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Hellsing review by Rebel
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Hellsing is one of the few vampire shows that does "unoriginal" unoriginally. Well known for its good manga, and its tightly-clad big busted chick, vampires and lots of bloodshed, Hellsing is not the most original or well developed of series. But you don't watch Hellsing because you want a good plot, fair treatment of women and a side dish of action. You watch it because you're a vampire loving anime geek with a liking for bloodshed and a loving for those innocent, yet I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass, girls.
Hellsing the manga was good, its plot worked, and it is well liked for that. Hellsing the anime attempts to live up to the manga, but pretty much doesn't. It uses the same characters as the manga, and tries to use the same plot, yet holes abound in Hellsing. But as I said, you don't watch Hellsing for the plot, you watch it for the pure unadulterated violence, a couple of sexy vampire babes, and Alucard, who, aside from his rival Anderson, is like the Char that keeps this sinking White Base afloat.
The characters of Hellsing are not entirely original, but they are fun, and Incognito is as much a puzzle as an exhibitionist. Alucard is fun and slightly insane, and his maniacal laughing makes you want to laugh right along with him, while his exaggerated poses are perfect for any supervillian, mad scientist, or immortal vampire with two big handguns. Anderson is very much like Alucard, only he works for the Vatican instead of the Hellsing organization, with similar laughter and allusions that he was partially turned into a vampire by Alucard a long time ago. Anderson makes the perfect adversary, and his arsenal of knives that seemingly appears out of nowhere adds a fun twist to everything.
Seras, on the other hand, is your typical misfit character, who happens to be turned into a vampire near the beginning of the show by Alucard. Seras tries to work herself into the good graces of the Hellsing organization and cope with her new infatuation with her now master Alucard. Who always seems more interested in killing people than actually getting Seras to live it up as a vampire. Although he does try, being immortal, he doesn't have the time to dote on her constantly or remind her that she's not drinking enough blood-soup to be a strong vampire. Integra Wingates Hellsing, the operator and descendant of the great vampire hunting clan with the same name, is your rather typical cold hearted leader, though she does show emotion. She and her vampire boy-toy Alucard have a very funny (though not comical) love-hate relationship. He's loyal to her, she wants to kill all vampires, and makes good use of his love to kill her enemies. The perfect couple. Most of the myriad of other characters are actually pretty well done, varying in type and style, but they are entertaining to say the least.
The animation in Hellsing consists of a lot of singular colors, lots of reds, blacks and others. When the night is dark, you'll know it, when a room is green, you'll damn well know that too. It never gets tiresome either, dark and red are Alucard's "theme" colors, Seras seems to be often around green and blue, and the rest of rainy old England consists of dank, gloomy grey and green. The animation fits perfectly, with creepy smiles and really, really red blood, and lots of it.
Hellsing, while not the greatest series, was a good manga, and that manga is currently being made into a revamped Hellsing Ultimate OVA. If you like gore fests, I suggest you watch Hellsing anyway. If you don't like gore fests, well, neither Hellsing will be to your liking. But if you like guns, girls, violence, and couldn't give a damn about plot, you need to go watch Hellsing now.
~ Rebel
