#don’t hate me for this but i like nocturne more than the original castlevania series >< nocturne’s just cuntier!!!

[pinkmirth]

i love love loveeee castlevania nocturne! i’ve been binging it lately and i’m already growing terribly obsessed ><

[ouraboras]

Ranking Alucard's Designs, Best to Worst

I've had a rough day and feel like being mean. These are just my opinions. Some rules:

I’m not counting each game a character appears in unless the design is noticeably different. I don’t count different art styles as a different design. I’m not counting the mobile game skins with two exceptions. For the most part it’s just him but purple. However, for your pleasure, joker Alucard:

Symphony of the Night

No surprise. It’s his most iconic design. He’s gorgeous. I enjoy how he wears a mixture of human clothes (the jacket) and more stereotypical vampire clothing like the cape. Same with warm colors with black and silver.

2. Grimoire of Souls

I love this design. I kiss it every night before I go to bed. I pray to it on Sundays. His waist makes me go feral. The only thing that bothers me is the brown lining. I wish they did something like the inside of his SotN jacket.

3. Moonlight Rhapsody – Outfit 3

I know absolutely nothing about this game. However, I love this skin. In my head when I imagine Alucard pre-Dracula betrayal this is it. The collar is a bit silly but I can look past it. I love the sleeves. The only critique I have is the brown and we’ll get to my feeling on Alucard wearing brown. But on this outfit, it’s not too bad.

4. Nocturne

They gave him his gay little neck ruffle back nature is healing. I wish they kept the details on the coat, but I’ll happily take the trade. I like his face.

5. The cancelled Dracula’s Curse movie concept art

I need to know what the context behind this would have been. The skirt, the pauldrons, his bloody hands, HIS HAIR PUSHED BACK. The only thing I dislike is his black nipple.

6. Aria and Dawn of Sorrow

I like the suit. The red pocket square is nice. I think it is a really interesting choice for it to be red rather than yellow as a callback. I love the choice to make him resemble Dracula pre-vampirism. All of his color has been drained and replaced with black and red. I go back and forth on if I hate or like (for symbolic reasons) his tie-neck ruffle thing. But none of that is my real problem with the design. His shoes are hideous. The heel is good.  He deserves a little heel. But what is going on with the white. It's ugly and going to be a bitch to keep clean. His slacks are too long. He’s a government agent, he can afford to go to a tailor.

7. Season 1 & 2 of the show

I dislike the shirt. I’m not a big fan of how they drew his face either. But I like how they gave him Trevor’s chest scar.

8. Captain N

He’s so rad. But to be honest, Captain N Alucard has a special place in my heart. I remember when this was the closest thing to an animated series Castlevania had. It being this high is purely my nostalgia. I highly recommend watching the episode. It is pure 90s camp.

9. Season 4 of the show

Whore.

10. Grimoire of Souls – Blood and Loyalty

I can’t find a better look at this skin. He’s apparently dressed as a samurai. I like this purely because his hair is up. I don’t see enough of that. (artists pls you’d be doing the world a service)

11. Lords of Shadow 2

The only thing I like about this design is the coat. The dark blue with gold looks really good. I don’t like the belts, but I can ignore them. My issue is the armor. I hate the bronze so much. The armor on one hip is ugly. The ONLY thing that salvages this crime is the fact this Alucard is wearing the highest heels. This looks like an MMO armor set.

12. Judgement

I only unironically like 2 of Judgement’s designs. This is not one of them. I dislike it purely because of how boring it is. They put Simon in bondage gear, gave Trevor a boob window, and made Sypha a Catholic magical girl. But Alucard has to be more modest than the actual child. They could have fun with this but didn't. The most interesting thing about this design is they made a vintage couch into his cape.

13. Dracula’s Curse

This is Alucard’s original design. It’s just your standard pop culture vampire. I like his little owl hair tufts.

14. Legends

I’m fine with changing up Alucard’s design. Hell, we got SotN because of changing it. However, why is he blue? It’s not this illustration either he is just light blue for some reason. I like the short hair. I think it’s a cute way to show this game takes place in the past. But again, purple? Really? His necktie is not doing it for me either. It looks really bad.

15. And finally, last and certainly least: Pachinko and Moonlight Rhapsody

The faces? Good. Hair? Good. But for some reason they made his coat brown. At LEAST for pachinko they had some gold gauntlets and brown gloves instead of his sleeve cuffs. But whatever fucked up person at Konami did the design for MR kept the sleeve cuffs. It’s not like there is the excuse of ‘Oh the inside is black’ because it’s yellow. Now you might be asking: Why is this the worst? I have similar issues with other designs. But here is the thing, they all did something new. This is just your standard SotN Alucard with a color palette change. It looks like a recolor skin but it’s the main one. It's a bad change but not one bad enough to not be boring.

