If you remember my post about Hellsing Ultimate, this anime has a similar taste. An all-powerful vampire that reaps the land to express his power and take his revenge on the city of Wallachia for the burning of his wife. This anime is made by Adi Shankar and written by Warren Ellis.
Source: Rough Trade
Plot
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The series begins with a woman named Lisa in 1455 who wishes to be a doctor, so she travels to seek out Vlad Dracula Tepes, who has advanced scientific knowledge and technology. Dracula likes her ambition and decides to teach her his infinite wisdom while she teaches him to walk amongst men again. Eventually, the two get married. After about twenty years of this, a bishop in a town discovers her scientific equipment and accuses her of witchcraft. She is burned at the stake, and when Dracula learns of this, he is furious and vows to kill every last one of the people of Wallachia. They do not believe him and instead celebrate the day that his wife was burned a year later, which results in Dracula keeping his word and immediately killing everyone in sight. As a result of this event, the kingdom’s noble families are blamed, including the Belmonts, which the main protagonist resides in.
The Battles
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Trevor Belmont is someone who fights monsters like vampires. Still, the people had no longer wanted him around because they thought that his family was one of the families that were responsible for the chaos in Wallachia. During his first fight with Alucard, Dracula’s son, he was victorious and now has formed a team with him and the sorcerer he had met along the way. Their goal is now to kill Dracula to stop the chaos in the world. I like the fights in this anime because of the medieval aspects. Only swords and bows are typically used in battles, with the exception of magic by some. Obviously, magic has been outlawed in Wallachia, and those who used it were known as witches and were burned at the stake like Dracula’s wife.
Why I Like This Anime
Source: Amino
I love this anime because it has such a great comparison to Hellsing Ultimate. They both have extreme blood and gore and have vampiric powers. Hellsing Ultimate takes a more modern approach to vampires, while Castlevania stays in medieval times. Alucard in Hellsing Ultimate is like the second form of Dracula because he can take either form, except Alucard uses guns instead of swords and shields. You could almost say that Hellsing Ultimate is the continuation of Castlevania in the modern age. Castlevania has an excellent way of characterizing the medieval time’s fear of witchcraft and how powerful the catholic church was. Back then, if you didn’t go to church, then you were viewed as a sadist.
Who Will Enjoy This Anime?
Since this has about the same extreme graphic content as Hellsing Ultimate, I would say ages sixteen and up can enjoy this anime. This time, however, you can go to Netflix for this original series instead of Crunchyroll because of it being American-based.
Having watched the show when episodes were coming out weekly, I really appreciate the progression of Araki’s art style throughout the 5 parts of the series. While I appreciate the buff designs of jonathan and joseph, those were qualities of 20 years ago that were just unrealistic in nature. The new setting in Italy also provides a unique shift in perspective and scenery. The focus on the structure and hierarchy of the gang also kept my attention.