Hellsing Ultimate

Following my conflicted experience with Hellsing TV, I stumbled onto Studio Madhouse efforts into creating an anime that follows the source material of its manga to a much closer degree. Instead of a standard weekly airing schedule, Madhouse decided to go with releasing a total of ten OVAs over an agonizing long six years. In doing so, they have rectify most of the problems that marred the potential of Gonzo's effort. While the first two OVAs are fairly straight-forward rehashed material from the original Hellsing, the remaining eight volumes goes off on a completely awesome and different tangent. Gone are the half-baked storylinesand in their place, is the plot and every single subplot coming to a definitive conclusion by the time the final volume rolls around. Adding on to the main antagonist that is the Catholic Church, Nazis, of all people, have come back to wreck some occult vengeance with their own brand vampires, werewolves and abominations that soon engulfs the island nation of Britain into a state of war. The thing I love most about the Hellsing Ultimate is that it takes itself so seriously with its notions of holy crusades, genocide, and grand ambitions of power and warfare. Yet, at the same time, it has some of the most over-the-top and ridiculous setups I have ever seen, having zeppelins, KKK outfits and Nazi vampires all mingling together in a climactic battle worthy of the Apocalypse itself. In the world of Hellsing, everything is black and white with no ambiguity in where characters stand. It is simply a matter of kill or be killed. The villains are no exception to that rule, that are none too subtle about their powers or motivation and offer some of the most unforgettable performances in the animated medium. If you have watched the original show, the three main leads of Alucard, Intrga and Seras should be familiar to the audience but there are few key differences. With much more screen time to explore their relationship with each other and the stakes being so much higher, these three form deeper bonds than their previous versions. Also, power levels, in reference to Alucard and Seras, are exponentially increased to reflect this change in the amplified severity of their opposition. One change that I found to be hit or miss, was the addition of humorous elements placed in juxtaposition to some very serious and forbearing scenes, which could be jarring at times. Under Studio Madhouse, which is well-known for high quality series like Black Lagoon and Redline, Hellsing Ultimate is noticeably different in its visual style and quality from the TV adaptation. The colors are much more highly contrasted and character designs have gotten angular, which is something I can live with but I do prefer the TV's style over Ultimate's direction. One thing is objectively better, and that is that the animation is top-notch and no expense were spared in handcrafting some truly titanic showdowns For all the improvements that Ultimate has over Gonzo's effort, the OVA's music doesn't hold a candle to the quality and style of the TV adaptation. It ranges from orchestral pieces, that depicts the epic and dramatic moments, with mixed in electronic sounds. There were some moments where the music choice for some scenes that was downright bizarre and just didn't work out at all for me. If there is one thing that I wish I could change about the Ultimate version, it would be importing the music from Gonzo's production to cover up the awkward soundtrack. This area is, by far, largest aspect that is notably weaker in the transition to Studio Madhouse. With a giant budget and a ridiculously long release schedule, Hellsing Ultimate, despite some minor gripes, is the definitive version to be watching Alucard, a real fucking vampire, go through one of the best supernatural shows that anime has to offer. 8.5/10

Fantastic vampire action and violence; but dull characters, erratic pacing with too much melodrama and an overpowered main character. ★★☆☆ It has all the flash and gimmicks to trick you into thinking it’s good. It has vampires, action, blood, swearing, violence, gore, sexuality, darkness—everything that’s just “cooool” and “matuuure.” Let’s not forget its “badass” hero Alucard—whose name is “Dracula” spelled backward, by the way. Goddamn that is so fucking cool I’m hurting. He’s so powerful no one can beat him. Except… that is the problem. Because none of his enemies can even touch him all his fights are boring filler. You’re actually left rooting for the villains. The maincharacters are supposed to be the one putting up a struggle, not the other way around. The only time I was excited about a fight was when the villains felt like they could pose a challenge. But then Alucard whips out a power up, and I’m left saying “Oh.” For a show with gorgeous animation and fantastic action it’s dull and forgettable. It’s like an attractive person without a personality. There are pacing issues where it slows down to be melodramatic and rambles about nonsense philosophy. I get that you need to let us know character motivations, but giving 10 minute speeches isn’t exactly keeping me awake. It also tries to be funny with some lighthearted, cutely animated moments, but it only ruins the mood. I still actually recommend watching this but only if you’re slightly interested. It’s helpful to watch good and bad shows. It’ll give you an instinct on why something is good or bad. I enjoyed this my first time, but I certainly wouldn’t watch it again.

