|
|
|
Directed by Yasunori Urata and Umanosuke Iida.
Produced by GONZO Digimation.
England has [apparently] been terrorised by the living dead for centuries and it is up to the Hellsing Organisation [headed by one Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing] to put an end to the foul creatures prowling about the countryside and drinking the blood of the living. A hard task but the Hellsing Organisation have an ace-in-the-hole one employee who stands out, their own personal vampire Alucard. It is Alucard’s task to protect and serve Integra and to wipe out any high-grade vampires that cross the organisation’s path. It’s all a bit strange but that’s what makes it great you see not only is the story off the wall so to is the animation, the music and the fantastically realised characters.
I don’t know where the Japanese interest in England came from but I’m glad it surfaced because it’s lead to some quality animation [see Read or Die]. Hellsing is no different it oozes atmosphere from the word go and the mores of England are a fitting locality for the undead. The main bulk of the plot is made up of Seras [a girl that Alucard turns into a vampire in the first episode] coming to terms with the vampire that lurks inside her. For the first few episodes she struggles with the notion of drinking blood and later struggles to realise her place as a vampire within the organisation.
The animation is slightly inconsistent however it is barely noticeable when you can admire the fantastic digital effects on display during the battle scenes and views of landscapes besides who cares when the designs are this good. The visual style itself is quite dark and brooding the show is violent to the extreme and hence many of the colours used in the palette are blacks and reds in many cases the action can be quite grizzly however it never reaches stomach churning proportions. I feel that I must commend the character designer on this project although converted from the original manga many of the characters take on a fantastic new light. Alucard in particular is superb. He’s so sinister looking but also retains the loveable design traits seen in Lupin III or Spike Spiegel’s character [for one thing he is constantly smiling]. Another character worth mentioning is Integra she is strong and independent and can easily hold her own against the hordes of evildoers. I felt that Seras was slightly underdeveloped although filled with conflict a lot of her inner thoughts are not revealed in the show and it is hard to tell what she truly feels about a situation.
The music in the show is also of a high standard. Mixing easygoing bluesy music with hard rocking riffs for fight scenes and moments of tension. What really appealed to me was the composer’s ability to integrate music efficiently during a particular situation however the music never reaches the fantastic benchmark set by Yoko Kanno in Cowboy Bebop. The voice acting to is handled well Alucard is suitably sinister and Integra sounds quite stern [which is good] the integration of random bits of English is welcome this is seen as “cool” in Japan and funnily enough seems suitably cool over here. It’s fun to hear Seras say stuff like “Yes, my Master!” to Alucard and likewise for Alucard to call priestly villain “Judas Priest ”.
Speaking of priestly villains one major point of concern to some people may be the emphasis on the Catholic Church been the “bad” guys. In one particular instance a high ranking vampire killing priest named Anderson is sent over to England to get rid of a rat [Alucard] Integra is seen to say: “This is Protestant country”…”when will the Vatican learn to keep out of our business!” Personally I found the Japanese’ perception of the religious feud amusing however I feel that it is worth pointing out as some people may be offended by the inclusion of this story arch.
The one thing that really [really] takes away from this show is the plot holes in the story. Firstly we never find out about what happens about the artificial vampire chip that’s a major source of concern to the organisation. Secondly the ending is very disappointing and is a huge anti climax while I presume this [not gonna give anything away] was done in order to keep the series open for a sequel the ending feels rushed and leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth.
Aside from the problems with the plot there’s not much else wrong with Hellsing some may be slightly offended by the themes explored in the series however most will appreciate it for what it is an action packed, fun filled and overall impeccably produced anime [with fantastic character designs [can’t mention them enough]]
Eight out of Ten
|
|
|
