Hellsing

WARNING: This review contains an opinion that may differ from your own. I ask that you please read it with an open mind. If you're a fan of this manga/anime, hey I'm completely okay with that. I respect your opinion. Just how you should respect mine.

I know I'll get some hate for this, but whatever, this must be said. When you create a manga, there are three things that you can judge it on. First is the characterization, then the story and lastly the art. Hellsing fails when it comes to story and characterization. Before I go any further, I'll tell you right now there will be some very minor spoilers but there's nothing that will ruin the series for you and I'll warn you ahead of time.


The story takes place in the United Kingdom where the British government employs a special group named the Hellsing organization. They defend the country from things that go bump in the night. It' run by Sir Integra; (SPOILER UP AHEAD) it was originally started by her great grandfather, the notorious vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing. They incorporate a powerful vampire named Alucard. So yeah, you can kind of see where this is going, the Hellsing manga is like one of those "what if" stories. In this case, it's with Bram Stroker's “Dracula” Novel where instead of killing the count, Abraham Van Helsing keeps him alive and uses him to fight off demonic entities, vampires and ghouls(SPOILERS ARE OVER). I won't go any further, because I don't want to ruin what's left of the story (which isn't that much anyways).


Hellsing's narrative is really lacking, there isn't much depth and it doesn't engage you. Not to mention, it's way too simple (especially for a seinen manga), and isn't that multi-layered or complex aside from a plot twist that occurs towards the end of the series. I wouldn't have had a problem with it if the manga was shorter, but at 92 chapters, I was expecting more story. Obviously, Kouta Hirano knew this, so he needed a way to entertain the reader; which was to throw in a whole bunch of action and graphic bloody violence to the point where it became borderline exploitation. I remember reading Hellsing up to the halfway point and kept asking myself when will the story take off? It never did. Even though the story isn't that well written, I'll admit it's very well paced and there's always a smooth transition from one scene to the next.


Now on to the character's, okay let me start off by saying that Alucard has to be one of my all time favorite characters in all of manga and anime. He is the definition of badass and is a great example of the anti-hero. It's always fun to see him destroy his enemies mentally and physically. Not only that, but his whole persona and appearance is memorable. With his red duster and hat, to his large pistols and circular framed glasses. Of all the characters in the manga he had the most depth and was the most fleshed out. But still, he could have gotten a little more development. You couldn't imagine how frustrated I got when finally, we were given some back ground info on him but it turns out that it was only about 5 or 6 pages worth of material. Then it went back to nonstop action and violence. :( Furthermore, as for the others, they got little to no characterization whatsoever. For example, Seras Victoria, she barely got any development. Aside from trying to adapt as a newly turned vampire, there wasn't much else to her. About midway through, I began thinking that Kouta Hirano just put her in there because she had big tits. Don’t get me wrong, Seras is put to good use in the series but she just lacks depth. Like Alucard, we only get a small amount of info on her past later on in the manga. The same thing applies to the other characters as well. Sure, some of them had personalities that might make one stand out from another, but they were all one sided and flat. As I read further on, it became apparent that Hirano was too caught up with making them look cool and badass when they're fighting. And so, he completely forgot to develop them.

Finally the art, the best part about the Hellsing manga; the manga author may not be able to write, but he sure can draw. The character designs are distinctive and fit perfectly for this horror themed manga. Implementing thick lines into the designs was an interesting idea. Backgrounds were very detailed and crisp as well. Although, Hellsing’s art doesn't start out that great in the first 8-10 chapters (especially the design for Alucard). But by volume 3, it changes for the better.


All in all, Hellsing is a mediocre Seinen manga in my opinion. If you're looking for great storytelling and Characterization, look someplace else (Berserk, Vinland Saga and Monster). But if you want action and graphic violence then you’ll probably enjoy this. My suggestion to you is go watch Hellsing Ultimate instead, it’s a very faithful OVA adaptation of this manga. It’s a little more enjoyable than its counterpart because there is an OST, animation and of course, Crispin Freeman’s AMAZING dub performance. This all distracts you from the fact that the story and characterization isn't so great. So I think you’ll definitely have a more enjoyable experience with that.

