Hellsing

Publisher
ADV
Director
Yasunori Urata
Production
Gonzo Digimation
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes
Year
2001

Hellsing anime volumes 2 and 3.

By Siph Nacirema
6th Nov 04

To date, I havent seen all of the Hellsing series, and havent been fortunate enough to find the manga. These are reviews of volumes two and three, and soon volume one as well.

I believe that there are four aspects of anime that you have to look at when reviewing:
1. Plot (action, music)
2. Dialogue
3. Animation methods
4. Character Design

Starting with plot, I will say that Hellsing has something quite new to this realm of anime. As it would be catagorized under horror, it is far from scary, but delivers the feelings quite well in the characters. The plot itself is very decent, Im fond of the stray from traditional vampire stories, and how it still ties in to the very first story of Dracula by centering around the organization founded and named after Van Hellsing. Many of the ideas are all new, not having seen alot of the true attributes of a vampire that has been developed in this anime.

I generally tie in action with the plot, because as we all know, action is what brings newcomers into anime, and must be included in reviewing. The action in this anime is very slow and steady, and the animation of it is generally well layed out for the type of anime Hellsing is. I do, however, notice that it hasnt had as much effort in it as some of the greater animes. Overall, I give the action a 7 out of 10.

The music is very good, in my opinion, I fell in love with the opening scene the first time I saw it. Very well done.

Second is the dialogue. I was slightly less satisfied with the dialogue in this than in my favorites. It rarely enduces serious feelings in the viewer. The dialogue generally stays consistantly steady in feeling.

Third, animation techniques. The animation techniques tend to be pretty basic for the most part. They fit pretty well, though.

Finally, character design. Alucard is a very well animated character, I love his transformations. Seras is a nicely designed character, she's young, naive, and feminine dispite her strong fighting will. Integra is a little less creative, her hair and facial appearance is very basic. Her clothing is well done, and her composure is well scripted. She shows all the attributes of a leader. Walter is a well done character as well, Im fond of his placement in the family as compared to his battling skills. He's the kickass butler, heh. His weapons are not new to anime, but still among my favorites in any arsinal of anime weapons. I havent gotten to see much of Incognito, but he looks quite interesting. As for the Valentine Brothers, the foul mouthed one is well designed, and everything fits into him quite nicely. The composed one seems based off a very tradition character style, but tweaked just a little to where it works nicely.

Overall I give what I've seen of the series an 8 out of 10.

-- Siph Nacirema 6th Nov 04

Hellsing Images