Hellsing - Hellsing Series (Classic)

He's killing the franchise.What he doesn't realize is that by writing that review and scarring off potential customers; (Unnecessarily I might add.) he is effectively killing the franchise...potentially ruining the future experience for others and existing fans such as myself. As an anime man who LOVES, not just this show, but also this FRANCHISE, I can not sit by and let that happen. (I'm going to avoid an offtopic lecture in this review about how important it is to buy and support the anime franchises you love in any way possible; since the industry is so brittle at the moment EVERY show is at risk...) However, I apologize in advance that this may mean I'm slightly biased but, you know what, **** it Hellsing is amazing. Moving on.For those curious... This is an older adaptation of a manga (Japanese comic) called Hellsing. They made this show WHILE the manga was still being released and eventually the release of the tv series passed the release of the manga series. As such, they had to improvise. This means roughly half of the series doesn't follow the original story as found in the original source material.Hellsing:Ultimate fixes that problem. It is a more faithful, and more accurate, OAV series (Instead of TV Series...This gave them higher budgets per episode and no restrictions in the gore, ect.) that, while the TV Series is good, is widely considered and hailed as a dark masterpiece.However, with that said, while the remake would be a perfect 5 stars this show IS STILL (Probably for most) a 3.5 star show, but it's different for everybody. I actually know a few people that enjoyed it MORE then the remake because of how dark Hellsing:Ultimate is. (Also because the two shows go in relatively different directions.) I PERSONALLY loved the original ideas behind Hellsing so much, and loved the show to such a great extent- that I actually was able to enjoy this show to a full five star rating. It's different for everyone, but I do recommend you try the first three episodes out online.I will (eventually) (re)write a very long, in depth review of Hellsing:Ultimate which I will edit in here for you guys to redirect to (if I finish it.) I actually already wrote and nearly finished one, but my computer crashed and I lost everything. As you could probably guess, since I lost hours and hours of work I'm sort of discouraged at the moment from writing another. You may be wondering why I didn't save it, and that's because I was working all night on it and had such fervor writing it that I, quite literally, forgot to. Least to say I will never make that mistake again. I will say, though, that I do plan on eventually getting back to it.I really don't want to go into the characters and plot because this is such a short show (13 Episodes) that It'd be a better experience overall (In my opinion) if you go in not knowing much. All you really need to know is that this is about two vampires that work for a secret British agency which protects the population against the supernatural. (Even the concept is awesome? Makes you wonder... How was nobody able to think of this!?)Well that sums up about everything I wanted to say. So cheers! Again, don't listen to that other review he literally couldn't be more misguided. (I'll try to avoid insults.) Try it for yourself. It may not be a five star show but it can and is able to stand on its own. A good point of reference for other anime fans would be to compare the Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series. If you pointed a gun to my head and forced me to say a single negative thing about this series, I'd say I am disappointed that this series isn't in Blu Ray.I wish you the best of luck and a good day.Blitzkrieger ManP.S. The only one that can benefit from liking (If you do, in fact, like them) both shows is you. Restricting yourself to one or the other is simply limiting yourself. (Again, that's IF you like them.) Go in with an open mind, it's the same voice actors for all the characters so transitioning between one and the other isn't nearly as difficult as many claim.

This is, by far, one of my favorite animes (if not THE favorite) right up there with Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Genocyber and Attack on Titan.This is the "Classic" version meaning it was made before the mangas were even finished. To get the full Hellsing experience, I highly recommend watching both THIS series AND the Hellsing Ultimate series.This version is grittier and gives you that old school anime feel. There are parts that are jaw-droppingly wicked. It has scenes in it that Ultimate does not, like the SUPER graphic and extremely MATURE/ADULT EYES ONLY way Alucard meets his master, Integra. The MUSICAL SCORE in this one is also far better than the one in Ultimate. It is unique, full of Swag, Swing and Silent Hill. Creepy undertones and rifts right in the middle of a bluesy swag, with random cult classic Godzilla sounds thrown in. Its epic. I recommend buying the OST (original sound track) RAID.Half way through, the plot deviates and follows a new story that is not in the manga. Even though it differs from the manga at that point, it WORKS, because the characters stay true to themselves. If you're like me and need things to make some kind of chronological sense, you can just say that the SECOND half of this classic version happened BEFORE the SECOND half of the Ultimate version. It works nicely like that. The classic version is like getting an extra story about one of the many conflicts the Hellsing Organization conquers before the events of Hellsing Ultimate take place. AND, it goes more in depth on certain subjects and backstories that Ultimate skimmed out on. Ultimate, however, went more in depth on certain areas that this one didn't.... so really, both are necessary to get a full picture of the Hellsing world.I highly recommend it! Also - as a note - SPOILER ALERT.....Alucard IS Dracula..who IS Vlad the Impaler. Kouta Hirano stated so in several interviews. So this story picks up and continues Bram Stoker's novel. The all encompassing Dracula story is better portrayed in Hellsing Ultimate, but this series does still allude to who Alucard.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Hellsing, but it was definitely awesome. Let me just state, this is definitely not for those who are sensitive to gore, cursing, and sexual themes.Visually, Hellsing very much intrigued me. Some of the hire choices and background colours seemed very unique. A good example is the coloration in the first episode. The sky is red in several shots which definitely sets the vampire theme, but also provides the more lighthearted tones.Hellsing seemed fairly lighthearted in general, for having such serious implications. I was amazed at how well the blended humor, violence, and dark themes. It's sickly satisfying.The characters were very satisfying too. All of the characters were engrossing, they all had great dialogue, and they all provided a superb source of entertainment. This anime want afraid to show off the dark side characters either.I'd say that the darkest aspect of this anime was it's plot. The crimes against humanity that vampires committed definitely showcased the importance of the Hellsing society. Without the Hellsing society, the world would've been easily thrown into chaos. I also found it to be great that the main organization fighting vampires had a couple of vampires in their employee; sometimes you must fight fire with fire.Now, the soundtrack was definitely enjoyable. It was used very well to portray the feeling of many scenes. I also have to say that the opening theme was one of my favorite opening themes to date. It was just perfect for the anime.This adult themed anime was a great sum of all of its individual parts. I got so engrossed in each episode, that I was surprised by when they ended. This classic definitely deserves a place in both your heart and your anime collection.