---SPOILERS----

It was a good series. I wish it was a little bit longer... otaku/cyborg main villain really cracked me up lol Father Anderson was a cool character, i wish he hadn't died. I liked the idea of building a Vampire/Nazi army to take over the world. Butler Walter's betrayal to Integra was a shame, i kind of liked him. Every character in the manga was a psycho lol Alucard was so cool, i wish they showed more of his origin... may be his first missions with the hellsing organization... mangaka touched his gloomy side a little bit with how he was defeted by Integra's father and his lonelyness (just a tiny pinch of it) but may be some Mina Harker would be nice, may be some more part of his life as Dracula, even before Mina Harker or something, a long origin story which has what we know from the Dracula novel partly and add on to it, with the Alucard spin would be nice. I would love to see more of Alucard as a character.

Hellsing throws you into a dark world where monsters and humans coexist and do battle. Think of Bram Stroker's "Dracula" meeting the James Bond series, with a modest touch of fantasy. If your a person who enjoys being succinctly entertained with fast paced action and dialogue, then this is the manga for you. From an American's outlook, I could see where the Japanese lines blended with western comic ideals. Many characters are presented from different, competing groups, trying to hold dominion over the others for various iconographic reasons(God, Country, Money, Power, Abilities). It just seemed much more up front than some mangas I've read where things usually are more subtle at first. Not Hellsing though, from the moment you start reading you are thrown into the midst of essentially, a fast bloody short story with rising action, climax and the falling action. Not to say that the manga didn't try to delve deeper into the obsession over war, pursuit of perfection, and the preciousness of life. These are only a few of the themes that were blended with the fast paced plot for a thought provoking, but albeit entertaining story.

The story isn't very grand in terms of details, but it allows the reader to focus on a few integral characters at a time, which becomes more exciting as they all join together right before the climax.With the exception of the abrupt ending, most of the plot revolves around the main character and his anti hero actions towards evil. I enjoyed seeing all of the situations pitted against Alucard, and how his seemingly never ending powers dealt with them. I was bugged at first that it was just fight after fight, but towards the middle a greater battle is taken up and the fights more or less become the story. It made for good and mildly original entertainment.

The art in Hellsing matched the story perfectly. To say it was just "cool" or "dark" is an understatement. Every character has their own feel to them through their drawings. Integra is always collected and in charge with her cigarette smoke. Walter is respectful but yet mysterious with his eye piece shining, and Allucard oozes dark, fearful power. Its too long to go into, but every character almost seems evil do to the nature of the story and how it fits so well with the art. No one is perfect and the art reflects that idea well.

Due to its fast paced, skirmish then break skirmish then break story structure, I originally thought that character development was lacking in Hellsing. But Hirano uses the battle structure as a way of showing you what type of character the person is. There are many many speeches in these battles that explain their ideals, motives, etc. It isn't really done as subtley as some similiarly natured manga, but still gets the job done. Most of the characters pass away fast, and so only a few get gradually built up. These brief characters are actually quite interesting and original, which makes it easier to appreciate them as much as the built up characters before they die abruptly. The majority of the characters in the series have interesting abilities and larger than life motives for pursuiting battle. If I had to say what the series major weakness was, its most likely the fact that the brief characters aren't given more page time and lack development, which can't be made up just because most of them are interesting and original.

I recommend that you read this series as it is meant to be read, periodically. Read one volume, and then wait a couple days or even a week to read the next. There are many cliffhangers and plot developments that serve to enhance the enjoyment level greatly. I did this and was excited and involved until the end. The action is the bread and butter of this series, and the characters were all very cool, with only a few being "very developed". If you are wanting a break from your deeply thought provoking, hipster manga, than pick up a copy of Hellsing and your adrenaline will thank you.




"Let us drive away those who have forgotten us, let us pull awake those who have fallen in their sleep. Let us pull them up by their hair and pry their eyes open and make them remember. Let us remind them of the taste of fear. Let us remind them of the sound of our military shoes pounding. Let us remind them that there are things between the earth and the sky which they would not even dream to be possible.

We will burn the world down.

Here we go, gentlemen."

- The Major

What do you get when you put vampires in the 1940s during World War II? Hellsing.