My friends, It has often been said that I like Hellsing Ultimate. My friends, I like Hellsing Ultimate…NO. Friends, I LOVE!! HELLSING ULTIMATE! I love the dark animation, I love the gore, I love the action, I love the charismatic characters, the accents, I love the bombastic plot and dialogue! I love any like-minded quality anime that can exist upon this Earth! I love watching ghouls, vampires and mercenaries clashing in an all-out VAR within the Victorian hallways of the Hellsing estate. My heart leaps with joy whenever a soldier’s limps are blown off followed by screams of agonizing pain. And there is nothing likea British vampire chick dual wielding artillery canons to rain hell upon the mightiest engines of war, UND the feeling that comes when a vampire runs away screaming from Alucard only to be slaughtered in the most gruesome way imaginable... is such... an exquisite feeling. Like when ranks of mercenaries sign up to hunt vampires and ghouls using silver bullets. It moves me deep within my heart to see an entire squadron of innocent SWAT forces butchered mercilessly by none other than the MC in their final moments of shock and despair. The sight of haters being made fun of on the forums for their ridicule subjective criticism is an irresistible pleasure. And there is nothing more arousing then the major’s awe-inspiring war-speech which is still resonating with grandeur in your heads at this very moment. When a band of pitiful resistance fighters make their final stand with nothing but small arms only to have their city destroyed and their guts disemboweled by a thousand paratrooper vampire Nazis, I’m in ecstasy. I love it when my favorite factions are ravaged by enemy Nazi bastards. It’s so sad to see characters I had held onto dearly meet their tragic fates, their friends and comrades ripped in half gasping for their last breaths. I love to be squashed under the heel of the Nazi and Vatican war dogs, the humiliation as my men crawl around like vermin, hiding and taking cheap shots from walled corners. Gentlemen, all I ask for is more Hellsing Ultimate. An anime so grand as to make hell itself tremble. Gentlemen…I ask you as fellow brothers in arms what is it that you really want? Do you wish for further anime like this as I do? Do you wish for a merciless bloody anime? Anime whose fury is built with iron and lightning and fire? DO YOU ASK FOR ANIME TO SWEEP IN LIKE A TEMPEST, LEAVING NOT EVEN CRITICS TO SCAVENGE FROM THIS EARTH!!!

Overview: I'm just going to come out and say it! Hellsing Ultimate is awesome! Count Dracula teams up with the granddaughter of Van Helsing in order to defend London from an army of Nazi vampires. Sound silly? Of course it is, and that's part of its charm! Hellsing is balls to the wall action that never takes itself too seriously and is extremely enjoyable to watch. Spoilers!!! Plot 4/10 To say the plot of Hellsing Ultimate is stupid, would be an understatement. This plot absolutely revels in its own absurdity. A fat, over the top Nazi known only as Zee Major builds an army of Nazi vampires in SouthAmerica and invades London with a group of giant Zeppelins. The only thing that can stop them...Count Dracula of course. You have to love Zee major though. He is such a silly, cartoonish caricature of Nazism, although he still falls short of Ann Coulter, who would call Zee Major a liberal pansy. This is not an artsy, experimental anime like Mushishi. It's not a thinking man's existentialist anime like Tatami Galaxy. With Hellsing, you have to just give your brain a rest and enjoy the EPIC battles and bizarre humor that permeates this series. Characters 9/10 Hellsing has awesome characters like the absolutely insane Catholic priest Father Anderson, who is like Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan fused with the Boondock Saints. It has a Cockney vampire chick that talks with that adorably silly accent and fights with a massive anti-tank rifle. It has an SS werewolf who is literally a werewolf and must therefore tear off his shirt before every fight. Lastly we have Alucard, the badass sociopath himself voiced by the legendary Crispin Freeman in the English Dub. (God I love that man!) Don't expect characters to be deep or 3 dimensional, but instead enjoy the sheer madness, like most other aspects of this series. Soundtrack 10/10 It has an AMAZING soundtrack featuring Die Frieschutz by the early Romantic composer Karl Maria Von Weber. I am a huge classical music fan and hadn't even heard of Von Weber before Hellsing. Now I have most of his best known works on my itunes and listen to it all the time! The other parts of the soundtrack are rather nice as well, with good original tracks and cheesy remixes of old German wartime classics like Das England Lied. Art 8/10 The art isn't perfect, but is a massive improvement from the first Hellsing series. The character designs are well done and although the blood looks like ketchup and lacks any bone fragments, organs, or anything else you would expect from people literally exploding all the time, it is still massively satisfying to see. Enjoyment 10/10 Hellsing Ultimate is bloody fun from beginning to end. The first Hellsing series was ok, but at times took itself too seriously, which clashed with the carefree style of Kouta Hirano. Hirano is primarily a hentai artist and porn director who occasionally draws manga on the side, despite the fact that his art is actually pretty abysmal. He doesn't take himself seriously and clearly was laughing his ass off as he drew every panel. His humor and enjoyment is absolutely contagious, and he has utterly mastered the art of "so bad its good" storytelling. Overall 9/10 Leave your brain at the door and get on the roller coaster of awesome silliness that is Hellsing Ultimate. This series may turn some people off with its incredible amount of gore and shockingly tasteless Nazi stupidity, but if you enjoyed Inglorius Basterds a lot, I highly recommend Hellsing Ultimate. Apparently a few German viewers on youtube found the portrayal of Germans offensive in this series, but honestly you are taking it WAY too seriously if you are offended by something as ridiculous as Hellsing Ultimate. I come from an ethnic German family myself and I found it fucking hilarious, so lighten up guys!

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