Hellsing 2001

Hellsing is something of a classic anime series and it definitely has some really killer elements… but as a whole it doesn’t quite live up to its reputation for me.

That’s not to say that I didn’t really enjoy some episodes or that I think it’s bad series, but the show strays between genuinely atmospheric, creepy and exciting to kinda trashy and even a little shaky re: its animation. And yeah, trashy isn’t always bad and I know the production team were soon working ahead of the manga on a smaller budget (and that’s always fraught with risk) but I think I agree with the general consensus out there, which suggests that the anime didn’t live up to the source material and later, suffered in some ways compared to the remake in Hellsing Ultimate.

But back to the 2001 series – it’s got blood and tension, some interesting music, great voice acting and at times distinctive direction (especially in the opening episode) along with a memorable cast of characters in its favour. The gothic elements were really welcome too and I liked Seras’s storyline – her struggles definitely deserved a little more screen time. Alucard himself is of course a great menace and fits the ‘monster hunting other monsters’ role quite well but the pacing of the series felt off to me and I grew weary of the recapping. And a small thing that also bugged me – the endless repetition of ‘amen’ quickly became odd rather than fitting for the characters.

Still, what this series definitely did was make me curious about a more complete adaptation of the source material and so on that level at least, it really works. And that first episode is pretty stunning, really – it’s just a shame that the quality for me fell away not too long after.

3 Stars