The Abbot made zero sense. The character and his motivations were working at cross purposes the entire time. I literally face palmed when the religious zealot warrior had gay sex with a vampire and they just sped on past that like it wasn't something momentous. Bathory was cartoonish like what a disney villain would be if disney movies were R rated. Also Bathory was from Wallachia like Vlad. Why throw in a historical figure if instead of weaving them into the fiction cleverly like Dracula, you just use the name and ignore everything else. So many things.
This is why I think a lot of this show is going over some people's heads. The interesting thing about the Abbot is that he is conflicted. His motivations weren't at cross purposes at all - he always thinks he is working for God ultimately and doing the right thing. But he's had to get in league with the vampires to arrive at a greater good. This nuance is what is fascinating about him as a character. Olrox and Mizrak having sex (and let's be real, it's much more than that) isn't 'sped past like it wasn't something momentous' - that is the whole undercurrent and tension of their situation. Olrox is totally self serving but vacillates between sides spending on what is strategic for him to get what he wants. Mizrak's faith is tested by his encounters with Olrox but rather be able to tell himself it is a moment of weakness with a soulless animal, Olrox challenges him intellectually and morally, presenting him with a far more horrifying (given the context of Mizrak's faith and vocation as a warrior monk) element of humanity within the vampire. Etc. This show is full of nuance and layers and moral complexity. Seems to be wasted on a lot of viewers. Thankfully not wasted on most viewers though.
I think the cartoonist version of Bathory was to help build to a new season. Dracula was not in that much of season 1 of Castlevania. Gay sex seems to have been a thing for a while, especially in the world of animated holy folk and vampires.
I have been looking forward to you discussing this! My feelings are much in line with yours. There was no subtlety in the writing. I kept thinking “Hm this makes me want to go watch Castlevania…”😅
Thank you for posting this!! I don’t get why despite many people noticing the drop in quality from the last show, there are many others who even think Nocturne has the potential to be better than the original?? The first show did a lot more during its first season with half the episodes and it led perfectly to s2. In Nocturne, s1 feels like a really long and boring prologue. When Alucard shows up at the end of each first season, it had me excited for s2 of the last show. In this one, it’s almost like the writers saying “don’t worry it’ll get better we promise”. Really wanted to like Nocturne as well but I don’t think I’ll be checking out season 2.
I am an opera singer. When the character first said that they sing opera, I was excited. What familiar tunes will I hear? Who did they get to sing in this role? Disappointment was what I heard. The notes came out, yes, but the diction was awful and there were many poppy additions to compensate for technique issues. Singing the melody to the Requiem was....fine I guess? But yikes. The final scene was exciting but I wish they did more than some key jangling to make the series interesting. That's some Disney level writing.
I agree with almost everything you said, except for two things. 1) Since the story is happening in France, why should the native speakers have accents? 2) The revolution background CAN be interesting, I think, if they capitalise on the setup they did with the church perspective, i.e. if they go the nuanced route and show that any revolution, needed or not, is also a destructive force and will cause a lot of damage.
great review ! I personally gave season 1 a 6|10. The three major issues I have with season 1 is the writing, the pacing, and the character development. In my opinion, the original series mastered the dialogue between the characters which gave the audience a better understanding of each character. The dialogue of this show is bland and didn’t draw my attention. Richter’s character development was poorly handled. First of all…how does he randomly obtain his magic abilities without effort 💀? Annette was irrational at times, but her backstory was well executed. However, I felt the battle between her and Vaublanc should’ve lasted longer than it did…and she defeated him so easily. that would’ve been a great opportunity to display how far she’s come as a sorceress from their last encounter and the consequences of being irrational. (also it’s funny how she encountered Olrox, Drolta, and Vaublanc in the same place💀💀💀💀💀💀). Maria and Tera was “meh” in my opinion. It would’ve been nice if the creator of the show provided us with the relationship between Maria and her animals a bit more. Drolta…🤦🏿♀️. she literally had the potential to surpass Carmella but they offed her in the season finale. Also..she was portrayed as a loyal fangirl which was cringey to me 😕. I personally believed it would’ve been better if she was erzsebet’s lover who was supportive of her 🤷🏿♀️. Lastly, we don’t even know why Erzsebet is called “The Vampire Messiah”💀. It’s like she bestowed the title upon herself😭💀. I also believe the creator of this show didn’t do “thorough” research on Erzsebet Bathory..who was a Hungarian noblewoman who was an alleged serial killer….and cannibal. So there should’ve been more gore when it comes to her. Instead we get a poorly done human pantry and her sucking blood from virgins💀. Also..why is she aspiring to be an Egyptian goddess? Why not Nyx ?
Nyx is the Greek goddess of darkness and the offspring of chaos. She was even feared by Zeus 💀. it just feels like her character was unorganized. also..how was Drolta an ancient Egyptian priestess of Sekhmet when she was born in the 1700s😭💀? The minor issues I have is Edouard being killed too quickly (I think episode 5 would’ve been better to end him) &’ his night creature being revealed to us (like this show has no form of element of surprise), Juste Belmont randomly revealed (he says he’s been watching him..but we didn’t get a silhouette in earlier episodes💀), olrox and mizrak’s random situationship..(like you slept with him once why do you care if he lives or not💀), and the fact that Erzsebet achieved her goal so easily…there wasn’t even a fight 😭.
My disdain for overfetishization of African and Mesoamerican cultures is that, they NEVER do stories in those settings prior to the arrival of Europeans, as if the only moment they're "proud of their roots" is when there's a white guy in the story that can be blamed for all the bad things that happen in it. They won't dare make a story with a purely black or indigenous cast precolony, otherwise their villains will also be non-white, and they won't have foreigners to blame for the heinous acts they commit. Compare that to the mainstream reach we see in stories set in ancient Japan or China, they do fantasize about living in that setting, not about feeling like victims.
if they did they would have had to show how the africans were no better than the europeans and the black slavery we want break the false idea that Africa was a revolutionary paradise
The Nubian Dynasty in particular was brutal with a colour code hierarchy, those with lighter skin were considered lesser. They even had white slaves bought from the Romans. Because it was thousands of years ago people pretend it never happened.
This take is so ass. Lmfao i know you're white simply from you saying that "They" are choosing stories where "they cant blame foreigners/white people" Except the writer on this show is white, so again your problem is still with white people here.
@@IrishNigerianAnyone who took history class in 8the grade knows other cultures had slaves, except none of those other slave trades or what happened around still have the resounding effects that the African slave trade did. We still have current political frameworks based off of American slavery and how it exists today via the Carreras system. Some white people getting whipped 1200 years ago isn't affecting any social structure or hierarchy in modern days.
The first episode with Olrox battle was great and of course the final episode. With vampire being around everywhere timelines for real actual events would have probably have never happened or maybe different with this french revolution going on. Maybe the second will season will be better.
Im still working my way through Nocturne but i immediately felt like the voices felt weirdly poorly recorded? Like they all sound like they're mumbling 😅 and why is literally everyone including the monsters BEAUTIFUL? 😂
I don't mind flashbacks as long as they work. But too many can draw people away from the MC. I don't need to learn about everyone in the story. Just focus on the important characters and give me a lot of action scenes.
I really like these videos where you rant about things you didn´t like. The tone of your voice, the facial expressions 😄 And I get the feeling when you WANTED it to be good and then it just wasn´t. For me, it was an easy, fun watch. I thought last season was too much and Nocturne is a bit toned down compared to that. And yes, the final scene, that face could save anything!
@@IrishNigerian Not when you have concerted compains of anti-wokers and racists and homophobes review bombing it, often without even watching it. Not when people are complaining about what's not in the show rather than actually reviewing the show itself. Review bombing is nothing new and we all know by now when a show has been the target of it. The true rating, as you call it, is views. Viewing numbers can't be faked and Nocturne was a global top 10 hit.
Another complaint to add is there is no sense of humor, there are no jokes. I remember series one of Castlevania had the dark and brooding thing down pat but also had jokes, humor, even Dracula made jokes. Nocturne didn't make me laugh once, it made me sigh alot but there was no mirth. Nothing it was just oppressively tragic, and boring.
@@MarcosSSRN 🤔🤔🤔 Reasons. No, not for me. I can't stand 90% of the characters. The 10% go to Orlock. But Alucard is from really magnificent grand ark.. so I am wondering what is he doing here.
