Apart from the Marvel shows, I've been mostly negligent on catching up on TV shows and such since the beginning of the pandemic, but I'm slowly working my way to getting them back on my schedule. Today, I'm talking about the final season of an animated series I've enjoyed for the past few years. S4 starts off not long after the end of S3 (which felt like a weird cliffhanger in some ways), and there are multiple mini-plots to follow. Firstly, Trevor and Sypha continue their increasingly futile effort to thwart attempts at the resurrection of Dracula. After six exhausting weeks of fighting, the duo finally find themselves in Targoviste, the site of Lisa's (Dracula's wife) execution, AKA where it all began.
Meanwhile, Alucard continues with his lonely and miserable existence alone in his castle, until a nearby village requests his aid in repelling a night creature attack. In answering the call, Alucard finds a sense of purpose again, and even met an interesting person on the way. Isaac's mission of conquest finally pays off after ending in an odd place in S3, and he finally mounts his assault on Styria. Though his initial motivations of revenge are still present, one can tell that his outlook and cynicism towards humanity has gradually changed, and while his mission remains the same, the reasons why have evolved. Carmilla is finally ready to enact her master plan to control a large portion of the world, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that her ambitions are becoming too big to handle. Her vampire sisters are slowly beginning to question Carmilla, with lovers Morana and Striga doubting the long term viability of the plan (and showing concern over not being able to see each other again), and Lenore personally witnessing Carmilla's meltdown (while also dealing with her own personal feelings of uselessness). Also here is Hector, who is still under the employ of the sisters, and while he's hard at work building an army for them, it's clear that he has plans of his own. After a whole season with these mini-plots completely separate from one another, some lines finally intersect in S4. Seeing Isaac finally get to where he was going initially after so long is great, but his payoff comes at the cost of Carmilla's master plan, which has been brewing for multiple seasons but never really felt like it was going anywhere. That said, every vampire sister got pretty solid endings, even if everything they've been working towards doesn't exactly go to plan. Hector and Isaac's respective endings are left rather open, though it's made clear that both Forgemasters are ready to finally move forward with their lives. The attempts to resurrect Dracula actually build to a fever pitch, as a character that was presumed dead in a previous season makes a return to set the pieces in motion. This plot causes Trevor and Sypha's journey to once again cross paths with Alucard's story, and while it feels like the former were unceremoniously dragged into the latter's path, it was still awesome to see the trio back together. The reveal of the true mastermind of the conspiracy was also spectacular, and as someone who's played a fair share of classic Castlevania, the reveal got me absolutely hyped (even if it feels a bit shoehorned). Unfortunately, the Carmilla angle and the story of the main characters never really converge, which I thought was a bit of a missed opportunity. That said, those two plotlines being separate doesn't really ruin the overall show for me. For the most part, many characters got a satisfying ending, and there are a surprising amount of happy endings at that. I was most surprised with Trevor getting a happy ending, as events during the final stretch of the show hinted otherwise. One of the season's biggest surprises also saw two particular characters get an unexpectedly happy ending, which I didn't see coming at all. However, I will say that a number of characters felt like they got to their respective endings a little too quickly, in the sense that the show didn't really give the arcs time to grow. Alucard's arc in particular felt super weird; a lot of what happened in S3 felt completely pointless after this season. The show's trademark brutal gore and violence is on full display again this season, with a lot of blood and guts flying around in all the fights. Speaking of the fights, they were all fantastically animated, and everyone got to look like complete badasses. The big battle during the climax of the season in particular felt epic. One thing I was super excited about was the show finally introducing something that references one of my favorite things about the old Castlevania game. Without giving it away, I'm so glad they found a way to adapt that thing and make it such an awesome element of the action. Overall, I loved Castlevania's final season, and I'm glad that it got to end on its own terms (and in a satisfying way, too). I've heard rumors that a spinoff series is in the works, and it has the unenviable task of having to follow up this spectacular show. Regardless, I hope that future spinoffs explore other Belmonts from different time periods, like Simon or Richter. If you've never played Castlevania before, don't worry, as you don't require knowledge of the games to enjoy the show's story. If you're at all curious about this series, give it a shot! It's a relatively short binge, too, as the seasons don't go past ten episodes and no episodes go past 30 minutes. Of course, I need to put a massive warning for the squeamish: it is a goddamn gore-fest. Also, Konami needs to get off their asses and make some new Castlevania games, because this show has gotten me in the mood for more Castlevania. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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