Hellsing

After watching the complete series of Hellsing I have to say I was left wanting more. I did enjoy the originals: Vampire Hunter D and such but I just liked the portrayal of Alucard as a protagonist alot better. All and all I would give it and 8 maybe 8.5.

This is by far the best vampire series I have ever seen. I'm not much into anime, but this is a must see for vampire movie lovers. I loved it so much I bought the Manga and the DVD (different story lines through). Alucard is a slightly insane vampire in the service of the Hellsing Organization. The mission of the Hellsing Organization is to "search and destroy" creatures of darkness that threaten the innocent. Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing is Alucard's master. Sir Integra is a beautiful woman with an indomitable spirit. The byplay between these two is beautifully done. They snipe at each other constantly, but will back each other to the death. This is a show about honor, integrity, humanity and never giving up. The bad part??? Only 13 episodes.

Here are some key points to why I like this series: Stylistic animation. Entertaining dialog. A feast for the eye--that is if you like this style of animation rendering. Imaginative way of presenting the characters' power.

It's a fun series to watch--- it's not pretentious, not trying to be deep, or to convey some life philosophy. It's like a roller-coaster ride. The plot is interesting. Even though it's not entirely unpredictable, there were moments of delightful surprises.

The series is just long enough to tell the tale, instead of dragging on with senseless episodes. Each episode contributes to either the development of the story or of the characters.

All in all, it's a fun animation if you don't mind seeing animated and exaggerated violence and lots of blood.

I had mixed expectations before seeing this series. First, I really like stylised action anime and I really like vampire-hunter genre. I was also excited by the reviews I've read at IMDb and how fans of other vampire movies recommended Hellsing to me. But I also read the the makers of "Hellsing" also created "Ninja Resurrection" which turned out to be one of the worst, most appauling animes I've seen.

Well, after watching the English dub of the series I have a lot of positive things to say. The dubbing was excellent, and the casting for Allegra was especially noteworthy. The animation was very good as was pacing of the series and the characterisation. My absolute favourite element of the series was how it showed the relationship with the Hellising Organisation with the Crown of England. Watching the politics unfold was a real treat, and it was so realistically done. There were a lot of unanswered questions, but I didn't have a problem with that as their mystery both added to the series' mystique and left the door open for a possible second season.

Although I would have preferred the final fight seen go the more vampiric route, rather than a demonic powers route, I do not cite this as an objective criticism of the movie. I guess certain "hell" themes make me a tad uncomfortable, but that is just a personal reservation of mine.

In the final analysis, I recommend this series. The direction was so solid and the story was so interesting that watching the 13 episodes back to back felt more like watching a really good epic movie. See it!

Great anime with lots of dark humor and satire, and plenty of action (Arucard has to be one of the biggest bad-asses of all time). Though only 13 episodes long, the show does a fairly good job of tying together all the loose ends, but the comic on which its based provides a more detailed storyline, so if you become a fan check out the literature. Do yourself a favor and watch it in Japanese with the subtitles--it's how the characters were intended to sound. Also, pay close attention to the music while you watch. It's a great mix of some jazzy elements and some darker stuff, but it's not your typical vampire or fighting music. The soundtrack is well worth a purchase, and does a great job of setting the tone for this incredible series.