I liked it, it was fun. I don’t get the hatred for characters who are just evil, I personally don’t always need some tragic backstory because some real life people are just evil. I get Báthory’s motivation, makes perfect sense for a vampire. I also liked the backstories of the characters but I agree they didn’t seem to have much growth afterwards. Olrox was really interesting to me, I’m intrigued to find out more about him.
Totally agree, don't understand the villain hate. Olrox is clearly complex in his motivation, and something to be unraveled. Main bad guy is the "light devourer", that doesn't need to be that complex.
There's a huge difference between a villain not having a tragic backstory and a villain having little to no backstory and no motivation beyond "be evil". The villains in Nocturne are just going through the motion, there's really nothing interesting about them. Bathory is just evil and nothing more, there's literally nothing else to her. We don't know why or how she drank Sekhmet's blood, how she managed to convince so many vampires to basically worship her, why she cares about making the sun disappear forever... She's literally just there for there to be an issue. And no, absolutely no one in real life is like that, just evil without explanation (explanation isn't excuse) and nothing else.
@@catIing it's not real life, fictional villains can just be evil. Have you thought that maybe the sekhmet stuff is material for upcoming seasons? It's 8 25 minute episodes, you're not going to get everyone's life story.
@@jaimecardona92 Sure they can, and it's boring. Characters can be pure evil and still have something more to them than "I'm evil because". I don't need every single villain's backstory within the first 2 episodes, but some sort of crumb would really help make them feel less like cardboard cutouts for the protagonists to be worried about. Also, I very much doubt that we're gonna get anything about that pink-haired vampire woman, considering the final scene, which is a shame since they bothered to give her a cool design and a fair amount of screen time. "There's gonna be a season 2" really can't be the excuse for everything they didn't bother to even suggest lol.
@@catIing “She’s evil and nothing more” Lol ok a vampire with the powers of a goddess who can blot out the sun has nothing more to them, sure ok. The villain doesn’t need to have their entire background explained straight away. “Absolutely no one is like that in real life”, ok just look at real people in history and psychopaths. Just look at the real woman’s life, she was pure evil. It’s not like the original was that compelling either, Dracula has a tantrum and gets put down by his son. Then you just have Alucard being emo in his castle and vampires squabbling. Not everything has to be super deep, some things can just be fun.
My main complaints had to do with inaccuracies to the game. They stole a lot from Bloodlines and Alicard never fought with Ricter. I hated that final seen. It felt like how Fox felt the need to throw Wolverine into every possible situation just because he's popular. I guess you have to play Rondo and SotN to understand. Either way, although I disagree about the final scene being a good thing, this was still a good review.
I completely agree, I was SO disappointed. I think it's completely fair to compare Nocturne to the OG, the wonder, the masterpiece - considering it's literally a sort of sequel and 100% would not have been such an anticipated release if it hadn't been for the first Castlevania series. But the comparison definitely doesn't help lol. Nocturne is so juvenile and shallow in every possible way, from the characters to the plot, the setting, the dialogue, the ideas, the fight scenes even. Everything that might have been interesting has already happened by the time Nocturne starts, so in the end what the protagonists actually do throughout the season is... very little. They don't even really interact with each other beyond telling their tragic backstories. Anyway. The only two saving graces for me were that last scene and Olrox, but even Olrox was more of a "might become interesting down the line" situation. I'll watch the second season, but I very much doubt we're getting a repeat of the first Castlevania series when it comes to quality.
This is why I think a lot of this show is going over some people's heads. The interesting thing about the Abbot is that he is conflicted. His motivations weren't at cross purposes at all - he always thinks he is working for God ultimately and doing the right thing. But he's had to get in league with the vampires to arrive at a greater good. This nuance is what is fascinating about him as a character. Olrox and Mizrak having sex (and let's be real, it's much more than that) isn't 'sped past like it wasn't something momentous' - that is the whole undercurrent and tension of their situation. Olrox is totally self serving but vacillates between sides spending on what is strategic for him to get what he wants. Mizrak's faith is tested by his encounters with Olrox but rather be able to tell himself it is a moment of weakness with a soulless animal, Olrox challenges him intellectually and morally, presenting him with a far more horrifying (given the context of Mizrak's faith and vocation as a warrior monk) element of humanity within the vampire. Etc. This show is full of nuance and layers and moral complexity. Seems to be wasted on a lot of viewers. Thankfully not wasted on most viewers though.
@@er9779 I mean, good for you if you didn't find it rushed, shallow and half-assed? Not sure why you felt the need to be condescending about it though.
@@catIing You called it 'juvenile and shallow in every possible way'. I'm sorry that trying to show you what was there that you missed came across as condescending.
@@catIing I'm not purposefully trying to imply anything about you in general or overall. But if you watched all this nuance and complexity and came away with 'juvenile and shallow in every possible way' then, yeah, there's a lot here you didn't engage with. Don't mean to be condescending any more than you meant to be condescending with your comments.
I thought it was painful to watch for 95% of the entire show untill that last moment, that's a indicator that the show can't stand on its own. It's like putting a character you love in a bad show, he's not going to fix the show , when the show itself is a horrible failure without personality. The animations were very good, I think that's why people who'd otherwise think the show was ''meh'' liked it anyway. Nearly every conversation ended up in a fight. Because every single conversation was shallow and poorly written. They try to distract people from how bad their writing was. If Castlevania would be a solid 8.5/10 , Nocturne is like a 4/10 at best.
I agree on all levels. My biggest problem that they did not communicate with each other and no unity in the fight scenes. Each characters battles never played off each other. Alucard and Trevor fights worked in harmony together defeat the vampires. Also Maria has a British accent and why is one of vampires a succubus. Does Netflix not know basic monster mythology. Whole plot is a convoluted whiny attempt at creating emotional historical fiction that dragged.
7:20 Not really. Villains who are evil for the sake of evil are becoming more and more popular nowadays as the tragic backstory villain has been done to death.
@@tartoflan Heck, the idea of a villain being evil just because can be downright terrifying if done correctly. Like the antagonist of the game Persona 4. Why did they start to kill people? Because they where bored. No deep philosophical speech, just a person bored out of there mind in search of any kind of stimuli.
Mmmm, I think there's a thin line between "i'm evil because of tragic back story and I'm good deep inside" and "i'm evil just for the sakes of it". I do think there are people who are indeed just evil for the sake of it, but you have to give them some motivation, or a motivation that shows. Also, I think complex characters with sad back stories can be perfect villains without falling into the "i'm good inside". Best example I can think of is Doflamingo villain from One Piece. He does have a sad backstory, and I think he could have been "saved" when he was a child. I also don't think he's a complete monster that feels nothing, we see him having nightmares and feeling in distress, even if you would miss it if you blink. However, as things are now, he's just iredeemable evil, pure madness and chaos, and there's no friggin way he's turning back to the right path. And it is not that he's gone crazy, well, crazy has many definitions, I guess, but he's 100% aware of what he's doing, and he 100% knows what he's doing is bad, he just doesn't give a fuck, or worse, he actually believe he's right by doing so, not because he has some ulterior motive, but jsut because he deserves to do whatever he wants, his god complex sky rocketing. In fact, he's so fucked up that, along his god complex, he has developed a gigantic victim complex and always justifies himself with "i was a victim, no body suffered more than I did, so I deserve better than everybody else", and that's it. He does have a sad backstory, and he did turned evil because of it, but because it is the villain himself that keeps using his backstory as a justification for his actions, you as a viewer do not feel more sympathy for him, but actually see him as the narcissist, manipulative bastard he really has become. And don't get me wrong, people love him, but not because he is good, but because he is bad, really bad. You can sympathise with his character to a certain extent, and even feel sad for his child self, but not for the adult one, in any possible way. He wasn't born pure evil, but he's become pure evil, almost not an inch of goodness in him, and the little good feelings he does show, are so twisted and toxic due to his complete altered and messed up view of the world and what human relationship are like, that that "goodness" comes out as offputing, making his entire character far more scary than sad.
