setting it in a futuristic setting. Soma was designed by Ayami Kojima, who had previously worked on the characters in Castlevania games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. Kojima's drawings are made in a dark, gothic style, and borrow heavily from bishōnen-style art. Nevertheless, keeping with Igarashi's "different route" motif, Soma's appearance was made noticeably more contemporary, sporting more modern clothing in comparison to the medieval attire of characters in previous Castlevania games. Soma's inclusion in Dawn of Sorrow, a rare sequel in the Castlevania series, was made by Igarashi, who stated that one of his primary motivations behind making Dawn of Sorrow was to feature Soma Cruz in another game. Ayami Kojima was not included in the production team, as Igarashi wanted her to concentrate on her character designs for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Soma, along with the remainder of the characters, were redrawn in an anime style. This was a marketing strategy Igarashi wished to employ, as he felt that the Nintendo DS' target demographic was significantly younger than those of other consoles Castlevania games had appeared on, and he intended to court them with a more simplistic anime design. Furthermore, Igarashi considered it a litmus test for whether the design would be incorporated into future Castlevania installments. Appearances In Aria of Sorrow, Soma is depicted as a high school student in Japan, living peacefully with his childhood friend Mina Hakuba. He is drawn into Dracula's castle, where he learns of his "power of dominance", enabling him to absorb the souls of the monsters he defeats and use their abilities. As he proceeds through Dracula's castle, he learns that Dracula, the longtime antagonist of the Castlevania series, had been truly defeated, and that a prophecy had been made dictating that Dracula's powers would be passed down to his reincarnation. After defeating Graham Jones, who had harbored the notion that he was Dracula's reincarnation, Soma realizes that he himself is Dracula's reincarnation. As a result, he is confronted by Julius Belmont, the latest member of the Belmont clan, a group of vampire hunters sworn to hunt Dracula until his demise. Soma defeats Julius, and extracts a promise from him to slay him should he fail to subdue Dracula's spirit. With the aid of the allies he encountered throughout the castle, he is able to escape his fate by defeating the manifestation of the