> Where's the "wtf" sign?
>
> Anyway, I was linked to this gem by Dragonsbrethren.
> Discuss.
The Castlevania series, for one reason or another, seems to incorporate a dark, romanticist aesthetic, which makes it quite fascinating, actually. Every Castlevania game seems to be a struggle between a humanistic, benevolent viewpoint which mankind so wants to cling to, and a dark, scary, lawless viewpoint of death glorification, in which the most feared forces of nature are represented in anthropomorphic form as walking skeletons, vampires, zombies, venus flytraps with Siren-like women, leading men to their death with their naked beauty.
Even as man wants to make something of his life, he can not help but acknowledge the total inevitability of death. No matter what belief system a man adheres to, whether it be Christianity or Shintoism, all have as their central focus man's place in the world, and finding meaning in a life that can only end in death.
The Japanese, in their fascination with Western culture (and as a fundamentally pagan culture), have often felt a connection not with the mainstream of Western society, but with the myths, folklore, and ancient beliefs of European cultures. The Japanese would rather dissect the Apocrypha (Neon Genesis Evangelion) than comment on the Bible. They would rather look at ancient Norse myths than contemporary, Christian beliefs. This is why so many Japanese game developers seem to know what Ragnarok is supposed to be, while descendents of people who actually believed in Ragnarok know absolutely nothing about the concept.
This desire is fundamentally compatible with the sort of macabre form of romanticism which dominates Castlevania. This sort of romanticism sounds silly, but is a grandly presented expression of many existential questions. An extrapolation of what is, into a grand celebration of what IS. A metaphor for the eternal struggle of life and death (with life winning, at least temporarily). The celebration of staving off death (Dracula) for one more century, knowing that he will inevitabily return (and theoretically, win).
All pretentiousness in the above post was intentional. I'll get back to playing video games now
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