@@GuciomNow You are wrong, the difference here is, The funny cabbage man is actually a deep character, he has deepnes, we see his backstory to see why he acted like that, yes is because he was bored but we got a reason He acted like that because he had a shitty life, even there is a song that talks about the lack of light and love he has because he thinked that having Friends is just a Waste of time that killing himself getting Good grades will garante a Good life, and he got sended into a shitty place like inaba and on his Mental Inestabilty he discovers that he has powers and lets be real, who being on the lowest moment of their life having the power to do whatever they wanted will not do crazy stuff? He is actually a good written character he has reasons of why he is evil Meanwhile erzebeth is just poorwritting whe dont have any backstory of why she is evil we dont see her ambitions her mentality And there is other villains that are evil because of the sake of being evil like the villain of the puss in boots 2, he had a good life and has no reasons to be evil but we can see the reason he is a megalomaniac psycho he wanted more and more power meanwhil erzebeth well we just know that she wanted to be the queen of vampires but we dont have a why she wants that There is always going to be a why in villains and their acts
I mean the first Castlevania also took a while to ramp up and become good because in the first season especially it was like Dracula mad because wife died, it wasn't particularly deep or introspective. Also, funnily, basically everyone we were following wasn't from France despite it being set in the French Revolution. I don't think Richter was flippant and cocky it's just funny how differently we saw this show. 🤣 But my main argument would be that the first season or 2 of Castlevania in isolation weren't that deep either and this was only 8 episodes so it could still get to things that you like more.
Interesting points and the conclusion makes sense. The one I hated the most was that they gave Richter a fully unprompted, undeserved powerup out of nowhere. He needed it - so he just GOT it after running away crying. I suppose he just didn't love his family enough before now lol. That last scene felt great for a second - then you realize that this surprise will be executed by the same utterly incompetent writing team and the dread sets in.
Thank you! I agree with all of this. I loved the original so I was extremely excited for this and extremely disappointed. The accents drove me insane. The use of the French Revolution felt so wasted. The dialogue was terrible. The character motivations were non-existent. The designs were so inconsistent. None of the big moments felt earned. It was all so frustrating. And I'm deeply conflicted about the final moment because I'm afraid it will not be utilized well at all in the next season. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who was disappointed.
The show was trash 🗑️ 🤷🏻♂️. Annette knew more about vampire/night creature lore than a literally Belmont and a Speaker (Tera) and she’s only ever dealt with Vampires and has only been free for 6 months. We spent so much time on everyone else’s back story EXCEPT for Belmont’s. We didn’t connect the last Castlevania to this one. We didn’t show Richter’s growth or him making it to France. It’s like he wasn’t the MC. They crammed way to much in. Drolta could of been the big bad for this season with her boss looming in the background. Richter being a crybaby and just magically getting his powers was also trash. Juste being downgraded to a magic-less nobody was insulting. The forced “feelings” between Annette and Richter is cringe. In RoB they are together (plus they have children later) which is why they are forcing it now. But they did a horrible job building any sense of feelings between these two. The list just doesn’t end.
I overall felt conflicted about it. I knew we were getting different writers, but I wasn't expecting such awful writing either. As you put it, I just wish we had more of the same quality, just a different story. I'm hopeful for Season 2, but I'm also not going to go into it as hungry as I was, going into Season 1. In some ways, I hope this is a case of "season 1 bad, but rest of the seasons are good" kind of situation. Maybe if there is some sort of time-skip or development with them aging, getting a little more wiser/powerful as their personalities change, maybe it'll help with the dialogue issue? Buuuuuut I dunno. I think this was just approached all wrong from the start. Maybe someone brave enough will make a "What if Nocturne was more like this?" fanfiction. I think I'm just gonna rewatch the OG Castlevania... while I know it deviates a bit still from the games, it is still one of the best shows writing-wise for me. It wasn't perfect, but close to it (for me at least!). As for the faults it had, I like to give a pass for because I think everyone's creativity/quality suffered during COVID.
@quilerynmaegis Im currently working on a rewrite right now. One that sticks to the original game and lore the closest but still keeping it in the revolutionary france setting
@@Quileryn I've already written 8 chapters in Wattpad as of late, but I intend to change some of the dialogue. Basically the gist of the rewrite is that: - Richter, Maria, Annette, and Tera are more in line with how they appeared in DxC. Annette and Maria are sisters much like the Dracula X port of the OG Rondo. - Netflix Annette is now an original character by the name of Layla for I found her character promising but her execution terrible - Édouard isn't cannon fodder and lives beyond the Chateau fight; Vaublanc is a more menacing villain here and has a more personal connection to Layla - Shaft replaces Emmanuel as the villainous Abbot - I excluded Mizrak and Olrox from the rewrite; I felt the rewrite should focus on the heroes more than the side characters - Also excluded Erzebeth and Drolta; they are the main villains of Castlevania Bloodlines after all which takes place in WW1 - Devil Forgemastery is more faithful with how it works in Curse of Darkness as a result of the 300 year gap - Added an original character named Sebastian Lecarde, who adopts most of Nocturne Maria's personality and revolutionary ideals and is basically the loose cannon of the group - the new main antagonist is a direct result of the ending of the original Castlevania Netflix series and has more personal ties with the Belmont Clan, particular Juste; his right hand demoness Sabrina le Fay is responsible for the murder of Richter's mother and family - As the story is set in Revolutionary France, I intend to make good use of the setting. The town that heroes live on is on the verge of collapse and ruin - Juste Belmont is a wise and seasoned hunter in the rewrite; he is now known as the most powerful magician of the era and often visits to train Richter - Richter's mother is renamed as Sonia Belmont
@carlbennethvallejo1553 That all sounds awesome! Sounds like a lot of love went into this. Let me know when you're done or what you plan on naming it and I'll go read it once it's up! :)
I thought Nocturne did a good job in the sense of introducing and killing characters. Richter and Juste seemed interesting. The Vampire Messiah is powerful. Alucard showing up at the end of season 1 was a cool call back. Have Olrox and Alucard met?
Damn I really loved this season even more than the rather dissapointing s3 and S4 but I get it this show is a different appeal compared to it's predecessor. Simply put I think Castlevania is more approachable cause it's more action and fantasy oriented whereas Nocturne is a more political and character focused slow burn. Definitely a difference of taste I believe
@@KongFuzii honestly yeah. It's still a well made season but I got issues with it. Isaac and Camilla storylines felt so disconnected with the main plot and needed to be more intergrated. Whole Death reveal felt anticlimactic and the creative decision to make him a potty mouthed geezer was more silly than intimidating. Imagine if sauron the ultimate evil had dialogue equivalent to a Gordan Ramsay hells kitchen manuscript. And the final fight with Trevor and death felt way too anime and broke the verisimilitude threshold of reserved fantasy that previous seasons set up. This came off a lot more rantish than I anticipated but really it's just me listing out reasons why it felt dissapointing and why I think Nocturne is a step in the right direction.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. A lot of what this show boasts appears to have gone over a lot of people's heads and then they complain that it's bad. Luckily, a lot more people loved it. Rock on season 2!
Slow burn? What part of Nocturne is Slow? Character development gets bumrushed to squish as much as possible into a season that has too many characters all with their own arcs and no time to really develop or elaborate on most, let alone all of them. The political games are basically a few sentences one episode followed by the resolution in the next episode. Slow is just not the word to use here.
Honestly, I think evil for evil characters can be written well. Joker and Junko are 2 characters that I love, and many other people love, that are pure evil.
For the antagonist design- I thought they were trying to cash in on the Lady Dimitrescu phenomena with Erszebet honestly xD (tall vampire lady, similar personality)
Haven't watch the previous Castlevania series, but i really enjoyed nocturne. It was an easy binge, finished the season in one sitting. I feel like all the character development you're looking for is what the next seasons will be for.
I really like BOTH series…and I grew up real-time with the release of the video games…all of which I felt were a tad overrated (outside of “Sinon’s Quest”). I really think that your review of this series is totally off-base, and once again it just seems like certain people just hate the idea of ever having to try & relate to diverse characters, which is frustrating.
I think it was alright. I didn't love it or hate it but I really did enjoy the design of the villain tho. I have to admit that the villains here are definitely not as good as (not even close) the villains in the OG series and the protagonists also are not as likable as Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard.
nothing was to the same standards as the original series. man the villains in nocturne were no where close to someone like Dracula. Only character i liked was Olrox.
0:00 Did the people from the og Castlevania show have wallachian accents? Most of them didn't as far as I remember. I feel like a lot of people also expect the ammount of character development from this 1 season like the og series gave us in it's 4 seasons. But if I compare this season with the 1st season of Castlevania, especially as a setup for future stories, then I think this 1st season of Castlevania: Nocturne gave us equally as much if not more than the 1st season of Castlevania. I agree that this season has flaws but some people that I have seen treat this 1st season of Nocturne as the worst thing created in the history of the universe which I think is absolutely crazy, as if they are mad about sth else in (also in irl maybe) and pour all of that negativity into this show for some reason.
