Castlevania

Season 3 landed on Netflix yesterday and it’s one of the very few shows that I’ll drop everything for, although I guess that can be said for every Warren Ellis project. That’s because—in classic Ellisian fashion—this season is like a freight train; pulling out of a station slowly to begin, but by the end all the carriages are rushing off a cliff straight into the open maw of hell.

My only wish was that were more stories that felt like this carefully animated comic book on screen.

Also, I wonder why this is a series of ten episodes and not a movie. I guess there might be some research at Netflix that says people will happily munch on ten serialized lunch box sized episodes about anime vampires, but a whole film? Woof! That’s an enormous psychological commitment—no thanks!

Although perhaps it’s an artistic decision, as I know that Ellis loves those cliffhangers that comic books are perhaps the best at rendering. Splitting things into tiny episodes gives you that ability to cut things off, to give the audience a reason to watch the next bit, to keep everyone on the very tips of their toes.

Anyway, if you’re unfamiliar with Warren’s work, you really ought to check out the first volume of Trees. And then hold on tight.