It's an interesting idea that's executed generally well in this manga. The main character's name is Alucard, and he's basically the strongest vampire in the world. Alucard and co. typically don't fight against Nazis, they mostly fight against other supernatural forces. The Hellsing organization only care about defending London, and they do whatever they need to do so they can keep London safe.There are only 10 volumes and the series doesn't seem too dragged out. It does get extremely gorey at points, but hey it's a war what do you expect.

Honestly, I read this series quite a while ago so I don't remember many details from the story itself, but I do remember that it does get confusing at times. My favorite part of the manga is mostly just the idea of it; at times there is just too much talking when you're expecting blood and death. Overall though, it's not a bad series.

Just finished it. Here's my thought. That's right. One thought:
DAMN.

The first five books are build up - and the last five are just nothing but action: non-stop, ridiculous, bloody, violent, glorious fight scenes. Okay, so there are some odd touching moments, times of regret and sadness, confusion, heart-stopping, shattering disbelief... And all through it, blood, blood, blood and teeth.
And some bullets. Some really BIG guns.

Okay, a few things. The story is top notch. My beef is the art. Which is crazy I know - but that's the thing. It gets so hectic and detailed, that sometimes it's hard to determine what's going on. It gets so crowded with bodies and blood, and buildings and guns, that sometimes what you should be paying attention to, gets lost in all the black ink. Which is a style and does not need to be changed at all - I just had to pause in my reading to figure out who or what was going where.

Characters are top notch - a few characters here and there I wished would be fleshed out more, but those were tertiary characters. Not even second. The secondary characters had fantastic development. The first level characters? Alucard and Seras? They managed to keep developing right til the end! Ridiculous! - In a good way.

Enjoyment? **** yeah. Just insane. A few pages dragged - and I do mean maybe three or four out of the whole series. (Major's LONG speech being it).
Reading it got a little difficult, but I've already touched on that. Will I read it again? Definitely. Will I recommend it. Hell YES. Will I lend it out? Well - I already told my brother I'd lend the last half to him when I was done.
Will I buy it? Well, let's just say, I bought six volumes in a row after reading one.

So - if you like blood, guns, guts, massacres, insanity, a tad creepiness, and mass amounts of deaths... this is it.
No, there are no pretty boys. Alucard is dangerous and straight up alluring in his thirst for bloody entertainment.

This manga is one I definitely can say I enjoyed. The synopsis for this series does not do it justice.

Story - 7
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The story was good. It wasn't absolutely amazing (to me), but it was good enough to keep me interested and encourage me to read on. When you describe the overall major plot of this series, it sounds a bit silly, but that's honestly one of the things I love about it.

This is mainly a "vampire" series, but it isn't a typical vampire romance where the vampires sparkle in the sun, so if you have expectations for a vampire romance story, this may not be for you. The plot of this manga is relatively easy to follow. Now, it isn't spoonfed to you or anything, but it won't make you spend all your waking hours questioning what happened, why it happened, motives, etc.

Although, if it had to be improved upon, I would've liked a LITTLE more background on some of the characters.

Art - 9
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I absolutely love the art style of this series! Although, it may not click with you. It grew on me a lot. It isn't sloppy by any means. It does make the characters look a little odd from certain angles, but it's not necessarily annoying. I did have to take a longer look at some panels and be like "wait, what's going on here?" but there wasn't anything that left me super confused.

Kouta Hirano has a very unique art style, and this manga made me love it.

Character - 8
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This series has great characters. I don't give it a ten because these characters can be improved in (minimal) ways.

There is a certain character that doesn't click with quite a few people, and that's Alucard. He is, in theory, a "perfect character". He doesn't necessarily have outstanding flaws, but he is morally questionable, so I wouldn't consider him perfect. This is something that annoys some people, but it didn't bother me. Alucard is Hellsing's trump card for a REASON; that's why he overpowers everyone.

In terms of the other characters, they're great and portrayed nicely. If you want eye-candy, it's given to you, but if you're not looking for it - you won't necessarily notice. This applies to a lot of the characters (Alucard included). I appreciate how there's some badass, powerful female figures in the series, such as Integra.

