Castlevania is a gem in a disappointing year for anime thus far. Its also a fairly surprising one, for no other reasons than a) series based upon video games are often pretty hit-or-miss and b) Konami seems more likely to allow its properties to be turned into Pachinko machines than high-quality experiences anymore. Luckily, these four episodes are the introduction to what looks like a promising show, and (moreover) one that you don't even need to be a long-time fan of the series to enjoy (if I am anything to go by).
The show begins with a meeting between the infamous Count Dracula and Lisa Tepes, a woman who wishes to use Dracula's profound scientific knowledge to be a benefit to the people. Dracula and Tepes end up married, but an unfortunate turn of events involving a stake, a bonfire and accusations of witchcraft (typical Friday night) end with Lisa's death, and Dracula's vow to return in a year and lay waste to the land of Walachia, killing any human being who still lingers. A little over a year later, demons are on the loose and killing indiscriminately, summoned from Hell to satiate Dracula's desire for revenge.
First of all, Castlevania has a real sense of the gothic going for it, an art-style replete with gory reds and dark colours but also really nice to look at, beyond the many disembowelments. A great deal of effort had obviously been put into the look of the show, and the fluidity of animations make combat and action scenes a joy to behold. A similar level of effort is put into the voice acting, which frequently (in the English language version at least) breathes life into characters who in some cases may have seemed derivative otherwise. Richard Armitage is the stand-out as Trevor Belmont, son of the well-known Belmont family who were excommunicated from the Church following accusations of black magic. Belmont is sarcastic, sometimes physically imposing, and entertaining whenever he is on screen. He is also a dick, but this seems right at home in a series about murderous vampires, manipulative (and gloriously sinister) bishops, and townsfolk urged into what is essentially murder-voyeurism.
One of the things that occurs most to me, in considering the series, is how bloody the whole affair is. Frederator Studios does not shy away from viscera, child deaths or dismemberment, and under other circumstances I would probably call this overkill. In Castlevania's case however, whether due to the gothic feel or the hellish atmosphere that precedes such sights, it doesn't seem out of place; it doesn't feel ludicrously excessive (like in Elfen Lied) or wearisome in its frequency (Attack on Titan), so this is one of the few instances in which "dead babies" doesn't appear as a negative. On the other hand, while the show is often pretty funny when it tries to be, there are a couple of weird jokes in the first couple of episodes that I don't want to spoil the effect of, but which seemed clumsily-implemented and were pretty much only there to be (for want of better words) "edgy" in a show that didn't need them.
There are other negatives I would like considered; people have already noted the short length, and the abruptness of certain revelations and cast additions in the final episode (though apparently Netflix is committed to future content in this series and the cliffhanger ending won't be left to dangle indefinitely). While I thought that the pacing was pretty good overall, the first and last episodes are slightly heavy on set-up, in terms of back-story and future seasons respectively.
In conclusion, however (TL;DR): Castlevania is easy to recommend to fans and newcomers to the franchise alike, and certainly one of the better efforts I've seen from 2017 thus far. Give it a look-in if what I've said appeals to you (obviously), because, above all, I was never bored while watching this one.
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