill Nighy), who ends up traveling through a time portal to find his lost love.
Germain's story sets up some interesting future developments for the series, but the core of this season is understanding Lindenfeld. The village is burned completely in the battle, leaving everyone dead. However, it is the ultimate kicker at the end that leaves a lasting impression.
The Judge (Jason Isaacs), the leader of this town, hired Trevor and Sypha to save the town. He comes off as heroic and kind, but after his death, the two find that he was a monster himself. He wanted the town to return to normal so that he could go back to abusing the children of the town including killing them and keeping their shoes as trophies.
Alucard tries his best to find the good in humanity with Taka (Toru Uchikado) and Sumi (Rila Fukushima), but they have both been so corrupted by the world that they turn on Alucard. He is forced to kill them and ends up staking them at the entrance to the castle, taking another step to a far harsher view on the world.
The weakest storyline but still a necessity is Hector's. The Council of Sisters are manipulators in a war that is only beginning. While Carmilla was already established, it is Lenore (Jessica Brown Findlay) that steals the show as she seduces Hector and shackles him to her as a pet to control alongside his creatures.
In each scene of this series even at its most uncertain, Castlevania is built on the back of strong foundational storytelling. It is a dark series that allows just enough air to breath before squashing any hope. It shows that everyone is out for themselves in this dark world, and Trevor, Sypha and Alucard will need to decide who they are in such a place.
This series is built on darkness and mature themes. The animation has improved to accommodate a violent cacophony of action down the stretch. It does not improve enough to really come off as sexy as it wants to be, but the sex scenes serve their purpose particularly in the impressively horny "The Harvest".
This was absolutely the best season of the series to date. At 10 episodes, it continues to expand, and this was the first season that truly felt like it was the right length. The storytelling and characters have found their stride. This is a show worth experiencing, getting better with time.
Germain's story sets up some interesting future developments for the series, but the core of this season is understanding Lindenfeld. The village is burned completely in the battle, leaving everyone dead. However, it is the ultimate kicker at the end that leaves a lasting impression.
The Judge (Jason Isaacs), the leader of this town, hired Trevor and Sypha to save the town. He comes off as heroic and kind, but after his death, the two find that he was a monster himself. He wanted the town to return to normal so that he could go back to abusing the children of the town including killing them and keeping their shoes as trophies.
Alucard tries his best to find the good in humanity with Taka (Toru Uchikado) and Sumi (Rila Fukushima), but they have both been so corrupted by the world that they turn on Alucard. He is forced to kill them and ends up staking them at the entrance to the castle, taking another step to a far harsher view on the world.
The weakest storyline but still a necessity is Hector's. The Council of Sisters are manipulators in a war that is only beginning. While Carmilla was already established, it is Lenore (Jessica Brown Findlay) that steals the show as she seduces Hector and shackles him to her as a pet to control alongside his creatures.
In each scene of this series even at its most uncertain, Castlevania is built on the back of strong foundational storytelling. It is a dark series that allows just enough air to breath before squashing any hope. It shows that everyone is out for themselves in this dark world, and Trevor, Sypha and Alucard will need to decide who they are in such a place.
This series is built on darkness and mature themes. The animation has improved to accommodate a violent cacophony of action down the stretch. It does not improve enough to really come off as sexy as it wants to be, but the sex scenes serve their purpose particularly in the impressively horny "The Harvest".
This was absolutely the best season of the series to date. At 10 episodes, it continues to expand, and this was the first season that truly felt like it was the right length. The storytelling and characters have found their stride. This is a show worth experiencing, getting better with time.