Enjoyment - 8
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This was a fun manga to read! I don't give it a ten, not necessarily because it was flawed, but just because for whatever reason, it just didn't reach the absolute peak of my enjoyment, if that makes any sense... I was a little confused at times which did affect my enjoyment a little, but I'll give Hellsing the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the translation I'm reading and the fact that everything confuses me.

Overall - 9
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I overall give this series a 9. It's not a masterpiece, but it's certainly a good manga that's worth your time. Give it a go!

Just as a little side note, not sure if this goes under "story" so I'll put it here. This isn't something that's noticeable unless you pay a lot of attention, but there are some minor inconsistencies with the timeline (when it comes to dates), but for anyone who's curious, you can consider about 98% of this series to take place in 1999, in the United Kingdom.

Anyways- thank you for reading my review! If you read this to decide whether or not to read this series, I hope this helped you make your decision.

Ah, Happy Halloween everyone (Or at least, it is Halloween at the time of posting this review). The day of the dead has finally dawned upon us, and I believe that, as a result, I am obliged to review something that is at least somewhat Halloween themed. And hey, if there’s any Novel that symbolizes the horror Genere, it is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Since it, many films, series and other stuff have tried adapting it or just making their own damn story with the concept and running with it. And in this case, I’m here to review one of the most insane and just completely out there takes on the genre. That, of course, being Hirano Kouta’s Hellsing.

I should mention that apparently this sucker took forever to complete. How long is it? Ten Volumes. What was the release schedule? One Chapter a month. When did it end? 2008! For the record, I did the math here; this thing shouldn’t have taken less than 8 to be completed. Apparently Hirano after a while stopped having a consistent release schedule and would just put up chapters whenever he felt like it. And people say Togashi is lazy…

Setting the “Passion” of our author aside; how is the content of this Manga? Well, let’s start off by making one thing clear: Don’t take it seriously. One of Hellsing’s charms is that when you get down to it, this Manga rebels in its absurdity. It is hilariously over the top and aware that its concept is absolutely ridiculous, but it just kinda runs with it without a damn care in the world. It’s part of what makes this so appealing.

In turn, this Manga can be called “Build Up and Conflict: The Manga”. With that I mean that the whole Manga can be divided into two near-equal parts: The first half is all about introducing the setting, characters and putting said characters in the spot that they should be. Then the next half is just one really long fight scene that builds on everything that has been introduced up until now. To call this entertaining would be an understatement.

The whole thing can be best summarized with the show’s main character, Alucard. When you’re introduced to him, there’s not really much to him, just an impossibly badass and mysterious man who happens to be the main character. If anything, him being the main character is a bit odd given how borderline sociopathic he seems at points. Yet while he’s far from the deepest character, the more and more you learn about him he becomes all the more interesting. The initial description of him wasn’t wrong, but there is indeed more to him than just that.

In term, the overall plot is rudimentary basic, but I feel it makes up for it by not really screwing up at anything in particular. No, seriously, while most elements have been done better in other shows, I can’t really count any of them that were done badly here. The plot is accordingly fast paced, but never too much so, and overall the narrative is ultimately just one big excuse for the spectacle, but a good one.

I think the character that shows off my first point best is Seras Victoria. Her story is just an overall simple case of someone without much confidence in herself becoming stronger in spite of, or perhaps BECAUSE of all the tragedy she undergoes. It’s well done and gets the job well enough. The last point however can moreso be illustrated with Alexander Anderson. This man is just freaking insane. Even by the end of this story, I’m not exactly sure what his deal is, but damn if he didn’t leave an impact on me. Dude’s just 900 different types of awesome!

There are of course characters that are simpler, yet no less effective. Sir Integra Fairbook Wingates Hellsing is just a really well done Iron Lady character, and her trusty butler Walter C Dolores is more of the same, though they do a decent enough job at fleshing them out, especially Walter, who is clearly more than he seems. Pip Bernadotte also falls into this group: A simple, yet still well done character.

