If someone can come up with a better title that still gets the point across, I'm more than willing to change it. I'm also not sure if this should go in ~anime or ~tv, but I err on the side of ~tv,...
If someone can come up with a better title that still gets the point across, I'm more than willing to change it. I'm also not sure if this should go in ~anime or ~tv, but I err on the side of ~tv, so here we are.
There will probably be spoilers.
So years ago, me and a couple of friends binge watched the Castlevania show on Netflix, and my first thought was "why was half of the narrative essentially pointless?" There are, for better or worse, two completely separate stories happening, essentially giving the entire 4 season show an A and B plot (with the A plot having a B plot sometimes, as well!) that literally never interact. At least they each have a conclusion, though.
Unfortunately, the most narratively satisfying conclusion to the A plot happens after season 2. I'm assuming this is because the studio didn't know if Netflix would be giving them a third season, so they wanted to be able to at least wrap up the main story. Unfortunately, it means that about 60% of season 2 is narratively pointless, as it only builds up to the B plot for seasons 3 and 4.
I did include a full set of subtitles, though I've never messed with subtitles before and it was kind of awful to do. That said, they should be about 95% accurate.
Here's a quick summary of what I've changed and decisions I made while editing, some spoilers included:
Removed all of the focus on Dracula. He's supposed to be the villain, and Alucard does enough to humanize him.
Removed every mention of his 'army', beyond it being an abstract concept that's unleashed in the intro.
I used the season 2 intro to Lisa, and the fallout from that, as the movie's intro. Beyond that, everything focuses on the core trio in some way.
I shuffled some scenes around to make them feel a bit more narratively satisfying.
Cut out a LOT of scenes of talking that went on too long, or times when something was mentioned multiple times. Brevity is the soul of wit, or something.
I did leave in a few of the fan service scenes between the main characters, because it humanizes them and really emphasizes how in over their heads these three young idiots are, especially Alucard. I tried best to hammer home how chaotic the group is with a wayward Trevor Belmont leading it.
Beyond all of that, I'm sure there were more small changes and I 100% guarantee there are things I missed. Immediately after rendering I noticed there are a couple of sharp audio cuts, at the least.
If there is actual interest, I could probably create an even shorter edit, as I left in a lot of scenes that are very much TV-show-y and focus on the characters and their future, rather than the singular story at hand. Specifically I kept three separate endings because I like the dichotomy of how fucking sad Alucard is to how hopeful and happy the other two are, but it's obviously not necessary with no continuing narrative.
I'm sure I've missed some things, but I really wanted to clean it up and have it posted for Halloween. Unfortunately, subtitles are a bit confusing to set up for the first time, and slowed me down quite a bit!
When season 3 came out, it seemed rushed to me. Like they had been setting up something bigger with an expectation of a longer run, but were only given one more to wrap it up. Three felt rushed to...
When season 3 came out, it seemed rushed to me. Like they had been setting up something bigger with an expectation of a longer run, but were only given one more to wrap it up. Three felt rushed to me, like it had just dropped the other plotlines to focus on wrapping up the core part.
I felt like season 3 wasn't nearly as rushed as 4. It felt to me like season 3 was them taking it slow, then getting the rug pulled out from under them with season 4 being the last, when they...
I felt like season 3 wasn't nearly as rushed as 4. It felt to me like season 3 was them taking it slow, then getting the rug pulled out from under them with season 4 being the last, when they thought it wouldn't. Because so much shit happens in season 4.
But hey, maybe if they only focused on the core trio, they would've had more time to tell a complete story.
This is a super cool project! How long did it take you? I've never seen the show, I wonder if this is a good way for me to experience its story for the first time or if it's more of a supplement...
This is a super cool project! How long did it take you?
I've never seen the show, I wonder if this is a good way for me to experience its story for the first time or if it's more of a supplement for rewatching it?
It is 100% able to be viewed without having seen the show. Honestly, if you don't want to commit to a longer viewing of 4 seasons of a TV show, or don't want to deal with the frankly insane amount...
It is 100% able to be viewed without having seen the show. Honestly, if you don't want to commit to a longer viewing of 4 seasons of a TV show, or don't want to deal with the frankly insane amount of sexuality and weird things in seasons 3 and 4, it's perfectly watchable.
One of the reasons I made it was because I had a bunch of friends I wanted to show the show to because of how fun and gothic and weird the design is, but asking people to watch a bunch of episodes was a lot. The friends who saw it seemed to like it quite a lot.
I will say there's a lot more comedy in the show.
How long did it take you?
I think it took me a couple of weeks. I did most of it a couple of years ago, but never ended up finishing it. I went back to it after Castlevania: Nocturne (the "sequel" series) came out, and finally finished cleaning it up and having it finished enough to show someone.
