Hellsing Ultimate: Volume 1

Introduction

Hellsing for me was a victim of bad timing. I first learnt about the anime after I had just seen the Van Helsing movie in the cinema. To confuse matters further, the film had a spin-off animation to increase the merchandising revenue, but after watching the film, I had no intention of watching anything with Hellsing in the title ever again. Of course judging a DVD by the cover is bad, wrong and should be discouraged. Just to clarify things, Van Helsing is a tiresome effects-fest from the makers of The Mummy, set around the end of the 19th Century, starring Huge Ackman, and is utter tripe. Hellsing (note the absence of the Van, and the extra 'l') is a modern day re-imagining of the vampire genre, a battle between good and evil set in an alternate Britain. It isn't crap.

Some people were disappointed with the first adaptation of Kouta Hirano's manga though. The thirteen episode series (currently available in the UK courtesy of ADV), was made concurrently with the manga, and while the manga continued in Japan, the series had to come to an end, which meant the final half meandered off in an unexpected direction, and the conclusion of it was considered by some to be a damp squib. I haven't seen the first series, but it is said that production values dipped in the second half as well. As occasionally happens in anime (and should happen more often in Hollywood in my opinion), they ignored what had happened before and started from scratch. In 2006, Hellsing Ultimate made its debut, reportedly much more faithful (read bloody) to the original manga, and also in a different format, 50 minute OVA episodes with the consequent budget upgrade in animation. The thing about OVAs is though, that they are ready when they are ready, not to a set schedule, and fans remain on tenterhooks for each subsequent release.


Hellsing Ultimate was also one of the victims of the Geneon hiatus, and it's only recently that the releases have resumed in the US. So when Manga Entertainment announced that they had all four episodes it was quite a coup. Manga were planning delicious 2-disc sets, with two episodes to each set, continuing their budget busting anime releases of late, but apparently someone didn't read the small print of the contract. So one smacked wrist and a quick reschedule, means that this first episode is released by its lonesome, as opposed to what some gun jumping early reviews have stated. The second episode is now scheduled for December, giving you time to increase your bloodthirst. The upside of this delay is that by the time we get to the fourth episode, someone may have sorted out the licence for the fifth, recently released in Japan.

Vampires exist, as do the legions of the undead, and the Hellsing organisation has been tasked with guarding the British Empire from their onslaught. The current head of the organisation is Sir Integra Hellsing, who inherited the position from her father. The ace card she holds is Alucard, a renegade vampire who fights for humanity against his own kind. If only vampires were the only problem they had. Britain is a Protestant nation, and Hellsing works for the Church of England, something that rubs the Vatican the wrong way, who have their own Iscariot organisation to battle the undead. The ideological differences between the two groups have them locking horns on more than one occasion, and while they are distracted, the vampires can feed.


There's an outbreak of ghouls in Cheddar village, which can only mean one thing, a vampire that is creating them. Note for future reference, virgins bitten by vampires become vampires; the deflowered just become mindless zombie-like ghouls under the control of the vampire. It's lucky for policewoman Seras Victoria that she hasn't got lucky yet, as when she wanders into the wrong church; she winds up fleeing from a vampire and his minions. It was all going so well for the vampire until Hellsing's ultimate weapon Alucard shows up, and the ghouls don't last long. In a last ditch attempt to save his existence, the vampire takes Seras hostage as a human shield. The last thing Seras remembers before waking up transformed into a vampire is answering yes to whether she is a virgin, then being shot through the chest with a large calibre silver bullet. She's been recruited by Hellsing, and is soon being trained by Alucard in the ways of vampires, and how to hunt them. She also has to contend with her growing vampire urges and what remains of her humanity. She doesn't have long to consider, as vampire activity is on the increase, and they are soon hard at work hunting down the undead enemies of the British Empire. It's when their work takes them to Northern Ireland that their problems begin. Catholics and Protestants still don't like each other, regardless that the vampire problem gives them common cause. What should be a straightforward hunt becomes a territorial fight for survival, when the Iscariot group sends Father Alexander Anderson to stamp their presence in Ulster. The regenerating undying priest meets his match when he faces the ultimate vampire Alucard.

