They sapped it of the fun and we were left with thin bits of plot teasers that won't make up a good story—not in the hands of the ones responsible for this conclusion
And those can be summarized as no one is allowed to grow onscreen, and too many antagonists were counted as protagonist—that is, as dynamic characters.
General rule of thumb: when you have to have one character TELL THE OTHER that they have changed, they have grown, they have matured, chances are they have, in fact, not done any of that.
Trevor began this adventure a drunken care-not disillusioned with the world and with no penchant to care about anyone aside of himself, and seemed to be at conflict with the hard-lessons drilled in him that he actually should care about others as that is his role & mandate as a Belmont by blood.
Trevor ended this as finally accepting that familial duty...and fuck all else. Because there was no one about who could reflect a kinder or more benevolent outlook toward the people that shunned him and the organization that excommunicated him.
Another tip: if you remember the quips more than you do the actual moments where Trevor laughs, cries, gets pissed, becomes stoic, or displays determination in the face of extreme opposition, then the writer's fucked up.
And this I view as a vastly bigger greviance. Because Sypha had unfortunately a fuckton of weight on her shoulders as the lynchpin to Trevor as well as Alucard
After all, we aren't actually meant to relate to Trevor or Alucard. Not on a foundational level. Trevor shunned Wallachia, Alucard was sleeping off his boo boos and accepted there'd be bloodletting until he recovered.
Sypha was the only one present that wanted verymuch to save humanity from word one. So as a connection to a reluctant-yet-necessary alliance...it was buried in quips.
As a focus to keep the audience grounded in the kindness of humanity...buried in action scenes and quips. Could have been SHOWN in those scenes, but we'll get to the weightless fights in a bit.
As a proposed romance to Trevor, an issue the games themselves never fleshed out on...she not only fails, but proceeds to be a naggy know-it-all with signs of PTSD and adrenaline addiction.
And then there's Alucard: short and sweet he's beaten by daddy, heals for a year, barbs back and forth with some random hunter Belmont, stakes his dad, and goes right into a cry after the dust settles and everyone leaves.
He isn't given a chance at dynamics, but then he's also not given the pragmatic nature that would have offset some of Trevor's cynicism and at least justified them being at one another's necks aside of the most-basic reason (human v vampire)
S1 Ep1 had him stoic and alone for 10 seconds, then Lisa Syphas (I am coining that as a verb since it's apparently what the women do in this animated series) him into a picket fence around the castle with a bounding baby boy.
I could understand given the short budget and shorter ep list mandated to the staff for the shortcomings. Had they stuck to just that road, however, it'd have been fine.
But they also got greedy and wanted Dracula, who tears through the countryside and destroys the lives and souls of men. That is largely what the REST of S1 established.
Heads on pikes tied together in entrails, moats about towncastles pooled in blood and shit, traumatized children and mothers and fathers, people drinking themselves into stupors trying not to see all that and willing to shed innocent blood for the illusional hope that it will all somehow go away if they do.
Too busy moping to lead his generals. Too busy moping to catch and cull the least subtle display at power usurping I've seen outside of name-your-mahou-shoujo-sentai-series.
Too busy moping to cull the Hector Stand In (that's not Hector—get to that in a moment, too) when he quite obviously begins helping to sew dischord into his forces
She and she alone is the reason I'm not tuning into any followup season. She's boring, she's undeserving, she's unrelatable, she's not worth following as an antagonist.
The acceptance that mankind can be both unbelievably benevolent, and horrifyingly malevolent in their passions and pursuits. Isaac was the EMBODIMENT of passion and worship to Dracula, as it (the castle) was the one place he truly felt normal.
And after Dracula's loss, he takes painstaking labors and plans to revive his lord while punishing who he viewed as the guilty party the entire time: Hector.
He accepts Dracula's invitation originally because his Forgemaster ability wasn't gifted to him—he was born with it. Nightwalkers always beckoned to him since childhood, and he'd been ostracized and exhiled as a result. But didn't hate men, instead understanding humanity and the beasts of the dark wont' ever coexist.
Dracula promotes him from hermit status and gives him normalcy. But he sees the cruelty it inflicks on Wallachia, and wants no more of it. By the time Trevor, Sypha, Alucard, and Grant storm the demon castle, Hecotr's fled back to exhile.
Where he lives until a nun of all people takes kindly to him, nurses him to health (he did not escape Dracula's castle unscathed), and actually weds him.
Isaac and Hector are two sides of the same coin. Birthed with half a foot in the dark realm. One embraced it while the other accepted but kept distance to it. The whole plot was Hector slowly being driven mad in a thirst for revenge by Isaac having his new wife and only friend/companion killed, going so far as to revive and perfect his Devilforging skills
All set up to be an elaborate trap to have Hector succumb to a force he doesn't even realize is plaguing him until the very last minute as he's about to actually step into oblivion: Dracula's Curse. Taking Isaac's life would put him over the edge and make him a vessel for Dracula's return, and said dark lord had been whispering into his ear
Hector is now some crazy lady's whipping boy and nowhere near as driven or principled as his game iteration. The onslaught viewed first-hand of the river city should have been enough to force a dilemma to his hands.
We don't get that. We get someone who wishy-washes himself into a role of Benedict Arnold, and then is a whipping boy for Carmillia and her crappy dialogue.
Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard, despite my gripes, at least stayed true to the foundation of their roles. These two were abused and mutated for the sake of some bad narrative ideas.
Each of the Vampire generals fighting were made to be wheat to a thresher machine called Alucard, so the tension of any of the 3 heroes getting wounded, turned, or caught and used against one another never materialized. Because said generals lived as they died: as wallpaper for the background.
They always suprirse me the few times I tune in. Usually don't bother often. I see a game like Casltevania and I go "yes, I can get lost in here for a few yearsmonths weeks"
JESUScastlevania 2 to make its plotline and NPC dialogue make sense?yearsmonthsweeks"