Clearly the show, or at least Castlevania, means enough to you to put in the effort. With that in mind, what did you think of Nocturne? I'm working my way through it but it's not gripping me as...
Clearly the show, or at least Castlevania, means enough to you to put in the effort. With that in mind, what did you think of Nocturne? I'm working my way through it but it's not gripping me as much as the first two seasons of the original did.
Honestly, I think the main reason I did it is because I had the time and I saw it as approachable. It felt severely 'flawed', and I felt it was within my skillset to 'fix' it. I enjoy Castlevania,...
Clearly the show, or at least Castlevania, means enough to you to put in the effort.
Honestly, I think the main reason I did it is because I had the time and I saw it as approachable. It felt severely 'flawed', and I felt it was within my skillset to 'fix' it. I enjoy Castlevania, but it's not as if the series has some deep meaningful lore going back decades. It's just people go into a gothic castle and kill Dracula, rinse and repeat. The show elevated it as much as it could.
I think more than that, I just associate the show with my best friend and the comically fun time we had watching it and then analyzing and arguing about what we liked and didn't like about it.
With that in mind, what did you think of Nocturne? I'm working my way through it but it's not gripping me as much as the first two seasons of the original did.
Doing the best it can with an impossible task. The original blew through pretty much everything 'classic Castlevania', for better or worse, already. There is no scenario where a Belmont can be more interesting than Trevor, if for no other reason than trying to compare to Richard Armitage, who was fucking masterful in the original. I think the french revolution and focus on slavery and rich vs poor is a really interesting, deep theme to explore, but it doesn't have that immediate grip that the scene with the night creature mocking the bishop in the church had.
I'm expecting that Maria's story arc (trying to avoid spoilers) is going to be the standout as the series goes forward, but it felt very much like they should have had to establish things before introducing a bunch of extra characters.
In the first show, they had four episodes that were used to introduce the Tepes family, why Dracula is evil and everything is shit, and establish a connection between two characters (with Alucard showing up at the end). In Nocturne, they had 8 episodes to introduce... a lot more than that. I think a trimmed down or streamlined season 1 that was just about Richter, Maria, her mom, the big bad and the church would've been a lot easier to digest, with season 2 introducing the rest of the characters. That said, Olrox's storyline was far and away my favorite part of season 1 of Nocturne.
Thanks for sharing this. I threw together a not bad, not great movie poster for my Plex server here: https://i.imgur.com/asLjvYA.png (made the text a bit bigger/more readable). Looking forward to...
Thanks for sharing this. I threw together a not bad, not great movie poster for my Plex server here: https://i.imgur.com/skSDUVd.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/asLjvYA.png (made the text a bit bigger/more readable). Looking forward to checking this out. I generally really enjoy fan edits like this.
This is the first time I've ever made anything vaguely like this, and the idea that someone now has it saved on their home media server is wildly humbling to me.
This is the first time I've ever made anything vaguely like this, and the idea that someone now has it saved on their home media server is wildly humbling to me.
Just finished it. It's a little abrupt at some points but it's an excellent version! Perfect for a movie night. My wife had no interest in the show but I think I might be able to sell her on this....
Just finished it. It's a little abrupt at some points but it's an excellent version! Perfect for a movie night. My wife had no interest in the show but I think I might be able to sell her on this. Thanks!
If someone can come up with a better title that still gets the point across, I'm more than willing to change it. I'm also not sure if this should go in ~anime or ~tv, but I err on the side of ~tv, so here we are.
There will probably be spoilers.
So years ago, me and a couple of friends binge watched the Castlevania show on Netflix, and my first thought was "why was half of the narrative essentially pointless?" There are, for better or worse, two completely separate stories happening, essentially giving the entire 4 season show an A and B plot (with the A plot having a B plot sometimes, as well!) that literally never interact. At least they each have a conclusion, though.
Unfortunately, the most narratively satisfying conclusion to the A plot happens after season 2. I'm assuming this is because the studio didn't know if Netflix would be giving them a third season, so they wanted to be able to at least wrap up the main story. Unfortunately, it means that about 60% of season 2 is narratively pointless, as it only builds up to the B plot for seasons 3 and 4.
I did include a full set of subtitles, though I've never messed with subtitles before and it was kind of awful to do. That said, they should be about 95% accurate.
Here's a quick summary of what I've changed and decisions I made while editing, some spoilers included:
I did leave in a few of the fan service scenes between the main characters, because it humanizes them and really emphasizes how in over their heads these three young idiots are, especially Alucard. I tried best to hammer home how chaotic the group is with a wayward Trevor Belmont leading it.
