Nocturne Sucks (but not for the reasons you think)

[@oxymoronnonsense492]

i really appreciate how respectful this criticism comes across. this is super refreshing after hearing so many reviews that boil down to "annette bad"

[@A.Froster]

I mean they're not wrong. Annette is so unlikable , doesn't matter if she was a new character or not. That's the biggest issue people have with her

[@oxymoronnonsense492]

@@A.Froster i understand that she is not super likeable right now, but i think that's on purpose. it gives her a lot of room for growth. think about how annoying ahsoka tano is in the first few seasons of clone wars and how much she changes. that's what i hope the writers are doing with annette. i could always be wrong tho, the series definitely has some issues

[@mikehorrigan7806]

She isn’t just bad. She’s been swapped out and made completely unlikable. Why couldn’t they leave Annette the damsel in distress she is in the game and introduce a new character who has escaped slavery, sailed across the ocean to find the one called Belmont and defeat the Vampires that enslaved her people? Because that requires talent and effort. Two things in short supply these days apparently. Enjoy the Vampire docking in season 2, sounds thrilling.

[@mechasuprim2609]

​ @mikehorrigan7806 100% agree. I was thinking that myself the other day, plus Richter needs the extra motive. I get He saw him mum die so there's the whole revenge thing but the guy bolted when he came face to face with Olrox, so revenge isn't really a motive for him it seems. It's like he's just there because it's a Castlevania title and it needs a Belmont character. Honestly Anette feels more like the main character than the actual mc.

[@abdulmuizaroke1565]

The dynamics between Annette and Richter was off. A girl who fought to free herself from slavery has feelings for a white guy who fights with a whip? Okay 😅 Also, the show struggles to even show us why Richter is interested in her too.They have nothing in common, besides hating vampires. Shit, Eduar and Richter had BETTER chemistry. Annette didn't even seem to hold Richter in much regard until he got his magic back and that just feels iffy as hell. They didn't do her character justice, I believe. She came off as crass, hypocritical and incredibly narcissistic.

[@tyrewillis9841]

You missed the part where the Belmont wanted to make a plan before they ran in and they all called him a child and a coward for it.😂

[@megabladechronicles962]

Yeah I hate it because it also makes Annette look stupid because every time she rushes in without a plan in the show they lose, but the show clearly wants her to be the most competent of the group. It doesn't add up well

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

@@megabladechronicles962 Which goes into what I mentioned where the story seems to not reflect on events which happened. People sometimes actually do take a look at what went wrong from time to time

[@Darth_Bateman]

Uhhh No. Annette called Richter a child and a coward for it. Everyone in the room who was still alive :Tara, Marie, and Richter were like : "Bro, we just got washed. . .We need a plan."

[@tyrewillis9841]

@@Darth_Bateman nah bud i just re-watched it he is the only one that wanted to make a plan

[@Darth_Bateman]

@@tyrewillis9841 ???? Did Marie not make Annette prormise to wait until Ricther finished the plan and not to leave the house?

[@Averagebasementman]

I think the problem with nocturne is that it tries to introduce way to much in its first season. When it should’ve just focused on Richter, Maria, and Annette. Like how the first season of castlevania focused on Trevor and Sypha.

[@sdoaiza]

imo it seems like they focused too much on annette with all the flashbacks and spiritual world things, remembered they had to shonen power up richter, and completely forgot about maria

[@emexdraws4193]

@@sdoaiza There may be also some implication of favoritism as Castlemania Nocturne was written by an african-american writer.

[@IrisCorven]

@@emexdraws4193 There's nothing wrong with that. The problem is shit like the tweet the official Nocturne twitter put out, implying Annette was better than Richter. Purposely to shit on fans who know Richter, Juste, and Julius are the most hardcore humans in the series.

[@paweld]

The massive lack of buildup to things like Anette dispatching her arch enemy, or Richter getting his magic back, or even the main villain really did the show in for me. Great animation but anemic on storytelling.

[@LightofJoshua]

Agreed. She like just so happens to be there and the vampire guy just so happens to be there

[@paweld]

​@@LightofJoshua Yep. And then he's just gone and never spoken of again.

[@LightofJoshua]

@@paweld and I just remembered he was responsible for her mothers death. They could have built him so much better

[@quinterrieblack8218]

Y'all Stop hating 😂😂😂

[@damearstor2120]

I wouldn't call the animation good either. There's some glaring issues that they missed animation wise like how when they ran up the stairs after going down into the secret prison crypt for the first time, they *clipped* through the top of the stairs. It's jarring. There's less attention to detail in this one compared to the first Castlevania. Feel like they banged this one out too fast for its own good.

[@tsalapbeew]

Richter getting his magic back was like a typical shonen anime powerup because of friendship or whatever 😂

[@ILJtheFirst]

You missed the whole scene. The bad guy was telling him they're gonna kill everybody he loved. It would be his fault and his magic switch finally got triggered.

[@DarkMark-cf1ec]

Thats an even worse tigger

[@arsann8701]

​@@ILJtheFirstsoooooo..... like an average shonen moment? try again lol

[@Duper1254]

@@DarkMark-cf1ec yeah, that's Shonen scripting 101. Disgusting!

[@pucciresetingthembobs5144]

@@ILJtheFirst🤓

[@weregrills1563]

The problems I have with this series: Richter being a vampire hunter is almost completely ignored in favor of giving the side characters exposition. For instance, when they attempt to spy on the vampires, they go at night, an incredibly risky move that Richter should've pointed out. In fact, anyone could've pointed out. Vampires hunt and are most active during the night. If they investigated the vampires by day, they would have a lot more options if they were caught, and they wouldn't have lost Edward. This continues when you pointed out that Ricther doesn't know what night creatures are, despite being familiar with magic, vampires, and hunting vampires by trade. There is little to no reason why Richter shouldn't have known what they are immediately upon seeing them. The story spends so much time on Annette, and handles her story very poorly. It emphasizes too much of her struggles to the point where it squeezed out the other members of the main cast, time that could be spent forming a team bond. It alsot doesn't help that she is dragged by other characters into action almost every single time she's on screen, and chastises people constantly. There are multiple times when PTSD is used to excuse behavior that is just downright stupid. Like Ann popping out of the fucking bushes, or Richter running like a bitch to leave his friends to die. He could be scared of Ulrox, but why the fuck would he literally *instantly* run at the first hint of his presence? Bro. Come on. And then a few episodes later he powers up and stops being a bitch? Why the fuck was his family being in mortal danger what set him up for his rage magic before? Does he not give a shit about his actual family, and only just his grandpda he just met? I hate this show so much smh.

[@NoCloutJoey]

Extremely valid criticisms here. I wish I spoke further with Richter running off on his family when Olrox showed up. It’s like the writing gets worse the more you think about this show lol

[@garou12]

all the plotholes you pointed out really shows how much the show lost by pushing warren ellis out

[@TaiTai-py2tp]

Nocturne felt more like a storyboard to me.

[@williampearson6299]

I like a good storyboard

[@jhorvat01]

OG Casltevania had one writer. Sadly ,the OG Castlevania writer got removed from his position bcs of some allegations (google for more details). Nocture had 5 writers. The first 4 episodes were written by one, and for each following episode a different writer was in lead.

