Castlevania (animated series)

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## Castlevania

### Japanese title

悪魔城ドラキュラ -キャッスルヴァニア-
*Akumajō Dracula: Castlevania*

### Developer(s)

Sam Deats
Warren Ellis (writer)

### Director(s)

Sam Deats
Adam Deats
Spencer Wan

### Producer(s)

**Executive producers**
Adi Shankar, Fred Seibert, Ted Biaselli, Kevin Kolde, Larry Tanz, Warren Ellis
**Producers**
Toshiyuki Hiruma, Maki Terashima-Furuta, Brad Graeber, Jason Williams

### Designer(s)

Frederator Studios
Powerhouse Animation Studios
Shankar Animation
Project 51 Productions
Mua Film

### Release date(s)

**Season 1**
July 7, 2017 (streaming)
December 4, 2018 (physical)
**Season 2**
October 26, 2018 (streaming)
November 5, 2019 (physical)
**Season 3**
March 5, 2020 (streaming)
March 23, 2021 (physical)
**Season 4**
May 13, 2021 (streaming)
July 19, 2022 (physical)

### Genre(s)

Action
Adventure
Dark fantasy
Drama
Horror

***Castlevania*** is a horror action-adventure animated series set in a dark fantasy Medieval world loosely based on the video game series of the same name, released on Netflix worldwide. Its story is originally based on the events from *Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse* and unites some of its aspects with elements from other games, such as *Symphony of the Night* and *Curse of Darkness*. It features Trevor Belmont as the main protagonist, on a quest to stop the evil vampire Vlad Dracula Tepes, who seeks to destroy humanity following the execution of his wife Lisa.

The creators have clarified that the settings present in the animated series are separate from the games, which implies that lore, characterizations and plots don't necessarily parallel or copy them and things can develop differently. It is the first series from Frederator Studios to not be made for kids, as it is rated TV-MA.

The first season consists of four episodes of 23-25 minutes each, which all premiered on July 7, 2017.

After being delayed from a July 2018 release, a second season was ultimately confirmed by Adi Shankar and released on October 26, 2018.

A third season was confirmed on June 7, 2018 and was released on March 5, 2020.

A fourth and final season was confirmed on March 27, 2020 by Warren Ellis and on Netflix's official Twitter accounts. It premiered on May 13, 2021.

On June 11, 2021, a spinoff series, focusing on Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, was confirmed by Netflix. On June 10, 2022, a sneak peak of this series was revealed on Netflix Geeked Week, titled *Castlevania: Nocturne*.

## Production history

### Original movie project

In March 2007, writer Warren Ellis announced that he was working on a DVD movie adapted from *Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse* along with former *Castlevania* producer Koji Igarashi. Ellis explained that as he worked with Igarashi to fit the timeline of the series, including writing a new story, Igarashi had eight rewritten pre-production materials, before concluding with a draft that he turned in August 2008.

After that, however, nothing else was heard about the project until February 2017, when co-producer Adi Shankar and Netflix announced it would be released as a series. Kevin Kolde and Fred Seibert are also signed on, as are Seibert's animation company, Frederator Studios.

### Netflix project

The show influences has been described by the producer Adi Shankar to be from Japanese anime such as *Akira*, *Ghost in the Shell* and *Ninja Scroll*, as well as western animation such as *Young Justice*. It has also been stated by Shankar to be "R-rated as f\*\*k", "super-violent", and to have a *Game of Thrones* vibe.

The series was written by Warren Ellis, who was in charge of writing the script for the now defunct Dracula's Curse animated movie adaptation. Ellis worked at Marvel and developed *Hellstorm: Prince of Lies*, the acclaimed cyberpunk series *Transmetropolitan*, and more recently the award-winning *FreakAngels* series. The movie *Red* is based on his graphic novel, *Red*.

## Promotion and release

### Season 1

A teaser trailer was released on May 24th, 2017. The series was released worldwide at midnight (PST time) on July 7th, 2017.