Beyond all of that, I'm sure there were more small changes and I 100% guarantee there are things I missed. Immediately after rendering I noticed there are a couple of sharp audio cuts, at the least.
If there is actual interest, I could probably create an even shorter edit, as I left in a lot of scenes that are very much TV-show-y and focus on the characters and their future, rather than the singular story at hand. Specifically I kept three separate endings because I like the dichotomy of how fucking sad Alucard is to how hopeful and happy the other two are, but it's obviously not necessary with no continuing narrative.
I'm sure I've missed some things, but I really wanted to clean it up and have it posted for Halloween. Unfortunately, subtitles are a bit confusing to set up for the first time, and slowed me down quite a bit!
When season 3 came out, it seemed rushed to me. Like they had been setting up something bigger with an expectation of a longer run, but were only given one more to wrap it up. Three felt rushed to me, like it had just dropped the other plotlines to focus on wrapping up the core part.
I haven't seen the new one yet.
I felt like season 3 wasn't nearly as rushed as 4. It felt to me like season 3 was them taking it slow, then getting the rug pulled out from under them with season 4 being the last, when they thought it wouldn't. Because so much shit happens in season 4.
But hey, maybe if they only focused on the core trio, they would've had more time to tell a complete story.
This is a super cool project! How long did it take you?
I've never seen the show, I wonder if this is a good way for me to experience its story for the first time or if it's more of a supplement for rewatching it?
It is 100% able to be viewed without having seen the show. Honestly, if you don't want to commit to a longer viewing of 4 seasons of a TV show, or don't want to deal with the frankly insane amount of sexuality and weird things in seasons 3 and 4, it's perfectly watchable.
One of the reasons I made it was because I had a bunch of friends I wanted to show the show to because of how fun and gothic and weird the design is, but asking people to watch a bunch of episodes was a lot. The friends who saw it seemed to like it quite a lot.
I will say there's a lot more comedy in the show.
I think it took me a couple of weeks. I did most of it a couple of years ago, but never ended up finishing it. I went back to it after Castlevania: Nocturne (the "sequel" series) came out, and finally finished cleaning it up and having it finished enough to show someone.
Clearly the show, or at least Castlevania, means enough to you to put in the effort. With that in mind, what did you think of Nocturne? I'm working my way through it but it's not gripping me as much as the first two seasons of the original did.
Honestly, I think the main reason I did it is because I had the time and I saw it as approachable. It felt severely 'flawed', and I felt it was within my skillset to 'fix' it. I enjoy Castlevania, but it's not as if the series has some deep meaningful lore going back decades. It's just people go into a gothic castle and kill Dracula, rinse and repeat. The show elevated it as much as it could.
I think more than that, I just associate the show with my best friend and the comically fun time we had watching it and then analyzing and arguing about what we liked and didn't like about it.
Doing the best it can with an impossible task. The original blew through pretty much everything 'classic Castlevania', for better or worse, already. There is no scenario where a Belmont can be more interesting than Trevor, if for no other reason than trying to compare to Richard Armitage, who was fucking masterful in the original. I think the french revolution and focus on slavery and rich vs poor is a really interesting, deep theme to explore, but it doesn't have that immediate grip that the scene with the night creature mocking the bishop in the church had.
I'm expecting that Maria's story arc (trying to avoid spoilers) is going to be the standout as the series goes forward, but it felt very much like they should have had to establish things before introducing a bunch of extra characters.
In the first show, they had four episodes that were used to introduce the Tepes family, why Dracula is evil and everything is shit, and establish a connection between two characters (with Alucard showing up at the end). In Nocturne, they had 8 episodes to introduce... a lot more than that. I think a trimmed down or streamlined season 1 that was just about Richter, Maria, her mom, the big bad and the church would've been a lot easier to digest, with season 2 introducing the rest of the characters. That said, Olrox's storyline was far and away my favorite part of season 1 of Nocturne.
Absolutely going to watch this as a fan of the original show. Thank you for sharing.
Let me know what you think!
This is an extremely cool idea! Props to you for doing something like this!!
Thanks for sharing this. I threw together a not bad, not great movie poster for my Plex server here:
https://i.imgur.com/skSDUVd.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/asLjvYA.png (made the text a bit bigger/more readable). Looking forward to checking this out. I generally really enjoy fan edits like this.This is the first time I've ever made anything vaguely like this, and the idea that someone now has it saved on their home media server is wildly humbling to me.
Just finished it. It's a little abrupt at some points but it's an excellent version! Perfect for a movie night. My wife had no interest in the show but I think I might be able to sell her on this. Thanks!