[@emexdraws4193]

@@jhorvat01 so there was different views on overall plot as well as a lack of communication maybe?

[@jhorvat01]

@@emexdraws4193 I cant answer that. I can just speculate, that different writers have a different vision even with a storyboard to work with. theres a proverb "Too many cooks will use too much salt for your soup". OG Castlevania is not perfect. But the writer gave us a buddy movie, a road movie, characters were consistent thorugh all seasons and episodes. Nocture felt like a teendrama. So yeah, each different writer envision to his own personal taste.

[@Cezar8316]

The juste Belmont we see in the show is interesting because he failed he couldn't save his best friend or lover but weird that his mother never mentions him at all, I also would have preferred that juste teach him how to get over his trauma and tap into his magic almost like a training arc

[@ian77444]

yea,"hey i was the best wizard ever, and i pack a lot of trauma, what? you lost your magic just like me and are suffering the loss of your mother(MY DAUGHTER),hey, sorry i cant help jeje"

[@martiano13bros]

He could have at least said something worthwhile like instead of just Evil Wins he could have said, "Evil always wins, but that is why we exist, why we fight, to hunt the night" and then instead of the asinine line richter lets out about "I had something sharp and witty to say but fuck it" he coult have said "about us belmonts... we exist to hunt the night" or something of the like. Honestly it felt like a hey guys juste is here please watch, but they really did my man dirty, like they could have made him purposefully give up his magic as some sort of promise to his loved one or Maxim, they coult have added a small line said or something ANYTHING to make him cool. Like maybe even he could have faked having lost his powers to the extent that he knew about richter not being able to use magic and knew he ran away from Olrox and used these vampires as an excuse to draw out his power saying something to the like of he was planning on taking the whip if he was just going to run away with his tail between his legs. Theres just so many better ways imo they could have gone with many things in the show, its genuinely upsetting

[@togucvinw7]

Juste was salty that they skipped his entire story for Richter 😂

[@Alteori]

True the pacing was crazy. I still enjoyed it but it definitely had issues 😂 the most confusing for me though has to be the whole night creature versus vampire plot. Maybe I misunderstood but, the priest needed night creatures... To help the vampires as payment for them dealing with the revolution? Why didn't the priest just use the night creatures to quell the revolution???? I'm so confused😂

[@spykemxd]

Hi again! You know the rules, and so do I...

[@alexanderjacobs3953]

He did used night creatures to stop the revolution but it was not enoght. He need help of stronger creatures. That was expailened indirectly from beginning of the show.

[@sdoaiza]

i get it as that vampires are much quieter killers while night creatures would probably make a mess idk?

[@sonicfan2403]

Hopefully they fix these issues in Season 2, because I really like the concept of Richter's abilities here and I love his banters with Maria, which I hope we get more and their chemistry evolves.

[@vichonoma]

It's because night creatures can only spread chaos and destruction, but vampires had the power and intelligence to reestablish the status quo, night creatures are necessary to annihilate the revolution, but vampires to make the world what it used to be, also i believe that the Abad plan was also to use his army against Bathory at some point in the future, but i don't believe that's gonna work well🤷‍♂️

[@rurisuoh7919]

it's true. the pacing was too fast and i wasn't even aware that the revolution was 'that' bad. it wasnt higlighted that much.

[@hiphopstrongman]

The biggest reason they brought Elizabeth (and Drolta, now as a vampire instead of a witch) in was because they needed another stand in vampire villain since Dracula was alive and in bed with Lisa at the end of the first retelling. If you look at the games themselves, Elizabeth and the now vampire Drolta were the only options, along with a buffed Olrox to round things out. In fact, Elizabeth aside from Dracula himself and the deceased Walter Bernhardt is probably the next vampire in the series with the most backstory that you could incorporate into the series. It’s not as bad an idea as you think. Having her metamorphose into an Egyptian God is a bit out of left field, and removing the connection that she had to Dracula was wasted potential in my eyes. But I can see why they felt compelled to include her as the main villain. Personally, I think they should’ve started from the beginning with Lament of Innocence instead of jumping in with Dracula’s Curse/Curse of Darkness. That way, some of these continuity changes could have been foreseen a bit better and if you wanted to plug and play with original characters you could do so with the entirety of the timeline being set. Plus, Leon and Matthias would’ve had a lot of good interactions that would’ve made for good television-with the anti-church theme prevalent in all the seasons so far, out of all the games Lament of Innocence has source material that lines up perfectly with the theme. Matthias cursing God for eternity would’ve given a lot more weight to his actions and driven his point home after the viewers saw Lisa get murdered.

[@danielramsey6141]

You say that, but it’s not like they’re the only Vampires brought into Castlevania! There have been plenty that were brought into each Game, though the Majority were either taken from Real Life historical figure or were made up for the sole Entry they appeared in! But amount of Monsters should also should never be overlooked, as werewolves exist too. Castlevania 64 and Castlevania Legacy of Darkness also had plenty of monsters and unique characters we’ve yet to see brought to life here.

[@hiphopstrongman]

@@danielramsey6141 I know that, but can you tell me how many other vampires in the series got that level of treatment that Elizabeth did, to where she was referenced as being a family member to Dracula (whether she actually is or not), and were featured in the series of final battles along with Dracula? Even Drolta as her witch incarnation got that treatment. Would I like to see other vampires like Walter and Joachim featured heavily in future adaptations? Absolutely. But there’s no denying that these two had the most intrigue to work with at the point of the timeline they chose to adapt.

[@javiervasquez625]

The problem with the "anti-church" mindset of the Netflix "adaptation" is that it craps all over the very mythology of the franchise where the Belmonts, Church AND God are inherently the _good guys_ while the angry, satanic, genocidal Dracula is inherently the _bad guy._ You can't compromise the franchise's very inherent mythology by suddenly going full neckbeard against Christianity with an adaptation of Lament of Innocence then suddenly do a hipocritical backpedaling with the later games by showing the Church and God as the good guys they have _always_ been in the games as if that made any logical sense whatsoever. The biggest problem with the Netlfix handle over the Castlevania mythology is that it dismisses the core archetypical conflict of Good vs Evil which sustains the very heart of the series's narrative in order to pull morally grey characters which outright destroy any connectivity they could have had with the source material it is supposed to be adapting. Videogame Castlevania = Good vs Evil Netflix Castlevania = wathever the streaming service thinks Good and Evil should be

[@Zeiss120]

As a casual fan, that's what got me. They know vampires are real but don't remember the Belmont's, Alucard and even Dracula? Also isn't Dracula the original point of all vampires? And if so how did Elizabeth get by and this Olrox. Its just inconsistent if this takes place in the same time line as their previous show (which they say IT DOES but like what? 300 odd years?). Also at the end of the original series Dracula is alive, would rather have him come back and clap all these kids and leave for watering down the Vampires so much.

