History YMMV / Castlevania2017

* FranchiseOriginalSin: One of the biggest fan criticisms regarding ''Nocturne'' was [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks the numerous liberties taken]] with its source material such as ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. This was despite ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' itself already being a rather loose AdaptationAmalgamation of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'', with a major member of the group, Grant [=DaNasty=], being AdaptedOut, Dracula himself only lasting 2 of its 4 seasons, [[AdaptationalHeroism Isaac being a far more morally sound character]], and [[AdaptationalVillainy St. Germain significantly worse]] -- but considering that ''Dracula's Curse'' was rather [[ExcusePlot light on lore]] and ''Curse of Darkness'' was generally seen as an underwhelming entry even in circles that'd actually heard of it, the changes were less popularly criticized. ''Nocturne'', on the other hand, applied the same BroadStrokes formula to both ''Rondo of Blood'' and ''Symphony of the Night'', both of whose plots and contributions to the franchise's worldbuilding are seen as having held up fairly well, and thus was regarded as an attempt to fix something that wasn't broken in the first place.

* SeasonalRot: A fairly common opinion among fans is that Seasons 1 and 2 are generally pretty good, while Seasons 3 and 4 suffer from a significant quality decline in writing and storytelling. Opinions are more split on whether Season 4 was better or worse than Season 3.

* OneTrueThreesome: Seeing Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard become FireForgedFriends through Season 2 has lead people to declaring they belong together more intimately. [[spoiler:Their reunion in Season 4, and the fact that at one point Sypha brings the boys into a sort of group hug in order to cover them with her ice shield, has reignited calls for their coupling (tripling?)]]

* SeasonalRot: A fairly common opinion among fans is that Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty good, while Seasons 3 and 4 suffer a noticeable decline in writing and storytelling quality.

** Dracula himself gets a fair bit of this, owing to him being a very nuanced and sympathetic take on the character, in addition to the obvious elements of EvilIsSexy and the awesome-factor.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Dracula is, of course, a good-looking, distinguished man of class with a tragic edge and the attractive voice of Creator/GrahamMcTavish. It's little wonder audience members found him quite attractive.
** Dracula's two Forgemasters, Isaac and Hector, are both definitely attractive; Isaac is charming, exceptionally fit, and generally has a very handsome appearance. Hector, meanwhile, is a PrettyBoy with an endearingly gentle and affable nature who is nude through some of Season 3 (Though the context [[FanDisservice is quite unpleasant]]).
** Season 2 gave us Carmilla who makes her [[SupermodelStrut voluptuous entrance]] in a [[LadyInRed skin-tight red dress]]. Being voiced by Creator/JamieMurray also helps a lot.
** Season 3 provides us with Lenore, one of Carmilla's sisters who is actually much kinder and approachable than Carmilla. [[spoiler:And her kindness is ''mostly'' sincere, minus the slavery. That said, she gleefully has sex with Hector and promises that they'll have a ''lot'' more as her SexSlave. If RomanticizedAbuse is your kink, there you go.]]

* BrokenBase: While the quality of the Netflix series is commonly regarded as much better than [[VideoGameMoviesSuck most other video game adaptations]], a sharp divide has formed in the ''Castlevania'' fandom over whether it's a good adaptation of the source material. Fans justify the changes to story and characters as a necessity to [[AdaptationExpansion build upon the thin storyline of the games]], while also pointing to the inclusion of many familiar monsters and {{Mythology Gag}}s that will be recognized by fans of the games. However, critics argue that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks the series takes too many liberties]] to the point where some major characters (such as Carmilla and Isaac) are InNameOnly, while Grant Danasty and many iconic elements of the games, including their trademark action-platforming and dungeon/castle-crawling exploration are AdaptedOut or very downplayed in favor of {{Canon Foreigner}}s and [[TrappedByMountainLions time-wasting subplots]], making the occasional fanservice like the game monsters and the few sequences akin to game stages or boss fights feel like [[PanderingToTheBase cheap appeasement]] instead of faithfulness.

* BrokenBase: While the quality of the Netflix series is commonly regarded as much better than [[VideoGameMoviesSuck most other video game adaptations]], a sharp divide has formed in the ''Castlevania'' fandom over whether it's a good adaptation of the source material. Fans justify the changes to story and characters as a necessity to [[AdaptationExpansion build upon the thin storyline of the games]], while also pointing to the inclusion of many familiar monsters and {{Mythology Gag}}s that will be recognized by fans of the games. However, critics argue that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks the series takes too many liberties]] to the point where some major characters (such as Carmilla and Isaac) are InNameOnly, while Grant Danasty and many iconic elements of the games are AdaptedOut in favor of {{Canon Foreigner}}s and [[TrappedByMountainLions time-wasting subplots]], making the occasional fanservice feel like [[PanderingToTheBase cheap appeasement]] instead of faithfulness.

** Striga and Morana, how deep were there loyalties towards Carmilla? Beyond (assumedly) turning them, allowing them to be together forever, they are awfully quick to [[spoiler:abandon Carmilla and Lenore to Isaacs attack. Early on in the 4th season they do have a moment when they realise Carmilla's plan is fruitless, with them realising that they would be locked in a ForeverWar with the people they are trying to subjagate. Did they genuinely believe trying to rescue Carmilla and Lenore was a LostCause, or was it simply a case of them finally having an excuse to strike out on their own?]]

