The Anime Otaku Survey #4: Hellsing Ultimate

I sure hope you all had wonderful holidays. I know I sure did. However, between my travels and visits with family and loved ones, I created a bit of a backlog for myself. Fortunately, I have made great strides toward getting back on track this past week, and I look forward to bringing you a lot more content with the coming of this new year. And what better way to start off my resolution than with the next issue of the Anime Otaku Survey. This month, we are covering Hellsing Ultimate!

Though I had never watched any Hellsing animes before, I had a pretty good idea of the kind of tone it had going into it. It had the cool, action sequences which spawned numerous AMV’s (right alongside Naruto) and paved the way for my first exposure to its existence. That being said, I had yet try it out and now seemed the perfect opportunity to change that.

Before I delve into the nitty-gritty, however, I feel it prudent to inform you beforehand that I had never been particularly inclined to partake in Gory materials. And with my recent personal matters, my personal distaste for gore has only become more pronounced. My bias may have affected my judgment a little, but I will try to stay objective in any criticisms (positive or negative) I have.

Hellsing Ultimate is a show about vampires, ghouls, and religion. It stands out among its crowd of competitors not only for its intense gore and action sequences but its stunning visuals and memorable soundtrack as well. Even while gagging at the explicit depictions of severed body parts, I couldn't help but appreciate the nigh masterful camerawork that went into a lot of the keyframes. And the visual effects were quite satisfying to watch. One example that immediately sticks out to me is the smoke billowing across Zorin Blitz’s zeppelin as it crashes in episode six.

There is some really strong characterization that goes into this anime, at least with regards to its main characters. There are a lot of questionable minor characters, but I’ll get into more detail about that in a moment. Alucard, Integra, Seras, and The Major (the main antagonist) all stood out to me as being well-defined. Walter didn’t feel quite as fleshed out, but he’s really only there to support Integra Hellsing’s executive actions anyways.

One drawback I’ve found with the story comes in the form of its pacing in the first quarter of the anime. When I was contemplating checking out after the second episode or so, I made a cursory check out what some other people had to say about the show, and I was surprised I didn’t find anything which directly remarked upon that.

One of the things that did crop up in my search, however, was the dissatisfaction over the religious aspects behind the show. I have my own qualms over how religion was handled in this story, and I believe it suffers because of the pacing.

I felt many of the scenes featuring Iscariott organization of the Vatican glossed over their character introductions, plans, and motivations. Many times I would catch myself scratching my head over a sudden entrance or development, feeling like I missed some crucial detail. Take for instance the time Anderson busted in on a meeting with Alucard and company, attacked him, and then suddenly produced transport papers to fast travel his way back to Europe (I think? I’m not quite sure what happened, actually). Or how Enrico Maxwell met with Integra and immediately proceeded to insult her organization into fighting him, despite his intent being to exchange information with them (again, I’m not actually sure of the accuracy of this statement, but that’s how I interpreted it). Or how many of the no-name characters take up screen time with empty dialogue, like the messenger after Enrico and his templar army leave for London during its attack.

The other area which I felt suffered in the early episodes because of pacing was some of the politics. I think there may have been somewhere between three to five of scenes featuring deliberations (I truthfully lost count after a while), but only the meeting in London’s war room preceding Millinium’s attack sticks out to me. I couldn’t really tell you who else Integra met with, of the significance behind their relations to the Hellsing Organization. Exception to that statement is the Queen of England, but even then, I still don’t know why she seemed to know Alucard on a personal level.

Only when I got out of the opening episodes of the show and into the meat of the anime did I truly became immersed within the show. The war between Millennium and England is where I think the show really shined best. It captured the crueler side of humanity, the action was drawn out to fully embrace the carnage. There were a whole three minutes of thrilling music playing as one gruesome shot unfolded after another! And the Major’s speech before the war reveals the twisted delight he takes from death and war.

As I draw my final conclusions about my experiences with this anime, a realization has dawned on me. I find it ironic that the parts which ultimately prevent me from being able to complete the series are also what I find to be the most engaging part about it. And given its short run time of only ten episodes, it's understandable why the politics and religion sometimes felt glossed over to me in favor of more screen time for the action. While I didn’t think this was the masterpiece like I had been led to believe, this still solidified its place in my mind as being a well-made anime. I think anyone who fancies dark, gory action will walk away from it feeling satisfied.

Score:

Concept: 9/10
Storytelling: 6/10
Visuals/Soundtrack: 9/10
Characterization: 8/10
Subjective: 5/10
Final Score: 7.5/10

If you’ve watched this anime, what were your thoughts on it? Also, if you have any animes you would like me to review, feel free to let me know in the comments below. Stay tuned for next month’s issue of the Anime Otaku Survey for Corpse Princess! And as always, thank you for your support.