Hellsing Ultimate

The new Hellsing OVA is a much better adaptation of Kouta Hirano's manga in comparison to the original 13 episodes. This OVA closely follows the intended storyline of the manga with better animation. If you're a fan of the manga, then chances are you'd enjoy this OVA much better than the original 13 episodes which featured shoddy art and animation techniques with a storyline that had very little to do with the manga. This OVA was an amazing visual experience in the realm of new age anime. The character development is much better on the part of Seras and Integra than they had been in the original anime. The fight sequences are nothing short of amazing. This remake is entirely better than its original and stays true to the manga that Hirano has created; it is most definitely a recommended watch.

Not being familiar with the older 13 episode series, then I had no expectations for this series. I sat down to watch it with a clean slate, so to speak. Was told that it was a really great series by an acquaintance, so I decided to give it a go.

I will say that the art style is somewhat different from the Manga that I am used to watching, but it wasn't bad. I liked the style of art in "Hellsing Ultimate", it was dark, it had an edge and it was nicely rendered. Smooth animation and interesting characters really helped the series along.

"Hellsing Ultimate" has a lot of blood and violence in it, so it may not be suitable for all people. Just a word of warning. I, however, did enjoy it. The vampires here were brutal, devilish and beastly - read not having big hair and sparkling skin.

The characters in the series were nicely thought up and well put to the screen. However, I think that they could have made the episodes longer and given the characters a chance to show their personalities and nature more on the screen. Given them a chance to delve into character development, as some of the characters were a bit shallow and could have benefited from a more in-depth presentation.

There was a lot of jumping between the episodes, in the sense that there was an red thread in the storyline, but individually the episodes were a bit too skittering and 'flash bang'. By that I mean, it was all great, action-packed and full of blood, but once one episode was over, the next would skip entirely to something else.

One thing did puzzle me, well it is just me being petty, but why did everyone speak Japanese? It didn't make any sense that people from the Vatican or South America spoke Japanese, or that the Nazis spoke Japanese. But hey, it was a Manga animation, so it was easy enough to bear over with that.

Having seen this new series, it sort of sparked an interest to get a hold of the old series and check that out as well. The 2006 "Hellsing Ultimate" series was great entertainment and it well worth checking out, for both newcomers to the Manga scene and for avid fans alike.

"The bird of the Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame."

Hellsing Ultimate is a 10 part OVA anime based on the Hellsing manga that follows it very closely compared the earlier attempt which contained 13 episodes and had to stray off because of catching up the the story at the time. And unlike many, I did liked that early attempt and still do but this, however, COMPLETELY BLOWS IT AWAY!! Bigger budget, better animation, better action, better plot and way more GORE.

The story follows Hellsing organization which has only one goal, to rid the world from vampires/monsters. And they accomplish this mainly by their trump card, ALUCARD (DRACULA in reverse), an immortal and powerful vampire that does the bidding of his master, the leader of the organization, Integra Hellsing.

Since they followed the manga to the fullest, the story this time around was a lot better and actually went somewhere. Still, plot isn't the reason to watch this anime because its the action and gore and the awesomeness of Alucard that makes Hellsing a joy to watch. The anime is filled with gruesome bloody sequences with people and monsters being totally decimated in thrilling and amazing ways.

ALUCARD is probably the most badass and awesome Anti-hero I have ever seen in an anime. He taunts and humiliates his enemies before ripping them to shreds, takes extreme joy in the act and really defines the word MONSTER when doing all this. But at the same side you see that he has a softer side which he hardly ever shows and there is more to him then just being an all out monster. Also, I don't think I've ever seen the main character to be THE STRONGEST in the whole anime and the world it shows. Usually the hero/anti- hero/lead has to train hard, overcome obstacles, acquire knowledge and powers to become strong and defeat the enemy. But not here. Hellsing's like "Screw all that. Alucard is the most powerful. Enjoy.". And I loved this. Such a refreshing thing to see.

The anime isn't without its flaws however. One thing that REALLY bugged me is that when all the stuff is going down, carnage and destruction everywhere, the anime decides to take the time off and do some character development or deliver a monologue or a speech or something. But it wasn't never really good at this stuff so it turns into a drag and all you want is to see more action. The pacing wasn't that good at times. And then there were those typical anime comedy thrown in the mix, which popped up in the most atmosphere breaking moments and really annoyed me, only a few times it was actually funny and worked.

Animation quality was superb. Detailed characters and violence and stuff. The soundtrack was a mixed bag.