### Season 2

A few hours after the release of season 1, Netflix officially announced a second season consisting of 8 episodes to premiere in 2018. In January 19, 2018, Warren Ellis stated that the second season was to arrive in summer 2018.

On July 25, 2017, Richard Armitage (Trevor Belmont's voice actor) announced they had completed the voice work for season 2. An official trailer was released three days later on July 28.

On October 16, 2018, Netflix and the American Red Cross organized together an event called "Dracula's Blood Drive", a blood donation campaign, at the Los Angeles Film School. Donators would receive exclusive merchandising and would attend a screening of episode 1 of season 2, ten days before the official release. Voice actress Alejandra Reynoso and director Sam Deats participated in the event.

Season 2 was released worldwide at midnight (PST time) on the expected date, with all eight episodes were available immediately. On June 20, 2019, it was confirmed the series was submitted to the Emmy Awards' consideration.

### Season 3

On June 7, 2018, it was confirmed that the series was renewed for a third season and that production would begin in the near future. Producer Adi Shankar confirmed on October 31 that Netflix had greenlit 10 new episodes.

A brief new teaser for season 3 was shown to New York Comic Con 2019 attendees on October 5, 2019. Warren Ellis, James Callis, Graham McTavish, Ade M'Cormack, Alejandra Reynoso, Sam Deats and Adam Deats attended to the event as well.

On February 4, 2020, Netflix officially announced it would release a month later on March 5 and presented the first poster for Season 3.

The official trailer was released on February 14.

On February 20, 2020 Netflix announced voice actors and characters for Season 3.

Season 3 was released on March 5, 2020, simultaneously worldwide (midnight PST time).

### Season 4

On March 27, 2020, it was confirmed *Castlevania* was renewed for a fourth season.

On May 24, 2020, Warren Ellis posted in his newsletter that he completed working on the script for Season 4 and it's now in the hands of Sam Deats and his team to work on it for many months. It was mentioned there would be new characters introduced in the new season, although he couldn't provide any specifics. Ellis also noted that he always knew where he was going with the story for Season 4.

On June 12, 2020, Tam Lu, the lead animator of *Castlevania* at Powerhouse Animation, posted that they are working hard on Season 4 and that the team is doing incredible work.

On August 3, 2020, Alejandra Reynoso commented that the team at Powerhouse Animation is hard at work on Season 4. She especially noted how dedicated the whole team is to create a great story and elaborate characters:

*The whole team behind the project are so great and so talented and really invested in making a great piece of, not just art, but it's a great story and they're great characters. There's not a single character in that, no matter how small they may be, that's just a two-dimensional character which is incredibly exciting.*
On November 24, 2020 Sam Deats posted first teaser screenshots from Season 4, saying that the season is turning out to be phenomenal.

On November 28, 2020 Sam Deats announced that Season 4 will have 10 episodes.

On April 5, 2021 Sam Deats hinted that development of Season 4 was finally completed.

On April 15, 2021, Netflix officially presented the first poster for Season 4.

On April 16, 2021 the teaser trailer for Season 4 was released, and Netflix confirmed that it will be the final season of the series which will be released on May 13, 2021. Sam Deats also hinted that Netflix is thinking about making a new series set in the same universe as *Castlevania* with an entirely new cast of characters.

The official Season 4 trailer was released on April 29, 2021. The cast of new characters for Season 4 was revealed by Netflix on May 7, 2021.

Season 4 was released on May 13, 2021, simultaneously worldwide (midnight PST time).

## Differences from the games

While the animated series' initial plot is based on that from *Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse*, as it progressed it started to significantly deviate from the games. Authors on multiple occasions pointed out that settings in the animated series are separate from those of the games, which can lead to differences in storylines, portrayal of characters and lore itself. They also said that the series went beyond being an adaptation and that their main focus was not really to adapt the games, but to create a story with focus on deeper characterization.

