The Manga

“Hellsing” has long been something of a guilty pleasure for me. When my local library first started stocking manga titles, the popular Japanese comic-book style, the bright-red front cover of Kouta Hirano’s “Hellsing: Volume one” jumped out of the rack at me. As I pulled it off the shelf (promptly discovering that manga is written right-to-left with the back cover falling where I expected the front to be) and examined the front cover, I fell instantly in love: resplendent in Hirano’s gloriously detailed yet strangely stylised artwork, the series’ antihero grinned toothily at me from the page, a black haired vampire toting an enormous gun wearing an equally enormous hat, trenchcoat and cravat, gripping a crucifix between his teeth, not to mention the very title itself, an obvious reference to the vampire-slaying Professor from Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula. Now, regular readers may have noticed by now my slight fixation with vampires, out-of-date clothing and stylised art, so my reaction may not come as a surprise. Greedily I added the volume to the pile of books in my arms and hastily read it the instant I reached home. The series soon became one of my favourite obsessions, and retains a special place in my heart as the first snippet of Japanese pop-culture I ever came across, regular readers may have also spotted my current love for all things Japanese.

“Hellsing” follows the exploits of the Hellsing Organisation, a Protestant secret military group founded by Professor Abraham Van Hellsing to combat the evil forces of the undead. There are certain rules that constrict the vampires but these are relatively minor ones: a virgin bitten by a vampire will become a vampire, anyone else becomes a ghoul, and while garlic, crosses and the usual paraphernalia seem to affect vampires, they can also be killed with special bullets made from melted-down crosses. The majority of the action takes place in roughly contemporary England, with some moments overseas and a prequel series “Hellsing: The Dawn” set in World War Two. The organisation is headed by the wonderfully named Integra Wingates Fairbrook Hellsing, an effortlessly cool and powerful young woman with long blonde hair, round glasses and a penchant for cigars and smart suits. Under her command is a squad of crack troops; her butler Walter C Dornez, a former assassin whose weapon of choice is monofilament wire; and the organisation’s most deadly weapon: Alucard, an all-powerful, shape-shifting, practically unstoppable vampire who fights his own kind for his master, wielding a pair of oversize pistols (spell his name backwards for a hint at who he really is).

Alucard really is a great character. He’s an absolute monster, vicious and brutal, arrogant and cruel, but he knows he’s a monster and relishes the fact, he has more in common with the vampires of folklore than the angst-ridden antiheroes of Anne Rice or Stephanie Meyer, but this does not mean he is not capable of surprisingly emotional responses such as dreams or tears and an overarching respect for the living. However, the majority of the action is seen through the eyes of a more accessible character, former policewoman Seras Victoria, who finds herself at the heart of a vampiric attack in the first volume and is turned into a vampire by Alucard to allow her to survive. Seras is another fun character, she’s often immature and whiney, she doesn’t want to drink blood or carry the huge rocket launcher given to her. She acts as a foil to the brutality of Alucard or the distance of Integra, Seras is cute, accessible and very human. Add to this the fact that she wears a very short skirt and is impossibly well-endowed up top, and you have the makings of a very popular character!

All this is just a taste to what makes “Hellsing” such glorious fun: it’s unpretentious, all-guns blazing and ridiculously cool, full of explosions, mad characters, inventive deaths and pop-culture nods, referencing the Dracula mythos, Dune and even action movies starring Bruce Willis, but equally Hirano is never afraid to surprise the reader with poignant moments and complex relationships. The relationship between Alucard and Integra, for example is cleverly played, at first glance merely the mutual respect between master and servant, but sometimes drifting into something more akin to sexual roleplay than just a working relationship. A fair amount of the series is also wonderfully silly, however: the Hellsing Organisation’s enemies come in the form of Catholic agency Iscariot Section XIII, whose ranks include a regenerating Irish paladin and a katana-wielding schizophrenic nun, and the villainous Millennium, a group of vampire Nazis. Yes, you read that correctly: vampire Nazis. By rights it really ought to be offensive, the portrayal of Christianity is, to put it mildly, thoroughly mad (although somewhat understandable, in Japan Christianity is something of an oddity and is often treated as bizarre exotica in manga and anime), female characters, with the exception of Integra and the girlish Millennium assassin Rip Van Winkle (yes he really used that name), often appear falling about with ludicrously short skirts or tight tops squeezed over their ample busts, and the Major, the main villain and head of Millennium, talks like something out of an exploitation film from the 70s. Yet somehow it seems not exploitative but plain fun, a rollercoaster ride of gripping battles and comic craziness all beautifully illustrated.

