#to the point that if he got the impression that someone harmed her he'd retailate tenfold

[beevean]

Honestly Julia is so overlooked. She was also done dirty by CoD. Rosaly was given the chance to shine in both the MF manga and PtR as the cutest thing, but Julia? No, she only has the game to go by, and CoD doesn’t exactly have the best presentation.

But still! I love love love this comment that Michiru Yamane left on her theme, Sarabande of Healing:

“I want to heal her, forced to bear the fate of her brother. Yet she's the one healing Hector! Why?!”

Oh, that hurts :(

The theme itself represents her personality. It starts off with a soothing celesta, that makes you feel all cozy inside, much like her shop is a place of rest for Hector (it even has a rocking chair for him to sit on)... but soon enough, that celesta gets replaced by a haunting, sorrowful cello. And the celesta doesn’t come back. It’s just that cello, painting her inner pain, that she tries so hard to hide.

Because that’s what Julia does: she hides her feelings. Think back of her first cutscene:

She meets a stranger who’s looking for Isaac, and she asks him what’s his relationship with him. He says that he’s his most bitter enemy, and by his voice it’s clear that he has murderous intentions. Julia... offers her help, and calls Isaac her enemy as well. When you know that she’s talking about her brother, it hits you hard.

And when Isaac dies, the most she shows is a sad face. She’s still repressing.

“The curse has reached deep inside of them. Its mark will not easily vanish. For my brother, only death could erase it.”

And when Hector starts to express sympathy, she immediately changes subject to a more positive topic, as if nothing happened.

There are clues that Julia and Isaac care about each other to some degree. First, Isaac’s reaction upon seeing her in Cordova Town, right in the middle of his fight with Hector:

He retreats Abel first thing, and then he runs away. He could have killed Hector right there when he was distracted... but no. Not when Julia is in danger of being involved. Sure, he does the whole “nah not worth killing you, become stronger first” spiel, but then why retreating Abel and making himself more vulnerable? To not hurt Julia, perhaps? The fact that he even thinks of that, as he’s Cursed up to his hair and hyperfocused on Hector, tells a lot.

And another thing that tells a lot is this comment from Julia:

“No, Hector. You must be the one to defeat him. My brother had always respected you.”

How does she know that? Yes, she has premonition powers (somehow she knew about Rosaly), but nothing indicates that she’s a mind reader. Did... Did Isaac tell her, at some point? Were they in touch when he was working for Dracula? And did he talk positively about Hector? If so, that is just wholesome 💖

So give back that wholesomeness and get this kick in the teeth from the Japanese script :)

“Only then I could accept it. Even if I lose my family...”

Julia is a witch. She was persecuted, all the way to Western Europe (Italy, maybe? Her name sounds very Italian if you fix the spelling). Whatever Isaac went through as a child, she probably did too. The MF manga implies that Isaac dragged her with him to Castlevania, but for some reason she’s never seen there - she didn’t find a place where she was allowed to exist. Then, years later, she saw her brother lose his mind to the Curse, to a degree where she decided that it would be best if he were mercy killed and be left alone in the world. And I sure hope she never witnessed Rosaly’s execution.

And yet she never complains or cries. She sells potions to Hector and hosts his Devils with a gentle smile, supporting him all the way through.

Ngl, I’d so cut that whole conversation between St. Germain and Zead that Hector overhears, and replace it with one between Julia and Isaac 😭 let them talk! I want to see Julia try to reach out to Isaac, only to be cruelly rejected, and Hector could get a glimpse of her true sadness behind her cute, slightly brusque mask.

I don’t feel like either Hector or Julia are, by the end of CoD, in a healthy place to start a romantic relationship. Julia looks too much like Rosaly, and is the sister of Hector’s friend-turned-enemy. Hector killed Isaac, even though Julia felt it was the best course of action. It’s a situation that spells disaster. But I really wish they’ll be able to heal together, and that Julia will open up more.