After the first four seasons of Netflix’s animated Castlevania series were a huge success, a new series was put into production to follow suit. Castlevania: Nocturne follows Richter Belmont (Edward Bluemel), descendant of Trevor Belmont, the protagonist of the previous series. You do not have to watch the previous series to follow this one but it is recommended as it will help invest you in the world and the family of the Belmonts.

Hundreds of years after the defeat of Dracula and his Vampire Court in 1783, we find Richter Belmont as a child traveling with his mother Julia Belmont (Sophie Skelton). They are running from something in the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, but their flight is interrupted by the appearance of Olrox (Zach McClaron). Olrox is an Aztec Vampire who seeks revenge on Julia for killing his lover, whom he had turned into a vampire.

A fight starts as Julia urges Richter to escape, using her whip and her magic she fights against Olrox, but when Richter tries to protect his mother and fights at her side, she is forced to sacrifice herself to protect him. Olrox spares a now terrified Richter, saying he plans to kill him – much later. Richter then travels by boat back to Europe, fearing for his life and saddened by the loss of his mother. 

Nine years later in France during the French Revolution, we find Richter attending a meeting of revolutionaries being held by Maria Renard (Pixie Davies). They are discussing how to free themselves from the oppressive ruling class when the meeting is accosted by a group of three vampires. As Richter rises to fight them, equipped with his mother’s whip that is enchanted against the undead, he is aided by Maria and her magic that lets her summon magical creatures to battle with her.

Upon defeating the vampires, Richter hears one mention that the arrival of the Vampire Messiah is soon at hand, which will plunge the world into darkness. Richter writes this off as no more than babble and executes the vampire.

The two return to Maria’s home where they meet Tera Renard (Nastassja Kinski), Maria’s mother and discuss how to approach the sudden increase in vampire activity lately. They suspect a rich chateau in town is secretly housing vampires. However, Tera warns them that they can’t investigate this on their own, so Richter and Maria seek the aid of the Church and the Abbot of Macheul, Emmanuel (Richard Dormer). Maria is against this idea, as the Abbott is pushing against the Revolution, but Richter eases her worry saying despite their disagreements, both sides seek to destroy vampires. 

Tera’s home is then attacked by Night Creatures, unholy monsters created by bonding a soul from hell with a human corpse. We discover Tera is also a powerful mage as she, Richter and Maria fight against the creatures. Despite their efforts, they struggle and are assisted by the sudden arrival of Annette (Thuso Mbedu) and Edouard (Sydney James Harcourt). Annette has magic that lets her manipulate sand, stone and metal to create weapons to fight with, and Edouard is a formidable sword fighter. Together they all chase off the Night Creatures and introduce themselves to each other. 

Annette says that she and Edouard come from the French Colony of Saint-Domingue on Hispaniola. Annette is a former slave who escaped her slavers, one of which was a vampire, as she obtained her magic and led a revolt against them. She met Edouard when she escaped; he was an opera singer and was able to offer her aid and hide her so she could escape. The two of them inform Richter that they are searching for him to help him defeat the Vampire Messiah. Richter is surprised that this rumor is true – and they inform them the name of the Messiah is Erzsebet Bathory (Franka Potente).

Tera is shocked to learn this as she encountered Erzsebet in the past in Russia; after her vampires destroyed her village she fled to where she now lives in France. The five of them all agree to help each other to defeat Erzsebet and prevent France from being brought to ruin by her power. As the characters investigate the vampires and their influence on the state of France, they make many discoveries about themselves.

The series is aided by having amazing animation and visual style, as well as a stellar voice cast. Its eight episode limit does feel like it worsens the pacing in some places, but this doesn’t wholly drag down an otherwise great experience. This season ends in a surprising way for both newcomers and those that watched the previous series, leaving myself and audiences interested in what’s to come next. You can watch all eight episodes of Castlevania: Nocturne now on Netflix.