A moment needs to be spent discussing Hirano’s art style, which I have to say I really admire; figures are sinewy and long-limbed, faces can be simple and beautiful or grotesque and haggard, hands have long fingers with pointed tips, but most characteristic are the treatment of eyes which are either wide or strangely polygonal with concentric circles in the iris. His attention to detail and to the movement of clothing and hair in a wide variety of styles is marvellous, realistic enough to be recognisable but stylised enough to be beautiful or hideous as the scene requires. Occasionally he difts into a comic chibi style, which is also lots of fun. A large number of characters wear glasses, at least occasionally, but long coats, gloves and collared shirts. Interestingly, Hirano started off as an artist of erotic “hentai” style manga, some of which feature characters surprisingly similar to his Hellsing characters, which might explain his choice of subject matter.

The manga finished its run in Young King Ours magazine in late 2008 but the latest chapters have yet to be translated into English, fan translations are available online. Further details of plot will be mentioned in the following segments of this review.

The Anime

In 2001 the series was adapted for Japanese television as a thirteen episode animated show, however Hirano was still working on the manga and the show’s makers had no idea where the story was going to go, by this point the Nazis had yet to appear. The result: a series that starts by following the manga very closely but then creates an entirely new ending, drifting back to the manga at points. The first three episodes are based on Hirano’s work, Seras joins Hellsing, the unit fight a pair of young vampires and we are introduced to Alexander Anderson, the paladin from Iscariot. The fourth episode is an interesting aside featuring a vampiric snuff-film ring, before returning to the manga an attack on the Hellsing Headquarters by the Valentine Brothers, a pair of vampires in the employ of Millennium, the quiet but cocky Luke and his foul-mouthed brother Jan who has more piercings in silly places than “Ichi the Killer’s” Kakihara!

This was the point at which the manga had stopped, so following episodes dealt with characters which didn’t yet seem to have much of a purpose, such as Iscariot boss Enrico Maxwell, or new characters such as the gloomy child vampire Helena, the seductive Baohban sith (pronounced “bubbanshee) Laura and the bizarre part-vampire part-who-the-hell-knows main villain Incognito. Now Helena and Laura were effective and interesting characters, Laura in particular got fans attention by seducing the chaste Integra, but Incognito was something of a disappointment. His design has little in common with the other characters of the series while his plan to destroy the world was drearily pedestrian.

Plot weaknesses aside, the series has some good points and some serious flaws. Although the animation is attractive, simplifying Hirano’s style into something more flowing but still recognisable as Hellsing, there are moments that are desperately disappointing. A lot of the battles, a major part of the fun of the original manga, are reduced to long scenes of posturing and short fights, caused no doubt by budget and time restraints. The vocal work is fun in both the Japanese and the English version, including plenty of lines direct from the manga, and forceful, lively deliveries from a fine cast. Another highlight is the music which is absolutely glorious. Composed by Yashushi Ishii, scenes are offset by bluesy piano, rocking guitars and atmospheric vocals that reflect the style of the animation and the slight film noir edge given by the costumes and lighting. The opening song, “Logos Naki World” is equally fantastic, with a strong bluesy feel, unintelligible but very cool vocals and a strong piano “riff”, it’s infectiously catchy and well accompanied by the opening animation. There are also some moments that are really enjoyable, the opening of the first episode for example, with Alucard appearing in the shadows of a vampire’s apartment, is nicely done, as is the tenth episode, based on the opening of the manga, seamlessly weaving both the manga-based and original elements into something as action-packed as it is poignant. For a taste of the art and to hear the wonderful opening song, watch http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oJfeCTyTqP8

The result is a series that has both enjoyable and grating aspects, overall fun but somewhat disappointing. Fans made do and continued to watch it, but something far more exciting was on the horizon.

