Hellsing, Vol. 04

Hellsing [ヘルシング] #4

by Kohta Hirano

What's the result when the Nazis hiding in South America engineer an army of vampires and mount an all-out campaign of deathly dominance? Well, one thing you get is a little unity - seems the Protestant Hellsing Organization and the Catholic Iscariot agency might just have to think about teaming up. Looks like the First World War of the undead is about to erupt in history's biggest battle of blood and fangs. Things are just beginning to heat up in the fourth volume of Hellsing!

Genres: Manga, Horror, Vampires, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Kohta Hirano (平野 耕太 Hirano Kōta) is a Japanese mangaka most famous for his manga Hellsing. Starting his career first as a mangaka's assistant (self-described as "horrible" and "lazy" in said assistant position), and later an H manga artist, he went on to enjoy somewhat limited success with other relatively unknown manga titles such as Angel Dust, Coyote, Gun Mania and Hi-Tension. His first major success came with his manga series Hellsing, which got its start and was subsequently serialized in a monthly manga magazine, Young King OURs, towards the latter half of 1997.

Reviews

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a downtime volume - you've got some bloodshed at the beginning as the undergoing conflict is messily done with, and some more at the end as a new battle is being set up. But in between there's mostly just talk, development, backstory and foreshadowing, and of course, the Major's famous speech.

You need a lot of build-up for the mess that is to come, after all.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a Manga reader, but I have a young friend who is lending me Hellsing originals and I read through them as I can. I do have to say this is a very creative take on vampires, and the setting up of the Catholic Church versus Protestantism as the background is clever. The female characters are all drawn as impossibly cute, even if they're werewolves or vampires.

The story is complex and the Nazis are brought into it as well. As the plot unfolds it's difficult to know who's a good guy beyond Alucard (and certainly Seras). The cooperation of the churches against the Nazis is a nice touch.

With the action, violence, and bloodshed, this is a quick read. Unlike many comics of my youth, it has depth and intrigue. The story is compelling, if sometimes hard to follow for a person my age. I appreciate the street cred, however, of knowing who Alucard is, should I engage any other young vampire fans in conversation.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 4 covers chapters 19-27

Mini-Hitler (The Major / The Acting Furher) reveals himself to the public and happily declares war on all of Britain, eager to begin World War III with an undead legion of occult superpowered nazi vampire warriors now at his command. He wants to stage a war worthy of Hell itself. Why? Well, quite literally just for the Hell of it. The guy gets off on mindless violence, destruction and bloodshed.

Alucard and Seras make quick work of The Dandy, the soldier with the magic cards leading the Brazilian battalion of nazi spies. Alucard steals his memories by drinking his blood and learns of The Major and his plans to stage a war against him and his people.

Hellsing and The Vatican join forces to stand and fight against the alliance of nazi monster soldiers aiming to initiate the long-awaited sequel to The Third Reich.

Insanity. The Major is a very repulsive but entertaining villain. Alucard and Father Anderson joining forces will be pure chaos. I like how both of them actually seem to be excited at the thought of a new World War just so they can have the chance to participate in the unfettered carnage.

[灰 · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS IS WHAT MY GOTHIC HORROR DREAMS ARE ABOUT!

[꧁ ꕥ James ꕥ ꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of bloodshed but more focused on what’s to come, talking between characters and foreshadowing

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a whole lot of action this volume but we get to know our antagonists and get a bunch of set-up for what is to come! Some actual plot, who woulda thunk it??

[Wiktoria (^˵◕ω◕˵^) · Rating 4 out of 5]

{4.2}

[Michelle Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bad guy's motives just aren't interesting, so it's tiring to see so much time spent on their POV. War for the sake of fighting? Just...fighting??? No motive besides that?!?! And why cling to Nazi symbolism if they don't uphold any of Nazism's ideals? Nazis WERE fighting for a reason, even if that reason was deplorable. It says to me that Hirano didn't really know what to do with his villains; but who am I to say what was going through his mind.

Plus, what is the mangaka's apparent obsession with feet??? Panel after panel of boot-clad feet. Doesn't anyone wear sandals? *sigh*

[Maija · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the strongest volume, though it does introduce Rip and Schrödinger.

[Agu · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have new favourites

[Isel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie: I skip a lot of the accent dialogue so... I miss like half the story... 😢

[Khari · Rating 2 out of 5]

このシリーズはなぜ有名なシリーズかしら？

字は分かりにくい。アートはインパクトがあるけどキャラの外寸はおかしい。話はありえない過ぎ。吸血鬼はファンタジーから元々信じがたいが。。。信じられる吸血鬼の話もあると信じられない吸血鬼の話がある。例えば、毀滅の刃は信じられる吸血鬼の話。人間関係は本物。嫉妬とか愛とか決心とかキャラはちゃんと感じるとその気持ちで動いている。この話はそういうものじゃない。キャラは全員横柄から動いている。つまらない。横柄は文学的には立派なモチベーションだけどみんなが同じ動機付けなら変。人間はそんなにモノクロームじゃない。

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightfully macabre festival of mayhem. It’s marred by obtuse dialogue and plotting at times but the story remains fundamentally simple, serving only to facilitate the action.