What I personally think as a fan of the Castlevania games is that the story for this show never had to be good, just functional. There is no denying that the animation, fight choreography and audio were stupendous, but the story actually brings all of the great things about the show down. Plus, some character design choices I think were awful, especially Annette. Imagine basically being a more powerful version of an Earth/Metal Bender from the Avatar series, and all you do is make swords. They didn’t have to give her god powers for that, just give her some damn swords instead. Or… ya know… actually explore the fucking concept? (I also have a laundry list of issues with her as a character, and I’m only finding more reasons as time goes on) Though, I would personally vouch to keeping the protagonists to just Richter, Maria and Tera. The two characters that actually mattered got less screen time than a character that just wound up being terrible anyway, which just brought all of them down. And with Alucard on the way, holy fuck do not juggle 5+ main characters in season 2 PLEASE. I have low expectations for S2 if they think they can pull this bullshit and have the story work.
I really don't like reviews like this, in which the reviewer talks and talks but you still don't understand why they liked or didn't like something. This person does a lot of talking but doesn't really say anything, and the entire video could just be summarized with "I didn't like it".
I personally liked the season overall and I’m pretty simple when it comes to shows and totally respect your opinion and do agree some dialogue could have been better but I don’t think it was a huge disappointment.
I appreciate that we have people who scrutinize entertainment like TV shows, but I'm glad to not be one of them. Hard to enjoy a show when constantly distracted by whatever expectations you set. Started to go this route when I worked in broadcasting. I wanted to pick everything apart, every show every, piece of media. Now I just sit down and watch the damn show. Focus not on whether is missing or present or done to . Now, it either brings me in and I watch more or not. About Castlevania Nocturne, I don't think the show is done yet. Was just the first season with a cliffhanger. It did its job because I want to see what happens next.
You just got an entire video with reasons and still think it’s pathetic? You haven’t seen it yet but you judge people for their opinion? Watch it and form your own then?
I agree with everything but the accent things. It's not like we got romanian anccents in og Castlevania. Also, with accents you ought to be careful, because if not done correctly, it can sound almost like mockery. Accents are overrated, it's not bad to incorporate them, but it is not necessary either. At the end of the day, they wouldn't be speaking English with a French accent, they would be speaking French, period.
Oh damn, and on Castlevania the story and characters are based in Transylvania (Rumania), but nobody has a Rumanian accent there lol. (Suddenly now we realized there is an accent missing lol). Also I love how we are comparing a full 4 season serie with one is just starting… Talking about the characters, comparing again teenagers with adults… expecting the same lol. Just comparing Trevor (Literally the last survivor of his clan, hated by the church and society, and blamed for the calamities) with Richter (with traumas of course, but at least he always got some support somehow in his life, he’d never be alone). Then Annette, we expect a joyful positive character from a teenage black slave survivor with “brand new freedom” lol
I don't know why you think that has to do with adults vs teenagers. As far as I'm concerned the characters just didn't feel really fleshed out. Nobody is asking Richter to be the same character as Trevor.
The problem was that they rushed the pace in this series. Regardless of my opinions of the first Netflix Series, they did a better job introducing characters in the first season, and paced it better in that respect
Nothing in nocturne makes sense because they didn't adapt the game like they did with the original show. Theres literally nothing from the games apart from richter and juste.
Are you actually trolling? I understand this is your opinion, and that's okay. But we literally have an American in a different place. A Native American, German and possibly only 2 actual people from Paris, What accent are you looking for? When you said you don't know how a French person sounds. You don't because you saw one you saw plenthe character who was speaking a language? You probably didn't understand that's Creole, that's basically broken French, it's spoken throughout the series. The attention to detail about why they're using the setting. You gotta entire episode about it, but you just saw it as someone's back story and not a part of their character and the setting. How does one over you in your husband's head is between yall. Finally, the European like accents you heard in the original are all over the place. There, European, but they're not based on the location whatsoever. Does Dracula sound the same way any of the belmonts? No Do you even know where Hector is from? People generate to different places. You heard a little bit of something and it was nice. That doesn't mean it's going to be the definite definition of everything else. The fact that you mention this multiple times I'm very sorry for you.
Argh, sorry this one is a disappointment to you! It's not amazing, but I personally think the first season of Nocturne is vastly better than the first Castlevania, which in my opinion, did not turn engaging or interesting until the final season. No idea how I managed to actually reach the final season, but I'm glad I did. And here's hoping the next seasons of Nocturne will be better!
That's crazy. Humbles me to never forget that subjectivity is both unexpecting and expected. I follow your book reviews and came to realize I share most of your rankings on stuff. To me the entire 4 seasons of Castlevania were a masterpiece. The dialogues, the animations, the voice acting, the narrative, the characters, the pace. Don't think I would change a single thing.
First season castlevania was like 10 times better than Nocturne. Just the characters introduction was far better than whatever this was (only Ritcher got a nice introduction). It also took its time to present the situation, without being overly slow nor rashing things out. The pacing of Nocturne is terrible. The first two season of Castlevania were also better than the next two, and way more appealing, though the 3rd and 4th seasons were not bad either. I know opinions are subjective, but I can't understand how anyone could find Nocturne first season better than og Castlevania first season, it is just mindblowing to me, because in mhy opinion not only is Castlevania better, but FAR better. To have people thinking the other way around is shocking to say the least. Also, I got a feeling the ony reason some poeple may find Nocturne more attractive from the get go is that they already know Castlevania, so they're already hyped about it. That's it. But the pacing and introduction of the characters (and Anette and Maria characters) are just terrible writing.
In the end of the day this was another classic Netflix series. The male protagonist in second place, the real protagonist is an all-powerful black slave woman that no one cares about (precisely the only character that doesn't belong to the original canon of the games). Clearly no one understood what made the original series so great.
Man the discourse around this show is so cringe, the show was great. The animation was so damn good, and the story was fine as a first season. The first season of Castlevania wasn't even all that great, let it cook.
buah buah cry me a river. this series was good not excelent no, bad only Good. hope they see the validad criticism anf getter better in the next season
I'm happy to see you validating my assumption on this show. I'd heard rumblings that it was going to be bad, so I'm glad you saved me the trouble! The previous series was amazing though.-- On the 'no flashback' advice-- that's no different than someone saying you should always show and not tell. Sometimes, it's really effective to use what others say you shouldn't. 🫠
The Abbot made zero sense. The character and his motivations were working at cross purposes the entire time. I literally face palmed when the religious zealot warrior had gay sex with a vampire and they just sped on past that like it wasn't something momentous. Bathory was cartoonish like what a disney villain would be if disney movies were R rated. Also Bathory was from Wallachia like Vlad. Why throw in a historical figure if instead of weaving them into the fiction cleverly like Dracula, you just use the name and ignore everything else.
So many things.
This is why I think a lot of this show is going over some people's heads. The interesting thing about the Abbot is that he is conflicted. His motivations weren't at cross purposes at all - he always thinks he is working for God ultimately and doing the right thing. But he's had to get in league with the vampires to arrive at a greater good. This nuance is what is fascinating about him as a character. Olrox and Mizrak having sex (and let's be real, it's much more than that) isn't 'sped past like it wasn't something momentous' - that is the whole undercurrent and tension of their situation. Olrox is totally self serving but vacillates between sides spending on what is strategic for him to get what he wants. Mizrak's faith is tested by his encounters with Olrox but rather be able to tell himself it is a moment of weakness with a soulless animal, Olrox challenges him intellectually and morally, presenting him with a far more horrifying (given the context of Mizrak's faith and vocation as a warrior monk) element of humanity within the vampire. Etc. This show is full of nuance and layers and moral complexity. Seems to be wasted on a lot of viewers. Thankfully not wasted on most viewers though.
I think the cartoonist version of Bathory was to help build to a new season. Dracula was not in that much of season 1 of Castlevania. Gay sex seems to have been a thing for a while, especially in the world of animated holy folk and vampires.
True, but didn't she bathe in the virgin blood? The Abbott was ridiculous. I guess they needed a forgemaster and he was all that was left.
I have been looking forward to you discussing this! My feelings are much in line with yours. There was no subtlety in the writing. I kept thinking “Hm this makes me want to go watch Castlevania…”😅
Thank you for posting this!! I don’t get why despite many people noticing the drop in quality from the last show, there are many others who even think Nocturne has the potential to be better than the original?? The first show did a lot more during its first season with half the episodes and it led perfectly to s2. In Nocturne, s1 feels like a really long and boring prologue. When Alucard shows up at the end of each first season, it had me excited for s2 of the last show. In this one, it’s almost like the writers saying “don’t worry it’ll get better we promise”. Really wanted to like Nocturne as well but I don’t think I’ll be checking out season 2.
horrible take.
