REVIEW - HELLSING

Story & Characters

What do you get when you mix insanely powerful vampires, ghouls, guns and a perpetual conflict between the Anglican and Catholic churches threatening to burst to a full-scale war? Most of you would be tempted to say that the result would be a catchy and original series; however, in the end, Hellsing turns out to be just another action / horror series with hardly any substance at all.

Before you say that this is a rather harsh critique, let us consider the story of the series. Firstly, there can be hardly any talk about the story to begin with. We have a secret agency that's bound to erradicate vampires, ghouls and any other creatures of the sort. We have an insanely powerful vampire named Alucard (obvious allusion to the vampire Dracula) who's working for this agency, a vampire fledgling who is trying to retain her humanity even though she's well aware that such a thing is impossible, and a tough-as-nails female leader of this agency who'll stop at nothing to protect her country. All these are basic character types which can be encountered in any anime. There are plenty of happenings throughout the thirteen episodes, but none of them conceive to form a consistent and well-bound plot.

Rating: 5 (moderate)

Art

There's no denying that, when it comes to art and graphics, Hellsing looks really good. The character art is original for the better part and drifts from the consecrated style of Japanese anime towards the style of twenty-century American cartoons for some characters (as is the case for 'Shinigami' Walter, for instance). The aspect of the characters fits well with their bio and personality.

The backgrounds are largely ellaborate and contribute well to create the overall atmosphere for once scene or another, and the animation is good also. The blood that flows or bursts looks pretty realistic (well, as realistic as computer-drawn blood could look, anyway), and the various visual effects, like flames or explosions, are sometimes stunning.

Rating: 9 (very good)

Sound

Clearly, the soundtrack is one of the strong points of the series, if not the only one. The music tracks are variated and fit well with each scene. There are several vocal tracks, including the opening and ending themes, which are great achievements on their own. The only downside would be that some lyrics make no sense at all, but that can be overlooked.

The voices are also well-chosen, and the acting is brilliant for some characters, like Alucard and Integra. Sometimes it gave me the creeps to hear Alucard's sinister laughter in the aftermath of a battle with a powerful foe, Victoria's sweet and somewhat innocent voice went well with her character, and Integra's outbursts always gave me the jumps.

Rating: 10 (excellent)

Presentation

Like I said before, there's hardly anything original about this series. No matter what aspect you take into consideration, it's all been done before: the secret organization thing, the good / bad guys from Vatican messing things up, the apotheotic scene in which a demented and very powerful villain threatens to bring about the destruction of the world and all the other things like that. On the other hand, the action is very dynamic, and even though this series is quite short, it manages not to become boring or repetitive.

If you're looking for an anime with good action scenes, plenty of blood and moral / spiritual references here and there, then Hellsing is definitely a title you shouldn't miss out. On the other hand, if you want an anime with a more solid plot, then you should turn to another series.

Rating: 7 (above average)

Final Verdict: 7.17 (good)