Castlevania: Nocturne takes the action to the French Revolution on Netflix in September
The stakes in the Castlevania universe have never been higher.
The Netflix animated series, Castlevania: Nocturne, has a premiere date set for September.
Season One spans eight episodes, kicks off on the 28th, and is set during the French Revolution. As the peasant class rises up against the aristocracy, an even darker threat emerges a cabal of vampires intent on taking over the world and darkening the skies forever.
The show will find its heroes battling monsters while also facing their own inner demons. Rumors have spread of a vampire messiah, and this shadowy figure must be stopped at all costs.
Castlevania: Nocturne is centered around Richter, who’s continuing the family tradition of vampire hunting, and Maria, a magic user battling the vampire elite who’s also fighting inequality in her country.
There's also Annette, who used her power and wits to escape vampire-enforced enslavement in the Caribbean, and now uses her magic to stop the vampire threat. She is joined by Edouard, who left his life as a talented opera singer to aid and accompany Annette.
A mother and mentor to young vampire hunters and magic users, Tera is another character who has her own share of past trauma to bear, and there's also Olrox, who killed Richter’s mother and must now decide whether he can team up with his sworn enemy to stop vampiric world domination.
And finally, there's Erzsebet Bathory, based loosely on Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer Elizabeth Bathory, who is known as "the one foretold." She’s the queen of vampires, and if she gets her way, she will become queen of the entire world.
Here's a summarization of the story, courtesy of Netflix:
"During the French Revolution, members of the so-called lower classes are rising up to fight inequality. While the peasants fight against the elite, Richter Belmont senses a far grimmer and greater danger. He’s picked up his family’s long-held tradition of vampire hunting, a vocation that goes back almost as long as a vampiric life span. But he’s never seen anything quite like what he’s witnessing now - could the drastic uptick in vampire activity have something to do with the death of his mother? And what’s up with this rumored news of a supposed vampire messiah?
"Richter joins forces with Maria and an unlikely crew of characters whose toughened exteriors bely their various tragic backstories. Bringing their formidable shape-shifting powers to bear, they seek to prevent the seemingly imminent reign of the vampire messiah. Their last-ditch battle to save humanity becomes fraught with existential questions as each vampire hunter is forced to confront their own troubled and traumatic past. And as the vampires threaten to leave the world in eternal darkness, there’s no time to spare - and plenty of dark drama on display."
Castlevania: Nocturne’s predecessor, Castlevania, premiered on Netflix on July 7, 2017, and continued for four seasons. It's a good series, and if you haven't watched it, you should give it a try.