Picture

Hellsing Ultimate gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, and it's a good one. The image is clear throughout, there's no signs of artefacts except around excessively noisy moments, NTSC-PAL conversion issues are practically invisible, and this is as good as anime transfers usually get. What usually causes trouble for anime transfers are misty or dark scenes, or a combination of the two, usually showing up in horrific colour banding. Hellsing is about vampires, it's all mist and darkness, but there are no such issues here, and the animation comes across brilliantly.

It deserves a good transfer too, as the character designs are excellent, the animation is vibrant and expressive, it's given the full OVA budget treatment so expect something a cut or two above the tight schedules and corner cutting of television animation. What you get here is moody, utterly stylish, and deliciously dark. Effective use of light and shade do much to establish the genre feel of the show, and broad distinctive outlines give it a unique character. And there is plenty of blood, gallons of it, arterial sprays all over the place.

Sound

You have a choice of DD 5.1 English and Japanese, as well as a DTS English track. There are optional English subtitles provided, but once again Manga Entertainment omit the separate signs track. Of late, Manga's releases have been nigh on perfect, it's just that one final quibble that remains. The sound is awesome. This is an action packed show; with an excellent orchestral score from the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and the surround does it full justice. It's a vibrant, immersive track with excellent directionality for effects, dialogue and ambience. Unlike a lot of television anime that start of with stereo and then get glorified upconversions, this is a show that was sound designed right from the beginning, and it shows.


But that English dub… I have to keep reminding myself that this is a show that was made for a Japanese audience, and when it came to the US, it was dubbed for a US audience. It's set in the UK though, would have hurt so much to ask someone here? You have to remember that for US audiences there are two English accents, upper class, and mild cockney. When it comes to regionality, there are three, the Connery Scottish, the Hopkins Welsh, and the Lucky Charms Irish. Everything else needs subtitles. It doesn't matter when the majority of the main cast are of British origin when the voices are still filtered through a Hollywood mindset of what UK accents should be. Admittedly if you heard a Brummie vampire you'd probably p*** yourself laughing, but it is the principle of the thing. It's also the blandness of the thing, with the characters either being cockney or upper class, there isn't a lot of variety. Alucard has a neutral accent (mid Atlantic-ish) that sounds natural, and Integra's precision is apt for the character, but Seras's accent is hard to place, and Anderson's Scottish brogue is a little too generic. The main cast aren't as much a chore to listen to as are the incidental characters, one-line and get your throat ripped out sort of thing. It sounds as if they warm up their voices by repeating 'Mary Poppins' until they get the right Van Dyke inflection, and quite frankly after hearing some of those lines mangled, they do meet deserved ends.


One incongruous worldview I can handle, and the Japanese perception of the UK, LAPD style cops, and proud church going protestants, is skewed enough as it is. But that combined with the dub sets my eyes rolling to the point where belief is no longer suspended. In this case, I prefer my Brits speaking Japanese thank you.

Extras

We begin with a 32-minute Interview with ADR voice director Taliesin Jaffe, and English voice of Alucard, Crispin Freeman. It's a decent in depth chat, as they talk about how they got involved with Hellsing, auditioning for the show, the cast, and the authenticity of accents, and voicing Alucard.

There are four promotional videos for the show, the Broken English Version (6½ mins), Young King Ours version (5½ mins), US version (3½ mins), and the Japanese version (2 mins).

The textless closing is here, as are four Japanese TV commercials for the show.

The Characters Gallery is a 2½-minute slideshow of line art, as is the Props and Backgrounds Gallery.

Of course the big extra on this disc is the audio commentary with Taliesin Jaffe and Crispin Freeman. They speak about how the OVAs are more faithful to the original manga than the series was, and the main differences between this first OVA episode and the series. It's a pretty jovial friendly track, but there is some information of value to be had from the banter. There is a slight problem in that the track competes with the show's audio at times, and Jaffe in particular vanishes beneath the background. I did end up replaying certain sections with my ears pressed up against a speaker, most notably to learn that Seras has a South London accent. London, South Africa? London, Canada? London, Nigeria? London, Finland? Beats me…

