Hellsing

Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 14:44 by animesempai

Summary:

For a century, the Royal Protestant Knight Hellsing organization has toiled endlessly to keep humanity from becoming fodder for the undead. Integra, a strong-willed woman, runs the organization with pride and dedication. Under her is Alucard, a vampire with incredible special abilities that serves Integra and the Hellsing organization, wiping out the undead wherever they pop up. Alucard has taken a new child under his wing, Victoria Seras, a police officer who had to choose between death and unlife. As things complicate for the Hellsing organization, new threats close in.

Story: 8

secret war is brewing in the night, a war in which humanity is only a pawn. The Hellsing organization has been protecting both Queen and Country for centuries, though with each day, the threat of the living dead continues to loom over the unexpected denizens of the world. Even armed with powerful automatic weapons with silver armor-piercing or mercury-ignition rounds, the Hellsing organization finds it difficult to banish these demons from the face of the earth. That is where Alucard comes in, a powerful vampire of unknown origin, though he serves Integra Hellsing with fierce loyalty. However, one night in the town of Cheddar, Alucard comes across a young female police officer who is being held hostage by a vampire priest. Through a question he asked, the young woman, Seras Victoria, decided to become a vampire and Alucard became her master. She must now struggle with the loss of her humanity as she attempts to become a suitable member of the Hellsing organization, though with the terrors of the night growing more and more problematic with each passing day, she must overcome her weaknesses if she wishes to survive.

Animation: 8

The show isn't without its problems, though. Animated by the rich and famous Studio Gonzo, they opted for the money-saving techniques on this series. After the first episode, which is beautifully animated and brings the unconventional and daring character designs to life, the animation quality gets wildly inconsistent. Characters are frequently off-model and change from scene to scene. I'm not sure why the vampires have gigantic tongues but it winds up looking poorly-drawn and gets fairly distracting at times. After the first 8 episodes or so, the series derails a little and starts developing an “original” storyline that has nothing to do with the manga series it's supposed to be based on.

Music: 9

Theme music Opening Theme: "Logos Naki World" ("A World Without Logos"), performed by Yasushi Ishii Closing Theme: "Shine", performed by Mr. Big

Characters: 9

A L A C U R D --- The most powerful fictional warrior of the Hellsing organization (and arguably the world), Alucard is not a mere vampire, but one of the most ancient. He usually dresses in a Victorian fashion, including a charcoal suit, leather riding boots, and a flamboyant and intricately knotted red bowtie, covered by a long red trench coat. He also wears a red fedora hat with a wide, floppy brim and a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed yellow sunglasses. He does wear other outfits, however. He has an unbelievably vast range of supernatural techniques and is an expert gunfighter, his enhanced strength allowing him to wield pistols that most would consider heavy weaponry. He fights with ferocity and often extreme cruelty, rarely shooting to kill until his target has been totally disabled and humiliated. He has a massive ego, and frequently gives enemies more than one chance to kill him before retaliating, just to demonstrate his enormous powers. Despite his thirst for battle, Alucard is not without feelings. He feels deep devotion that ties him to his master, Integra Hellsing, a friendship with Walter C. Dornez, and feelings of affection towards his fledgling, Seras Victoria. L U K E and J A N Valentine --- The Valentine brothers are "freaks", humans who were turned into vampires with the aid of a chip. They have much influence in the underworld. Their exact origins are unknown. Jan acts, looks and sounds like a member of the lower classes and uses strong profanity while Luke seems much more cultured and restrained. Both wear the same outfit, though Luke wears a white jacket over his. With an army of ghouls, they stormed Hellsing HQ. Their ghouls were armed with rifles, body armor, and shields. Jan uses a pair of heavily modified, suppressed P90s, while Luke uses a pair of sawed-off M1 Garand rifles. H E L E N A --- A young-looking vampire that spends her time reading and listening to "Solveigs Song" by Grieg. She appears to live alone in a dark old house. Despite her young appearance, she is quite old and becomes something of a role-model for Seras. Helena is eaten by Incognito, though she continues to live for a short time afterward, even after being beheaded. C O M M A N D E R Peter Fargason --- Commander of the Hellsing organization's Paramilitary forces. He is an older human male with a deep voice and was Seras Victoria’s first tactical trainer after she became a vampire. S E R A S Victoria --- Victoria was a member of the D11 special forces unit until being mortally wounded by Alucard, in his attempt to destroy a vampire masquerading as a priest. On the verge of death, and with a large hole through her chest, she chose to allow Alucard to turn her into a vampire. Serving beneath Alucard, she now works for the Hellsing organization. For a few weeks after joining the Hellsing organization, Seras avoided drinking blood, fearing the loss of her humanity (the first time she encountered her medical blood ration, she was almost overcome by bloodlust). However, when Alucard killed Kim, she finally acknowledged her vampiric powers and consumed blood. Sir I N T E G R A Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing --- Sir Integral Hellsing is a 22-year-old noblewoman member of the Protestant Knights who is the head and last member of the Hellsing family, the Bureau Director of the Hellsing Organization, and the current master of Hellsing's vampire, Alucard. Integra is usually a collected individual, rarely allowing her emotions to get in the way of business. However, she is sometimes prone to fits of anger. The Hellsing family is "on a mission from God," and she values her duties to protect the United Kingdom and the Anglican Church above everything else. For her, failure is not tolerated, especially her own. She runs the Hellsing Organization with charisma and patriotism, and she is one of the few people who can stand up to the force of Alucard's personality and command his respect. A L E X A N D E R Anderson --- Acting as both an antagonist and anti-hero. He is a warrior priest or paladin monster slayer who works for the Iscariot Organization. He has a Scottish accent in the English adaptations of the manga and anime series, but canonically his nationality is "unknown"; he lives in Italy, operating an orphanage outside Vatican City. Anderson, like many of Kouta Hirano's characters, was recycled from one of Hirano's old hentai works called Angel Dust, where he is involved in a few action sequences and is depicted with black hair, as well as using assault rifles rather than his bayonets. I N C O G N I T O --- This masochistic vampire is from "the dark continent," a reference to Africa. Though physically androgynous, he is generally thought to be male. Extremely powerful, he combines dark magic with an enchanted ArmsCor 40 mm grenade launcher that fires spines. Incognito vomits into the launcher's cartridges before loading; and he also is known to have a gatling gun as backup W A L T E R C. Dornez --- Walter is a 69 year old retired member of the Hellsing organization. Though now serving as Integra Hellsing's butler, he still has proved the capacity to live up to his nickname "The Angel of Death" with deadly razor sharp wires. He has a close friendship with both Integra and Alucard.

Overall: 8.5

For the Vampire enthusiast, it's hard to find an anime series out there that really fits the bill. Kyuuketsuki Miyu (Vampire Princess Miyu) was a little too far off the mark from the classic Vampire legends to quench the thirst of those who love the concept of the undead. Last year we were gifted with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, a visually stunning film that incorporated one too many science-fiction concepts to be accurately called a horror film. This year, Pioneer brings us Hellsing, perhaps the first attempt at making a Vampire series that actually tries to stick to the basic concepts behind vampires. Hellsing is a dramatic, blood-soaked tribute to everything we love about the romantic undead. For those with an affinity for gothic horror and dark, intense drama, Hellsing is an absolute can't-miss series. As with any anime series, it has its problems. The fact of the matter is, you won't find a better horror series.