Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Castlevania: Seasons One & Two Blu-ray Movie Review

Castlevania: Seasons One and Two is a repackaged re-release of the first and second seasons of the hit animated series. The series is produced by Mua Film and Project 51 Productions. Inspired by the original work of Bram Stoker, the series is available on streaming from Netflix. Licensed for home media release by VIZ Media (distributed by Warner Bros.), Castlevania is produced by Maki Terashima-Furuta. Time for some bloody fun!

Dracula (Graham McTavish) poses a threat to humanity and the future of society. The dangerous and blood-sucking fiend leads an evil empire of fighters. Faced with a unique challenge, Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) must find a way to stop Dracula and his allies in the council from causing the annihilation of human kind. Can Trevor find a way to stop Dracula in his tracks? Or will more blood be spilt by the time the confrontation reaches the grand finale.

The series is inspired heavily from Japanese anime. The animated series takes on a new role with the art taking several cues from anime and the landscape of the medium. The animation on the series seems distinctly drawn from the lore of anime without being a typical anime production. The art seems is foreboding and manages to infuse some dark creative energy in to the design work. The darker animation style befits the tone of the production.

The score composed by Trevor Morris (Vikings, The Tudors) is one of the most compelling production elements. The music certainly feels action-oriented and it brings some heavy swings to the series. It doesn’t simply aim for gothic horror music and provides a dark, action-oriented score with some ambitious ideas.

The script for the series brings a new and fresh take to the lore of Dracula. The character is so iconic and memorable that any adaptation or “version” of the story is something that will lead to plenty of debate within the horror fanbase. Castlevania attempts to do something unique and different with the famous Dracula character and the lore of the story. The result is something that doesn’t fit into the same box a horror fan might expect to find. This isn’t your grandparent’s Dracula, so to speak.

Directed by Sam Deats (Castlevania: Nocturne), Castlevania: Seasons One and Two provides horror fans with some entertaining action-packed fun. The series isn’t as intelligent as some series are but it does offer action, adventure, and horror for the target audience. Director Deats also handles the series production design (which helps to create the Gothic tone).

Netflix is so inconsistent as a content creator. In my opinion, the streaming service seems to have its primary goal be quantity over quality at all costs. The streaming service doesn’t care much about a quality output outside of a few awards contenders produced year-to-year (as it hopes to build up a sense of prestige). It is not hard to understand why Netflix would produce a quasi-anime series like this (alongside botched “live- action” anime like Cowboy Bebop) as it seems to find this an easy sell for the streaming market. The target fan-base will be pleased. However, will Castlevania: Seasons One and Two win over anyone else?

Castlevania: Seasons One & Two Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from VIZ Media, Castlevania: Seasons One and Two is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original streaming aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series is dark and gritty with its animation style and the video presentation reflects the intended aesthetic by Netflix. The encode does suffer somewhat from frequent banding issues – so much so, I wonder how different the encode is from the source files used from Netflix, as for this production the picture isn't quite as impressive as expected. Nonetheless, colors are impressive and well reproduced and it is a decent high-definition presentation.

Castlevania: Seasons One & Two Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound. The lossless audio quality on the release sounds reasonably good (if not spectacular). The audio clarity is reasonable and sounds clear on the release. Dialogue is well reproduced. While not as impressive as one might hope for with a 5.1 DTS mix, the audio is still more engaging than a standard 2.0 stereo audio track. A solid encode by Viz. It is also worth noting that the release includes an abundance of secondary audio tracks: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

Castlevania: Seasons One & Two Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Animatics (HD, 5:02)

Storyboards are provided for episodes 1-4.

Art Gallery includes main character art, character art, and environment art.

More from VIZ Media:

Zetman (HD, 00:33)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1 (HD, 00:33)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 2 (HD, 1:03)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 3 (HD, 1:33)

Disc 2:

Animatics (HD, 4:19)

Storyboards for Season 2 episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8.

Art Gallery featuring main character art, character art, Dracula's castle, and locations.

More from VIZ Media:

TerraFormars Set 1 (HD, 1:05)

Zetman (HD, 00:33)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1 (HD, 00:33)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 2 (HD, 1:03)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 3 (HD, 1:33)

Castlevania: Seasons One & Two Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Castlevania: Seasons One and Two combines the first two seasons of the hit Netflix streaming series on one release. Fans of the series might wish to consider picking it up for the exclusive bonus features for the series. The video and audio quality are reasonably good as well. The set comes with an o-card slip (available with the first pressing). Fans of the series will be pleased. Netflix might be a far cry from becoming a great content distributor at this point in time but at least the streaming service is trying to work with Blu-ray distributors for home media releases of some of its television series and made-for-TV movies. Recommended.