In practice, this resulted in the animated series using a different type of storytelling than that from the games. While in the games, stories can be described as inspired by Gothic horror, the animated series uses more modern storytelling, which can be described as realism-fantasy, where the realism aspect means deeper focus on individual characters and their imperfections. The story becomes less about classic good versus evil, with heroes and villains, and more about motivations of all characters, their struggles and torments, which also leads to the introduction of antiheroes.

The series also has a different take on vampires and their lore. While in the games, vampirism is seen as a curse that makes vampires evil by definition, which in essence means lack of free will, the series gives vampires free will and humanity, which they can gain or lose depending on the choices they make. That allows the authors the possibility to create redemption stories for them.

Other instances where the animated series has made important changes to specific plot points from the games include:

* Lisa was added to the plot and given a backstory based on her appearance in *Castlevania: Symphony of the Night*, in order to give out a more detailed tragic backstory for Dracula and better explain his obsessive hatred on humanity.
* Alucard's character design was based on his recent games' appearance since *Symphony of the Night*, instead of using his classic design from *Dracula's Curse*.
* Sypha Belnades keeps her hair short in the animated series. In *Dracula's Curse*, she is shown to have long, blond hair in the ending where she pairs with Trevor.
* The Speakers were added to the plot, since Sypha was their only known member in *Dracula's Curse*.
* In the series, Alucard fights with his sword while he only had two attacks in *Dracula's Curse* (Ball of Destruction and transform into a bat).
* Hector and Isaac, originally from *Castlevania: Curse of Darkness*, were added as a prequel side story, as well as Carmilla, who first debuted in *Castlevania II: Simon's Quest*.
	+ Additionally, Isaac is Afro-descendant and shaved head in the animated series, while in *Curse of Darkness* he is Caucasian and redheaded.
* Sypha still follows Trevor after Alucard volunteers to join them in their journey to fight against Dracula, instead of leaving the group.
* Saint Germain is portrayed as an aristocrat scholar and has Tudor time period style, which is less anachronistic than in the games.
* Hector tries to live a normal life following the death of Dracula and Isaac attempts to revive him in *Curse of Darkness*, while in the animated series the roles are reversed.
* The series adds original characters such as the Bishop, Dracula's Army, Council of Sisters, the Captain, Sala, the Judge, Taka, Sumi, Ratko, Greta, and Zamfir.
* Counterparts of Grant Danasty, Julia Laforeze and Rosaly don't exist in the series universe.

## Critical reception

The series was well-received by fans and critics, who praised its animation, visuals and story, while Season 1 was criticized as being too short. Season 1 received an approval rating of 80% for 25 reviews.

Season 2 received universal acclaim, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting an approval rating of 100% for 13 reviews and the website's critics consensus reading "*Castlevania sinks its fangs into vampiric lore during a devilishly fun second season that benefits from an expanded sense of scale and episode tally that allows the series to fully spread its leathery wings*."

Season 3 also received universal acclaim, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting an approval rating of 100% for 15 reviews and the website's critics consensus reading "*Castlevania's stunningly animated third season continues to build on the game's lore by diving deeper into its characters with humor, heart, and a lot of bloody action*."

## Home media

Season 1 was released on December 4, 2018 on Blu-ray and DVD. The package contains storyboards, an art gallery and other special features.

On August 23, 2019, the Blu-ray for season 2 was announced for a Fall release. It was released on November 5, 2019.

On December 23, 2020, *Castlevania* Season 3 was announced to be released on Spring 2021. It was released on March 23, 2021 on Blu-ray and DVD and it contains two discs that include storyboards, art gallery, animatic, and a Castlevania Panel from 2019 New York Comic Con.

On April 16, 2022, VIZ Media announced on Twitter that the DVD for Season 4 will be released on July 19.