** Due to the character’s absence in the series, many are assuming that Isaac will ultimately become the character of Death, due to both characters sharing a fanatical loyalty to Dracula and how Isaac’s powers in the series has some shades of necromancy rather than just summoning demon and creatures.

** This show's version of Hector always had an uphill battle to be liked by fans, considering he is [[AdaptationalWimp nowhere near the fighter]] his game counterpart is, but what truly made him divisive was his Season 3 arc where he was being manipulated and toyed with, just like in Season 2. Hector's fans like him due to him being an absolute JerkassWoobie, whose suffering is constant and whose motives are sympathetic, and have expressed hope that he'll [[TookALevelInBadass become more competent]], feeling his arc is likely a slow-burn into his eventual development into the badass of the games. His critics feel that his plotline is a [[TrappedByMountainLions pointless]] time-waster, don't like how helpless he always is and how easily manipulated he tends to be, [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass especially compared to his game counterpart and fellow Forgemaster Isaac]], and many outright dismiss his plotline and [[MemeticLoser mock the character]].

* OlderThanTheyThink

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass:
** Hector and Isaac. Isaac is sharp-witted, hypercompetent, and a badass fighter, so despite him being openly evil and seeking to wipe out humanity, he receives a lot of audience praise and sympathy. Hector, on the other hand, is equally sympathetic. As of Season 3, however, Isaac only grows in competence and fandom praise, whereas Hector [[spoiler: is manipulated and brutally enslaved by Lenore]], with many fans and critics alike dismissing him as incompetent and stupid.
** Similarly, Lenore and Hector receive this. Lenore is a demure woman who is threatening and competent, effortlessly beating him in a CurbStompBattle fight and [[spoiler: stringing him along in her plans.]] Due to this coolness, many called her a highlight of the season and disliked Hector. [[spoiler: This is despite her being a cruel and manipulative woman who openly states she intends to sexually abuse him, though we don't know if she actually went through with it.]]

** Before this show came out, Warren Ellis wrote ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'', similarly an {{Animesque}} cartoon miniseries adapting a property aimed at kids in a grittier, darker and more explicitly violent way than the original media was, with those who had grown up with it being a big part of the target audience. Ellis was also similarly unfamiliar with the source material when he was approached to write. So the show can be considered a successor in spirit for it, though being stuck in DevelopmentHell for years meant that Ellis had finished the script for at least the equivalent of Season 1 (which was going to be an animated movie, the first of a planned trilogy) before ''Resolute'' came out.

** Before this show came out, Warren Ellis wrote for ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'', similarly an {{Animesque}} cartoon miniseries adapting a property aimed at kids in a grittier, darker and more explicitly violent way than the original media was, with those who had grown up with it being a big part of the target audience. Ellis was also similarly unfamiliar with the source material when he was approached to write. So the show can be considered a successor in spirit for it, though being stuck in DevelopmentHell for years meant that Ellis had finished the script for at least the equivalent of season 1 before ''Resolute'' came out.

* SpiritualSuccessor: A lot of fans of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' would consider this to be a better adaptation of its themes and tone than the [[Anime/Berserk2016 official anime released in 2016]]. A comparison that grew in Season 4 with the showing of Striga's 'day armor,' which bears a certain resemblance to the Berserker Armor from the series.

** This show's version of Hector always had an uphill battle to be liked by fans, considering he is [[AdaptationalWimp nowhere near fighter]] his game counterpart is, but what truly made him divisive was his Season 3 arc where he was being manipulated and toyed with, just like in Season 2. Hector's fans like him due to him being an absolute JerkassWoobie, whose suffering is constant and whose motives are sympathetic, and have expressed hope that he'll [[TookALevelInBadass become more competent]], feeling his arc is likely a slow-burn into his eventual development into the badass of the games. His critics feel that his plotline is a [[TrappedByMountainLions pointless]] time-waster, don't like how helpless he always is and how easily manipulated he tends to be, [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass especially compared to his game counterpart and fellow Forgemaster Isaac]], and many outright dismiss his plotline and [[MemeticLoser mock the character]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Is it an animated series based off a game that was commonly enjoyed by kids, and animated by a studio known for making kid shows? Yes. Is it actually for kids? Not really. Like other ''Castlevania'' entries such as ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'' reboot, it is far too dark and bloody to be for young audiences, with the producer Adi Shankar comparing it to ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and calling it "R-rated as fuck". The first episode opens with ''with thousands of impaled skeletons'', and goes on to show a woman burned at the stake with her charred body crumbling away, an entire city being wiped out by demons, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and two men talking about how the first one happened upon]] [[BestialityIsDepraved a man screwing one of his goats]].

** "Godbrand" seems an odd name for a vampire. But an actual Old Norse name is "Asbrand" (pronounced "AUS-brand"). "As" means roughly "of the gods/God," "Brand" relates to a sword, making the name mean "sword of the gods/God." They just translated the first part of the name and not the second, possibly because "Godsword" would sound even sillier.

* FanPreferredCouple: Instead of pairing them off individually, most fans have taken to pairing the protagonists, Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha, together as a OneTrueThreesome. Most fanfiction and fan art are of this OT3, and it even outranks the canon combination Trevor/Sopha on most sites.