kanna-chan's cafe

Hey guys, kanna here. And...HAPPY THIRD ANNIVERSARY TO KANNA'S CAFE AND ANIME MONDAYS!

THE CROWD GOES CRAZY!

...or not.

Seriously, guys, I get that three years isn't as big as, say, five, but still.

Anyway, let's take a look at what we have.

Too gory...too creepy...I'm not reviewing that until the fifth anniversary...hm, what do we have here? An anime about a secret task force that hunts vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural creatures that threaten England? Sounds like a crossover between Black Butler and Tokyo Ghoul (even though neither of those had aired when this anime was released), but I'll take it! This is...Hellsing.

So, where to begin? Background, I guess. This anime has quite an interesting history behind it.

Hellsing was originally a manga written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It ran from 1997 to 2008. Eleven years...not bad. I know some series that have had runs longer than that (Bleach, Naruto...why is it that I can only think of the ones I don't like?), but eleven years is still pretty impressive. There was a prequel, called Hellsing: The Dawn, as well as a side story and prototype manga featuring Kouta's old works and the characters' prototypes.

I guess Kouta really wanted to make sure he got EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about the characters written in and to tie up any loose ends. Were there any? I don't know; I haven't read the manga. It's on my to-read list, but I keep skipping over it to read more of Attack on Titan and Black Butler. I'll get around to it...eventually.

Anyway, the anime premiered in Japan in October 2001 and ran until January 2002. We'll ignore the OVA, as it was more than one episode , and this review can only be so long. Anyway, this anime was produced by a company called Gonzo. If you haven't heard of them, you've probably heard of some of the work they produced; such as Full Metal Panic!, Chrono Crusade, Rosario + Vampire (both seasons), and Blade & Soul.

Hellsing was directed by Umanosuke Iida. If you don't recognize his name, chances are you'll recognize some of the stuff he worked on, like the in-between animation in Nausicaä Valley of the Wind and assistant directing Castle in the Sky. You're probably wondering why we haven't seen more from him. Unfortunately, Iida passed away from lung cancer seven years ago at the age of 49.

A moment of silence for Mr. Iida. RIP sir. You are, and will continue to be, missed.

Ok, on with the rest of the review.

The anime was based on the manga, but used a screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka (it's a long story why he has a middle initial when Japanese people don't have a middle name or use a middle initial). It was actually quite different from the manga in terms of plot, but it used some of the same characters and similar character designs. The series ran for thirteen episodes. There was an OVA called Hellsing Ultimate that was released in 2006, and it ran for ten episodes until 2012...doesn't make much sense, but ok. The OVA followed the manga's storyline more than the original series did. You've probably heard of Hellsing Ultimate thanks to the guys over at TeamFourStar, who created Hellsing Ultimate Abridged (which is definitely worth the watch; you won't be disappointed).

Enough talk about that. Let's get to the good stuff: plot!

Hellsing is named after and centered around the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, led by Abraham Van Hellsing. Their mission is to search for and destroy the undead and other supernatural forces of evil that threaten the queen and the country. Currently, the organization is led by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing (not sure why they use "sir" when the character is a female, but ok), a woman who inherited the leadership role of Hellsing after the death of her father. By the way, get used to these names being a mouthful. I'm not sure what the writers were thinking with such long names, but we have to go with it, so...yeah.

Anyway, Integra witnessed the death of her father (we never learned his name), which turned her from a shy, innocent girl into a deadly force. She leads the organization with the help of the Hellsing family butler, Walter C. Domez, someone whose bad side you do NOT want to get on, and Alucard. Alucard is the original and most powerful vampire in his own right, but he swore loyalty to the Hellsing family after being defeated by Abraham one hundred years before the story takes place. The group is later joined by former police officer Seras Victoria, who became a vampire thanks to Alucard.

You would think that this is just about fighting and the adventures the group go on together. Well, we're missing a pretty important piece of the plot: the conflict.

While the number of incidents involving the undead and the supernatural escalate in England and all around the world, Integra discovers that there are remnants of a Nazi group called Millennium, whose intention is to revive Nazi Germany through creating an army of vampires. This leads to a HUGE, apocalyptic, three-sided conflict in London between Millennium, Hellsing, and Hellsing's bitter rival organization, the Vatican section XIII Iscariot. Millennium's true objective is revealed: to destroy the vampire lord, Alucard, and end a feud that began during WWII.

So, rating: 10 out of freaking 10

Yeah, I bet you were expecting a bad review, weren't you? Surprise!

Why: First off, this isn't your typical vampire anime. Be glad it's not Diabolik Lovers or Rosario + Vampire. This anime is actually a little similar to the hit long-running TV series, Supernatural, now that I think about it. I can't help but wonder if the writers of Supernatural got some of their ideas from Hellsing. It would be pretty cool if they did.

The fact that this anime tied itself to an actual, historical event is pretty cool. The X-Men movies did this (most of the time), and it's just something that I think is cool. When something is tied to a historical event and it's done right (meaning the people behind the show or movie did their research), it's awesome.

The animation is decent, the characters are well developed, and I think the music is pretty good, too. I know people who don't like anime that much, but when I introduced them to this series, they LOVED it. Did they watch more anime after it? No (😞), but at least they liked Hellsing!

I think the one downside this anime has is that it was only twelve episodes. I think they could have done a lot more, especially given the popularity of it. But that's not enough to give it half a point down or even a full point. So I'm sticking to my rating.

If you're not a fan of horror, gore, or anything like that, I wouldn't recommend it. However, if you like Supernatural or other horror-ish/gory series you'll probably like this.

Well, happy third anniversary to the cafe and happy Halloween! See you next time for Anime Mondays in November! ~k