| Rating: **** |
| Plot: In modern day London exists the Hellsing organization, its sole purpose being the eradication of vampires (natural or artificial) that dare to set foot in the UK. Alucard is their secret weapon--an old vampire with immense power. Along with a novice vampire he fights against sadistic vamps, the Vatican's toughest vampire killer, and hordes of flesh-hungry zombies. Let the Belmondo-coolness begin. Review: Just to clarify for your future edification, this is a review of a series instead of a movie, but Hellsing is relatively short anyway so it doesn't make much of a difference. Let me make this perfectly clear before I really get started--people are going to draw a lot of comparisons between this and Witch Hunter Robin (the newest flavor of the month) and I want to set the records straight on which one I think is better. As well as both series getting a nice amount of praise, both are similar in concept. In both series there is a secret organization that hunts down supernatural beings with an agent that also possesses said supernatural powers. Both are also very gothic and not light-hearted, but this is where the similarities end. Every character in Robin is very somber (more like depressed, which in turns makes ME depressed...now where'd I put my prosac?) and robotic, the type of people that put you to sleep. The main excuse is that they're "building up the characters", while that's all well and good, there is something to be said for action speaks louder than words. Robin is very slow, to the point of exhaustion, but if you want to get all silent and moody then you might like it. And in the other corner is Hellsing, with a robust cast of memorable characters that are the very definition of Belmondo-coolness. Hellsing is slick, stylish, and to the point. There's less character development than Robin, but Hellsing is ten times more entertaining. No bullshit, just kick ass action with kick ass characters and kick ass music. So I have to go with Hellsing, hands down, but I'm not here to compare both animes, I'm here to say how great Hellsing is. The complaints I have with Hellsing are the usually whiny critic things. Hellsing has the "monster of the day" sickness, so expect Alucard to hunt down a lot of vampires that don't amount to much in the end. In fact, there's about three vampires that I can recall that put up a decent fight and were entertaining to watch (Incognito and the Valentine brothers, always good episodes). So there's a lot of dead meat villains for Alucard to fight, but that doesn't matter since he's still so damn entertaining to watch. There's only 13 episodes, so there's not much of a resolution at the end and many questions are left unanswered. The character's backgrounds while delved into, aren't dug into very deeply, just enough to establish themselves. There is character development, but not enough as it could've been. On the downside, there are times when the show lags and not much is going on, but these moments are few and are between leaving plenty of room open for cool action sequences. So yeah, the characters remain shady figures throughout the series and aren't open books like other shows, but that's just one little thing that separates Hellsing from the rest of the pack. Hellsing goes against what a lot of people are expecting of it. Alucard, the main character, isn't some brooding loner or has a chip on shoulder (and he doesn't whine about being a vampire), he's just out there because he's disgusted by imposters pretending to be vampires when they're merely artificial and for the thrill of the hunt. Alucard is a tough person to read, but you get the general idea as to what his motives are. Ceras Victoria, the novice vampire, adds a bit of humanity to the show though she tends to get on my nerves when she's bumbling around for laughs. Supposedly, the show is mainly about Ceras and her coming to terms with being among the undead, but let's not kid ourselves here. This is all about Alucard and he outshines anybody else in the series. Alucard IS Hellsing. A lot of the vampires in the series are artifical, and as such they're no where near as strong as a real vampire. Not exactly something you'd expect. Also, the gothic atmosphere is accompanied by a jazzy, rockin' soundtrack that never lets up. It really sets the tone for the what the series is going for, and it goes along perfectly with the show. As far as animation is concerned, Hellsing looks as good as any other modern anime, but never really goes beyond that. The voice-acting is quite good, both English and Japanese. I recommend you view it in both languages. On the one hand, listening to it in English gives you that feel of authenticity and obviously no subtitles to deal with. On the other hand the Japanese voice-acting for Alucard is superb. I don't think I've heard anybody that into their character in an anime. So A+ to the sound department. In the end Hellsing is a unique, fun, and cool anime that shouldn't be missed by anybody. So, yeah, it is missing a few things by not having enough character development and at times a floundering plot, but in the end that didn't mean shit to me because Hellsing is just that engrossing of an experience. From the moment you see Alucard smile psychotically, you're hooked. Loaded with a cast of characters you can't help but love and lots of style 'n' action, Hellsing is just so damn good that you'll forget the minor problems it has. See this NOW. There's been talk of another season, so let's all keep our fingers crossed. |
| Review by Jim |
 |