@@foodini666 how so?
I am an opera singer. When the character first said that they sing opera, I was excited. What familiar tunes will I hear? Who did they get to sing in this role?
Disappointment was what I heard. The notes came out, yes, but the diction was awful and there were many poppy additions to compensate for technique issues. Singing the melody to the Requiem was....fine I guess? But yikes.
The final scene was exciting but I wish they did more than some key jangling to make the series interesting. That's some Disney level writing.
I agree with almost everything you said, except for two things. 1) Since the story is happening in France, why should the native speakers have accents? 2) The revolution background CAN be interesting, I think, if they capitalise on the setup they did with the church perspective, i.e. if they go the nuanced route and show that any revolution, needed or not, is also a destructive force and will cause a lot of damage.
great review ! I personally gave season 1 a 6|10. The three major issues I have with season 1 is the writing, the pacing, and the character development. In my opinion, the original series mastered the dialogue between the characters which gave the audience a better understanding of each character. The dialogue of this show is bland and didn’t draw my attention. Richter’s character development was poorly handled. First of all…how does he randomly obtain his magic abilities without effort 💀? Annette was irrational at times, but her backstory was well executed. However, I felt the battle between her and Vaublanc should’ve lasted longer than it did…and she defeated him so easily. that would’ve been a great opportunity to display how far she’s come as a sorceress from their last encounter and the consequences of being irrational. (also it’s funny how she encountered Olrox, Drolta, and Vaublanc in the same place💀💀💀💀💀💀). Maria and Tera was “meh” in my opinion. It would’ve been nice if the creator of the show provided us with the relationship between Maria and her animals a bit more. Drolta…🤦🏿♀️. she literally had the potential to surpass Carmella but they offed her in the season finale. Also..she was portrayed as a loyal fangirl which was cringey to me 😕. I personally believed it would’ve been better if she was erzsebet’s lover who was supportive of her
🤷🏿♀️. Lastly, we don’t even know why Erzsebet is called “The Vampire Messiah”💀. It’s like she bestowed the title upon herself😭💀. I also believe the creator of this show didn’t do “thorough” research on Erzsebet Bathory..who was a Hungarian noblewoman who was an alleged serial killer….and cannibal. So there should’ve been more gore when it comes to her. Instead we get a poorly done human pantry and her sucking blood from virgins💀. Also..why is she aspiring to be an Egyptian goddess? Why not Nyx ?
Nyx is the Greek goddess of darkness and the offspring of chaos. She was even feared by Zeus 💀. it just feels like her character was unorganized. also..how was Drolta an ancient Egyptian priestess of Sekhmet when she was born in the 1700s😭💀? The minor issues I have is Edouard being killed too quickly (I think episode 5 would’ve been better to end him) &’ his night creature being revealed to us (like this show has no form of element of surprise), Juste Belmont randomly revealed (he says he’s been watching him..but we didn’t get a silhouette in earlier episodes💀), olrox and mizrak’s random situationship..(like you slept with him once why do you care if he lives or not💀), and the fact that Erzsebet achieved her goal so easily…there wasn’t even a fight 😭.
They really dropped the ball adapting Rondo of Blood. It could have been a cool hunt for evil kidnappers and cult members. This was pretty meh
My disdain for overfetishization of African and Mesoamerican cultures is that, they NEVER do stories in those settings prior to the arrival of Europeans, as if the only moment they're "proud of their roots" is when there's a white guy in the story that can be blamed for all the bad things that happen in it. They won't dare make a story with a purely black or indigenous cast precolony, otherwise their villains will also be non-white, and they won't have foreigners to blame for the heinous acts they commit. Compare that to the mainstream reach we see in stories set in ancient Japan or China, they do fantasize about living in that setting, not about feeling like victims.
if they did they would have had to show how the africans were no better than the europeans and the black slavery we want break the false idea that Africa was a revolutionary paradise
The Nubian Dynasty in particular was brutal with a colour code hierarchy, those with lighter skin were considered lesser. They even had white slaves bought from the Romans. Because it was thousands of years ago people pretend it never happened.
@@durrangodsgrief6503 And that would be very interesting to watch. I'd love to see something about the Kindom of Dahomey, for exemple
This take is so ass. Lmfao i know you're white simply from you saying that "They" are choosing stories where "they cant blame foreigners/white people" Except the writer on this show is white, so again your problem is still with white people here.
@@IrishNigerianAnyone who took history class in 8the grade knows other cultures had slaves, except none of those other slave trades or what happened around still have the resounding effects that the African slave trade did. We still have current political frameworks based off of American slavery and how it exists today via the Carreras system. Some white people getting whipped 1200 years ago isn't affecting any social structure or hierarchy in modern days.
The first episode with Olrox battle was great and of course the final episode. With vampire being around everywhere timelines for real actual events would have probably have never happened or maybe different with this french revolution going on. Maybe the second will season will be better.
Im still working my way through Nocturne but i immediately felt like the voices felt weirdly poorly recorded? Like they all sound like they're mumbling 😅 and why is literally everyone including the monsters BEAUTIFUL? 😂
maybe you need a new tv or to clean wax out of your ears?
@@foodini666 real nice dude.. 🙄 grow up
Savage
Dang
I don't mind flashbacks as long as they work. But too many can draw people away from the MC. I don't need to learn about everyone in the story. Just focus on the important characters and give me a lot of action scenes.
I really like these videos where you rant about things you didn´t like. The tone of your voice, the facial expressions 😄 And I get the feeling when you WANTED it to be good and then it just wasn´t. For me, it was an easy, fun watch. I thought last season was too much and Nocturne is a bit toned down compared to that. And yes, the final scene, that face could save anything!
I still can’t believe this show has a 100% fresh rating. Critics afraid of saying anything negative or bribed 🤔
Not bribed they are paid a monthly salary with benefits and everything
The true rating is the audience one
@@IrishNigerian Not when you have concerted compains of anti-wokers and racists and homophobes review bombing it, often without even watching it. Not when people are complaining about what's not in the show rather than actually reviewing the show itself. Review bombing is nothing new and we all know by now when a show has been the target of it. The true rating, as you call it, is views. Viewing numbers can't be faked and Nocturne was a global top 10 hit.
Another complaint to add is there is no sense of humor, there are no jokes. I remember series one of Castlevania had the dark and brooding thing down pat but also had jokes, humor, even Dracula made jokes. Nocturne didn't make me laugh once, it made me sigh alot but there was no mirth. Nothing it was just oppressively tragic, and boring.
well, original castelvania was not a funny game, so i like the seriousnes here, i hated the last castlevania series idiotic and forced huor.
You hit the nail on the head that cliffhanger ENDING is making me come back to see why!? it turned out like that.
because there is many reason for seing the end of this
@@MarcosSSRN 🤔🤔🤔 Reasons. No, not for me. I can't stand 90% of the characters. The 10% go to Orlock. But Alucard is from really magnificent grand ark.. so I am wondering what is he doing here.
I liked it, it was fun. I don’t get the hatred for characters who are just evil, I personally don’t always need some tragic backstory because some real life people are just evil. I get Báthory’s motivation, makes perfect sense for a vampire. I also liked the backstories of the characters but I agree they didn’t seem to have much growth afterwards. Olrox was really interesting to me, I’m intrigued to find out more about him.
Totally agree, don't understand the villain hate. Olrox is clearly complex in his motivation, and something to be unraveled. Main bad guy is the "light devourer", that doesn't need to be that complex.
There's a huge difference between a villain not having a tragic backstory and a villain having little to no backstory and no motivation beyond "be evil". The villains in Nocturne are just going through the motion, there's really nothing interesting about them. Bathory is just evil and nothing more, there's literally nothing else to her. We don't know why or how she drank Sekhmet's blood, how she managed to convince so many vampires to basically worship her, why she cares about making the sun disappear forever... She's literally just there for there to be an issue.
And no, absolutely no one in real life is like that, just evil without explanation (explanation isn't excuse) and nothing else.
@@catIing it's not real life, fictional villains can just be evil. Have you thought that maybe the sekhmet stuff is material for upcoming seasons? It's 8 25 minute episodes, you're not going to get everyone's life story.