[@hiphopstrongman]

Dracula isn’t the original vampire going by the established continuity by the games, which they’re adhering to somewhat by mentioning Leon Belmont in the first adaptation. He was however the most prolific one at that point. Elizabeth in the original games was born in the 1400s if I’m not mistaken (by nocturne standards she’d also be at least 300 something years old herself, not too far off from Alucard’s age, but again continuity here isn’t exactly the same). In the games, Elizabeth was introduced as a niece of Dracula (or she could’ve lied and passed that off as a reason just to revive him). In this continuity I’m assuming she was a vampire who rose to power in a region separate from Dracula. Even so going by the Netflix established continuity, Olrox and Elizabeth are probably stronger than we think. They have alternate forms that have been shown on screen. We haven’t seen Dracula use alternate forms in battle on screen yet. He’s pretty much guaranteed to appear in the next seasons of Nocturne though, simply based on Alucard mentioning him.

[@alexanderjacobs3953]

This take place 300 years after Castlevania events. Belmonts didn't intend to be stars lol. Its always The last belmont that appares. Means there are too little Belmonts for all people to know them. As For Alucard...after 300 years its understandable that they thought that he is just a myth.

[@blacky8987]

@@hiphopstrongman even if she is the original vampire dracula is the top of the planet and then is is kid lol if this shlt nerf them it would be fcc up Bruh Dracula and Alucard had almost all the power hahaha, even beyond hahaha, Dracula just by activating his vampire eyes literally turned the moon red and let himself win even in a nerfed state no one could beat him and with Alucard in the last fight Alucard was 17 years when he faced almost all of Dracula's main generals alone. and he is the second most powerful vampire hahaha, these new vampires are just clowns who canonically should be defeated by Alucard, if at 17 he had the power to fight Dracula, imagine what he would do now when he is more than 300 years old. Unless he is nerfed, that supposed self-called goddess of vampires is nothing against him.

[@naosou921]

The only person who didn't know who Dracula was in that scene was Annette, who is a former slave from another continent. It is unlikely she would have been in a position to hear about Dracula or receive any formal education on this stuff whatsover. No shit she didn't know about him, how would she? ---- Alucard was public knowledge among the higher tier of vampires, but even Trevor who is a Belmont, did not know about him before they met. So it is unlikely that Alucard's existence was some kind of big thing that everyone knew about, so it is unlikely that it would be common knowledge 300 years down the line. ---- Olrox is 250 years old, as he said on episode 1 when mocking Richter's threats. The first show was 300 years before this one. Olrox became a vampire, however that might have happened, after Dracula disappeared from the public eye through his "death". We don't know how old Elizabeth is, but even if she is older than Olrox, the lore seems to indicate she spent her time mostly on another continent. So she likely simply hid away from Dracula and avoided crossing paths with him. ---- The show has flaws, but the "inconsistencies" you are talking about are entirely a non-issue and seem to be more due to the fact that you didn't pay attention or give it any thought. Also, Dracula returned with Lisa to enjoy their life in peace. Why would he be around to "clap these kids"? His story arc was complete and his business was finished. It is likely that he either died with Lisa by killing himself once her time was up or that he went into a deep sleep.

[@sebastianschoefl]

@@blacky8987please stop using „hahaha“ every other sentence, it’s cinge.

[@chrom-manandrobin7983]

My biggest gripe with the show is how they treat Juste. He shows up, barely does anything to help, then is forgotten.

[@Zqviri]

If they mentioned islam in castlevania of an imam getting killed by a vampire, i cant lie this show would be cooked, another reason it’s woke for a reason. They focus on the diverse outcome that they’ve forgotten about the story plotting properly. They made Christianity a laughing stock but wont do the same to other religions because they will get criticized and possibly cancelled.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

Olrox wasn’t exactly a secret, he was blocking an upgrade, and I had to meet him in the unholy monastery to cover 196 percent of the game for the true ending. 😊

[@NoCloutJoey]

A lot of people didn’t run into Olrox / get the secret good ending on their first couple play-throughs (myself included lol)

[@elsv99]

The show want payoffs without the buildups

[@greengym2336]

Agreed

[@titanbro5871]

Dracula's Castle is called Castlevania. The show is literally missing Castlevania.

[@williampearson6299]

Do you really want them to keep bringing back Dracula when his story already wrapped up. It's gonna quickly falter if his motivations aren't as strong as avenging his dead wife. The Reverse Flash got dumb after S6 of The Flash. He peaked in S3

[@dzk004223]

@@williampearson6299I think more people wouldn’t have minded a more romance driven series if they pacing and writing wasn’t so all over the place. This series really would have benefited from being closer to 12 episodes than 8 to really flesh out characters and their motivations and maybe spread some more action throughout. I don’t solely think it’s just a bunch of nerds who are disheartened that they never got their Rondo of Blood series they hoped for, but moreso that Nocturne just felt like a half-assed cash grab to cater to a wider audience (which again, isn’t a bad thing. If you want a series to do well, sacrifices must be met to keep the project afloat)

[@williampearson6299]

@@dzk004223 Yeah, I wanted more episodes. But maybe this was a smaller budget.

[@titanbro5871]

@@williampearson6299 That's why I don't particularly like his conclusion in season 4. Not just because they got rid of Dracula but because he got away with killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, maybe even more and now he gets to chill with his wife again in the living. I don't think for a TV show he should be the villain for every Belmont. Sometimes he's the guy who just appears at the end like in Simons Quest and Harmony of Dissonance (even though its technically not him in HoD) so he should show up for Richter, Juste, and Simon and with those interactions they can add more insight on the mind of Dracula. Richter with the philosophical questions, Juste with finding peace in death, and Simon complete blind rage (lets be real he was more sad than mad in the first show) SoTN doesnt need Dracula in my opinion, they can just have Shaft and possessed Richter. It's just I dont agree with the idea of Dracula appearing more than once being a bad idea. How many Castlevania bosses can they take and make them a big villain. Getting rid of Dracula basically destroyed so many potential plots. Soma and Julius being two characters basically being unachievable now and if they were to be tried they would be completely different

[@CastlevaniaDXC]

Castlevania without the castle is not Castlevania. That's why in every game the castle is always there because it's the expression image of Dracula, a creature born and formed by Chaos in the Chaotic Realm.

[@zacaritest]

You know when you have a friends get-together and you end up inviting a couple of guys you know but aren't your friends? and you spend the whole night worrying about these people having fun even though IT'S YOUR NIGHT. Well that's how this series feels

[@thattrickytrickster612]

This is probably the most civil and well-thought out critique of Nocturne as of now. Everyone either HATES it or LOVES it, so I'm glad you can point out the flaws while not completely trashing it like most people. I definitely agree that the pacing and less focus on Richter were the worst part of the show. I still enjoyed it and I hope they fix it in the 2nd season. At least slow their role, flesh Richter out and make Annette bearable.

[@Some-person-dot-dot-dot]

Just delete Annette. Please.

[@HelloHuman1]

Annette is fine.