On July 19, 2022, *Castlevania* Season 4 was released on Blu-ray and DVD, containing a second disc that includes storyboards, art gallery, animatics and interviews with Adetokumboh M'Cormack and Alejandra Reynoso.

## Music

The music from the series was composed by Trevor Morris. He also composed the main title theme.

The soundtrack to season 1 was released as digital download and physical CD.

### Posters

Castlevania - Netflix - 02.jpgFirst teaser poster.NetflixPosterS1.jpgSecond teaser poster.Portada.jpgSecond teaser poster (Japanese).Morningstar fall 2018 poster promo.jpg"Morningstar" fall 2018 poster promo.Castlevania (animated series) - 04.jpgSeason 2 announcement poster.Ssposter2.jpgSeason 2 poster.Castlevania season 3 poster.jpgSeason 3 poster.Castlevania (animated series) - Season 3 - 01.jpgSeason 3 wide format poster.Castlevania season3 poster2.jpgSeason 3 wide format poster (with title).Lindenfield banner by katie silva.jpgSeason 3 Lindenfield banner by Katie Silva.Castlevania Season 4 Official Poster Art.jpgSeason 4 poster.
### Videos

Castlevania Teaser Vengeance NetflixCastlevania Season 2 Official Trailer HD NetflixCastlevania Season 3 - Official Trailer - NetflixCastlevania Season 4 - Official Trailer - Netflix
## Trivia

* Adi Shankar cites *Ninja Scroll*, *Vampire Hunter D* and *Captain Harlock* as inspirations for the show's animation style.
* The second teaser poster released for this series is inspired by the cover art from the original *Castlevania* video game, which in turn was based on *Norseman*, a painting by Frank Frazetta.

NetflixPosterS1.jpgSecond teaser poster.Akumajo Dracula - 01.jpgArtwork for *Castlevania*.Norseman-FrankFrazetta.jpgFrank Frazetta's *Norseman* (1972).
* It is the first *Castlevania* media to have been dubbed in languages other than English and Japanese.
* Some voice actors from the Japanese dub had previously worked in *Castlevania* games and other media:
	+ Ryōtarō Okiayu, voice actor of Trevor Belmont, previously voiced Alucard/Genya Arikado in *Symphony of the Night*, *Aria of Sorrow*, *Dawn of Sorrow*, *Harmony of Despair* and *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*.
	+ Shin-ichiro Miki, who voiced Richter Belmont in *Akumajō Dracula X: Tsuioku no Yasōkyoku*, voices Alucard.
	+ Takahiro Sakurai, who voiced Jonathan Morris in *Portrait of Ruin*, voices Hector.
* The date when Season 2 of the series was released, October 26, 2018, coincided with the launching date of the PlayStation 4 compilation game *Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night/Rondo of Blood*.
	+ In the same manner, Konami released a mobile version of *Castlevania: Symphony of the Night* the day before the release of Season 3.
* Profile stats for Trevor, Sypha, Alucard, Dracula, Carmilla, Hector, Isaac and Godbrand were made public as a teaser prior to the release of Season 2. These feature a dot system which could be a homage to the *Vampire: The Masquerade* tabletop role playing game. Nonetheless, these profiles weren't made by the Powerhouse Animation creative team, but by Netflix.
* On a Netflix Geeked tweet covering the Easter eggs from Season 2, on the Magician's section, the subtitles read "Loss of Innocence", when they are actually referring to *Lament of Innocence*.
* The pose how Dracula is holding Lisa in the official poster for Season 4 is reminiscent to how Dracula is holding Lisa's dead body in the short *Nocturne in the Moonlight* manga (*Symphony of the Night*) that appeared in Volume 4 (September 1997) of *Konami Magazine*.
* The Netflix Geeked tweet announcing the upcoming spinoff series, stated that Richter Belmont is the son of Trevor and Sypha, which brought some comments from the fan community (as well as being pointed out by Sam Deats himself) as this doesn't have consistency with the lore of the games. However, this was fixed on a following tweet which made it clear that Richter is actually their descendant and not their son.

