The good news is their crew of 18th-century fighters has some fresh blood this year.
Action, adventure, and a whole lot of blood-letting ensues.
(It turns out that Erzsebet maybe isn’t the show’s main villain, after all!)
Custom Image by Nimesh Perera
He just looks cool!"
ADAM DEATS: Man, that’s too hard.
That’s too fucking hard.
Image via Netflix
you’re free to’t ask me that.
The problem is that Alucard’s hair feels like it’s worked on all the time, right?
And then Juste, he’s got an incredible mane, but it looks a little messier.
Image via Netflix
SAM DEATS: Yeah, but he doesn’t even have to try.
He just looks cool!
ADAM: That’s fair.
Image via Netflix
But I will say that Drolta … do you count the tentacles on her head during her last transformation?
[Laughing]
That’s a good question!
ADAM: And then Erzsebet has that almost Lion-O mane thing going on.
Image via Netflix
It’s crazy long.
It’s almost like a Knuckles situation.
So much good hair in this show.
SAM: I’m pretty proud of how much just Maria letting her hair down changed her whole vibe.
So I’m going to go with Maria.
ADAM: Fair enough.
Image via Netflix
I’m with you on that.
Especially asCastlevaniagame fans…"
Okay, on to more serious questions.
ADAM: I don’t think that was a course correction.
Image via Netflix
SAM: That was there from the beginning.
We love Drolta.And that was kind of by design.
We wanted people to gravitate towards her.
Image via Netflix
We wanted people to be like, “What the fuck is up with Erzsebet?”
And then we wanted to pull the rug out from under them.
I know you two are the show’s directors.
Richter Belmont, a descendant of the legendary vampire-hunting family, takes center stage as he confronts a resurgence of nightmarish creatures threatening humanity. Set in a richly detailed gothic universe, the series follows Richter’s journey as he hones his combat skills, discovers hidden truths about his lineage, and allies with other hunters. Each episode weaves together thrilling battles and deep lore, showcasing the relentless fight against the sinister forces that lurk in the shadows.
You’re in charge of the animation and the way the show looks, and you’re also producers.
ButNocturnealso has showrunners, including lead writer Clive Bradley.
Do you all team up to crack an overall story before the writing team gets to work?
Or do they bring ideas and pitch them to you?
What’s the process between you guys and the writers for putting together a season’s story?
And so I don’t know if Juste had been there necessarily without Sam saying something early on.
We can’t lose that."
There are lots of little things that we have a go at steer and nudge.
We want to talk about what is going to resonate with people."
SAM: Yeah, what’s going to excite us as fans?
And, in tandem, that would hopefully also resonate with other fans.
How complicated was it to put all of that together?
ADAM: Oh my god.
When we got the outline … yeah, it was terrible.
Honestly, once we knew where it was going, we immediately flagged it.
We were like, “This is going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done.”
And the problem is not just set-piece changes, but also crowds.
Crowds are the worst thing you’ve got the option to do in 2D animation.
It’s just too hard to do, and it’s a lot of effort.
It was not easy.
Frankly, there’s a lot of duplicating crowds around in some places that were used in another shot.
That is for multiple reasons.
It’s incredibly hard, particularly for television animation.
That was the one where you have the big final moment the finisher.
Those are particularly tricky.
It worked out in the end.
So Alucard being back on the show full-time had to be like reuniting with an old friend.
ADAM: It’s always a blast.
We’re officially known to be Alucard shills.
We do whatever we can to have him around, and we also miss James Callis.
And unlike withNocturneSeason 1, Season 2 does not end on a huge cliffhanger.
Which forces me to ask: Where does everything stand with theCastlevaniauniverse at large right now?
And is the current hope to get a third season ofNocturne?
ADAM: You know, theCastlevaniauniverse is a big place.
Lots of places to go with it.
So who can say?
I don’t know.
But, as Adam said,there is a broad universe inCastlevania.
This isn’t our first rodeo when it comes to the question mark in between seasons.
Same thing happened after Season 4.
There was interest in continuingCastlevania, but there was a question mark about it then, as well.
The animated series is available on Netflix.
Castlevaniawas obviously this huge video game series before it was a TV show.
I know you guys are fans.
ADAM: Oh, man.
We would absolutely be interested in it if they ever let us do it.
I see the gears turning, so I’m hoping for some vampire fangs in the future.
Has that thought ever crossed your mind?
ADAM: We would love it.
SAM: In as much as saying, “It would be fun to do this.”
That would be a lot of fun.
So the history of theCastlevaniaanimated series is rooted in developing it as a movie or a movie series.
It just depends on where folks think our audience are most likely to show up to the party.
Power Creep in ‘Castlevania’: A Problem … or Just Raising the Stakes?
“The reality is, you’re right, we have to up the game somehow.”
Richter has his full ancestral powers at his disposal.
Drolta is out there in the sunlight.
I count three different characters who end up inhabited by a god at different points during this season.
I get why it happens you oughta raise the stakes.
ADAM: I have had those concerns.
It’s mostly me, I think.
I’m the one who usually brings them up.
The truth is, it’s a really difficult dance.
That, unfortunately, requires characters to be insane.
Sypha was already ridiculous in the first four seasons.
She was basically the Avatar by the end of it.
Trying to bring some of that stuff back and then one-up it a little bit is so difficult.
And it’s also really difficult for us to animate most of the time.
[Laughing] It is a difficult balancing act.
That’s the tricky aspect of it.
This isn’t necessarily Dracula that they’re fighting.
We had to figure out how to navigate those waters, as well.
So, yeah, it’s a tricky balancing act every time.
This season, you got to do some fun redesigns of existing characters.
We get a few different versions of Drolta.
We get god-infused Annette.
As you mentioned already, Sam, Maria’s look changes as she starts dancing with darkness.
Do you ever worry about going too far with it?
SAM: It’s actually really delightful.
I love it every time, and it’s helpful for a couple of reasons.
Number one is we get to express their story-related changes through the artwork and the design.
“The animators keep doing this thing with this character.
Richter is a good example.
That is something that you’re seeing in Richter’s design.
ADAM: Yeah, particularly with Richter, Sam nudged his design towards hisRondo of Blooddesign.
The sleeves get cut off, and he’s got the pop-collar situation going on.
That’s all stuff that’s subtly getting back to the original design that he had back then.
What’s your favorite classicCastlevaniasub-weapon from the original games?
We’ve got dagger, axe, holy water … what else is there?
ADAM: So just the classics?
Not the combination weapons from later?
Let’s go with the classics.
Boomerang is one of them, right?
ADAM: Yeah, the boomerang cross!
The boomerang cross is always my favorite in terms of its utility.
It’s just so good.
It’s also pretty busted in several of the games because it hits enemies multiple times.
Just throwing a thousand daggers really, really fast is fun and stupid.
Even though it’s never been the best one by any stretch, I just think it’s fun.
ADAM: And shout-out to theSymphony of the Nightbouncing-diamond sub-weapon.
That’s a really fun gimmick.
SAM: Really cool, but I wish it was more useful.
ADAM: Oh, it’s not good, but it’s really fun-looking.