[@Spoonky92]

Well said man. Definitely agree with the critiques. Everything felt so badly paced and poorly written that when a character/suffers there's no impact since they're only there for like 15 minutes. Also can they tone it down with the f bombs? They feel so out of place in terms of the setting and sometimes character. It just feels needlessly edgy 😂

[@euanb3252]

It would have been interesting if when Richter gets his magic back its still pretty weak, and that at the end of the series instead of Alucard killing the vampire, its Juste and he agrees to step out of his solitary life to help Richter and the gang. That way for series two we can have Richter's arc be trying to become more powerful with his magic by receiving training from Juste, because he claims to be one of the strongest magic users in the Belmont line and could easily help train Richter. And then Juste's arc could be remembering what it means to be a Belmont, being reminded by Richter, and that even if the fight is never ending, its still his to duty to be a monster hunter to save other peoples lives. Richter and Juste easily give each other interesting series long arcs.

[@elronman]

They could have made trevor look so much more "anime", like he was shockingly gruffer than I expected and hit right on the money in my opinion.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

My comment here is solely regarding internal consistency on the Netflix series. In the previous series, a subplot on summoned demons was that the summoned Demons were never human, which is why the Isaac of the series was a bit surprised that a Summoned Demon wanted to be like a human. But now demons apparently have the souls of people now? Crosses were just shapes, until now when they magically burn, or have holy magic in them. Im only mentioning these because they are apparently inconsistent with the prior series.

[@nyny.confidential74]

yeahhhh the writing and pacing of the show is the reason I give season 1 a 6/10. Characters like Ritcher, Annette, Drolta, and Erzsebet should’ve been fleshed out more. Drolta had the potential to be the next Carmella or she could’ve even surpassed her…yet she was portrayed as a loyal fan girl and she was offed in the first season💀. Also..I personally would’ve liked if she was a ride or die girlfriend to Erzsebet but 🤷🏿‍♀️. Since Erzsebet is based off an actual noblewoman who was a serial killer..there should’ve been more gore. She was known for torturing and sometimes cannibalizing her victims (who were mostly young women). This makes me think the creator of the show didn’t thoroughly research Erzsebet Bathory . Also..why is she aspiring to be a ancient egyptian goddess..💀💀💀? Why didn’t she aspire to be Nyx (the Greek goddess of darkness.. and embodiment of chaos) ? That fits more with her goals😭. Ritcher suddenly gaining his powers back with little to no effort was mad weird as well. Also..how did Annette defeat her foe so easily 💀? Like why couldn’t we see her growth from their last encounter years ago ? then that weird reveal that the abbot was Maria’s father 😭? This is exactly why having a writers room is important. One person can’t handle everything…it’s okay to pass the torch. but that’s my take on it.

[@NoCloutJoey]

I agree with how they did Drolta, not a huge fan of how they treated her. They just threw her away when she was one of the few highlights. And Elizabeth in the lore learns how to become powerful through Drolta, but they swapped the roles a little and instead made Drolta a follower of her for no reason. But that’s a small nitpick compared to everything else here 😅

[@nyny.confidential74]

@@NoCloutJoey 💯‼️

[@nickmattio3397]

It says Erzebet is 3500 years old or so and Drolta is 3300 or so, where were both of them when Dracula called on his Court, let alone bring her up at all if she’s so powerful; she reminds me very much of Carmilla in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust in how she looks acts powers etc

[@midnightcoffee6463]

She's like if Vampire D Carmilla met Lady Dimitrescu xD

[@LightofJoshua]

I agree with you completely. Although I love Castlevania but this all felt soooo rushed. The story arcs, the villains the lack of build up

[@Ashbrash1998]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed how the pacing was really quick and it made the story beats not hit as hard as it could have.

[@5keletron478]

I personally enjoyed the show, but yeah I agree with this. I was disappointed as well, even then I didn't hate it. Great video!

[@Whatsdogpee]

My biggest issue for Nocturne is that I just don’t really care about most of the characters. Everyone seems kinda one-note. Maria: vive revolucion! Annette: Slavery is bad. Oh Eduardo. Eduardo: Sing. And brothers in arms That second in command vampiress: Vampire messiah! Vampire Messiah: im a goddess!!! The only ones i like are richter cuz he actually has emotional peaks and valleys with enough emotional variance to be a likeable person, and Olax cuz idk where he’s at. The characters just don’t grip me like Trevor, Slypha, Alucard, or Doctor Acula. :/ That and the politics of this is just too much. The writers must really hate church or something because the mockery is real. :(

[@henriquemedranosilva7142]

Ok to be fair Eduardo has really great potential for his night creature form.

[@thegodofsoapkekcario1970]

Your last statement is ironic, since in the games the Belmonts literally serve God.

[@HansDimas-xc4qj]

And one of the knight is gay while he praise God more than the abbot

[@Zinervawyrm]

Maybe it would be cheap, but I think it would be cool if Drolta comes back as a night-creature in season 2. Imagine how stupidly powerful a vampire turned night-creature might be.

[@ElJags]

Whos gonna pick her corpse in the middle of the field after hearing Alucard is around? They are gonna let it disintegrate when the sun rises. Besides even if they could take her corpse its useless because it was purged by Alucards sword, no demon spirit would want to possess that husk.

[@Zinervawyrm]

@@ElJags Exactly why I said it might be cheap writing. But then again, the last show had a zombie Bishop bless an entire river.

[@skele_wave]

6:58 except that night creatures are given new souls plucked from hell, not their host's original soul, and his singing becomes incredibly annoying by the end.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

Because the Innocent Devils are part of the Plot Twist in Curse of Darkness, which I, like the Netflix Show, am not going to spoil

[@LeiraYanoc]

This is probably the most accurate review of the show! Great job dude

[@ORO323]

There was quite a bit of scenes for me that didn't make sense. [SPOILER] For example, when Richter Belmont meets his grandpa out of nowhere. Then when the grandpa was tied up in chains he somehow easily slips out of it? It just seems like either lazy writing or they were pressured to rush the story.

[@Girentina242]

I think the point of Juste in the plot is to contrast him with Richter. Both men lost their magic when their families were torn from them, and they both still can't use it. While Juste takes on a more depressing worldview, his magic staying lost, Richter realizes that he still has family and they can still be lost. This allows him to tap into his magic again in order to protect them. This is symbolized again when Juste passes the whip (torch) to his grandson, realizing he has succeeded where he has not. The pace problems are very present, like you mention, but I still think it's an effective arc for both characters. Hopefully the show can improve over the next seasons, as I really enjoyed it flaws and all. Great video!

[@knightskyscrub]

My wife really enjoyed Castlevania Nocturne, but I think she can enjoy it more than me because she's not familiar with the history or story of Castlevania. I had a few gripes with it though. Slavery. I could have dealt with the slavery angle with vampires if they linked the slavery with something from the first Castlevania series such as Camilla's plan to make the world into a pen for human livestock but on a smaller scale with an island of human slaves. Kind of makes sense. Magic. I wasn't really fond of Richter using magic like Sypha. From what i understood about Richter and his abilities, he has the Item Crash where he would use a sub weapon and overclock it to ridiculous amounts. It might be difficult to translate into the show canon to make sense, but combining the blue flames from the show and having them appear more holy and powerful but making him exhausted would make some sense. Basically making his powers different than everyone else's but also more powerful with some drawbacks. Richter losing his magic because of trauma is BS. It would have been better if he had not had magic until that moment to begin with, and the scene could have been more impactful with him really being down and out and could even pray for a way to defeat the vampires before he exploded in a holy cross. Night Creatures. Why did a Belmont not know what a night create was? That didn't make any sense. Also (I may have missed it), which guy was the devil forgemaster? I was so confused about that. The Church. That was kind of whack that the church was the bad guy again. Very played out. The Whip. The whip has never been called vampire killer a single time in the series. In the games, it's super important. Is it the vampire killer or not? Was the morning star whip from the first series the actual vampire killer? The vampire killer has to exist because Leon Belmont exists in the show. Juste. Look how they massacred my boy... They gave him the Luke Skywalker from the Disney Star Wars treatment and made him the overpowered, depressed not-a-mentor. They even made him live in a shack. Instead of making him a grumpy pessimist, he could appear cold but also give sage advice and even try to teach Richter magic without Richter having any affinity for magic. Annette. I don't care about the race swapping thing. I only care about the attitude and they made Annette kind of annoying. Calling Richter a coward and then being happy that he came back. She could have been a bit nicer to Richter, and I would have believed the romantic undertone in the last few episodes. Also, how does she know about night creatures and Belmonts but not Dracula? Ersebet (I probably butchered spelling her name). She was threatening, but she can't out of left field. If she had some sort of build up or connection or even mentioned Dracula or something, that would make sense. Also, how did she get that blood of Sekhmet? I would even accept that she drank the blood of a person with a connection to a god like Annette. They would make sense.

[@janekdolder722]

Im not familiar aswll and i thought it just sucked, it was awfull.

[@steventhegamer7187]

i think another problem is that with the uncertainty of Netflix when it comes to getting greenlit, they had to try and fit a lot in the first season. I hope that since they got the all clear on the second season (to my knowledge) they will slow down the pacing to a normal level.

[@Henbot]

It was just character needed work and they didn’t make much effort in why factions be working together. I could see they kinda trying to get across that the church and vampires cooperate because they are so strongly invested in order or hierarchy You have them all being sympathetic and supportive to Annette but when Richter has the same trauma everyone dismisses him as being a coward or being annoyed with him getting upset. It was just bad characters and the forge dudes were amazing in the first animated series, love that scene when Isaac talks to the devils and their past life

[@caydengarvey657]

Richters not being able to use magic was because of a mental block. He was struggling with the thought of being a fighter when he encountered those girls in the town square. Then when him and his grandfather were about to be executed, he realized he has people to fight for and awakened his true power ( he already knew magic but just couldnt use it cuz of mental issues). Keep in mind that the original series with Trevor took place 300 years prior to Nocturne. Ersebeth may not have been born, or even a vampire in that time. I think a lot of the choices in this series are because they don't want to rehash the same stuff, especially in this first season which is an introduction season. I know I'd personally be really bored if - Dracula was revived - the main team storms the castle -etc.

[@vashythewabbit8288]

6:52 I would have been fine with this plot point if it wasn't established in the last show that the Night Creatures DOES NOT use the original body's soul and instead uses someone's soul from Hell and places said soul into the dead body and the fact that they are in a blood pact preventing the Night Creature from disobeying orders.

[@ArmaBiologica35]

Calling Circle of The Moon, Legends and Lords of Shadow 2 bad games was enough for me no to take this review seriously.

[@diegordi1394]

Legends maybe; I know barely anything about LoS 2 even though I used to play MoF in the 3DS, but CotM is NOT a bad game.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

@@diegordi1394Lords of Shadow 2 gets a little wierd with the pacing, and the ending feels about as rushed as can be and abrupt.

[@RichterBelmont2235]

That Richter doesn't belong in this world.

[@Auvisome]

It’s absolutely not a welcome change to completely retcon out an established character like Annette. Even if Annette was a damsel in distress in the game, that was kind of the point. Richter was on a time limit and Annette was at risk of becoming a vampire. This is a prevalent theme in the games, and something that the Belmonts have to weigh into their judgment. Leon Belmont had the same predicament with his wife being captured by a vampire. Christopher Belmont had his son captured and possessed to fight him, by Dracula. Simon's own life was held hostage by the curse and had to kill Dracula again to rid himself of it. Simply retconning Annette's character and replacing her with some political revisionist agenda is insulting to the games and the core themes of the characters. If you wanted a cool girl boss, Maria was right there. Her innocence and naivety made her an interesting contrast to Dracula's nihilism. She humiliates him in the game and then lectures to him like a child would about what’s right and wrong. Something that could be explored, but no, she was written to be an annoying socialist. So edgy, so terrible. This is exactly why fans of Castlevania 3 were mad that Grant wasn’t in the show. He was literally one of the playable characters and the writers had wrote him out. They had no political agenda to fulfil with him and just retconned him out of existence. If the writers were so hellbent on their political revisionism, they could’ve just made new characters instead of replacing established ones who had thematic purpose. Elizabeth Bartley shouldn’t even be in this season. She’s from Castlevania Bloodlines, and manipulated political figures into starting WW1 so that she could use the bloodshed as sacrifices to resurrect Dracula. Meanwhile, Shaft is nowhere to be seen. I'd actually respect the writers if they made a curve ball and have him possess Richter to make him the lord of the castle, prompting SOTN's plot.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

Plus Annette in Rondo of Blood was the exception. It’s also been demonically possessed Belmonts more than once, your own brother turned bad, or your own child going bad. If anyone wants to tell me what is there to Dracula being the villain all but twice in canon, not counting Lords of Shadow, then there’s the fact that the games have different gameplay styles if you go into the Nintendo DS Games, and there’s the 3D games, and then there’s well the plot twists. Now to be fair there’s technical limitations in early games where you have walls of text to read before Rondo of Blood or other CD games were released.

[@bryanpenaloza5697]

Honestly olrox has a valid point you can't even be mad at him for causing childhood trauma 😂😂

[@Swordhunter0817]

Vampire and nobles/church cooperation: Sheperd > sheep dog > sheep. So a revolution would be an annoyance. Juste's role seemed to be a cautionary tale or potential future. Someone stated night creatures haven't been made for a long ass time so why teach them to a 10 year old? Especially if all his vampire hunting skills would be just as applicable.

[@m.k.o7610]

So he can be prepared if they were to ever return or to prepare the generations to come after that 10 year old Belmont.

[@henriquemedranosilva7142]

4:15 No, it is more that he represed it beacuse of the association with his mother death. That is why when he overcome his traume, he got it back

[@drippi2129]

The singing simp... Zero backstory but sings and cries in almost scene he's in.

[@mauser98kar]

Its kind sad that the most interesting plotline of singer-turned-night-creature remembering himself is also the dumbest. We have been told in details what night creature is. A random soul from Hell brought back to inhabit a dead body. Not body's owner - random soul from Hell. Its not some Deep Lore TM - it was a big part of plot before that was told rather explicitly. This whole plotline exist only because authors either didn't know this rather vocalized and important part of the first series or ignored it altogether. Neither of variants is particularly good, since one means ignorance and other lack of respect to the work done before. And while this plotline is interesting, it is more so because other lines are boring as heck. Also, the plot of humans-turned-monster-recollecting-their-humanity is not new and is very predictable. Not that you can't make it worthwhile - far from it! - but it is clear how it would progress. A couple of inner struggles amidst clashes with once friends now enemies that would either lead to sudden backstab to a villain or outright change of sides that would likely results in death. With an option of actually losing their humanity and becoming full-on slave to a villain being so unlikely we can probably discard it as a major outcome. But it could be used for more drama before our turned hero would rebel against the evil and commit an act of self-sacrifice. I doubt authors will pull this off with enough mastery to make it stand out.

[@JohnSmith-co1zv]

Kinda love to see a take on both shows from a guy who has actually played the games that isn't extremely biased for or against it You were cooking, I felt the show was inferior, I dislike Warren Ellis, but he was an experienced writer who won plenty of awards, it can't be hard to find better writers

[@MrBuns-yi2hk]

Mizrak is so poorly written lol. The dude pretends to be pious and virtuous while also killing peasants to turn their bodies into demons in a church and supporting the vampires. He also is having a gay relationship with a vampire he just met, that he thinks is an abomination. Catholocism does not vibe with the gay. Then, the straw that broke the camel's back for him was the Abbot being the secret father of Maria and wanting to sacrifice her to the vampires. Like what?

[@titaniamengyun]

As one of the fans who thought relatively highly of Nocturne, I have a theory about the bad pacing (which... kinda irritated me too). Everyone's familiar with Netflix's cancellation of young, promising shows such as Inside Job. I think Nocturne felt pressured into cramming a ton of the plot points that came with epic fight scenes into the episodes allotage they had, to prevent viewership from going down and to allow them to be granted another season. With that said, I'm just speculating and hopefully the show delivers a better paced, more thoughtful product next season to go along with the gorgeous visuals.

[@randomdan1648]

The Netflix curse. Once a show turns out really good for season 1 when its based off an existing source material, they just, dont, for the next season/itteration. Everyone ends up hating it, they call everyone Bigots/Homophobes/Racist etc, and its never seen again.

[@minakohiashi8882]

thank you i feel like I'm losing my mind

[@MG007.]

That bullshit about night creatures remembering themselves is nonsense. Even the Night creature that conversed with Isaac said he almost remembered his past life but doesnt. Also the fact that Richter Belmont doesnt know what a Night Creature is and needed to be told what they were after being saved by BlAnnette is absolute dogshit. Furthermore representation isnt important we just want a good story with good characters

[@xbrokenangel2039]

There is a novel where Olrox is main villain.He becomes the Dracula in his own way and in the end Death kills him off.

[@thatgamingkiwi1630]

Netflix acquires the rights to make an animated show about a series well known for having excellent music, proceeds to use none of that music.

[@silverscythe4557]

Few things to point out. They couldn't use Dracula since he doesn't really have the motive to kill anyone. (he got his wife back, lived happily ever after, ect.) Can't blame Richter for how he is. He was left alone pretty early on since his mother died, plus I don't think he knows any of the Belmont stuff (about night creatures and stuff.) And if he did, he was young as hell and probably forgot. I do agree that they tried putting everything into narrative in to less a time. Which makes it feel rushed and makes you not have a connection to the characters. Still excited for the next season though since they said Alucard will teach Richter. So we might see character development there. I'll add on to this when I remember what else I wanted to say lol. Edit: and yes. Konami is being a b*tch with the copyrights of the game osts.

[@the_sky_is_blue1239]

This is the first genuine good review of the show.

[@slimer44producciones3]

They didn't just race swap, they fliped the coin, it landed in the middle and it went down hill until it fell of a cliff and then landed on a boat that went to another continent How are these characters the same in any way bedsides name? Wow netflix, you surely surpassed my expectations

[@guilhermeosti9526]

Totally agree with you. Gained a subscriber

[@Peagaporto]

Anette had another failed potential, her powers. They could have went the route of her having a more subtle power through contacting the spirits, or something with incorporation, kind like shaman king. Or they could have went full metal bender, kind like sypha uses ice. Instead she just summons 2 swords and for the most part fight like any regular sword wielder.

[@cyberspark4206]

I agree with you about the pacing. I didn't even know Terras name until this video. We learned her back story in episode 2 but I didn't even know her name at that point. It made it hard for me to care. Its just so all over the place

[@Barjay1987]

Am I the only one who got thrown off by Drolta's design and how it doesn't fit the time period? Like she looks straight out of the 70's

[@bbbbb9429]

Now this is a critique I can stand behind!!!

[@JayVGBND]

I believe Abbot and Erzabeth will be a major key plots in each future season here. Season 2: The Dark Priest arc. Abbot’s ideals has turned warped has been fully converted as a dark servant of the night as he transforms into the Dark Priest shaft. The price for the new transformation? A virgin’s blood as he makes night creatures attack “Aljiba😂” to distract Richter thus kidnapping Annette & Maria anyways. Richter panics & searches for Juste as they plan a battle plan and a map (cue Rondo of Blood intro scene). He rescued Maria and teamed up to save Annette. After all the struggles getting to the Dark Priest’s dark church, Richter will face the Dark Priest in the end. Richter will face all the famous pop culture night creatures that he summons (Big Bat, Medusa, Mummy, and Frankenstein) & defeats him but his vengeful spirit lingers still as he said “No I won’t end it like this” (like in the Dracula X Chronicles) and performs a destructive magic around the church. Richter senses danger as he tells Maria and Annette to run as Shaft teleports Richter and posses him in the process leading to the future SOTN season. Season 3: Erzabeth arc as she sends night creatures all around the world (Bloodlines stages) to spread her cult’s influence even more as we’ll get to see other Vampire hunters like John Morris and Eric Lecarde separately battling night creatures and vampires from their jurisdictions. Meanwhile Maria is also battling night creatures as she ran in search for Alucard after being rescued saying Richter hasn’t returned from facing Shaft as they hurry on to Erzabeth’s castle but night creatures blocks their path once more. After saving some parts of the world going to the final stage the 4 heroes was led to Erzabeth’s castle. The heroes battles her and defeats her but it’s too late as she summons a hell version of Castlevania to fulfills the final battle in Bloodlines and also sets up via Dracula’s resurrection in… Season 4: Symphony of the Night as John is exhausted after using the fake cursed whip and Eric helps him & him also to return from their hometowns as Maria and Alucard continues their search for the Shaftwashed Richter. Death appears once more to take Alucard’s sword. The succubus’s sister tricks Alucard by warping the events of Lisa’s burning while telling him lies about the cruelty of humanity. Alucard knows it’s not real as he tries to call his sword and stabs the succubus and he’s snaps back to reality. Finally Alucard and Maria found a Richter but he wasn’t himself as they fight him but Maria tells Alucard she senses something behind Richter try to aim your sword there as they vanish Shaft’s ghost but his malice knows no bound as the castle’s was affected by shaft’s desire for blood lust and desire for true power as the castle becomes inverted as if going to hell itself to find the broken soul of Dracula. The castle is a creature of hell and together with shaft’s magic and lingering malice it controls the spirit of Dracula to remember the cruelty of humanity to confront 3 heroes. Idk let’s see how Netflix will save this bloated show but those key points I said with each season should practically save the show without all the bloat inclusion BS and Agenda backstories. Extra: As for Eduardo as he is a Devil which gives a lot of EXP in the games he will give his life happily to Richter in extension of his feelings to Annette this powering up Richter in the Final Stage: Bloodlines

[@drakegrandx5914]

Comment for the algorhythm! Also, personal critic: I think you could have gone a bit more in-depth as to the bad writing problems of the show. As someone who haven't watched it (this video just randomly popped out from auto while I was listening to music and caught my interest), I mostly walked away knowing why the pacing is bad, but the writing problems were laid out as if they just were minor issues to the point that I was surprised when you mentioned "bad writing" at the end of the video. Keep it up, though! The talk was very smooth and the audio good, I would have expected you to have way more subscribers!

[@zacsch5364]

6:28 anette turning into a night creature is generally fine they atleast explain how it's done an playing with the idea he is part god or something will probly become more important in later seasons. 8:28 yep it kinda felt a tad rushed by the end of the season

[@mitchcarter4925]

Something I didn’t get is how could them two dudes be the last monster hunters I mean by the end of the fist show Trevor had a kid and a whole ass village next to the Belmont wine cellar and Dracs apartment complex you telling me they didn’t teach any of the villagers or their kids how to hunt monster I mean I don’t how long the time is but their should be a lot more Belmonts unless they all got fucked again

[@nanashipersonne4151]

Juste shows what Richter can become, if he keeps going on the trajectory that he‘s on. To hold on to bitterness and become cynical and hopeless. I like how he undermines the stereotype of the old wise man that gives guidance. By his bad example Richter learns not to deal with his trauma: to give up and become a recluse (?) in the woods. That‘s what I think Juste‘s point is in the story.

[@thezerowulf2046]

So basically this show was actually a story about black slavery and church bad, with castelvania slapped on for brand recognition. Also that singing was cringe af

[@UnifiedEntity]

And this show made me realize im sick of an ensemble cast that overshadows the main character. Shows like Avatar did it right, Game of thrones to an extent, but even the first castlevania, i want more emphasis on the damn....Belmonts....the history, the upbringing the focus on Trevor. Why is it so hard for a series to follow the eyes of one characters journey ? They fucking did it with Isaac and people are saying his part was the best in season 3. Which is true, he met various individuals good and bad, learned from them and moved on. Above all Richter shouldve had more focus than ANYONE in this show.

[@jonasholzer4422]

This season had some good moments but it mostly just felt like a lot if potential was wasted. I also think that Elizabeths new form looks kinda goofy, while she started out looking absolutely stunning/terrifying. Im very happy that Alucard showed up, but damn why did they completely desaturate his design. My boy looks like they ran out of colour ink 🥲

[@Nerdsfeed]

Great video dude! May I ask how you got around the copyright? My Castlevania videos are stuck in copyright hell

[@nikidelvalle]

I think Castlevania Nocturne is a prime example of how reactionary the internet is, everything is either trash or the best thing ever made, no room for nuance whatsoever.

[@NoCloutJoey]

1000000%

[@TheCrispAlien]

What should have been presented before Richter does magic again: Richter couldn't do magic because he felt like he caused the death of his mother by interrupting her fight with magic, and he mentally restricted himself because of it.

[@nightmarearcade2663]

Honestly my biggest issue with Nocturne is the same problem I have with Seasons 3 and 4 of the original anime. This is just Castlevania in name only like does this at all feel like Castlevania? I'm all for a different interpretation but this doesn't even feel like that it's more like they took the game's name and Characters and tried to make something completely different from where they came from without understanding that isn't what people want out a adaptation. Heck the fuck they start with Rondo of blood and just skip everything else that takes place before just to tell a story that has nothing to do with the actual game really makes you realize that they probably don't even want this to be associated with the games.

[@AdrianFahrenheitTepes]

An Evil Living Castle From Hell Itself.

[@mangaas]

I made it through the first episode right until the end when they introduce the ESG score characters, then peaced out.

[@vixalexus4395]

Very unpopular opinion: I never liked the Castlevania animated series, so im not surprised they all suck ass haha

[@potatoweaver4116]

The scene where Richter gets his magic back is actually terrible.

[@Autumnsauce]

I just imagine vlad and lisa on some sort of perma vacation as all this happens. Since the ending of season 4, being like eh not my problem xD

[@achmahnsch]

What I dont get is the unnecesary black washing and forced diversity. This is still old europe and thus should be 99,9999% white yet there are so many mixed people. But this also clashes with the white man bad arguments in nocturne because if europe is 50/50 mixed than there is no way that only white people were bad

[@otaking3582]

You saying that Circle of the Moon and Judgement are bad games?! *HOW?!*

[@laurindo100]

this is the first video about castlevania nocturne that i liked all the others either liked it and defend it with all their might or did not liked and onlu see the bad parts but talked about the good the and bad in a reasonable maner. I personaly liked but i'm not blind to all that thing that are wrong in the show and this might be a personal taste but i disliked Anette character se remember me of Amber from Invencible the dialog was not good and lots of thing happen without a explanation like vampires being able to walk in sunlight and the vampire goddess tranformation why did't she tranform from the begining sinse it boost all other vampires and herself so much without any consequence and all of just story howeve in other hand i liked design soundtruk ricter and the over all feel of the show i hope season 2 provid us with reasons for some of this unanwsered questions

[@williampearson6299]

Nice try. Annette is far from Amber. Annette was literally A SLAVE. She freed herself. She could've hated all white people but she's actually reasonable. Her resenting Richter's actions and then accepting him were her character arc so they can move onto their romance. Seems like this is a theme for interracial pairings like Princess and the Frog's Tiana and Prince Naveen

[@yellowbelt]

With Castlevania Trevor season 3 and a bit 4 brought me out of the splendors of the show. So I have my niggles and problems. Then when watching Nocturne for I'm surprised people didn't have the same intensity for Trevor's season. I understand looking up stuff on the show. Tie director put his foot in mouth dealing with fans. Like complaints of the modern dialogue. That was strong in Trevor. The only who didn't was Dracula. "The pacing was off". Season three of Trevor was a waste of time to me. On top the rushes feeling of four.Though I won't deny it is fast for Nocturne. "Richter is too weak". Too me it felt the show was infering that Richter's training was not perfect without his grandfather. On top of his magic being stunted. "Annette take too much screen time". Which I agree despite loving the character. And for me it goes on and on of specific flaws that existed in Trevor. Other is a matter of opinion of course, but I felt did what it needed. Then I wanted more.