@@jaimecardona92 Sure they can, and it's boring. Characters can be pure evil and still have something more to them than "I'm evil because". I don't need every single villain's backstory within the first 2 episodes, but some sort of crumb would really help make them feel less like cardboard cutouts for the protagonists to be worried about.
Also, I very much doubt that we're gonna get anything about that pink-haired vampire woman, considering the final scene, which is a shame since they bothered to give her a cool design and a fair amount of screen time.
"There's gonna be a season 2" really can't be the excuse for everything they didn't bother to even suggest lol.
@@catIing “She’s evil and nothing more” Lol ok a vampire with the powers of a goddess who can blot out the sun has nothing more to them, sure ok. The villain doesn’t need to have their entire background explained straight away. “Absolutely no one is like that in real life”, ok just look at real people in history and psychopaths. Just look at the real woman’s life, she was pure evil. It’s not like the original was that compelling either, Dracula has a tantrum and gets put down by his son. Then you just have Alucard being emo in his castle and vampires squabbling. Not everything has to be super deep, some things can just be fun.
My main complaints had to do with inaccuracies to the game. They stole a lot from Bloodlines and Alicard never fought with Ricter. I hated that final seen. It felt like how Fox felt the need to throw Wolverine into every possible situation just because he's popular. I guess you have to play Rondo and SotN to understand.
Either way, although I disagree about the final scene being a good thing, this was still a good review.
I completely agree, I was SO disappointed.
I think it's completely fair to compare Nocturne to the OG, the wonder, the masterpiece - considering it's literally a sort of sequel and 100% would not have been such an anticipated release if it hadn't been for the first Castlevania series.
But the comparison definitely doesn't help lol. Nocturne is so juvenile and shallow in every possible way, from the characters to the plot, the setting, the dialogue, the ideas, the fight scenes even. Everything that might have been interesting has already happened by the time Nocturne starts, so in the end what the protagonists actually do throughout the season is... very little. They don't even really interact with each other beyond telling their tragic backstories.
Anyway. The only two saving graces for me were that last scene and Olrox, but even Olrox was more of a "might become interesting down the line" situation. I'll watch the second season, but I very much doubt we're getting a repeat of the first Castlevania series when it comes to quality.
This is why I think a lot of this show is going over some people's heads. The interesting thing about the Abbot is that he is conflicted. His motivations weren't at cross purposes at all - he always thinks he is working for God ultimately and doing the right thing. But he's had to get in league with the vampires to arrive at a greater good. This nuance is what is fascinating about him as a character. Olrox and Mizrak having sex (and let's be real, it's much more than that) isn't 'sped past like it wasn't something momentous' - that is the whole undercurrent and tension of their situation. Olrox is totally self serving but vacillates between sides spending on what is strategic for him to get what he wants. Mizrak's faith is tested by his encounters with Olrox but rather be able to tell himself it is a moment of weakness with a soulless animal, Olrox challenges him intellectually and morally, presenting him with a far more horrifying (given the context of Mizrak's faith and vocation as a warrior monk) element of humanity within the vampire. Etc. This show is full of nuance and layers and moral complexity. Seems to be wasted on a lot of viewers. Thankfully not wasted on most viewers though.
@@er9779 I mean, good for you if you didn't find it rushed, shallow and half-assed? Not sure why you felt the need to be condescending about it though.
@@catIing You called it 'juvenile and shallow in every possible way'. I'm sorry that trying to show you what was there that you missed came across as condescending.
@@er9779 Yeah, I called the show that. I didn't imply anything about the people who liked it.
@@catIing I'm not purposefully trying to imply anything about you in general or overall. But if you watched all this nuance and complexity and came away with 'juvenile and shallow in every possible way' then, yeah, there's a lot here you didn't engage with. Don't mean to be condescending any more than you meant to be condescending with your comments.
I thought it was painful to watch for 95% of the entire show untill that last moment, that's a indicator that the show can't stand on its own. It's like putting a character you love in a bad show, he's not going to fix the show , when the show itself is a horrible failure without personality. The animations were very good, I think that's why people who'd otherwise think the show was ''meh'' liked it anyway. Nearly every conversation ended up in a fight. Because every single conversation was shallow and poorly written. They try to distract people from how bad their writing was. If Castlevania would be a solid 8.5/10 , Nocturne is like a 4/10 at best.
agreed
So what did you think was going on in the conversations between Olrox and Mizrak?
you have crap taste lol
I agree on all levels. My biggest problem that they did not communicate with each other and no unity in the fight scenes. Each characters battles never played off each other. Alucard and Trevor fights worked in harmony together defeat the vampires. Also Maria has a British accent and why is one of vampires a succubus. Does Netflix not know basic monster mythology. Whole plot is a convoluted whiny attempt at creating emotional historical fiction that dragged.
The only problem with this show is that is getting a season 2 😂
Season 2 is going to be lot worse
Cause netflix being netflix
7:20 Not really. Villains who are evil for the sake of evil are becoming more and more popular nowadays as the tragic backstory villain has been done to death.
Right. I like more complex vilains, but it's sometimes refreshing to see them mixed up with unapologetically evil antagonists
@@tartoflan Heck, the idea of a villain being evil just because can be downright terrifying if done correctly. Like the antagonist of the game Persona 4. Why did they start to kill people? Because they where bored. No deep philosophical speech, just a person bored out of there mind in search of any kind of stimuli.
Mmmm, I think there's a thin line between "i'm evil because of tragic back story and I'm good deep inside" and "i'm evil just for the sakes of it". I do think there are people who are indeed just evil for the sake of it, but you have to give them some motivation, or a motivation that shows. Also, I think complex characters with sad back stories can be perfect villains without falling into the "i'm good inside". Best example I can think of is Doflamingo villain from One Piece. He does have a sad backstory, and I think he could have been "saved" when he was a child. I also don't think he's a complete monster that feels nothing, we see him having nightmares and feeling in distress, even if you would miss it if you blink. However, as things are now, he's just iredeemable evil, pure madness and chaos, and there's no friggin way he's turning back to the right path. And it is not that he's gone crazy, well, crazy has many definitions, I guess, but he's 100% aware of what he's doing, and he 100% knows what he's doing is bad, he just doesn't give a fuck, or worse, he actually believe he's right by doing so, not because he has some ulterior motive, but jsut because he deserves to do whatever he wants, his god complex sky rocketing. In fact, he's so fucked up that, along his god complex, he has developed a gigantic victim complex and always justifies himself with "i was a victim, no body suffered more than I did, so I deserve better than everybody else", and that's it. He does have a sad backstory, and he did turned evil because of it, but because it is the villain himself that keeps using his backstory as a justification for his actions, you as a viewer do not feel more sympathy for him, but actually see him as the narcissist, manipulative bastard he really has become. And don't get me wrong, people love him, but not because he is good, but because he is bad, really bad. You can sympathise with his character to a certain extent, and even feel sad for his child self, but not for the adult one, in any possible way. He wasn't born pure evil, but he's become pure evil, almost not an inch of goodness in him, and the little good feelings he does show, are so twisted and toxic due to his complete altered and messed up view of the world and what human relationship are like, that that "goodness" comes out as offputing, making his entire character far more scary than sad.
@@GuciomNow You are wrong, the difference here is, The funny cabbage man is actually a deep character, he has deepnes, we see his backstory to see why he acted like that, yes is because he was bored but we got a reason He acted like that because he had a shitty life, even there is a song that talks about the lack of light and love he has because he thinked that having Friends is just a Waste of time that killing himself getting Good grades will garante a Good life, and he got sended into a shitty place like inaba and on his Mental Inestabilty he discovers that he has powers and lets be real, who being on the lowest moment of their life having the power to do whatever they wanted will not do crazy stuff? He is actually a good written character he has reasons of why he is evil
Meanwhile erzebeth is just poorwritting whe dont have any backstory of why she is evil we dont see her ambitions her mentality
And there is other villains that are evil because of the sake of being evil like the villain of the puss in boots 2, he had a good life and has no reasons to be evil but we can see the reason he is a megalomaniac psycho he wanted more and more power meanwhil erzebeth well we just know that she wanted to be the queen of vampires but we dont have a why she wants that
There is always going to be a why in villains and their acts
Elliot should have watched Vox Machina instead XD
That series is great!
I mean the first Castlevania also took a while to ramp up and become good because in the first season especially it was like Dracula mad because wife died, it wasn't particularly deep or introspective. Also, funnily, basically everyone we were following wasn't from France despite it being set in the French Revolution. I don't think Richter was flippant and cocky it's just funny how differently we saw this show. 🤣 But my main argument would be that the first season or 2 of Castlevania in isolation weren't that deep either and this was only 8 episodes so it could still get to things that you like more.