Conclusion

I had just finished watching the first volume of Hellsing Ultimate when the news was announced that the two volumes would be released separately. Half the work, you're probably thinking, and I can keep the second review disc on the back burner for a couple of months. Not in this case, as taken by itself, the first volume of Hellsing Ultimate is little more than an introduction, and it doesn't quite settle down into a groove at the end of its fifty minutes, making it hard to categorise or comment on. The initial impact is one of style over substance, something it does nothing to dispel, and while you're in a for a visual treat, an enjoyable ride from beginning to end, I was left feeling a little underwhelmed at the end of it. So it's pretty much like any Hollywood blockbuster of the past few years then…


Not exactly, as Hellsing Ultimate has really been made for fans of the manga, and those who enjoyed, but were ultimately disappointed by the first series. They know the characters, the world and the rules that govern it, and they have the most to appreciate from seeing their favourite characters reinvented, the animation budget maxed out, and the story retold. Without that background, I'm really just approaching this show fresh, much like I would any other new anime experience.

It is glorious style over ephemeral substance though. The moody animation, strong character designs, excellent performances make for an immediate impact. The sound design too gives a stunning sense of atmosphere, and this could easily have been a creepy, spooky horror tale of the old school. Except these are vampires for the 21st Century, and bullets, action and mayhem is the order of the day. There are no chills to the spine to be had here, no unnerving moments as you feel a cold hand on your shoulder, this is butt kicking, blood spraying, good old fashioned good versus evil, and you certainly get your popcorn chewing quota of action here. Frankly, that's the way I prefer it.


Alucard is the immortal vampire hero of the show, an utter badass as you would expect, yet fighting for the side of good for whatever his obscure reasons are. He doesn't apparently have the same bloodlust as other vampires, but he's also a cut above them in terms of his abilities, a stake in the heart doesn't bother him, and losing bits of his anatomy is just a temporary inconvenience. His boss, and the head of the Hellsing organisation, Integra is a tad more refined and proper as befits a member of the British aristocracy, but she also has a manic edge to her, and ability to deal out violence that would make her right at home in a show like Black Lagoon. As usual, we need some innocent and unsullied eyes into this world, and that comes in the form of policewoman Seras Victoria, who early on gets turned into a member of the undead in order to save her life. Why Alucard does so is a matter of question. Whether he needs a companion, a plaything, or is just bored is unknown, but regardless the training of Seras as a vampire soon begins, and the two spark up quite an odd master apprentice relationship. As yet Seras is still the wimpy lost lamb of the show, but hopefully as the series progresses, she'll grow a backbone.


There are no end of villains in this opener, but the one you remember is Alexander Anderson, a weapon of the Vatican in the Catholic Church's own war against the vampires, a man who has been bioengineered to be immortal, instantly regenerating from any wound no matter how severe. He's borderline psychopathic when it comes to vampires, and his ire turns on Alucard and Seras even though they are ostensibly on the same side. He also turns on the people of the Hellsing group when they come to recover their agents, but he has a Catholic grudge against Protestants, which added to his hate of vampires turns him into a loose cannon indeed. The first encounter is inconclusive, which hints at a rematch yet to come.


The overriding impression is of haste. The pace of the show is relentless, we're thrown right into the thick of things with a brief flashback that leads to Seras's conversion, and then it's straight into training before the encounter with Anderson that takes us up to the end of the episode. Apparently the whole of the first volume of the manga is adapted for these 50 minutes, and it looks like a tight squeeze. That said, you do get a fine sense of the characters, and there is also a good deal of humour in between the slayings and bloodlettings to appreciate, and not all of it the dry, black stuff I've come to expect from dark action shows like this. Hellsing Ultimate sets the scene and introduces the characters in this first volume, and also gives enough excitement and mayhem to give an idea of what the show is capable of. Now it just needs a little story meat on its stylish bones, and it could turn out to be quite a treat.


That two-disc set would have come with its own quids-in 'ka-ching' sound effect. You wouldn't even have to think about opening your wallet. This single disc release isn't as enticing. Half the content means 75% of the price in some odd calculator, although with the usual web discounts you should still get it at a decent price. It's a FLCL quandary, the extras certainly help in bulking up the disc, but it all boils down to quality over quantity. Is the show worth it? I can fervently say, maybe. Try before you buy, or instead wait a few weeks for my review of volume 2.