- For other uses, see Nocturne (disambiguation).
Castlevania: Nocturne is an American horror action-adventure animated series distributed by Netflix. The series is a spinoff of the Castlevania animated series, based on the video game series of the same name. It features Richter Belmont and Maria Renard, set in the events of the French Revolution. The series draws inspiration from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.[1]
The first season consists of eight episodes of 24-31 minutes each, and was released worldwide on September 28, 2023.
Synopsis[]
- "As revolution sweeps France, Richter Belmont fights to uphold his family's legacy and prevent the rise of a ruthless, power-hungry vampire ruler."
- — Official Netflix synopsis
Premise[]
Set in 1792 during the French Revolution, primarily in the French commune of Machecoul, the series follows the young vampire hunter Richter Belmont and his adoptive sister Maria Renard as they make new allies and attempt to prevent the apocalyptic rise of a godlike Vampire Messiah.
Cast and characters[]
Vampire hunters[]
- Richter Belmont (voiced by Edward Bluemel, and Benjamin Plessala as young Richter): The tough young hero who's continuing the family tradition of vampire hunting.
- Maria Renard (voiced by Pixie Davies): A natural leader who's fighting inequality in her country, and also a magic user battling the vampire elite.
- Tera (voiced by Nastassja Kinski): A mother and mentor to young vampire hunters and magic users, who has her own share of past trauma to bear.
- Annette (voiced by Thuso Mbedu): She used her power and wits to escape vampire-enforced enslavement in the Caribbean, and now wields magic to stop the impending apocalyptic threat.
- Edouard (voiced by Sydney James Harcourt): He left his life as a talented opera singer to aid and accompany Annette.
- Juste Belmont (voiced by Iain Glen)
- Julia Belmont (voiced by Sophie Skelton)
- Alucard (voiced by James Callis)
Vampires[]
- Erzsebet Báthory (voiced by Franka Potente): She's the queen of vampires, and, if all goes as planned, of the entire world.
- Drolta Tzuentes (voiced by Elarica Johnson)
- Olrox (voiced by Zahn McClarnon): He killed Richter's mother years ago and now must decide whether he can stomach teaming up with his sworn enemy in order to stop vampiric world domination.
- Vaublanc (voiced by Alastair Duncan)
- Nikolai (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
- Marquis (voiced by Jonathan Roumie)
- Marchioness
Church[]
- Abbot (voiced by Richard Dormer)
- Mizrak (voiced by Aaron Neil)
Other characters[]
- Captain (voiced by Darren Jacobs)
- Cecile (voiced by Sharon D. Clarke)
- Esther (voiced by Erica Luttrell)
- Liberty (voiced by Georgia Dolenz)
- Jacques (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
- Deputy's daughter
Episodes[]
Season 1[]
 |
Adam Deats |
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| An attack on their camp spurs vampire hunter Richter and young mage Maria to seek the help of the Abbot of Machecoul. Strangers bring news from abroad. | |||||
 |
Saren Stone |
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| As the threat of a Vampire Messiah looms, Tera's past holds dark omens for the future. Annette, Edouard, Richter and Maria head for the château. | |||||
 |
Zodwa Nyoni Rachel Wardlow |
Tam Lu |
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| In shock after a loss, Annette shares the story of her escape from slavery and her journey from Saint-Domingue. Chaos erupts at a public gathering. | |||||
 |
Adam Deats |
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| Olrox voices doubts to Mizrak about the Abbot's alliances. Desperate to help a friend, Annette leads a risky mission over Richter's objections. | |||||
 |
Adam Deats |
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| Drolta makes a persuasive pitch to Olrox, and Annette encounters an old enemy. Revelations shed new light on Maria and Richter's family histories. | |||||
 |
Adam Deats |
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| While Richter learns about the Belmont legacy, Annette searches for the wisdom of her own ancestors. Edouard attempts to get through to a comrade. | |||||
 |
Adam Deats |
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| Emboldened by her victories, the Vampire Messiah steps into the spotlight. Richter flexes new abilities. Olrox makes a surprising proposal. | |||||
 |
Adam Deats |
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| With the Abbot poised to make an unthinkable sacrifice and Erzsebet's plans already in motion, Richter and his allies hurl themselves into battle. | |||||
Production[]
Season 1[]
In April 16, 2021, Deadline reported that Netflix was planning a spin-off series set in the Castlevania universe, following the conclusion of its original animated series, with a new cast of characters. Set during the French Revolution, the series would focus on Richter Belmont, a descendant of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, and Maria Renard. Kevin Kolde and Clive Bradley will serve as show-runners and executive producers under Kolde's Project 51 Productions banner. Powerhouse Animation will return as primary animation studio under which Sam and Adam Deats will be directing.
In June 10, 2022, during Netflix's Geeked Week virtual event, it was announced that the series is titled Castlevania: Nocturne. The voice cast of the series was revealed on July 27, 2023.
The teaser trailer for Castlevania: Nocturne was released on July 27, 2023. It featured a rendition of "Lamento della Ninfa" by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. The main trailer of the series was released later that year on September 7.