I agree with this. I found the first Castlevania to be so boring and disappointing until we reached the final season. 😂
The only good thing about Nocturne was the last 2 minutes of the last episode.
Interesting points and the conclusion makes sense.
The one I hated the most was that they gave Richter a fully unprompted, undeserved powerup out of nowhere. He needed it - so he just GOT it after running away crying. I suppose he just didn't love his family enough before now lol.
That last scene felt great for a second - then you realize that this surprise will be executed by the same utterly incompetent writing team and the dread sets in.
Thank you! I agree with all of this. I loved the original so I was extremely excited for this and extremely disappointed. The accents drove me insane. The use of the French Revolution felt so wasted. The dialogue was terrible. The character motivations were non-existent. The designs were so inconsistent. None of the big moments felt earned. It was all so frustrating. And I'm deeply conflicted about the final moment because I'm afraid it will not be utilized well at all in the next season. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who was disappointed.
The show was trash 🗑️ 🤷🏻♂️.
Annette knew more about vampire/night creature lore than a literally Belmont and a Speaker (Tera) and she’s only ever dealt with Vampires and has only been free for 6 months.
We spent so much time on everyone else’s back story EXCEPT for Belmont’s. We didn’t connect the last Castlevania to this one. We didn’t show Richter’s growth or him making it to France. It’s like he wasn’t the MC.
They crammed way to much in. Drolta could of been the big bad for this season with her boss looming in the background.
Richter being a crybaby and just magically getting his powers was also trash.
Juste being downgraded to a magic-less nobody was insulting.
The forced “feelings” between Annette and Richter is cringe. In RoB they are together (plus they have children later) which is why they are forcing it now. But they did a horrible job building any sense of feelings between these two.
The list just doesn’t end.
Cry a river 😂
Annette’s black washing apparently makes her a superior being, I’m getting sick of the black character stereotypes.
@@IrishNigerian no but being a descendant of a God does
@@IrishNigerian That wasn't in the show, you've made that up on your own.
@@er9779 You need to take those woke glasses off 🤣
I overall felt conflicted about it. I knew we were getting different writers, but I wasn't expecting such awful writing either.
As you put it, I just wish we had more of the same quality, just a different story. I'm hopeful for Season 2, but I'm also not going to go into it as hungry as I was, going into Season 1.
In some ways, I hope this is a case of "season 1 bad, but rest of the seasons are good" kind of situation. Maybe if there is some sort of time-skip or development with them aging, getting a little more wiser/powerful as their personalities change, maybe it'll help with the dialogue issue? Buuuuuut I dunno. I think this was just approached all wrong from the start. Maybe someone brave enough will make a "What if Nocturne was more like this?" fanfiction.
I think I'm just gonna rewatch the OG Castlevania... while I know it deviates a bit still from the games, it is still one of the best shows writing-wise for me. It wasn't perfect, but close to it (for me at least!). As for the faults it had, I like to give a pass for because I think everyone's creativity/quality suffered during COVID.
Said the same thing, apparently Creole isn't French.
@quilerynmaegis
Im currently working on a rewrite right now. One that sticks to the original game and lore the closest but still keeping it in the revolutionary france setting
@@carlbennethvallejo1553 I'd be more than happy to read it once it's been published!
@@Quileryn
I've already written 8 chapters in Wattpad as of late, but I intend to change some of the dialogue. Basically the gist of the rewrite is that:
- Richter, Maria, Annette, and Tera are more in line with how they appeared in DxC. Annette and Maria are sisters much like the Dracula X port of the OG Rondo.
- Netflix Annette is now an original character by the name of Layla for I found her character promising but her execution terrible
- Édouard isn't cannon fodder and lives beyond the Chateau fight; Vaublanc is a more menacing villain here and has a more personal connection to Layla
- Shaft replaces Emmanuel as the villainous Abbot
- I excluded Mizrak and Olrox from the rewrite; I felt the rewrite should focus on the heroes more than the side characters
- Also excluded Erzebeth and Drolta; they are the main villains of Castlevania Bloodlines after all which takes place in WW1
- Devil Forgemastery is more faithful with how it works in Curse of Darkness as a result of the 300 year gap
- Added an original character named Sebastian Lecarde, who adopts most of Nocturne Maria's personality and revolutionary ideals and is basically the loose cannon of the group
- the new main antagonist is a direct result of the ending of the original Castlevania Netflix series and has more personal ties with the Belmont Clan, particular Juste; his right hand demoness Sabrina le Fay is responsible for the murder of Richter's mother and family
- As the story is set in Revolutionary France, I intend to make good use of the setting. The town that heroes live on is on the verge of collapse and ruin
- Juste Belmont is a wise and seasoned hunter in the rewrite; he is now known as the most powerful magician of the era and often visits to train Richter
- Richter's mother is renamed as Sonia Belmont
@carlbennethvallejo1553 That all sounds awesome! Sounds like a lot of love went into this. Let me know when you're done or what you plan on naming it and I'll go read it once it's up! :)
7:11 “Nobody likes an character who is evil because they are”
Jack Horner fans disagree
I thought Nocturne did a good job in the sense of introducing and killing characters. Richter and Juste seemed interesting. The Vampire Messiah is powerful. Alucard showing up at the end of season 1 was a cool call back. Have Olrox and Alucard met?
Damn I really loved this season even more than the rather dissapointing s3 and S4 but I get it this show is a different appeal compared to it's predecessor.
Simply put I think Castlevania is more approachable cause it's more action and fantasy oriented whereas Nocturne is a more political and character focused slow burn. Definitely a difference of taste I believe
s3 and 4 disappointing ?!
@@KongFuzii honestly yeah. It's still a well made season but I got issues with it. Isaac and Camilla storylines felt so disconnected with the main plot and needed to be more intergrated. Whole Death reveal felt anticlimactic and the creative decision to make him a potty mouthed geezer was more silly than intimidating. Imagine if sauron the ultimate evil had dialogue equivalent to a Gordan Ramsay hells kitchen manuscript. And the final fight with Trevor and death felt way too anime and broke the verisimilitude threshold of reserved fantasy that previous seasons set up. This came off a lot more rantish than I anticipated but really it's just me listing out reasons why it felt dissapointing and why I think Nocturne is a step in the right direction.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. A lot of what this show boasts appears to have gone over a lot of people's heads and then they complain that it's bad. Luckily, a lot more people loved it. Rock on season 2!
Slow burn? What part of Nocturne is Slow? Character development gets bumrushed to squish as much as possible into a season that has too many characters all with their own arcs and no time to really develop or elaborate on most, let alone all of them. The political games are basically a few sentences one episode followed by the resolution in the next episode. Slow is just not the word to use here.
Y’all do know Haiti was fighting against slavery during that time that’s what black people doin there
Wife and I gave up after episode 4. The writing was pretty bad and nothing about the characters or story sucked us in enough to keep going.
Honestly, I think evil for evil characters can be written well. Joker and Junko are 2 characters that I love, and many other people love, that are pure evil.
Also Micheal Myers and Dio.
For the antagonist design- I thought they were trying to cash in on the Lady Dimitrescu phenomena with Erszebet honestly xD (tall vampire lady, similar personality)
Haven't watch the previous Castlevania series, but i really enjoyed nocturne. It was an easy binge, finished the season in one sitting. I feel like all the character development you're looking for is what the next seasons will be for.
I really like BOTH series…and I grew up real-time with the release of the video games…all of which I felt were a tad overrated (outside of “Sinon’s Quest”). I really think that your review of this series is totally off-base, and once again it just seems like certain people just hate the idea of ever having to try & relate to diverse characters, which is frustrating.
I think it was alright. I didn't love it or hate it but I really did enjoy the design of the villain tho. I have to admit that the villains here are definitely not as good as (not even close) the villains in the OG series and the protagonists also are not as likable as Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard.
nothing was to the same standards as the original series. man the villains in nocturne were no where close to someone like Dracula. Only character i liked was Olrox.
0:00 Did the people from the og Castlevania show have wallachian accents? Most of them didn't as far as I remember.
