If you are an ardent fan of Greek mythology and read a plethora of books such as The Song of Achilles, Circe, Percy Jackson Series, and many more, then you surely would have enjoyed watching Netflix’s Blood of Zeus. Even though the series is based on Greek mythology and legends, it is nothing that we don’t know or haven’t read. Despite trying to stand apart from the ancient legends and myths that we are aware of, the show often falters in creating something new.
The show is full of problems, and it is only great when it adds a dark twist to the Greek legends while trying not to stray too far away from the authentic source material. However, it looks like the show is in a tight spot, as the creators, Vlas and Charley Parlapanides, open up about the repetitive aspect of the show.
Blood of Zeus’ Recurrent Pattern Had Put The Show in Grave Situation
When Blood of Zeus was first announced by Netflix, every Greek mythology enthusiast was on their toes, as they were thrilled to see what the show had to offer. But if you are an ardent fan of purity and prefer following what the ancient legends and myths told, then the show would be vaguely frustrating to watch.
However, if you are not into following historical accuracy, then it would be exciting to watch, leaving you wanting more. Nevertheless, these aspects could not save the show, as the creators of the Netflix original series share that the show found itself in deep trouble due to the same story being repeated for a millionth time.
During an exclusive interview with Inverse, the creators, Vlas Parlapanides and Charley Parlapanides opened up about the major problem revolving around the anime-inspired show produced by Powerhouse Animation Studios, stating how the executives are not blown away no matter how many different iterations of the legends are shown to them. They said,
“We’ve pitched every iteration of Greek mythology possible,” Charley says. “And when you pitch executives the traditional, tried and true story, their eyes glaze over. Oh, we’ve seen this a thousand times.”
Hence, the creators came up with a unique solution telling the executives, “What we had to do is frame it as this last story in Greek mythology. We get past the gatekeepers by saying, ‘This is a story you don’t know.’”
To support their story, they present it in bold text that the story is something that is “lost” in history. Vlas Parlapanides mentioned “Many of them were never transcribed,” and added,
“So we thought, maybe some were lost. The question we asked was, ‘What if this were one of those tales?’ That intrigued us. We could take the artistic liberty and tell the story we wanted to tell. It was oral tradition. There isn’t a definitive version.”
Nevertheless, the show got mostly positive reviews from its viewers as it has an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it a good show to binge-watch if you don’t nit-pick the details.
Blood of Zeus’ Creators Opened Up About How They Differentiated Their Show From Attack on Titan
In the same interview, Vlas and Charley Parlapanides shared how their generation grew up watching a ton of anime series, and they did everything in their power to make Blood of Zeus stand out from the Japanese art form, calling it “the gold standard.” Vlas Parlapanides said,
“Our generation grew up loving Japanese anime. Now is our chance to step into that arena and tell stories from our point of view. There are sensibility differences. One thing we’re doing is making Blood of Zeus as cinematic as possible. It’s like a movie within the anime space.”
Since they immensely respect the art form, they are trying to make it as “cinematic as possible,” but they also made a visual distinction that separated it from Attack on Titan. Vlas Parlapanides added,
“I love in anime those static shots, like it’s a beautiful drawing and you’re panning as someone speaks,” Vlas says, “but in our show, it’s more of a western cinematic language where you’re looking at reaction shots, not just static shots. In Japanese anime you could pause and look at the frame and it’s beautiful. Our show is more about capturing moments, so you might not get those beautiful frames.”
The creators indeed managed to showcase these aspects in their show, but overcoming the routine pattern of the show and constantly diverting from the show would affect the show in the long run.
Blood of Zeus can be streamed on Netflix.
