Castlevania
Dec. 17th, 2018 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kutsuwamushiI finally managed to watch Castlevania yesterday. The first time I tried to watch it, I just couldn't quite get into it. It was okay, but it's really hard for me to get into new shows these days - even if they're really short.
I have some thoughts.
1. I tend not to like villains that much. Carmilla is obviously intended to be a villain, and I liked her anyway. She was the only clear-headed villain of the lot. She knew what was up, that is, that Dracula was a crazy old man, surrounded by man-children who were either too sycophantic or too stupid to do anything about it.
I thought her violent cruelty toward Hector in the last episode cheapened her character. She was never nice, but she was calculating, and abusing Hector doesn't accomplish anything for her. It's not a good idea to make a necessary tool hate you. It seemed like a move toward a more typical, "I'm just an evil bitch" character role, which would be pretty disappointing.
2. Really? That's what they do with the sole black character?
3. And then, later: Really?
4. I like the Speakers, but there is also some discomfort there. The setting is so closely based on Europe and Christian theology that it's impossible not to interpret them through that lens. They're clearly based on Jewish and Roma people. I think the biggest moment of cognitive dissonance for me was when Sypha matter-of-factly explained that the speakers are the enemies of God. One one hand, that is interesting and badass, but on the other - uh, yikes.
5. I am really surprised that fanfiction!Alucard isn't more of a woobie. He's got all of the markers of the perfect woobie prince.
6. Speaking of fanfiction, I haven't found any I like, but I haven't looked at any Trevor/Sypha fics. I could have liked the pairing, but the compulsory heterosexuality in the final episode just put me right the fuck off of it. WHY DO YOU DO THAT.
7. It was kind of disorienting that the main characters started out so powerful. It's not exactly a complaint - it was a short show, and there wasn't much room for them to develop their powers. Some of it is probably expectations of anime as a genre. When I got to the end and realized that the only 'power-ups' were Trevor finding a weapon, and Sypha completing a spell, I was a bit surprised though. This might be part of why I had a hard time getting into it at first: The lack of development made it feel rushed. But some of that's not really a lack of development, it's just not use of a common trope.
I have some thoughts.
1. I tend not to like villains that much. Carmilla is obviously intended to be a villain, and I liked her anyway. She was the only clear-headed villain of the lot. She knew what was up, that is, that Dracula was a crazy old man, surrounded by man-children who were either too sycophantic or too stupid to do anything about it.
I thought her violent cruelty toward Hector in the last episode cheapened her character. She was never nice, but she was calculating, and abusing Hector doesn't accomplish anything for her. It's not a good idea to make a necessary tool hate you. It seemed like a move toward a more typical, "I'm just an evil bitch" character role, which would be pretty disappointing.
2. Really? That's what they do with the sole black character?
3. And then, later: Really?
4. I like the Speakers, but there is also some discomfort there. The setting is so closely based on Europe and Christian theology that it's impossible not to interpret them through that lens. They're clearly based on Jewish and Roma people. I think the biggest moment of cognitive dissonance for me was when Sypha matter-of-factly explained that the speakers are the enemies of God. One one hand, that is interesting and badass, but on the other - uh, yikes.
5. I am really surprised that fanfiction!Alucard isn't more of a woobie. He's got all of the markers of the perfect woobie prince.
6. Speaking of fanfiction, I haven't found any I like, but I haven't looked at any Trevor/Sypha fics. I could have liked the pairing, but the compulsory heterosexuality in the final episode just put me right the fuck off of it. WHY DO YOU DO THAT.
7. It was kind of disorienting that the main characters started out so powerful. It's not exactly a complaint - it was a short show, and there wasn't much room for them to develop their powers. Some of it is probably expectations of anime as a genre. When I got to the end and realized that the only 'power-ups' were Trevor finding a weapon, and Sypha completing a spell, I was a bit surprised though. This might be part of why I had a hard time getting into it at first: The lack of development made it feel rushed. But some of that's not really a lack of development, it's just not use of a common trope.