The series premiered on Netflix on September 28, 2023. It was screened the day before its release on the Netflix virtual showcase Drop 1.
Season 2[]
Over a week after the release of Season 1, Netflix announced that Season 2 of Nocturne is under production with a brief teaser video featuring production footage from the series.[2]
Differences from the games[]
Like the original Castlevania animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne's initial plot is based on games where its protagonist –in this case, Richter Belmont– has appeared in, such as Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, The Dracula X Chronicles and Symphony of the Night; however, it greatly expands and/or deviates in many aspects from these source materials.
- Like its predecessor, Nocturne implements usage of coarse language, while this had never been present in the games.
- Richter was given a backstory in the animated series, something that never happened in the games. The original character, Julia Belmont, was created for this purpose and killed to make Richter's origins tragic and work as a motivator for him to grow stronger throughout the series.
- The character Olrox, a boss introduced in Symphony of the Night, was implemented into both Richter's backstory, as well as the main narrative of the series. He is a vampire that holds a grudge against Julia for having killed someone he loved.
- Juste Belmont from Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was added to the story as well. He now appears as an elderly man, which heavily contrasts from his youthful appearance from the game. While in the game, his exact family relation with Richter was left ambiguous, in the series, he is clearly stated to be his grandfather.
- Besides using magic (mainly for summoning animal companions), in the series, Maria Renard also uses a sword as her secondary weapon, something she never did in the games.
- Maria also uses her design from The Dracula X Chronicles rather than from Rondo of Blood.
- Maria's age was changed from her original 12 years old in Rondo of Blood to 16 in Nocturne.
- In the series, Richter meets Maria when he goes to live at her house after his mother's death, while in Rondo of Blood, he first meets her in Dracula's Castle when he rescues her from Shaft.
- Annette plays a starring role in the series, while she was only a support character in the games.
- She was given a complete redesign, now being a black Caribbean woman using Vodou magic.
- In the series, Annette is a skilled swordswoman and can use powerful magic spells, while in the games, she mainly played the role of damsel-in-distress.
- She also was given an elaborate and tragic backstory involving her escape from slavery, while in the games, she was only a villager and Richter's girlfriend.
- The character Tera, who was only a nun villager captured by Dracula in Rondo of Blood, now is actually Maria's mother. In the games, Maria's parents were presumed to have been killed by Dracula's forces.
- Also, in Nocturne, instead of a nun, Tera is one of the Speakers, like Sypha Belnades was in the first Castlevania animated series.
- In the series, Alucard awakens after sensing the threat that brings the coming of the eternal night, while in Symphony of the Night, he only awakens after Richter goes missing.
- Like its predecessor, Nocturne adds more original characters such as Julia Belmont, Jacques, Edouard, Mizrak, the Abbot, Vaublanc, Nikolai, the Marquis and Marchioness, Cecile, Esther, and Liberty, to name a few.
- Erzsebet Báthory was added to the story as one of the main antagonists for Season 1 as the Vampire Queen. However, Elizabeth Bartley from Castlevania: Bloodlines wasn't introduced as a threat to Europe until in 1917.
- Drolta Tzuentes is now a vampire and plays a more relevant role in the series, while the original Drolta from Castlevania: Bloodlines was only a background character who was a witch helping to resurrect Elizabeth Bartley, and she technically wouldn't be around during Richter's era.
Reception[]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Castlevania: Nocturne holds an approval audience rating of 45% based on over 1,000+ user ratings, having an overall mixed reception.[3] Metacritic reported there were "mixed or average" ratings for the first season, with a weighted average score of 4.6 based on 188 user ratings.[4] The general consensus is that while the show has decent animation, it is overall inferior to its predecessor and the plot often sidelines the protagonists to focus more on secondary characters. The writing, excessive swearing, unbalanced direction in the storyline, and push of progressive identity politics also received a mixed reception in general.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Related products[]
- Castlevania (animated series) - Another Castlevania animated series by Netflix and prequel to this series.
- Castlevania: Nocturne Original Series Soundtrack - The soundtrack to Season 1.
References[]
- ↑ @NetflixGeeked at X (June 10, 2022).
- ↑ Castlevania: Nocturne is coming back for a second season.
- ↑ Castlevania: Nocturne at Rotten Tomatoes (retrieved: December 30, 2023).
- ↑ Castlevania: Nocturne at Metacritic (retrieved: December 30, 2023).
- ↑ Netflix's Castlevania: Nocturne Faces Criticism for Race-Swapping Character at Game is Hard.
- ↑ Annette: Black Anime Representation In Castlevania Nocturne" at Culture Bay.
- ↑ "Don't Watch Castlevania Nocturne" says Series SBD on Annette Race Swap at Crazy for Anime Trivia.
- ↑ Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1 Review – 6/10 at DJMMT's Gaming (& More) Blog.
- ↑ Castlevania: Nocturne review: "Could be more fearsome than its Netflix big brother – if it shows more bite" at GamesRadar+.
- ↑ ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ Is a Very Bad Vial of Congealed Blood at Rolling Stone.
External links[]
- Castlevania: Nocturne at Netflix
- ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ — Your First Look at the New Series at Tudum by Netflix
- IMDb
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