## Related articles

* Alphabets
* Anachronisms
* Easter eggs

## Related products

* *Castlevania: Nocturne* - A spinoff animated series, also by Netflix, starring Richter Belmont and Maria Renard.
* *Castlevania: The Art of the Animated Series* - An artbook covering all four seasons of the series.
* *Castlevania Music from the Netflix Original Series* - The soundtrack to Season 1.
* *Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse* - The game this series was initially based on.
	+ *Castlevania: Symphony of the Night* - Another game that served as inspiration for the series.
	+ *Castlevania: Curse of Darkness* - Another game that served as inspiration for the series.

## References

1. ↑ IGN – "Castlevania Season 2: Showrunner on Why Dracula Is 'Consumed With Darkness'" (October 27, 2018)
2. ↑ Gematsu – "Netflix Announces Castlevania Animated Series Launching 2017" (February 8, 2017)
3. ↑ Adi Shankar's Twitter – @adishankarbrand (July 6, 2018)
4. ↑ Digital Spy – "Exclusive: Castlevania season 3 is coming to Netflix" (June 7, 2018)
5. ↑ Sam Deats' Twitter – @SamuelDeats (February 4, 2020)
6. ↑ Warren Ellis Twitter – @warrenellis (March 27, 2020)
7. ↑ Netflix Twitter – @Netflix\_CV (March 27, 2020)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Netflix Twitter - @NetflixGeeked (June 11, 2021)
9. ↑ Netflix Twitter - @NetflixGeeked (June 10, 2022)
10. ↑ Polygon – "Netflix's new Castlevania series is the most bingeable show at just under 100 minutes" (July 7, 2017)
11. ↑ **IGN** – "Netflix announces animated Castlevania series". (February 8, 2017)
12. ↑ Collider.com "Super Violent ‘Castlevania’ Animated Series Coming from Producer Adi Shankar". (August 25, 2015)
13. ↑ Collider.com "This Week in Animation: ‘Castlevania’ Season 2 Returns to Netflix This Summer". (January 20, 2018)
14. ↑ Richard Armitage on Twitter – "Back in the studio for Season 2" (July 25, 2017)
15. ↑ LA Film School Official website – "Dracula’s Blood Drive Event (October 6, 2018)
16. ↑ Powerhouse Animation's Twitter - "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION..." (June 19, 2019)
17. ↑ Adi Shankar on Twitter – "Castlevania season 3 just got greenlit!!" (October 31, 2018)
18. ↑ Frederator Studios – "Castlevania is at New York Comic Con today and tomorrow! (October 4, 2019)
19. ↑ NX on Twitter – "Castlevania is back on March 5th." (February 4, 2020)
20. ↑ NX on Twitter – "Think of this as our bloody valentine to you." (February 4, 2020)
21. ↑ NetflixGeeked – "The cast of Castlevania is back for Season Three" (February 20, 2020)
22. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes – Castlevania S01 reviews
23. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes – Castlevania S02 reviews
24. ↑ Rotten Tomatoes – Castlevania S03 reviews
25. ↑ Nerdvana – "Castlevania screenwriter teases Season 2 Blu-ray " (August 25, 2019)
26. ↑ @VIZMedia December 23, 2020
27. ↑ @VIZMedia March 23, 2021
28. ↑ Forbes – "Adi Shankar On The Success Of 'Castlevania' And His Crusade To Have Animation Taken Seriously" (November 14, 2018)
29. ↑ Adam Deats Twitter – @AdamDeats (September 17, 2020)
30. ↑ @NXOnNeltflix - Twitter, April 7, 2020.

## External links

* *Castlevania* – Official site on Netflix
* The Blood, Sweat and Vampires of Anime Castlevania - Vfxvoice: designers and artists explain their approach to the animated series.

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