‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ (Season 1) Review: Hot Vampires Make a Bloody Mess
It’s been a few years since Castlevania ended on Netflix. With an incredible voice cast, including Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, it would be impossible to match the charming tone of the vampire hunter. The predecessor series follows the adventures of Trevor Belmont, who has a lot on his shoulders due to his family’s legacy as vampire hunters.
Castlevania: Nocturne is set 300 years later and follows his descendant, Richter Belmont (voiced by Edward Bluemel). This series is set during the French Revolution, with aristocratic vampires hunting pheasants for food. Castlevania is a successful animated series with fantasy elements, gory bloodsucking vampires, and sharp animation shots. It only makes sense for the streaming giant to continue with the success of its predecessor and expand the universe with already-established material.
The series begins in 1780s Boston. A young Richter’s mother is murdered by a vampire, Olrox (voiced by Zahn McClarnon). Later, in 1792, Richter is now in a remote town in western France. He lives with Maria (voiced by Pixie Davies) and her mother, Tera (voiced by Nastassja Kinski). Richter has picked up on the vampire-hunting skill.
One night, after Richter, Maria, and Tera kill some monsters, they meet two Haitian Revolutionaries. Annette (voiced by Thuso Mbedu) is a former slave who was in the Haitian Revolution. She possesses magical powers and uses them to hunt vampires. Her friend, Edouard (Sydney James Harcourt), a talented opera singer left the profession to kill the vampires. Annette is on a mission. She is in the small town to crush the French Revolution but realises that the task is easier said than done. Richter bands with a team to bring down the aristocratic vampires allying with the ruling class. They plan to unleash an army of vampires and night creatures under the command of Vampire Messiah, Erzsebet Báthory (voiced by Franka Potente), loosely based on a real Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer.
Castlevania was praised for its unique visual style blended with anime-inspired imagery. It had skilful and beautifully choreographed sword fights, bloody kills, and charming vampires and vampire-hunters alike. Indeed, the first series will never be able to replicate the genius storytelling and stunning visual imagery, but Nocturne showcases its greatest strengths. The complex character and their struggles to resolve their traumas is an aspect explored in the previous series. One of them is the immense pressure of continuing the Belmont family’s dynasty of vampire hunters.
Like Trevor, Richter deals with the trauma of carrying that torch. Also, since childhood, he has been haunted by the death of a loved one. Despite many sword-fighting and vampire-hunting adventures, Richter still finds it hard to overcome the fear. He has nightmares and flashbacks of that night. But the series allows Richter to dig deeper into his internal conflicts by confronting the problem instead of vanishing. He learns to unleash powers and uncover a family relic. Richter becomes unstoppable and far more interesting than he did when the series began.
The series’ star is Annette, who possesses special ancestral powers. Her backstory is treated with care and sensitivity. It is deeply appreciated that the series shows violence against slaves. From escaping from her former enslavers to overthrowing the French colonial rule in Haiti, Annette deals with grief and the aftermath of escaping the vampire-enforced enslavement. It’s not an easy subject matter, but Nocturne explores it with empathy. The series also finds room to condemn the evil colonialist systems, which perfectly ties into the narrative.
Nocturne is a compelling addition to the Castlevania animated series universe. The series is setting up a much bigger plot. Hopefully, Nocturne will exceed their expectations like it did with the previous series. Even if the series focuses less on the vampires and more on humans, the series knows how to drive the story with compelling characters and incredible anime-inspired shots.
Castlevania: Nocturne is currently streaming on Netflix.
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