Castlevania Producer Discusses Anime's Success
Castlevania first arrived on the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s, introducing the world to the Belmont Clan who have sworn to stop the reign of destruction of the lord of the vampires, Dracula, and the streaming service of Netflix gave fans four seasons of an animated adaptation that has become one of the platform's biggest series. In a recent interview, producer Adi Shankar went into detail about the success of the series, while also taking the opportunity to dive into a number of other video game adaptations that he is working on, including Devil May Cry, Far Cry, and PUBG.
The first series of Castlevania came to an end after four seasons, bringing the story of Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard to a close following their fight against Death. Though they worked to stop the resurrection of Dracula, the final moments of season four revealed that Dracula was alive, but was now joined by the love of his life and had seemingly mellowed out. With a new Castlevania series in the works that will follow Trevor and Sypha's descendant Richter, fans are left waiting on news on when the animated adventure will return.
Shankar went into detail regarding how Castlevania become a success for Netflix and the approach that both himself and the creators of the series took when they set out to bring the supernatural story created by Konami to life:
"Castlevania had a team of people top to bottom who were fans of the IP and wanted animation to be taken seriously as a medium and not just a genre. In 2017, when we launched Season 1, it felt like a fight to be noticed or even acknowledged by the mainstream. The fact that Castlevania has generated not only a spin-off but has essentially sparked an entire vertical of adult-oriented animated content for Netflix is insane. This is a case of right place right time, and I'm honored that I got to be a part of this ride."
Netflix has found a number of success stories with its video game adaptations, with the second season of The Witcher set to arrive later this year as it reigns as one of the biggest live-action series of the platform, so it's definitely no surprise that the streaming service is seeking to expand its library.
What do you hope to see in the upcoming Castlevania series? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Belmont Clan.