Hellsing - Final Impressions

[Despair]

Well, Couple months ago I posted my initial impressions of this action/horror Anime series. At that time I had first 9 episodes on vcd, and wrote my impressions after watching about 5 first episodes there. Since then, I acquired HK dvd of full series, and last weekend was finally able to see the last 4 episodes of initial 13 of the series. The following is some of my newer thoughts on the matter. Enjoy

Before about 3 months ago, I never heard about Hellsing, then whilr browsing on the net, I heard the name mentioned, and it fired my interest in it. Vampire action/horror show, violent and dark, and starring Alucard kicking monster ass Dante style? Wow, I said, I got to see it. I did a search over the net, and it came up with few anime related site posts about the subject. There was series info, art, character profiles and other specs. Also there were rumors(at that time of US scheduled release), and now we know it that first disk of HellSing comes out in US at the end of this month. After reading all that info, and being even more excited about it, I went straight to Ebay, to look for this Anime goodness. And it was there, so I proceded to win auction for vcd set with 9 episodes. It took about 2 weeks for them to arrive, but when they did I fired up my pc, and prepared myself for some cool vampire action

It started great, I like rock'nroll intro song, with undead footage, religios references, and scenes from the series. The story opens with info about secret HellSing organization, set in London, that does undercover vampire extermination. We meet young women wearing Hellsing uniform, Seras Victoria, on one of her first battle missions, against a vampire priest and his army of undead. Her squad gets slaughtered, and before she gets killed, mysterious figure in red coat, big hat, cool sunglasses shows up. Its Alucard, the MAIN weapon of Hellsing against vampires, and as he proceeds anihilating evil minions, Victoria gets abducted by Priest and held as a live shield protecting him. Alucard gives her a choice that if he shoots the vamp through her, he will grant her his blood, thus making her a vampire and saving her life that away, otherwise she can die by claws of Priest. She agrees, and that leads to scene where new vampire Victoria is born. She is stronger and faster than before, but her soul is fighting to regain the humanity she has left. We also meet Sir Integra, the female head of Hellsing, who is running Hellsing organization against vampire conspiracy and rival Vatican factions. Thats how the great story begins, that will spand over 13 episodes, full of action, blood, betrayal, hope and good music

Now, Few words of its animation. Some of it is very nice, like character designs, especially of demonic Alucard, both in his human guise and more Demon like true form. I love his red coat with long pole hat and sunglasses, his crazy grin he has when going into the battle. I also like the rival Sword Priest character who really looks like more evil version of Vash combined with Knife abilities, his duel against Alucard one if the highlights of the series. But at the same time there are some areas where animation is lacking, and many scenes repeated, or shortened. I wish it had a bigger budged, since it could have been much more detailed, and present action on bigger scale. Still, DVD presentation is very nice, much better than vcd muddy visuals.

There are alot of vampire exploding action, guts, severed heads, gunfire and general mayhem. Some of it works nice, other dont work as good, but still ways better than some other productions out there. I liked Alucard weapons of choice, dual hand guns simular to Dante's and how he uses them to dispose of undead menace. His true vampire trasformations are also pleasant to the eye, and so are the few big enemies he engages in the battle, especially the final Vampire of the series.

A word of warning about HK dvd, the sub quality is ATTROCIUS, with many words misspelled, and some sentences not making any sense. I'm sure that US release will have a much better translation that will make the series justice. Sure its cheaper th just get HK dvd, but sometimes, cheap is not the best way to go.

Another thing that the story ends on somewhat a big cliffhanger. Maybe creator thought about possibility of 2nd season of the show(and I heard its being a reality), since last few scenes leave you hanging, and wanting more. Hopefully, it will become reality, since the show poppularity somewhat conviced the creators to green light another season. Maybe they will also get a bigger budget, which will make an even better action possible. All we can do now is just wait and see.

So, If you in the mood for dark and violent action Anime, dont miss Hellsing DVD1 coming out this month.

[kabuki]

Thanks for the detailed impressions Despair. Definately buying DVD 1 in a few weeks. Vampire action is all good in my book !!

Don't forget to buy the US release yourself Despair

- Kabuki

[lee vicious]

Must....purchase...Disc 1 with box.......cant resist.....

"Whaddayamean my credit cards maxed??"

(attention youngins...being assed-out broke really sucks)

(dont ever grow up.....contrary to urban legend...adult hood is not as fun as it seems)


Hellsing is gonna 0wn

nice read Despair..very thorough

lee

[Despair]

Thank you guys. I try to write better and learn on it

Dont worry Kabuki, I will be getting the US release as well

Lee, It was really cool to see your letter printed in this month issue of Play

[dyomides]

I'll start off by admitting that I didn't read Despair's post as I've only seen three eps so far and don't want to spoil anything. Sorry Despair but I'll read if for sure once I'm done.

As for my opinion of the show, I really like. It's edgy and out there but for now it's still ho hum. I mean the animation is slick, and theres deffinitly tons of style which is what bebop was oozing with but for a first DVD it lacks that needed hook. Three eps with barely anything of the main character. At the end I was left wondering who the main character was: Alucard or "Police Girl". The story is very intriguing and I liked all episodes equally but I feel there wasn't enough, perhaps another ep. would have helped.

In the end I am very much in awe of the animation, style, and even very impressed by the dub. If theres one thing I didn't like it was the music. It didn't grab me as much as Bebop's or Trigun, hell even Kenshin grabbed me more. I'll be picking up the whole series for sure but my number 1 is still Berserk.

D