Greetings OSV readers!
First of all, an apology that the site has been inactive for the past few days. We needed a time of rest to prepare for the big week ahead.
Timed intentionally with that wonderful, “spooky” autumnal holiday in mind, we are going to dedicate the next week (and spilling over some into next week) covering the music of the Castlevania series.
Castlevania, known as Akumajo Dracula (Demon Castle Dracula) in Japan, is arguably Konami’s biggest and most successful franchise. It started as a simple, stage-based 2D platformer and eventually grew to encompass a variety of genres, including one that it essentially made up with the help of another franchise (the “Metroidvania” genre: a form of 2D platforming with save points, map exploration, non-linear or semi-linear paths, and power-ups allowing access to new areas).
In the coming days, expect reviews and impressions of a variety of albums released in the franchise’s lifetime, from the very beginning all the way to some of the most recent OSTs and arranged albums. We’ll also be posting an interview with Kinuyo Yamashita (composer for the very first Castlevani), alongside the three other composers who attended the VGO Boston concert on October 7, 2012.
Until then, feel free to check out all of OSV’s previous Castlevania coverage, listed below!
Akumajo Dracula Tribute Vol.1 and Vol.2 Review
Akumajo Dracula X ~Nocturne in the Moonlight~ OGS Review (that’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) – Soundtrack of the Month April ’09
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth Review
Castlevania Judgment game and soundtrack review
Castlevania Lords of Shadow Soundtrack Review
Castlevania: Sonata of the Damned (Joshua Morse / OCRemix) album review
Daniel Brown’s Castlevania piano album review
Gideon Dabi’s Castlevania and Nostalgia Editorial
Kinuyo Yamashita 2009 Interview with Audun Sorlie
Speedrunner “Nario” Beats Castlevani with a dance pad
Sweden’s “Castlevania The Concert” Concert Report from Surasshu
Wikipedia vs. Kinuyo Yamashita (result: we won, here’s her Wikipedia page with no threat of deletion!)
Yay, lots of Castlevania love. It’ll be interesting to see whether you cover that cheesy rap album or some of the obscure dance mix singles (those things are off the wall).