I feel like a lot of people also expect the ammount of character development from this 1 season like the og series gave us in it's 4 seasons. But if I compare this season with the 1st season of Castlevania, especially as a setup for future stories, then I think this 1st season of Castlevania: Nocturne gave us equally as much if not more than the 1st season of Castlevania. I agree that this season has flaws but some people that I have seen treat this 1st season of Nocturne as the worst thing created in the history of the universe which I think is absolutely crazy, as if they are mad about sth else in (also in irl maybe) and pour all of that negativity into this show for some reason.
I agree, the show was a snoozer 😴
Resilient. Annette, yeah I think she is pretty resilient she survived slavery.
I disagree on simple villain. I like it sometimes when the villain id just an effective evil bastard.
What I personally think as a fan of the Castlevania games is that the story for this show never had to be good, just functional. There is no denying that the animation, fight choreography and audio were stupendous, but the story actually brings all of the great things about the show down.
Plus, some character design choices I think were awful, especially Annette. Imagine basically being a more powerful version of an Earth/Metal Bender from the Avatar series, and all you do is make swords. They didn’t have to give her god powers for that, just give her some damn swords instead.
Or… ya know… actually explore the fucking concept? (I also have a laundry list of issues with her as a character, and I’m only finding more reasons as time goes on)
Though, I would personally vouch to keeping the protagonists to just Richter, Maria and Tera. The two characters that actually mattered got less screen time than a character that just wound up being terrible anyway, which just brought all of them down.
And with Alucard on the way, holy fuck do not juggle 5+ main characters in season 2 PLEASE. I have low expectations for S2 if they think they can pull this bullshit and have the story work.
yeah they did nothing with the France setting and some accents felt out of place
I really don't like reviews like this, in which the reviewer talks and talks but you still don't understand why they liked or didn't like something. This person does a lot of talking but doesn't really say anything, and the entire video could just be summarized with "I didn't like it".
I personally liked the season overall and I’m pretty simple when it comes to shows and totally respect your opinion and do agree some dialogue could have been better but I don’t think it was a huge disappointment.
I appreciate that we have people who scrutinize entertainment like TV shows, but I'm glad to not be one of them. Hard to enjoy a show when constantly distracted by whatever expectations you set.
Started to go this route when I worked in broadcasting. I wanted to pick everything apart, every show every, piece of media.
Now I just sit down and watch the damn show. Focus not on whether is missing or present or done to .
Now, it either brings me in and I watch more or not.
About Castlevania Nocturne, I don't think the show is done yet. Was just the first season with a cliffhanger. It did its job because I want to see what happens next.
Really pathetic why people hate The new Castlevania I haven't see yet am to busy watching others shows
Maybe you should watch it and find out 😂
You just got an entire video with reasons and still think it’s pathetic? You haven’t seen it yet but you judge people for their opinion? Watch it and form your own then?
I already see it last month it was Good but tell me what wrong with The Series Then Hmm 😒
@@whiteboynintendops5gamer1991 from title this show has nothing to do with Castelvania. it just borrow their name
Season 2 is coming soon I'm watching it
what good is a good last scene if ppl get so bored and annoyed that they stop watching by the 1st or 2nd episode? lmao
I agree with everything but the accent things. It's not like we got romanian anccents in og Castlevania. Also, with accents you ought to be careful, because if not done correctly, it can sound almost like mockery. Accents are overrated, it's not bad to incorporate them, but it is not necessary either. At the end of the day, they wouldn't be speaking English with a French accent, they would be speaking French, period.
The only thing I liked about the anime was the ending when you know who shows up :)
is one last good scene really worth sinking hours into a series? nah lol i love your honesty though, much appreciated!
It's not as good as Castlevania but it was still a great season!😤
I wonder if the writing is bad because of the writers strike
Strike started when the show was probably already done
The writing isn't bad so, no.
I like the show but the previous castlevania orginal is better
you know a show suxx when its praised by people who never even seen the source
Dude nice book collection. Sorry, that kinda took me by surprise. xD
Oh damn, and on Castlevania the story and characters are based in Transylvania (Rumania), but nobody has a Rumanian accent there lol. (Suddenly now we realized there is an accent missing lol). Also I love how we are comparing a full 4 season serie with one is just starting… Talking about the characters, comparing again teenagers with adults… expecting the same lol. Just comparing Trevor (Literally the last survivor of his clan, hated by the church and society, and blamed for the calamities) with Richter (with traumas of course, but at least he always got some support somehow in his life, he’d never be alone). Then Annette, we expect a joyful positive character from a teenage black slave survivor with “brand new freedom” lol
I don't know why you think that has to do with adults vs teenagers. As far as I'm concerned the characters just didn't feel really fleshed out. Nobody is asking Richter to be the same character as Trevor.
The problem was that they rushed the pace in this series. Regardless of my opinions of the first Netflix Series, they did a better job introducing characters in the first season, and paced it better in that respect
It is so much worse than the first. They are trying to appeal to younger viewers, but the way it was delivered was so predictable
Huge disappointment
nah the whole thing was a huge disappointment honestly
Nothing in nocturne makes sense because they didn't adapt the game like they did with the original show. Theres literally nothing from the games apart from richter and juste.
I agree
Are you actually trolling?
I understand this is your opinion, and that's okay. But we literally have an American in a different place. A Native American, German and possibly only 2 actual people from Paris, What accent are you looking for?
When you said you don't know how a French person sounds. You don't because you saw one you saw plenthe character who was speaking a language? You probably didn't understand that's Creole, that's basically broken French, it's spoken throughout the series.
The attention to detail about why they're using the setting. You gotta entire episode about it, but you just saw it as someone's back story and not a part of their character and the setting. How does one over you in your husband's head is between yall.
Finally, the European like accents you heard in the original are all over the place. There, European, but they're not based on the location whatsoever.
Does Dracula sound the same way any of the belmonts? No
Do you even know where Hector is from?
People generate to different places. You heard a little bit of something and it was nice. That doesn't mean it's going to be the definite definition of everything else.
The fact that you mention this multiple times I'm very sorry for you.
Argh, sorry this one is a disappointment to you! It's not amazing, but I personally think the first season of Nocturne is vastly better than the first Castlevania, which in my opinion, did not turn engaging or interesting until the final season. No idea how I managed to actually reach the final season, but I'm glad I did. And here's hoping the next seasons of Nocturne will be better!
That's crazy. Humbles me to never forget that subjectivity is both unexpecting and expected. I follow your book reviews and came to realize I share most of your rankings on stuff. To me the entire 4 seasons of Castlevania were a masterpiece. The dialogues, the animations, the voice acting, the narrative, the characters, the pace. Don't think I would change a single thing.
First season castlevania was like 10 times better than Nocturne. Just the characters introduction was far better than whatever this was (only Ritcher got a nice introduction). It also took its time to present the situation, without being overly slow nor rashing things out. The pacing of Nocturne is terrible. The first two season of Castlevania were also better than the next two, and way more appealing, though the 3rd and 4th seasons were not bad either. I know opinions are subjective, but I can't understand how anyone could find Nocturne first season better than og Castlevania first season, it is just mindblowing to me, because in mhy opinion not only is Castlevania better, but FAR better. To have people thinking the other way around is shocking to say the least. Also, I got a feeling the ony reason some poeple may find Nocturne more attractive from the get go is that they already know Castlevania, so they're already hyped about it. That's it. But the pacing and introduction of the characters (and Anette and Maria characters) are just terrible writing.
In the end of the day this was another classic Netflix series. The male protagonist in second place, the real protagonist is an all-powerful black slave woman that no one cares about (precisely the only character that doesn't belong to the original canon of the games). Clearly no one understood what made the original series so great.
🔥🔥🔥
I liked Nocturne but the quality definitely is nowhere near as good as the first series. Warren Ellis impact on the franchise is truly missed.
The only things i like in this series its erezbet,and we see her backstory next season,
they try to hard make people like anett
the original series was the best so far bas on story, character and animation
nocturne was meh..... to much woke agenda
Man the discourse around this show is so cringe, the show was great. The animation was so damn good, and the story was fine as a first season. The first season of Castlevania wasn't even all that great, let it cook.
Too much useless blabbering for saying " I don't like this show"
The show is shallow and the writing is bad.
i thought it was great. maybe you just have horrible taste.
buah buah cry me a river. this series was good not excelent no, bad only Good.
hope they see the validad criticism anf getter better in the next season
I'm happy to see you validating my assumption on this show. I'd heard rumblings that it was going to be bad, so I'm glad you saved me the trouble! The previous series was amazing though.-- On the 'no flashback' advice-- that's no different than someone saying you should always show and not tell. Sometimes, it's really effective to use what others say you shouldn't. 🫠