Overall, I really enjoyed the anime. It's a definite watch for anyone who wants vampire centric story without any lovey dovey/teenage/high school stupidity and just delivers the awesome gory action we want.

8.3/10

I'll re-add this as it was supposed to be in the first place.

Hellsing OVA follows pretty much the same plot as the TV series did. Alucard, a powerful vampire who is working for his master Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and her organization, is killing vampires and their minions known as ghouls. Pretty much all Japanese voice actors are back in their roles. I have to say that I liked the original TV series. The OVA, I believe, follows much better the manga, though I've never read it. This anime is almost ridiculous few times. Now, at times, there isn't much that separates this one from many other flashy trying-to-be-a-lot-at-the-same-time animes.

CGI have been used a lot now and therefore it basically looks better, but the art isn't always looking that great. It's not as simple as it was back in the old Hellsing, and there's some new styles and techniques and such, but at times it could look a bit better. Actually sometimes it even lacks stability and dimensionality on characters. If you don't like computer effects in anime, you might not like this one since there's lots of them. One of those things that make this OVA kind of ridiculous is the huge amount that those computer effects are used. There's also some weird lines, and few things the characters do are somewhat ridiculous.

Alucard seems to talk more, but where in TV series he was cool and you saw that he was powerful, it's now usually stated by others that he is a powerful vampire. I guess that this time the new team tried to make him somewhat deeper, but if they succeeded is pretty much flickering. This time he isn't such a mystery and there's as soon as in the first episode much information revealed about him. Still he is pretty much the same Alucard, which is great.

It's not totally hopeless anime, I have to say. If you are going to watch this, I think you should watch all of the 13 episodes of Hellsing ("Herushingu" 2002) before that, so that you could see what is different and what kind of anime that was.

The soundtrack unfortunately isn't even near the original ones soundtrack. It's not that bad, but the old Hellsing had a great one. This new Hellsing seems to rush some scenes a bit, and in good and bad it's very fast going. However, OVA gets much more interesting when the series goes further and there's new stuff, something you couldn't see in Hellsing TV series. But whether you are a Hellsing fan or not, this is still a piece of work to check out.

After watching the TV series of Hellsing, reading the manga and watching Hellsing Ultimate series, here are my personal pros and cons...

~TV series~

Pros: 1.The series went at a steady pace, if you never watched or read Hellsing before this series is easy to follow and understand.

2.Although the series steered away from the original manga story line, it still had a good plot that you could easily "get into" and follow.

3.Better listening music although I still did enjoy the music in Hellsing Ultimate. 4.Not really a pro, but I know a lot of the voice acting can affect how someone can like an anime, just so you know the voice acting is very well done and suits each individual character and their personalities. 5.Crispin Freeman has a sexy voice 6.Alucard is sexy ^_^

Cons: 1.Not the original story line in the manga(I know some people don't mind anime that doesn't follow the mangas)

2.The animation is OK. There's times where it looked good, time where it looked bad like every anime, but there is lack in detail and can have a bland look.

3.No comic relief, but some people prefer it to be that way for a dark anime.

Overall the series is well put together. Definitely an anime well worth every penny.

~Hellsing Ultimate~

Pros 1.Animation, besides the use of 3D effects here and there(which I personally don't care for) much more detail than the TV series, especially in facial features and clothing detail. Its no Vampire Hunter D, but if you were to compare the TV series/ultimate series to Vampire Hunter D animation, go with Hellsing Ultimate.

2.Follows the manga story line.

3.This can be a pro or con. One long episode per disc(about 50 mins per episode) which some people like. So no annoying skipping intros/endings to get to the next episode

4.The same voice actors from the TV series came back to work on Helling Ultimate.(I hate it when animes change voice actors)

5.Alucard shows more emotion and is more deep than he is in the TV series, but still maintains his cold sadistic personality. Victoria and most main characters show more emotion.

6.Comic relief here and there.

7.Crispin Freeman still has a sexy voice... ^_~

8.Alucard is still sexy.(even more in hellsing Ultimate in my opinion)

Cons 1.Music isn't as good. Fits the series, but not something to really sit and listen to.

2.This series moves much more faster than the TV series, making it harder to follow and understand. I'd suggest watching this after reading the manga or watching the TV series.

3.1 long episode per disc(each episode is generally 50 mins long) while this can be a good thing for some ppl, I find that most people like having multiple episodes per disc.

Hope this helped ^_~