Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys, we’re reaching the end of another successful Aniween, and I can think of no other way to cap off this year’s Aniween than by taking a look at Castlevania S2. Man, was this a series I wanted to review last year. Unfortunately, it started airing way too late for me to do anything with it. An original Netflix series, the first season of Castlevania earned a well-deserved amount of praise. It took one of the best series on the NES and did the impossible, a videogame cartoon that didn’t suck. It was a faithful adaption of the games that added their own lore to the series, but still paid respect to the games and what they meant to everyone. After the first season, it was announced that the second season would be coming in 2018 and near the end of October we got to watch the conclusion of the series. What a great night to review. This is Castlevania S2.
Episodes 1-4
The season starts off with Lisa where we see how the bishop (asshole) accused her of witchcraft and arrested her (not knowing that he had made a powerful enemy in the process). We return to the present with Dracula assembling his war council composed of vampire overlords from across the world and two humans named Hector and Isaac who are alchemists and necromancers who hate humanity just as much as Dracula (the original goths) and thus he puts them in charge of his war on humanity which upsets a vampire overlord named Godbrand who doesn’t trust them and believes they should rely on their own kind in this war (scene here: https://youtu.be/NF7ILhVEN6U). We then return to Gresit which survived the night and we see the town is slowly rebuilding itself. Trevor and Sypha see off the other Speakers who are going to another town to help the people and Sypha turns to Trevor for support and encouragement (you turned to the wrong guy, lady) and Alucard re-confirms his decision to kill his father (scene here: https://youtu.be/N1DvLM8URW0). Back at Dracula’s castle, Godbrand apologizes to Hector about his outburst earlier but still believes that their war should be fought with strategy instead of wanton destruction (the Viking vampire is talking sense. Let that sink in for a minute). While Hector understands his point, he says Dracula doesn’t care about strategy or the suffering of the humans, he just wants to see them all dead (and even than that won’t fill the hole in his heart). The episode wraps up with Dracula moving the castle to a new location.
So, in episode 2 the first thing the Belmont Experience (yeah, I’m sticking with the name. We had a group meeting and couldn’t come up with anything better) has to do is find Dracula’s castle and since the castle can move anywhere it wants it’ll be difficult to find and even if they do find it there’s still the question of how will they defeat Dracula (game genie. It worked in the game it should work in the show). Trevor suggests they visit the Belmont hold which contains information on the creatures of the night as well as a possible way to defeat Dracula (scene here: https://youtu.be/Q29sINRPXC0, the birth of a good friendship). They leave Gresit and head out into the land where Alucard tells them about his mother and we get the first of many great fight scenes in this series (scene here: https://youtu.be/IlN2an0QCAw). At Dracula’s castle a new vampire named Carmilla shows up where she makes her presence known by asking the one question everyone’s been too afraid to ask, why didn’t Dracula turn Lisa into a vampire (because Twilight ruined it for us). You’ll quickly see that the war council is pretty disorganized and at each other’s throats as they argue about everything and only until Isaac reveals that Alucard is traveling with a Belmont do they realize how serious things are getting (and how they need to get their shit together before they all die, https://youtu.be/UYKKQn3WXh0). During the episode, we also see Issac’s past into how he was the slave of a priest who he loved and secretly took books from in order to learn and help the priest. The priest of course whipped him for his actions (whip him till his name’s Tobi) and Isaac finally fought back and killed the priest by gouging out his eyes. As for Hector’s past, he came from a shitty family. His mother thought of him as a curse and his father only taught him to use his powers to make money instead of help others (parents of the year).
