Rewatch Theory - Hellsing Ultimate

Rewatching anime or any show/movie for that matter is both a gift and a curse. For one, it is always comforting to return to an anime that you love. Even in a world where shows are so accessible that a strong commitment is not a requirement, there is something nice about restating a show that you know you'll enjoy. At the same time, there is always that bit of lingering doubt. Will the show live up to the expectation that I have in my mind? I for one always have a habit of blowing shows out of proportion in my head, often what I remember from a show is better than the actual product itself. Every so often though, I muster up the courage to do so. For some shows like Evangelion it's a yearly tradition. Others like Kill la Kill are shows that I could rewatch anywhere at any time and still feel those strong emotions I felt at the time. However, it has been quite a long time since I went back to rewatch a show that I consider a pillar in the library of anime that I've watching, Hellsing Ultimate.

Hellsing Ultimate is a show that I really owe a lot to. I discovered it about a year before I got around to watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, the show that I credit with reigniting my love of anime. I first found it because of Team Four Star's abridged series. It was something I had just sort of clicked in with no real knowledge of what Hellsing was, something I clicked on out of boredom out of anything. While of course, I was laughing quite a bit because Team Four Star do a very good job with their abridging, I was much more interested in the product that was on screen. Vampires, Nazis, wars of occult and religion. Not to mention that the action direction of the show was outstanding. This was a world I wanted to invest myself into and I wasted no time tracking down all the episodes. The show was actually in the middle of it's run and all of the episodes hadn't been released yet. So I tracked down the manga and read through all of it. This show had me and I absolutely loved it. Recently, I picked up the series on blu-ray and naturally with some time in my schedule I figured it was as good of a time as any to explore an old favorite.

Hellsing is, I think, one of the best gateway anime out there. It's one of the best examples of what anime is really capable of with stunning visuals, outlandish characters, and an absolutely ridiculous concept. It's premise of absurdly strong vampire who fights other Nazi vampires and unique twists on many famous legends makes it immediately gripping. Hellsing is based on Kouta Hirano's 1997 manga. It's concept starts simple enough, focused around the fictional Hellsing Organization who protect Great Britain from supernatural threats such as vampires. Their chief defense is the vampire Alucard (yay Dracula backwards is always clever), who quickly establishes himself as one of anime's most powerful characters. The plot quickly gives way to a number of memorable characters such as Sera Victoria, a vampire sired by Alucard who serves as the audience's view into the world. Alexander Anderson and the Iscariot Organization, basically the Cathlolic version of Hellsing who are intent on destroying them for being...Protestants. There are plenty more memorable characters but the greatest victory of the show is that for all of it's bombast it makes sure to give us the best villain...Nazi vampires. I give credit to Hellsing because there truly is no greater villain to include in your story than Nazi's. In a story which features traitors, rapists, and monsters...Nazi's are the perfect villain. Hellsing's Big Bad himself, The Major, is one of the great anime villains. His monologues on war and humanity are some of the show's best moments and he remains just as chilling as he was when I first watched the show. He's also a Nazi so it's pretty satisfying to watch him get punched in the face.

In the early moments, I noticed a couple of things that gave me pause in this second viewing. The first few episodes are a bit rough, moving very quickly and the english dub (yes, english dub) has a few stilted moments that don't work very well. There is is feeling that Hellsing often chooses style over substance for Rule of Cool moments, rather than present something new. However, this often turns into one of the show's strengths. The pain of the exposition of the initial episodes has a number of good payoffs because they set the groundwork for some of the most explosive scenes in the show. It fits really well, there's a scene in which out of nowhere, Alucard recites a line that he gave another character about the specs of his pistol. In the moment, it seems maybe a bit out of place but it just fits so well, especially the number of references that the series makes to 80's action movies.

It's only helped by the fact that Hellsing's english dubs is one of the strongest out there, largely because of the outstanding performance of Crispin Freeman as Alucard. While Freeman had already voiced Alucard before in the show's original anime adaptation, this was my first introduction to him. Surely enough, Freeman has become one of my favorite voices in the industry. Freeman's performance as Alucard is certainly excellent but that shouldn't obscure the great job the rest of the cast. Given that there are a fair amount of accents in the show, not every actor gets it totally right but the almost comical nature of it makes it almost better. As I said before, for all of it's dramatic flair, Hellsing does have this farcical almost satirical nature with which it treats it's subject matter which can occasionally be to it's detriment. There is some tonal whiplash especially when it comes to Seras as a character who ranges from comic relief to audience stand in early...but I suppose that's all to set up the payoff for her character arc. Despite this, Hellsing makes it very clear when it's in it's serious mode and these silly moments are few and far between as the show reaches it's climax.

Hellsing Ultimate is one of the most faithful adaptations of manga you'll see

While I wavered in the first few episodes, the final few made me realize what is so great about the show. The monologues of the characters, the struggles of humanity vs monsters, the importance of preserving one's humanity. Beyond all the carnage and the hot blooded action there does lie a strong emotional core in the show. When I reached the final episodes, I felt a drag on my heart, a sadness that the wild ride was once again at it's close. A large part of this has do do with the excellent characters. Alucard's prominence on any promotional material for the show would imply that he is the show's focus and he certainly does receive his fair share of screentime. However, I would struggle to really determine who is the protagonist of the show as a fair number of characters receive a great deal of focus. Seras, Anderson, Integra, and even the villainous Major can all make claims at being the central character. Alucard's near invincibility and the desire of many characters to best him makes the central story really just a story that brings all of these characters together, with Alucard being the common link. If you really must pick out a most central character it would probably be Seras as her arc is the most human of them all and for most of the story she serves as an audience stand-in.

So, did I like my rewatch of Hellsing? It definitely has held up very well over the years. It satisfies one's want. It's not perfect, some of the ways Seras is treated are bit problematic and the fast pace which with things move can be both a positive and a detriment. However, it is a truly excellent show that is worthy of your time and one that holds up on repeated watching. I would recommend watching the show dubbed but in this case both subbed and dubbed are very good options.


This article is the first in what I hope to be a somewhat recurring series where I rewatch shows and write about them. I'll also hopefully do some new content along the way.