Anime: Hellsing

HELLSING - THE ORIGINAL SERIES (18)4 Discs (Distributor: Manga Entertainment) Running time: 298 minutes approx.

With the recent and rather long overdue (five years!) completion of the UK release of theHellsing Ultimate set of OVAs - including the first four instalments being reissued on Blu-ray - Manga have rescued the original TV series from the dust pile of titles formally licensed by the now defunct ADV label. This gives newcomers to the Hellsing franchise a chance to see the show that introduced Anime fans to the indestructible vampire Alucard as well as an opportunity for viewers old and new to "contrast and compare" with the OVA series, which was a more a faithful adaptation of Kouta Hirano's manga .

This thirteen episode series from studio Gonzo first aired on 2001 which explains the slightly archaic animation and character designs, especially in lieu of the improved quality of the visuals of the Ultimate series, but don't let that put you off - the gore and visceral horror remains a core ingredient of the show's success and the boundaries of TV standards have little effect on the level of claret spilling. Production values aside, the key difference between the two releases is that the TV show went into production while the manga was still running and, as we have seen with many other titles, the most notable being Fullmetal Alchemist, the show's writers were forced to create their own material to complete the series.

Obscure anime reviews

5. Hellsing (original series)



While the Hellsing franchise has gotten significantly more mainstream since Hellsing Ultimate (an ova reboot), the original anime is still pretty unknown to most people. The plot of the show is dramatically different from the manga at around episode eight. This isn't because the writers were lazy, it's merely due to the fact that the manga wasn't finished (and wouldn't be until 2009). Still, Hellsing is hella fun, with most scenes centering around monsters killing monsters. The main protagonist (note I didn't say hero), Alucard, is the most powerful vampire in existence, and his bloodletting of the various undead is directly proportional to how entertaining the show is.

Anime DVD Sales19:12 BST

In its latest blog page, Anime Limited has posted two sales lists for August 2013; first, for the top-selling anime titles, and second, for the new anime titles released in August. Top selling titles overall. 1 Cowboy Bebop - Box 1 Anime Ltd 2 My Neighbor Totoro Studio Canal 3 Pokemon 4Ever Studio Canal 4 Akira Manga UK 5 Naruto Shipp den: The Will of Fire Manga UK 6 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Manga UK 7 Spirited Away Studio Canal 8 Space Battleship Yamato (Live-Action 2010) Manga UK 9 Howl's Moving Castle Studio Canal 10 Fairy Tail - Collection 1 Manga UK New releases in August. 1 Cowboy Bebop - Box 1 Anime Ltd 2 Pokemon 4Ever Studio Canal 3 Space Battleship Yamato (Live-Action 2010) Manga UK 4 Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere - Series 1 Manga UK 5 Hellsing Ultimate Part 1-4 Collection Manga UK 6 KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple - 2 Manga UK 7 Clannad - Complete Series Collection Manga UK 8 Inu X Boku Secret Service Collection MVM 9 Bakemonogatari Part 2 MVM 10 Hellsing - The Complete Original Series MANGA UK
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Hellsing Ultimate Review

Hellsing Ultimate Review



Does a mixture of vampires, Nazis and Englishmen make a good anime?