Hellsing

If you ask me ,,What is your favorite gun-slinging action anime?” I’ll say … Cowboy Bebop. But if you ask me,, What is your favorite gun-slinging action anime that has vampires?” then Hellsing is a definite winner. I’m talking about the series and not the OVA, which I haven’t seen, but I heard it is better. While Hellsing may not be the most original, it certainly has a good fictional plot and also makes good use of certain real life facts.
So, Hellsing isn’t the name of a person, but a British organization that (you probably figured this out ) hunts and kills undead to protect Queen and Country. Now… the plot in the anime differs a lot from the manga. In the manga there is a certain complex plot with specific antagonists and such. Here it is more like random, but with some elements that give the impression that all the randomness is connected. Personally, I think that the plot in the anime focuses more on how the organization survives different trials. Earlier I said that the anime makes good use of certain facts. Well it shows well how the protestant church is at odds with the Catholic Church. Vatican also has it’s organization for undead extermination called Iscariot (or Vatican Section XIII ). But those guys are real lunatics. They are soldier priests that use, “Holy” methods to kill undead, so they are all exclusively human. So that puts them at odds with Hellsing that not only are they protestant ( which pisses these catholic psychos off ), but they also use vampires to kill vampires. So naturally, the catholics send someone on Hellsing turf, like “Sure, this is your country, you handle things your way, you’re a different religion, we have no business with you… but we still sent someone to kill you all for no reason, so… God bless you”. This is one trial Hellsing faces, but there are more.
Also there is a good variety in cast. It’s not big and you don’t grow too attached to anybody, but it doesn’t need to be big or for you to like them. There are more, but the key characters are Alucard, the badass vampire that is the main character, Seras Victoria, a former special ops member then turned vampire by Alucard ( for a good purpose ), Integra Hellsing, the female leader of the organization, Walter C. Dornez, Integra’s butler and former assassin, and Alexander Anderson, a catholic warrior priest sent to kill Alucard ( but went a bit overboard ). The highlight of the series is definitely Alucard, with his big-ass guns. He morphs out of the shadows like ninja, has cool powers and is a good aim. He also has a complex personality. Even though he is an ancient and powerful vampire who puts himself above humans, he also respects people who are strong willed, have a lot of courage and fight for their honor and pride. So that means he has a moral code and has his principles. Although he doesn’t show, he cares for those he grew attached to, but those are only Integra and Victoria. Also, he dispatches his foes with relative ease. But that also works on his downside, because he is too strong. It’s like you just see him kill some bad guys with his powers like they were flies. They pose no challenge to him and that is bad because you want him to face a challenge. That only happens at the end when he faces his last opponent and when he faces Alexander Anderson. This priest is also one of my favorite characters from the series. He is shown like a kind priest to civilians, but a heartless killer to his foes. No matter if you’re human, vampire, ghoul or panda; he will cut you into pieces like a kebab and laugh or praise The Lord while he does it. He is by far the most fanatic catholic I’ve ever seen in an anime.
What I didn’t like is the ending. Alucard faces someone NOT from the manga ( even though he is a good thought-out enemy ) and he never finds out who actually was behind all the things that happened. Also it feels like it ended abruptly, like they didn’t how else to keep going, so they put an unknown enemy, made an epic battle between him and Alucard, made a reference to Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia, I don’t know why ( guess they are saying that ,,This is him” ), and then all of a sudden he comes to Integra and she says ,, Our work isn’t finished” and he smiles. Ok… so there is a second season right? Well… no there isn’t. Maybe the OVA, Hellsing Ultimate, is the continuation of the series, but I haven’t watched it yet. Be sure that as soon as I see it, I’ll do a review of it.
The presentation here is good. It’s not top notch, even for 2001, but it does the job right. Character models are well detailed and defined, no complaints. But most of the action takes place at night or indoors, so there is a lot of gray and dark. It helps the mood a bit, but it’s monotonous. The sound department is good, all the usual pluses, and the opening is nice as well.
In conclusion, this is a ,,Must see”, and if you like gun-slinging action and a good pass-time then be sure to check this one out.

p.s. Tomorrow I’ll do a review on a piece of shit I found called Violence Jack Hell Town ( uuuuuuu… Hell Town ), so while many of you haven’t seen or heard of it, I have, and let me tell you… you’ll be in for a wild read on my thoughts, on this shit