In the end however, as I mentioned, the plot is but an excuse for the spectacle, and good lord does Hellsing deliver on that. First of all, let’s talk about the actual artstyle. The whole thing just has a gothic feel, and it legitimately does feel like a modernized take on the classic Dracula Mythos in its own way, what with the exaggerated get-up (Or is that just a British thing I am not aware of?).In turn the facial expressions are wide and varied, and some of them are meme worthy for all the right reasons. The only downside I can think of is that some of the early chapters can look a bit rough, but frankly that only really lasts about a volume or so; probably even less, now that I think about it. Best of all, while there is some gore, it’s never so much so that it comes off as something made for shock value and nothing else.

Yet of course it is with the fight scenes that Hellsing truly stands out among the rest. If there’s one word I could use to describe it, it would be Varied. I kid you not; there is not a single action scene in this Manga that is the same as a previous one, with all of them managing to bring something unique at the table. What that something is depends, of course. Sometimes it’s the setting, sometimes it’s the finishing blow, and other times it’s just the many twists and turns that can happen in the middle of a battle. The absolute highlight of course is Anderson and Alucard’s final battle, though I also have some fondness for Seras’ fight against Zorin.

Speaking of which, who would our “good guys” fight without bad guys? The answer is quite simple: Nazi Zombie Vampires!... I did mention this show didn’t take itself that seriously.

And the absurdity of the concept certainly does help you get an idea of the kind of character’s you’ll be getting. They are all varying levels of over the top, ranging from being so in a subtle way (Luke Valentine and ESPECIALLY The Captain) to absolutely banana-balls (Like Rip Van Winkle and the Major). They do however make for very effective antagonists at the same time, and it’s easy to treat them seriously simple because of the sheer amount of destruction they cause. They are the very embodiment of Chaotic Evil and the story never lets you forget that.

Now, with all the positives I have said up until now, you might wonder why I haven’t given this show a straight up 10/10. Well, ultimately the issue just lies on what I said earlier: Bar the spectacle, this show just doesn’t do enough things well enough for a higher score. It is very much the Manga equivalent of a bunch of 80’ action movies: You watch it moreso to see cool people doing cool stuff than seeing an actually interesting plot, with said plot being good enough to… well, be good, but also nothing special.

In the end however, do I recommend Hellsing? You bet I do. It is one of the most Fun Mangas I’ve read, and I can’t help but have a really dumb grin in my face whenever I read it. It’s not the most complex or thought provoking thing ever, but it is very clearly aware of that and just decides to have fun. It’s like a celebration of all the absurdity in Anime and Manga tied up into one concise little package. I wholeheartedly implore you to read it.

Final Score: 9/10

It's a pretty meh manga all things considered. I don't consider Hellsing as a horror (if it was intended as one it failed in that department) and is more just a straight up action and it's.. okay I guess. Feels visceral enough but because the characters are vampires and ghouls they have an annoying ability to keep coming back to life no matter how much punishment they take.

There's not really much a storyline which is a shame because the whole Vampire Van Hellsing thing has a lot of potential but it doesn't really live up to much. If you just want a manga with some vampires and mindless action Hellsing might be okay for you but if you're looking for something more it won't scratch that itch.

Hellsing was my first manga and actually it was the fact I started reading more of them.

There is everything you can expect from an bloody-vampire-action-gore manga like this. After just a quick glance at the front of the book, you know it's going to be good. Alucard is the most badass vampire you can find in the modern literature. I wasn't bored for a single page and, after finishing one volume, I couldn't wait for another volume to come out.

Overall, if you want some fast action and nice plot, choose Hellsing.

OH MY GOD.
What can i say, this is one of those stories that has so much potential that go to waste.
I love and hate every thing about this manga, most of my hate can be turned to love if i watched the anime instead.

The translation that i read gave me a constant headache because of the accents, the action scenes were lacking, some were amazing but others you wont see anything happen and the worst of all is when there is a fighting scene and you have no idea wtf is going on, where is right where is left who is that and what is he even doing.

So like i said this is probably one of the few mangas that i recommend watching the anime instead.

But still it's a really good manga but would've loved to see more character development or more background, the characters are amazing but we need more info about them, something to sympathize with, also they develop way too fast that in some cases it doesn't even make sense.
some even feel like they are two different people and others you don't know what even happened to make them change like that.

anyway, it's a story about vampires, the Vatican and -you will find out when you read it-, so basically everything that you would ever need in a story.