Castlevania Season 1 Recap: Anime Combining Action With Heart – Comic Years

As one of the best new Anime of the decade, a Castlevania Season 1 recap is the best way to revisit the Netflix original. Castlevania is a series that was a collaborative effort and was very important for Netflix. The series is by famed comic book writer Warren Ellis and produced by indie film producer Adi Shankar. The animation is from one of the biggest up and coming animation studios, Powerhouse Animation.

Castlevania was the perfect storm of creative talent that came together for Netflix. The show was one of the first original Anime that Netflix produced and has quickly become one of its best. Before Castlevania Netflixs Anime lineup wasnt that strong. But the critical reception of Castlevania changed all that. Since the series, Netflix has heavily invested in Powerhouse Animation, with its most recent Seis Manos being another success. Powerhouse Animation is also working on the Kevin Smith He-Man sequel for Netflix as well.

Image via Netflix

The Castlevania Season 1 recap needs some context towards the premise of the show itself. Castlevania was a widely successful Konami platform video game. The story centered around the characters of Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter who entered the castle of the infamous Dracula to defeat him.The game was for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 and featured basic 2D graphics. This simple premise and the basic storyline was wonderfully adapted and expanded upon in the original Netflix Anime series, Castlevania.

The first episode of Season 1 of Castlevania feels very familiar. The series opens with a young human woman in the 1400s in a fictional town of Wallachia, knocking on the doors of a massively mysterious castle. As the doors open, she enters into an equally massive hall. The lone inhabitant of the castle appears as she asks him to teach her of the world and its mysteries through science. The woman wants to learn enough to become a doctor and heal the world. The owner of the castle is none other than Dracula (Graham McTavish) himself, who is skeptical at the womans kind heart. But eventually, they strike a deal.

The tragic villain himself | Image via Netflix

He will teach her all he knows about science, alchemy and about the world from his literally immortal wealth of knowledge; while she will teach him about the current world, its people and the goodness that still exists. Eventually, the two marry.

One year later, the Church burns the same woman at the stake. They accused her of being a witch due to her healing and knowledge of science. Dracula returns from his travels, traveling like a human as the insistence of his wife. He wanted him to be among the people, learning of their plight and gain compassion for them. But when he discovers her death, all the humanity drains from him. Enraged, Dracula forsakes humanity and threatens the citizens of the town, giving them 1 year to get their affairs in order. He vows revenge in 1 year when he will unleash hell upon the world. And then he does.

The story of Castlevaniais told very slowly. Its not just a slow burn, but an easing into the world, its characters and the amazing story that unfolds. Writer Warren Ellis takes a huge risk by opening the story with a character that is essentially the villain of the series. Draculas heartbreak that becomes the conflict of the show, is incredibly tragic. He makes the audience sympathize with the villain, even before the heroes come into the story. Its risky in the sense the audience begins to relate more to the villain, than anything else. But those layered and complicated ideas of good and evil, heroes and villains are one of the major themes for Castlevania.

Dracula launches a siege of night monsters, and all manner of demonic terrors onto the world, in an attempt to eradicate all human life. Seeing how it was humans that took his love away from him. In this new world, sought by fear and terror, were introduced to a drunkard with a mysterious past. Through some other bar patrons, we learn of the Belmonts. A noble family who used to fight monsters and even Dracula himself for generations before. Until the Church decreed them as being collaborators of those same monsters, causing them to lose their nobility and reputation.

Monster hunter Trevor Belmont | Image via Netflix

While attempting to get another drink, the drunkard reveals himself to be Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) the last remaining monster hunter from the Belmont family. After a tussle, Belmont moves onto the next town for more drink, food and rest. Its clear that hes a good for nothing nomadic drifter at this point. Not the noble warrior that his lineage is of. And that hes more concerned with himself than the fate of the world right now.

Stumbling into the next town, he meets the inhabitants preparing for an assault by Draculas monsters when night comes. He inadvertently ends up rescuing a Speaker, a nomadic group of sorcerers who recite the history of the world through memory. The Speakers tribe is searching for a Messiah of legend who will awaken and save the world. One of their own went in search and is now missing.

Despite his cold heart, Trevor doesnt want to see a group of peaceful monks slaughtered. To persuade them to leave town, he offers to find the missing Speaker on the condition that they leave onces hes back. Venturing underneath the city, Trevor finds a Cyclops monster which he barely manages to defeats. Its one of the first monster fight scenes of the show, and its glorious. This is the moment that acts as the true hook in terms of the action sequences that are to come. Afterwards, Trevor discovers that the missing Speaker is a girl, Sypha (Alejandro Reynoso).

The sorceress supreme | Image via Netflix

The girl manages to awaken Trevors dormant sense of compassion, and he decides to help the town. He was, after all a hero, once upon a time. Together with her sorcery, Trevor sets up the town in a way to defend itself against Draculas monsters. Aiding the townspeople, they fight them off. Temporarily. Sypha, seeing Trevors true self as a hero, further convinces him to join her in her attempts to find the legendary messiah. So they head back beneath the city again. They do discover a sleeping figure, but its no messiah.

The figure is a vampire himself, who Trevor assumes is Dracula. A fight ensues between Trevor and the mysterious vampire. It ends when Sypha interferes, seemingly pleasing the mysterious vampire. The man reveals himself to be Alucard (James Callis), Draculas half-human son. Alucard explains his desire to stop his father from destroying humanity, his mothers people. There are already glimpses of the conflict within him, and his two opposing halves. He recruits Trevor and Syhpa to join him, using all three of their unique skills. And together, a sorceress, a disgraced monster hunter, and a half-human / half-vampire embark on a journey to stop Dracula and fight against Hell on Earth.

Alucard, Draculas half-human son | Image via Netflix

The first season of Castlevania is only 4 episodes long and takes the time to set up the world and its characters. It slowly shows the tragic figure of Dracula and takes careful steps to ensure the character development of all involved. The true premise of the show isnt fully revealed util that last scene of the final episode. And its a wonderful way to begin any adventure. Its an action-packed adventure that has even more depth due to the intense nature of the characters and the world. The emotional core of the show makes the action that much more interesting. And the action itself is some of the best that Ive seen in a while. Castlevania also manages to showcases that much heart, while also creating sequences that are visual breathtaking and instantly iconic.Season 1 of Castlevania currently holds a 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

Castlevania Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

What did you think about the 1st season of the original anime Castlevania? Let us know in the comments below.

Shah Shahid is an entertainment writer, movie critic (so he thinks), host of the Split Screen Podcast (on Apple Podcasts & everywhere else) and filmy father on a mission to educate his girls on decades of film history. Armed with uncontrollable sarcasm and cautious optimism, Shah loves discussing film, television and comic book content until his wifes eyes glaze over. So save her by engaging him on his own blog at BlankPageBeatdown.com or on Twitter @theshahshahid.

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Castlevania Season 1 Recap: Anime Combining Action With Heart - Comic Years

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero