Castlevania Season 3: You're the Jesus of murder.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Castlevania Season 3: You're the Jesus of murder.

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

RBA Starblade posted:

All in all I thought it was pretty good, though the animation quality is still a little janky and the 3d effects next to it still look weird to me. I like how the whole thing is a look at how everyone who isn't Sypha and Camilla, mostly, are broken by the world, with the thing that ultimately defeats Dracula being a moment of clarity. It was a more interesting direction to take it than just monster whippin'.

What was the Dark Souls reference?

I mean, Carmilla was broken too. Most of her character stems from being the kidnapped teenage bride of a typically nasty vampire - it's interesting to look back at how she talked about Dracula's relationship with Anna in the context of that flashback.

In addition to what people mentioned about the Farron stance, that bit with Alucard's wolf form holding that sword in his mouth was totally another reference.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2018 14:38

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# ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:10

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

https://twitter.com/samueldeats/status/1055782556203958272?s=21

:smith:

# ¿ Oct 28, 2018 17:08

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Bust Rodd posted:

Actually I think you�ll find immortalizing your wife�s dead dog into a cartoon beloved by thousands, eventually millions is amazingly cool and good.

The dog dying in the first place is kind of sad, though.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2018 17:34

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

One thing I find interesting about Carmilla is that despite being a ruthless, sadistic vampire who wants to enslave humanity, she's basically an agent of karma. Seriously, every single person she hurts has it coming in some way.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2018 00:46

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Phenotype posted:

I wish that Sypha and Trevor had made it to Dracula and Alucard in time to help during round 2 of the final fight. End it the same way, if you like, but they could have gotten another fighty bit or two in between all the vamp on vamp pounding. The combat scenes where they're all fighting together were the best ones, I think.

Agreed that it got a little bit slow in the middle, but I did like all the backstory and bickering between Dracula's lieutenants. I didn't know it drew from the games as much as it does. Hector is apparently a protagonist of one of the games, and according to the wiki "A former Devil Forgemaster who betrayed Dracula three years ago, allowing his fall by the hand of Trevor Belmont." And apparently the game kicks off when Isaac kills his wife to draw him out.

Weirdly, that could still kind of work if Isaac takes revenge on Carmilla and Hector has to do some growing up and live as an actual member of the human race for a while.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2018 23:07

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Given that the team are clearly Dark Souls fans, I did wonder if Sypha's little hovering icicles in the hallway fight were inspired by Homing Soulmass.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2018 20:04

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Hra Mormo posted:

Honestly other than being cel shaded I don't even see Castlevania as an anime. The people all actually look like people, the tropes aren't non-existant but are subtle and rare. Despite being based on japanese source material I'd outright call Castlevania a western-style cartoon with anime influences. But I guess where the line of "anime or not" falls could be argued until the heat-death of the universe.

The only guy with a Japanese name in the credits is American. It's a Korean-American collab based on Japanese source material.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2018 18:21

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Metalshark posted:

https://deadline.com/2018/10/castlevania-renewed-season-3-netflix-richard-armitage-james-callis-1202493302/

Good news, everyone!

Honestly, I'd be cool if they finish up with Curse of Darkness. End it while it's fresh and they're enthusiastic.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2018 20:24

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Lurdiak posted:

There's all sorts of fan theories about what designs might be references to who.

I personally think it's just that anime style can only do so many faces, but eh.

This show went for pretty detailed, unique faces, and male characters usually get plenty of leeway. Come to think of it, were there any two characters who had the exact same face?

# ¿ Nov 1, 2018 16:03

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Who's the writer, though? That's going to be the main indicator of the tone they go for - Castlevania was extremely Warren Ellis.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2018 14:53

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Pollyanna posted:

Finally diving into this. Is this viking-looking vampire's VA supposed to sound incredibly drunk?

Edit: Oh hey I was kidding about him being a viking but look at that.

Yes, Godbrand is permanently drunk, and it's best not to ask what on.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2018 04:21

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Panfilo posted:

How did Miko run so fast with those boulders on her chest? Demons?

What exactly determined what made people possesed? Did they ever explain the reason?

The demons started out possessing hosts they believed to be useful, and then just started possessing people at random so humanity would freak out and rip itself apart in a fit of paranoia as they looked for any sort of pattern to the weird unholy poo poo going on.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2018 18:16

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Mind you, there were warning signs all the way through the season that something was absolutely not right with that town, and it tied into the ongoing conversation about how good a ruler you can be if you're a literal murderous parasite. What we saw there was a microcosmic reflection of the empire Carmilla and her sisters are planning.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2020 00:11

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Hector's entire storyline so far:

https://twitter.com/cavalorn/status/654934442549620736?s=21

# ¿ Mar 6, 2020 14:42

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Doltos posted:

I dunno it caught me by surprise. The twins felt like a weird story line that was going to lead Alucard to Japan or something. I wasn't even thinking that him moving the castle was that big of a deal, or that they would at least not have a devils threesome to try to kill him, just do some regular killing later when he's asleep or something.

Hector's situation is really hosed up and would probably have a lot of people going wtf if the genders were reversed. Them keeping him as a slave pet is somehow more hosed up than Dracula's plans for humans.

The most important bit about it, though, is that Lenore was totally right. That was exactly what Hector wanted vampires to do to the human race, down to the very last detail. He is the incarnation of the Leopards Eating Faces voter, which is why Isaac, who's a lot more self-aware and intellectually curious, tends to come across as more sympathetic despite his stated goals being worse.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2020 02:36

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

NowonSA posted:

Yeah I'm in this boat, have him about to do some Dracula stuff, Sypha and Trevor stop him, he becomes a proper good guy again and realizes he needs to travel with them so that he doesn't go crazy and if he does go too far again they'll put him down if they really have to.

This season was proper bummers all around, but that's pretty much what you want in a Castlevania show so I wasn't disappointed. and that's a sensible tone to go for after they have they hit the heroic high of killing Dracula and saving the world. I really like where Hector ended up and how the vampire who charmed him sees their relationship, that whole meeting room scene at the end of the season was just pitch perfect all around. I think she's legitimately the smartest and most powerful out of all of them and is really working the angles well, but I'm calling it now she'll regret not treating Hector with real affection and making him her pet instead. Hector's deserved his circumstances, dude's no saint and is the king of poor life choices, but I'll still be quite thrilled when he uses some forgemaster magic bullshit to get out of his current circumstances and has a boatload of fiends kill the vampire sisters. With that said, the smart move for him on paper would be to swallow his pride and just play ball.

I didn't mind the sex scenes, and the character's reasons for what went down in each made sense to me. They also create ample material to examine if you want to really break them down. One tidbit to toss into the mix, for instance, is that I think it's very plausible that given his accelerated aging and what we know of his background that was Alucard's first sexual experience, so yeah that'll be some solid lifelong trauma for him there if that's the case, moreso than it already is[/spoiler[. I don't mind the show tossing in those deeper elements to go along with my fun monster fighting action.

I hope we get a longer timeskip between seasons for season 4, I'd be very intrigued by where all the characters in the show are at physically and mentally about five years from the end of season 3.

The thing about Lenore is that she's pretty much just Hector as a vampire. Neither of them see people as people, only as interesting animals who should be granted comfort but not freedom. I don't think she's intellectually capable of seeing him as anything other than another cute, injured beastie to adopt.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2020 09:55

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Ghost Leviathan posted:

That's pretty much the same thing that Carmilla said about him- he's somewhere between a human and an animal as far as she's concerned, and neither make him worthy of independence from a vampire's point of view. Lenore is just smarter about it, and uses pretty standard abuser tactics of granting and withholding comfort, affection and sex as to make him downtrodden and compliant, though being more honest that she considers him to exist for her convenience and entertainment.

Vampires seem to have a hard enough time getting along with each other and prefer a strict hierarchy, possibly instinctively, and mostly based on sheer power; Dracula commanding loyalty mostly because he's on another level entirely- and one of the few who seems secure enough in himself to not need assurances of loyalty, to his detriment in the end. (not that he seemed particularly concerned given his whole plan to kill everyone, get killed, or both)

Oddly enough the generational thing has precedent with Jojo, complete with fighting vampires, though I imagine the writers won't be so keen to leave behind characters they've invested in.

Her sisters do mention that she makes a habit of exactly this, though. She seems to care like he does - it's just that affection without empathy takes you to horrifying places. Remember that Hector is also very gifted at domesticating animals, and the whole point of this arc was to get us to consider the parallels between 'abuser tactics' and 'domestication techniques'.

Darth Walrus fucked around with this message at 10:23 on Mar 8, 2020

# ¿ Mar 8, 2020 10:16

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

NowonSA posted:

Ah I hadn't really tied that in to Hector's past with animals and humanity, though I should have since the parallels are pretty clear. Lenore's a lot more charming, though I guess Hector did have some smooth moments here and there in season 2, though I may be remembering more charisma than there actually was.

Lenore can afford to be smarter and more self-aware than Hector while maintaining the same general attitude, because there's far less contradictions in her worldview. She doesn't have to tie herself in knots about why she's One Of The Good Ones, because she's a vampire, not livestock. She's just found a livestock specimen that happens to agree with her.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2020 17:45

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Bust Rodd posted:

�Hector is weak and stupid. He should have rejected the super hot vampire lady and not had awesome sex with an immortal succubus, instead drawing her ire and possibly being torn limb from limb. If I had been in Hector�s shoes, I�d have maintained my zen-like force of will throughout all of no-fap November.�

Hector is also a feminist icon, my mans has been beaten, dragged, tortured, and emotionally and psychologically devastated for months and first chance he gets he GOES DOWNTOWN! Being a giver is very on brand.

I mean, that's a valid choice, it's just that he had the gall to act surprised after he had a nice chat with her about how vampires should do exactly this to the human race in its entirety.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2020 17:55

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

evilmiera posted:

It may be a bit on the nose sometimes, but every single story (aside from poor Godbrand's, maybe), is trying to present and test the protagonists(?) worldviews, philosophies and personalities against someone or something similar to theirs. Alucard's loneliness leading into a rejection of outsiders when he tries to open up and let people in (but fails), Hector's aforementioned "Leopards/Vampires eating faces"-party membership leading to his re-enslavement, Isaac's direct control of a monster army versus the mindcontrolling wizard army (and his reasoning behind it) and so on.

The only person whom its kinda hard to determine if he's being tested or not is Germaine, if only because he keeps his motivations close to his chest and its kinda hard to get a bead on a time-travelling sage who is motivated by a need to find a dimension-hopping mystery-person, based on an equally mysterious character from the games

Saint-Germain was a self-interested and mostly useless huckster who our two main heroes decided to help at no immediate, obvious benefit to themselves, and after all their other efforts at playing hero went horribly wrong, he repaid their kindness by saving the day with an act of reckless bravery and promising to meet them again after gaining at-least-partial control of an incredibly powerful magical device. He was the proof that their chosen lifestyle had value even at its worst, and they, meanwhile, taught him the value of human generosity.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2020 18:15

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Solice Kirsk posted:

I don't know how I feel about this season. The dialogue seems to ave gotten better and I really liked the Vampire Sister Snow Fortress stuff and Isaac's plot lines. Everything else I just kinda didn't care about. The judge being a child killer was weird.

All it means is that he's a vampire minus the fangs and magic tricks. Remember Carmilla's delight over being served virgin blood? The angle they seem to be pushing here is that vampirism is a personality and mindset more than anything else, which Hector and Isaac, the two vampire-affiliated human wizards, are also constantly teetering on the edge of.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 00:39

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Actually, I think it's genuinely instructive to say that a vampire in Castlevania is someone who lives for bloodshed, either as a carnivore or as a parasite, and while pointy ears, pale skin, and big fangs are mildly correlated with vampirism, they're not a sure-fire indicator. It's a state of mind. Remember that it was a major plot point that Dracula, iconic in fiction worldwide as the most vampirey vampire to ever vampire, refused to drink blood in the first two seasons of this show.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 04:48

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

punk rebel ecks posted:

Wait, Carmilla actually mentioned she wanted to use mercenaries? I thought that was something the other girl just made up to lure Hector to bed with her?

There was a whole conversation where Morana talked Striga around to the idea of buying troops.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 16:56

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

ThePagey posted:

Here's your reminder that Into the Spider-Verse was a masterpiece (beyond the good narrative stuff, obvi) because they used animation in varied and interesting ways that aren't typical to the industry even though they 100% should be at this point.

Also lmao at the idea of Trevor trying to fight a mech with Morningstar and getting endless frustrated by it.

Is the sequel to that still in the works? I don't care when it's coming out, I just want to know the team behind it is still together and still making things.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 20:05

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Bust Rodd posted:

They said Holiday 2022 for release of Spiderverse 2. Animation of that quality takes a long time, even with a team that talented.

Like I said, I'm fine with a long wait so long as the project's happening and didn't get caught up in licensing bullshit. Just want that team to have space to create.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 20:37

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

gh0stpinballa posted:

i actually quite enjoy when shows allow a character to be dumb or gullible. it's entire in hectors character to fall for another line of bullshit. he has to truly hit bottom before he can redeem himself and wise up.

The important thing about this season is that it was the best-case scenario for his own plan for humanity. Before, he was just cruising on the idea that the enslavement of his species would be fine if it was gentle and humane. The final ingredient is going to be meeting another human being he can emotionally connect with, which is what I guess will happen in S4.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2020 20:41

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

punk rebel ecks posted:

So I understand why Isaac wants to kill all humans due to him being a slave in the past, but why does Hector hate humans so much?

Hector doesn't hate people. He sees them as animals, and he likes animals. It's just that they're dangerous and unpredictable animals that he doesn't wholly understand, and he thinks it'd be better for them and everything else if they were properly domesticated like his pets. An almost-complete lack of positive human contact may have contributed to this.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2020 03:14

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

RareAcumen posted:

Samesies. What other scenario would have a man and a woman traveling together with neither of them developing romantic feelings for each other? Unless there was a significant age gap between the two of them like The Last of Us or the first Telltale Walking Dead game.

Pretty sure they were indeed a couple. Their body language suggested they were very comfortable with each other.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2020 19:47

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Doltos posted:

As opposed to the thrillingly happy people who prickle up on internet forums

Dude, this is not a horse you want to back here.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2020 02:54

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Thundercracker posted:

They just added part 3 of JoJo to netflix so go watch it. It's the most popular chapter but fans always argue which is best.

Part 1 is slow and kinda cliched, but it's short and sets up the series. Fast forward or just watch the ending of you want. Part 2 loving amazing and Joseph is by far the best JoJo.

Part One is only weak relative to the rest of the show. It's a perfectly fun adventure on its own.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2020 20:23

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Regalingualius posted:

Granted, Jonathan has the personality of a brick compared to... pretty much all of his descendants. It�s not until Part 2 that you start getting the bizarre stuff, like the ancient Aztec vampire gods of bodybuilding who are named after rock bands, or the evil murderous squirrel that slaughters a squad of Nazis.

TBF, Part 1 still gets pretty impressively weird, and Jonathan's strait-laced good-boy heroic attitude makes a fun, amusing counterpoint to that.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2020 21:54

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

itry posted:

Even if you take them at their word, they were there to take the castle from the begining. They must have asked about it at least three times throughout the season.

That storyline may be more about the legacy (of hate) of the great vampires.

Vlad inspired hate and fear. Alucard was able to distance himself from that, taking inspiration from his mother.

Chō chose to come and serve Dracula, so she must have seen him as an inspiring figure. We learn that she indoctirated her slaves - on purpose or just through her sadistic displays - basically brainwashing them into little/weaker versions of her.

That's what the (not actually) twins are. Just an extension of Chō.

And going by the end of the season, it's coming full circle to Alucard (again) who is now a little more unhinged because of it.

Edit: Anyway, it's another good season to an already suprisingly good show.

Edit2: The editing of that episode has Alucard mirroring Hector, the infinite optimist. They both dared to hope for something good, and got damaged for it.

lol, you think Hector's plan for humanity was 'something good'.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 17:27

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

itry posted:

The good here is "this vampire chick is really into me and not at all up to something".

The big difference between Hector and Alucard is that Hector got exactly what he expressly, personally asked for. He just never quite cottoned on that he was going to be subject zero.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 17:41

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

itry posted:

I was specifically talking about the sex scenes in episode 9.

Yup. He got what he asked for. Dude talked a lot about breeding camps and control mechanisms in S2.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 17:50

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Bust Rodd posted:

Once again, Hector�s options are literally �willingly succumb to an antediluvian vampire of unknowable power� or �be tortured and murdered by that vampire� with basically no options in between.

Not mention that seducing the vulnerable is like, more or less, the things vampires are basically famous for. They were literally crafted as metaphors for the rich and wealthy who seduce and prey upon the weak and poor working class. I seriously would find any scene in which Hector successfully rebuffed a 1,000 year old max-stats vampire ladies� advances far more unbelievable.

Yeah, but none of that prevents it from being a situation that he merrily waltzed into without seriously thinking it through. He was quite unprompted when he told Lenore that he still wanted vampires to domesticate humanity.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 21:13

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

MonsterEnvy posted:

He's not a Muslim.

He was raised as a Sufi Muslim, and he still holds to at least some of his old practices (like flagellation and avoiding alcohol). He's at the very least on the periphery of the faith.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2020 01:15

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Platinum is about the closest thing, mind.

Loose equivalent might be a Christian specifying if they're Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox etc. (I'm not sure if Protestants are a thing in the show's implicit timeframe yet, for that matter)

Not exactly. Sufism is a blanket term for Islamic mysticism. It's like a Jew specifying they're a Kabbalist, or a Christian saying they follow the Threefold Path. In this setting, it probably means that Isaac learned some of his magic as part of his religious education.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2020 18:55

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

I mean, we've already got a prominent society of Jewish mystics, the Speakers. Muslims might as well join in too.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2020 19:20

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

Bust Rodd posted:

Yes he was sending them all to die in the spike pit and he was keeping their shoes as trophies like a Serial Killer.

It�s so Sypha can see the crux of Trevor�s cursed existence. He is the destined savior of humanity... but why bother saving such a miserable race of shitbags?

Also, it's part of the show's developing thesis about what vampires actually are, and why it's not just about the teeth and the pointy ears.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2020 19:00

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# ¿ Apr 20, 2024 05:10

Darth Walrus: Feb 13, 2012

RottenK posted:

who started a web forum

Women Ellis was using.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2020 16:43

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Castlevania Season 3: You're the Jesus of murder.

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