[@Sdroalaun]

Why would you feel that they would make Annette and Eduade look bad? That would go against ALL current year things. Dont you know you can't criticize black culture on ANY grounds, even if it has merit? You must have been living under a rock. @@yellowbelt

[@yellowbelt]

I'm gonna let this statement go as a black person. I understand the valid complaint but I dislike the tone. My reasons for being concerned is that hollywood regardless of what side your on has hard time not writing nonwhite characters. On top of the vary obvious display of try to prove something. Black characters in general get very criticized. Especially if they are female. I will say there is legit reason to be bothered by her. She takes too much screen time. I like the character, but I understand more people wanted Richter. She doesnt need eclipse Richter. I want her to be competent, but she didnt need to make him look bad. I'm cool with her making him look ignorant cause she has been fighting longer. Yo the Tusdnere romance with the two needs more time if not just simply using another method. I'm not too bothered by it despite the connecting happening so fast, but I get the nah sayers. I wont deny one bit the writers strike probably affected the level writing this season. But even under the "anti woke" view point. She isnt the worst, not even close for her hate. So yes I have critique on both sides the fence. In the end its fine.@@Sdroalaun

[@elronman]

I think the main issue with the show was the pacing, and the lack of theme outside of slavery. Which only involved one of the main characters and a supporting character. You're right about the revolution, as the trailer portrayed it, I had assumed we were going to have this whole story involving the french revolution and vampires playing sides and toying with the scales. But they were laughably uninvolved, and the ones that actually had any buildup or weight felt incredibly anti-climatic. I still liked it for everything but the hectic pacing to the story, which I felt was necessary to pave the way for the rest of things. I very much expect more from the next seasons.

[@fireemblemaddict128]

I love the music in this series. Very time period appropriate pieces and the singing is beautiful. The pacing is fast, random bullshit happens but I forgive it.

[@samuraiacaso]

It felt like season 1 of castelvania series, trying to put something to make most of public liking it so it can take its time for the next season or more. I hope like it was in the main serie, the writing will improve

[@Sirkazzerino]

I think the biggest thing for me, and part of why season 1 of Nocturne felt rushed, was because there was only 9 episodes. I think a lot of the "pacing" issues people have would have been resolved if they had 3 more episodes thrown in to elaborate upon Richter and the other characters. But, hey maybe Season 2 will be better, they've left us with a pretty decent spot with Alucard flying in, and the hero's heartbroken. If they slow down the pacing for season 2 a bit and build the characters into something more loveable, i'd be down.

[@ariannasilva4462]

Personally I am trying not to hate that much even though the dialogue in many moments sucked. Simply because we have no clue how the writers strike impacted this show. We have no clue behind the scenes what happened. I think the writers strike is ending soonish? So i'm hoping the next season is MUUUCH better. I LOVED the lore and all the new gods introduced! It gives so much opportunity to expand the castlevania lore in the future!

[@NoCloutJoey]

I believe the writers strike is now over, I read that Netflix struck a deal & writers started getting back to work. And season 2 has been green-lit. So let’s see what happens next

[@usgpillarofark3980]

One thing I didn't get is why is there vampires AND humans in the streets everywhere? Aren't humans afraid of vampires? Arent vampires killing humans? It lacks context on many levels.

[@gryffindor3465]

The “romance” between Annette and Ritcher felt so out of place. I know that in the videogames they are a couple, but at what moment they fell in love, or minimun attraction in the show? Annette is constantly complaining about him, and then they start blushing out of nowhere?

[@NycroLP]

"Even bad ones" And proceeds to show Circle Of The Moon.

[@NaviRyan]

It’s almost as if the show’s writers aren’t good and needed warren Ellis to fix all of their mistakes.

[@ezelalia5739]

As much as liked the first show Warren Ellis wasnt 100% good. I readed that he actually rewrited the script of the first seasons like 5 times because Igarashi didnt liked it

[@nihili4196]

I've seen only two episodes of nocturne so far, but that was enough to make me go "fuck it, I need to see a review because this looks like is going to be a trainwreck". Pacing feels weird, it's both too fast but also kinda drags, vampires are everywhere, and they're not even trying to hide, bad guys are so laughably evil it hurts, show feels completely different from all previous seasons while obviously trying to keep previous dynamics between characters. Richter feels like Trevor at the end of season 4, but less grumpy and with occasional trauma. Vampires everywhere, magic users everywhere... I'm scared to watch episode 3 at this point

[@dewikingdon4367]

Honestly the richter opening scene just feels so cliche, like how many times have we seen this revenge story. Whereas og castlevania, Dracula has a motive (his trust in humanity broken, his only companion and human love gone, the suspense, the buildup). I can’t go past episode 2. Might sound childish but this doesn’t do it for me.

[@dewikingdon4367]

Have you watched anymore? Let me know what you think, I don’t think I can do it tbh

[@nihili4196]

@@dewikingdon4367 Yeah, I've seen it whole, don't bother. Not only it feels completely detached from previous seasons, it is just so dumb and predictable. There is one point where Richter unlocks his magic just because plot demands it. Also, a lot of characters feels like rehash of characters from previous seasons, but completely flat and much worse. And some characters feels like someone's OC. One of the companions at one point feels more important than rest of the cast, main big bad is just some all powerful vampire goddess who is about to turn off the sun, and has been around for thousands of years, even though we've never heard of her, nor anybody here involved. It's sad, animation looks pretty stellar, but you can really feel that writer strike has left only people with no experience and skills in writing room. Watching paint dry is better waste of time than this.

[@survivalofthefittest409]

"A small minority of people" Rotten tomatoes audience score: 54% Rotten tomatoes "critics" score:100% Riiight.....👌🏻👌🏻

[@NoCloutJoey]

Rotten Tomatoes is a poor example. Idk why anybody trusts Rotten Tomatoes scores whether it’s critic or user reviews. It’s all BS.

[@survivalofthefittest409]

@NoCloutJoey I certainly don't trust the "critics" scores, but I do put at least a little stock in the audience score. But putting Rotten tomatoes aside, it's not just a few people or a "small minority" who thinks the show is utter garbage (which it is). Couldn't give any concrete numbers..cause..how could you? But I'm in alot of the groups, read the reviews, etc etc, and *alot* of people are pretty pissed off by it, and *especially* by the show's response to their valid criticisms. Literally giving the stupid peasants the finger for daring to have any thought other than complete adoration for their masterpiece in political propaganda. Whether or not you agree with that take, *alot* of people feel that way.

[@brgr2642]

As someone who liked Nocturne's first season despite its flaws, I think this is a great analysis on why it falls flat. The pacing is all over the place, plot points aren't given proper time to develop and we barely spend any screen time with the main protagonist. It's honestly refreshing hearing a take that doesn't involve someone saying "Everything's woke" or "Richter's a crybaby". If there's one thing I want from this show, it's longer seasons.

[@Rihcterwilker]

In the last season of the last series, everything was happening basically in a single Village, it was not a direct adaptation, yet it was pretty good. This one just does not feel like Castlevania, while being bad on it's own. Like, take us to Transylvania, mention Dracula, throw some Universal Monsters out there... Do something to make it look like Castlevania, better yet, to make it entertaining...

[@graysonrayn9691]

I really think that this shows writing was ai written because of how fucking fast it goes. It was so good the first show now it’s barely a show in itself 😭

[@bsully98]

Some of the nightcreatures looked mad goofy imo

[@garethharriott9582]

the vampires are working with the church because in nocturne the vampires are a stand-in for the bourgeoise like in the French Revolution, the series is trying to make a connection to real-world history by acknowledging this connection. at the time and throughout history the church was used to control the masses and maintain power structures in a lot the same way it is done in the series.

[@AgentYellowWang]

People wouldn't be so angry if they just name the character a totally diff name. Lmao.