Episode 3 starts off with Hector and Carmilla. Carmilla convinces Hector to do the logical thing and send troops to the Belmont hold. We also see Hector’s past into how he came into the service of Dracula. After Lisa’s death, Dracula sought out Hector in the hopes of raising an army of the dead to service him. Hector agrees to join Dracula’s cause on the condition that Dracula give humans a humane cull instead of a merciless genocide (apparently, Dracula didn’t listen as this has been nothing short of genocide). Back with the Belmont Experience they make finally reach the Belmont mansion (it’s seen better days) where they manage to find the entrance to the Belmont hold quite easily (scene here: https://youtu.be/LixgbNr68NU). As they enter the hold I have to admit I love Trevor’s performance here. This is the first time where Trevor is completely serious. He’s not making any cynical remarks here or even back talking Sypha and Alucard’s remarks, he is all serious here and taking in everything that his family and ancestors have done. This is Trevor realizing that this hold is what’s left of his family’s legacy and him coming to terms with the weight of his family name and responsibility. As they explore the hold, Trevor finds a treasure chest in the wall (doesn’t get more Castlevania than that) and opens it where he finds Morning Star the sacred weapon of his family (scene here: https://youtu.be/2tLKU4VBRQU). Back at Dracula’s castle, Godbrand (the only one there aside Dracula with a personality) raises his concerns to Dracula about their food supply and Dracula has to put him in his place (scene here: https://youtu.be/d9gJKiAoy4o). After that intense moment (haven’t been that scared shitless since Red Death from the Venture Bros. went full Liam Neeson on us) Godbrand realizes that Dracula has seriously lost it and realizes that this isn’t a war, it’s a suicide note. Dracula wants to die, he’s lost the only thing he loves in this world and is now set to die. The only problem is he’s taking everyone down with him and Carmilla has no intention of dying by an old fool.
In episode 4, we start off with a dream sequence courtesy of Godbrand (scene here: https://youtu.be/BsqpyNaCpFs). Godbrand starts to see that Carmilla was right about Dracula and he and the other generals go out to a local village to quench their thirst for human blood. Carmilla on the other hand manages to get Hector on to her side and Dracula can sense a mutiny rising within his castle with the only person remaining loyal to him being Isaac (of course the black man is the loyalist. We’re always loyal). Back with the Belmont Experience, the shipping between Trevor and Sypha is in full swing this episode (scenes here: https://youtu.be/b9jeqmf4rO8 and https://youtu.be/JFBzKlbbnY0). In the final moments of the episode Godbrand talks to Isaac about taking down Dracula and he in turn gets killed by Isaac (take that Blade. Isaac was doing it long before you).
Episodes 5-8
Nothing much really happens in episode 5. Carmilla wants to attack Braila where her plan is to let her troops in the castle and kill Dracula. Isaac pretends to be on board with Hector and Carmilla’s plan but in truth he’s still loyal to Dracula and tells him everything where Dracula allows them to do what they want but at the same time prepared for whatever may come. Sypha manages to complete an unfinished locking spell that can be used to trap the castle in one place and the hold begins to shake as Hector’s creatures of the night have arrived (took them long enough).
The action arrives in episode 6 as Trevor goes to fight off the horde of demons by himself while Sypha and Alucard locate Dracula’s castle which has just arrived in Braila. The army of the war council tries to cross the bridge in order to reach the city but waiting for them on the other side is Carmilla’s army who destroy the bridge and has the army fall into the water which was blessed by that asshole of a bishop from season 1 (scene here: https://youtu.be/nqCEUWvKAfg). Carmilla’s army soon makes makeshift ladders and invades Dracula’s castle where a fight breaks out between her army and the council’s army. As Trevor continues to fight off the demons and beat them all one by one until there’s none left, Sypha and Alucard manage to find the castle and Sypha manages to use her magic to teleport it into the water where it floods the castle killing a good chunk of both armies and then she teleports the castle to the remains of the Belmont mansion with Carmilla giving us possibly the best reaction in this series (scene here: https://youtu.be/PGBsWGQ1HJ4?t=91).