[nelmyriel]

[ Castlevania: Nocturne ]

Briefly (haha, nope) about my attitude to Netflixvania: I’m neither a fan of the original animated series, nor its hater (I like S1 and S2, but S3 and S4 are absolutely not for me. Apart from the franchise, it remains one of the strongest animated works). I'm always open to new things as long as the creators try to keep at least some connection between characters and their prototypes (and I have some concerns about it).

As a fan of Maria Renard (especially the grown-up version), I'm glad she's not forgotten. The gaming community is largely divided between those who see Maria as a funny child added into the universe as a joke, and those who hate the adult version for being implied to be Alucard's love interest (I don’t agree with some fans' interpretation of their relationship, but more on that another time. glorfys_glorioushair's vision is the closest to me).

I'M TIRED, I just want to meet new people, even if we have different canon sources. I will take care of them, warm them up, presenting the games xD

In more detail (not criticism, just verbiage): Let's start from the obvious part — this is a product of inspiration, not an adaptation in the literal sense. To get some pleasure watching the animated series, you need to distance yourself from games. This is a quite standard method nowadays, I think.

I'm still forming an opinion about Nocturne, because the story is not finished yet. But I'm also slowly plunging into melancholy, because Alumaria ship and Maria are the cornerstones of my love to Castlevania per se.

How changed is the huntress' image? Well, I feel like Netflix missed some potential that games contained (or will implement it later?) and done a hideous damage with Maria's swearing, but there's still a chance to patch up such flaws with her growing up.

I always imagined her as a battle Lady. Dangerous and daring, but elegant and well-mannered (if I correctly understood Renard family's position). If I were the adaptation's author, I would tend to the archetype of a young noble lady breaking stereotypes. (Without extremes, of course — she is engaged in a tough business). This would have provided interesting dynamics with other characters (and an interesting detail for Richette), since the nobility side would be represented not only by vampires, but also the dissident protagonists.

This doesn’t mean I think Netflix’s biography of Maria is bad — it’s just different and takes us away from Konami again. Whether this is good or bad — we still have to find out. Perhaps it's just a matter of habit?

However, I'm hopeful about the family arc. Such plot has controversial nuances, but it's much better than the off-screen death of nameless parents. I want to witness the girl's experiences and life lessons! I'm also absolutely thrilled with how Tera's character was reworked!

I thank and at the same time judge the creators for the way they managed characters' age. Now the gifted summoner better fits the gloomy setting, but, unfortunately, she meets Alucard too early — this fact obviously sets the audience against the romance. Because of S4*, I already had to bury my dream about "one true love" story (its symbolism is expressed in the wolf form), and then they added fuel to the fire**.

(*A dude can't experience "first and/or only love" more than once (not being reincarnated, of course), so my favorite trope just won't be adapted. It's not about Greta, she's a good (one of the best in S4, actually) character. You can substitute Sonia in her place or swap Maria and Greta, and my message will not change. It’s just that Konami — many years ago — hooked me with a story about naive and inexperienced lovers. Given Alucard's nature, this made an interesting topic to explore. But, since I am still here, it means I accept new rules.) (**In my culture, only the moment (age) when a romance begins is important. Not the moment of first meeting. But it's hard to miss the public outcry — people haven't seen the characters' relations yet, but already hate their dynamics).

I'm also upset that in battle scenes Maria is a pale shadow of herself. In the opening fight, she couldn't handle just one vampire, but I hope that the writers intentionally left room for her skills development. Drawing a little minus for this. But a plus for the sword and the underrated DXC design!

Well, if the plot disappoints me, at least a lot of visual content will remain, which is a real treasure for a fan of unpopular Maria. I'll always admire the work of all involved artists.

P.S. Yes, I deliberately omit the analysis of general history, setting, etc. (After all, this is not a review of the entire Nocturne, just a character's superficial analysis). There is a huge room for discussion, but I will leave it to more historically savvy people. One thing I understand for sure: this is one of the most visually and historically rich basis, which wasn't used properly. On the other hand, it's mainly a matter of budget. Corporations are unfair to creative studios. In my perfect world, Powerhouse and Konami join their forces.

Hey Konami, don't you have an animation studio? Your followers are dreaming about a canonical adaptation or a remake of an iconic game with significantly deeper plot.

I never seriously criticize and certainly never post angry manifests, especially dedicated to someone’s creative expression. I'm always looking for the positive aspects, but if my patience runs out, I usually just retire.

Anyway, since the release of S1 I've been immersed in the Nocturne fandom and even prepared something unique for you!

P.P.S. Sorry for the confusion and my poor English!