Hellsing Ultimate

Hellsing Ultimate is a series of OVA (original video animation) anime releases produced by animation studios Statelight and Geneon. While in the West straight-to-video releases are seen as cheap, OVAs are the anime equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster: big budget pieces released one episode at a time and worked on for months, even years. In 2006 the first was released in Japan, with an English version released six months later. Here at last fans could enjoy the plot of the manga, along with characters such as Hellsing-employed French mercenary Pip Bernadotte and Millennium catboy Schrödinger (with all the associations of the name!) in animated forms. The animation style now very closely mirror’s the manga; slim limbed, flowing haired, grotesque figures as alike to the still images as is possible. Ultimate also reinstates the bloody violence, gory battles and even the chibi moments of the manga. The low-tech but effective music of the television series is replaced by epic pieces using a full orchestra, operatic vocals and even rock songs performed by pop groups. Ultimate, put simply, is vampire battles on a grand scale!

Five episodes have so far been released, although sadly no more English dubs will be made, which is a shame, as although hardcore anime fans will probably chastise me for saying so, the English dubs were quite effective and I was particularly fond of Crispin Freeman’s performance as Alucard. Still, competent fan translations are easy to find, so thankfully English fans can still follow the action. The first episode, as must be expected, features Seras’ induction into the Organisation, with a particularly violent rendition of the attacks that surround it intercut with flashbacks to Integra’s childhood as seen in the opening of the manga. The second episode is similarly bloody but on a larger scale, with the Valentine Brothers’ attack on Hellsing, a chapter stuffed to the brim with zombies, gun fights, Walter’s magic razor wire, and an enjoyably creepy and brutal version of Alucard’s hand-to-hand, or should that be claw, fight with Luke. The third episode is added fun for fans of the manga as it ventures into new territory as-yet not shown onscreen, with the introduction of Pip and his mercenaries, and a deliciously sick battle set in Rio, with Alucard viciously attacking civilians before taking on the “Dandy Man” Tubalcain Alhambra, best described as a vampire version of X-men’s Gambit. The fourth episode allows us to get to know the members of Millennium a little better, along with lots of fun with zeppelins, some very nice flashbacks and some cunning misdirection. Episode five was, to me at least, a little disappointing, relatively low on plot content and high on explosions, with plenty of gore, swastikas and a brief encounter with the member of Iscariot thrown in for good measure. The sixth episode should be due in six months or so, and trailers promise some epic battles from some of my personal favourite scenes in the manga.

Hellsing Ultimate is absolutely beautiful. Highly detailed design is contrasted with stylish silhouetted moments, with the glint of light off glasses and teeth or the gleam of a possessed red eye nicely evoking panels of the manga. The animation flows beautifully, gone is the stagy posturing of the television series, replaced instead by seamless movement in action scenes and subtler changes of expression in more sedate ones, combined with dramatic camera-angels, expressive yet expressionistic poses, intriguing yet vague and Lovecraftian transformations and clever editing. Combine this beauty with a sense of epic monumentality, sick humour and plenty of explosions and you have everything that first attracted me to the series. It’s overblown, fast-paced and action-packed, gore splattering every which way before the glint of an evil smile, and believe me, those evil grins can be found on the lips of almost every speaking character. In short, it will have your inner-twelve-year-old beaming from ear to ear.

But be warned, the pace of the story-telling is uncompromisingly fast and there is little room for explanation, Ultimate is clearly designed for those familiar not only with the world of “Hellsing”, its rules, monsters and characters, but specifically with the manga. However, you can probably get by having watched the first six and the tenth episode of the television series if reading such a large volume of text seems daunting. Beautiful and well-crafted as it may be, Ultimate is not a good starting point for those new to the series.

For at taste of the style, check out http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=neMtIt6ogdI