The incredible action continues in episode 7 as the moon turns red and our heroes are about to enter the castle (oh yeah, this is Castlevania). They enter the castle where both sides form an alliance and attack them (that’s right, the presence of these three made such an impact in this civil war that both sides realized that if any of them were going to survive they would have to take down these three immediately) where we get some of the best fighting in the show as we see how coordinated and in sync these guys are with each other (and look, the music is even a rendition of Bloody Tears. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/Q_EOHqTwl5s and https://youtu.be/sEDSL_mOdlg). While the Belmont Experience takes care of the demons, Isaac and Dracula retreat to the study where Dracula in a moment of sanity and humanity teleports Isaac to safety (Isaac did so much for him, he can’t sacrifice his life in this suicide note). They all reach Dracula and the fight begins. At the start of the fight it’s all three of them taking on Dracula but it soon comes down between father and son, both fighting in the memory of the person they both held dear to them (it’s like Luke vs Vader only with more emotional baggage). While Alucard gets his hits in, it’s ultimately Dracula who’s the stronger of the two and takes the advantage until they arrive in Alucard’s old room (clearly he has outgrown the place). It’s here that Dracula finally lets his guard down as he remembers the love he and Lisa poured into making this room for their baby boy. With Dracula’s guard down, Alucard takes a stake and kills his father (scenes here: https://youtu.be/22lIKww32iQ, https://youtu.be/Hi4xPMKByJQ, https://youtu.be/kYDjxV2ST-0, https://youtu.be/j2BMuJyVFQ4, and https://youtu.be/1XH0MAjPVO8).
In the final episode we get the resolution of our remaining characters (and possibly the hint of a third season). We see Isaac fight off some bandits and turn them into demons where he plans to start up his own army for his own goals (he’s doing well for himself). Hector becomes Carmilla’s slave (no shock there) where she plans to force him to make her a new army. As for the Belmont Experience. Alucard shall remain in the castle as it’s protector and keeper of the Belmont hold while Trevor and Sypha plan to travel the world together and fight against the forces of evil (they love each other. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/yyErZ1WlzrE, https://youtu.be/wXH-5udS214 and https://youtu.be/KBacsPBvFu4). In the final moments of the episode we see Alucard alone to finally take in everything that has happen and realize that his parents are both dead (he finally can be human).
Final Thoughts
Amazing. Simply amazing. This season delivers on everything the first season was building up to. While this season focuses more on the villains instead of the heroes I’m actually okay with this because the first season already did a good job establishing who the heroes are and this season built up the friendship they had with each other. We know who Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha are by this point and their banter between each other is both funny and great. I love how Trevor and Alucard have this love hate relationship with each other. They can crack jokes and threaten to kill each other yet laugh it off while Sypha is the mature one of the group able to see that both men never really got a chance to be a child and is very observant at how different they are from each other but how similar they are as well. Alucard also puts on this brave face for everyone when really he’s hurting inside and who can blame him. The man is being forced to kill his own father for the sake of the world. I can’t even imagine the amount of mental stress he’s feeling and at the end they show us just how human he is.
Like I said before the second season focuses more on the villains and establishing their characters. The backstories of Hector and Isaac were good and were two good additions to the series but the best addition by far had to be Godbrand. Out of everyone there he was the one that had the most personality. He is brash, loud, vulgar, and just funny to watch. Why this character died so soon confused me, the rest of the group really had no personality and it’s a shame because they look cool and had some interesting powers. I really wish we had the chance to explore them more. I also like what they did with Dracula here. It would have been easy to just make him a monster who hated humans but instead they made him a tragic character who lost the only woman he ever loved and just wanted to die because of crippling depression.
The animation was very good here and the action scenes are just fantastic. The castle fight and the fight against Dracula was just great as the emotional storytelling between father and son was spot on and just made the fight tragic that this is all happening because of the fears and foolishness of others. The music of course is great as well. Their rendition of Bloody Tears is one of the best remixes I have ever heard. Everything about this series was just great from beginning to end.
Final Score
The final score for Castlevania S2 is a 9/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. This is how you do videogame adaptation correctly. As of now, I’ve heard no word of a third season and I don’t think they’ll be one. Even though there’s room for a third one I think the series ended on a good note and I’m okay with it ending like this. Well guys that wraps up Aniween. Thanks for reading and tune in for the Halloween Special where I’m sure nothing bad will happen. MUHAHAHAHA-
*Cut to the next night where Nitsuj, the AI girls, and the Jack Bros. are in a holding cell at the police station*
(Nitsuj): How did this happen!?
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