First is the conclusion of the fight against the Dandy. Seras befuddles him with a smoke round and Alucard is able to get the upper hand using his shadow form. At least I think that’s what happened. Anyway the card sharp gets annihilated.

After the opening action scene, there is a long stretch of unfocused chapters that lack a logical flow and are wordy, cryptic, redundant, and odd.

We learn from a Vatican inquisition that Millenium/the last battalion were conducting research to make a vampire army 50 years prior when they were thwarted by Alucard and Walter. And that their research has continued since.

There are some scenes within Millenium that show the major taking over and killing his superiors and it’s clear that he is quite mad.

Then there is a big scene where Schrödinger declares war on behalf of Milennium at a meeting of Hellsing HQ. The major gives a speech, references Machiavelli, and rhapsodizes about war for its own sake — means without a fixed goal in his words. He’s a compelling character because of how over the top his commitment to bloodshed is.

The major’s current objective is Hellsing and in particular Alucard. Partly this is revenge, and partly he’s interested in researching Midians, of which Alucard seems to be the most powerful.

There is a brief flashback that shows Alucard staked through the heart and subdued by an unknown vampire hunter. An ancestor of the Hellsing line, perhaps?

There is another scene where Anderson is on his way back to Europe but keeps getting mobbed by ghouls. He chats with his Iscariot superior and they plot to manipulate Hellsing and Millenium into destroying each other.

Earlier, in a particularly bizarre scene, Anderson barges into a safehouse and starts brawling with Alucard before abruptly offfering the use of a Vatican plane and withdrawing.

Finally, the book ends with another action scene as a Millenium sniperess captures a battleship and heads to England. And we get another great rant from the major.

The art of course is what makes all this insanity work.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that we have faces to Millennium and villains to hate, the story is moving swiftly along. A Nazi faction, still surviving after half a century of peace, is making vampires willy nilly to create a large undead army for their own purposes. The purposes, however, are pretty simple: war. That’s all the heads of this faction want, and the only people standing in their way is Hellsing and their rather indignant counterparts in Ireland.

By this publication, the anime was also occurring alongside production, but doesn’t follow the storyline well past the first book. Regardless, the manga remains entertaining, gory, and fun to read.

[Steve Chaput · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Major is now recognized as the new Fuhrer. The story continues as the Hellsing organization and the Vatican become aware of how wide the conspiracy has become. Their are traitors everywhere.

Looks like a major invasion of Britain is about to begin and Alucard and his allies might not be able to prevent it.

The series keeps getting better and more intense. Also Hirano’s artwork continues to improve.

[Maria Lago · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cuatro tomos tardó Hellsing en volverse una basura sin sentido. Y me da igual que vengan las hordas de fans a matarme, porque yo ya estoy cansada de la vida.

[Suzette Banick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction of one of my three favorite characters in the series. Rip Van Winkle.

[Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is where Hirano’s art style fully matured but sadly it’s a very story heavy volume and the story is as always the weakpoint of this work.

[Amy DeRosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gentlemen, I love war

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

trigger warning
gore, gun violence, mutilation

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reallly loved this manga, definitely one of the best vampire manga! Very exciting and great art😻👌❤️

[Kamaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Hellsing a lot, but I felt the anime is somehow hotter, eviler, and has more gore, but still, Alucard is a badass character in both.

[Klara Kirbis · Rating 4 out of 5]

i dont really like the major ... he gives me the creeps

[Chris Snider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars

[Δανάη Ιμπραχήμ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victoria is such a sweatheart. Protect her at all costs.

[Cecillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could have lived without the long ass war speech by wannabe Hitler at the end of the volume. Depending on the next volume I might just put this series away. I'm not really in the headspace for more weirdo war speeches. So while there's something cathartic about nazis being massacred, I don't want any to see their side of things.

[Tesutamento · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bir önceki ciltten sonra epey sakin bir ciltti. Diyalog ağırlıklı olsa da arada küçük aksiyon anları da mevcuttu. Ne yazık ki hikaye olarak seriden yavaş yavaş soğuduğumu hissettim. Dandik kötü adamlar ve onların cılız motivasyonları belki ileride düzelir ama şu an için iyi gitmiyor. Bu kötülerin Nazi olmaları bence yazarın seriye ne kadar kafa yorduğuna dair bir işaret olabilir.

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tohle bylo takový uf, jen debilní kecy hlavního záporáka, kterej kecá furt to samý.

Jako v minulých dílech byl v pohodě, ale teď jak měl více prostoru, tak už mě nebavil. Tohle zatím bylo nejslabší volumko, které mě místy docela i nudilo.

[Karla V. H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aquí se nos presenta al villano y todo va bien en esta historia. Sí me saca de onda sus caras de maniacos y la violencia extrema del tomo (hace un paro que todo sea en b/n). El dibujo del mangaka es diez de diez y mi personaje favorito sigue siendo la chica policía (debemos protegerla). <3

[Sylvette St Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤯🤯🤯
Ya entendí a donde nos querían llevar.
Más historia, más acción, no quería soltar el tomo sin embargo me hubiera gustado más suspenso. Casi todos los enfrentamientos con Alucard terminan muy pronto y no se sienten como verdaderos rivales…
Tengo esperanzas con el 5 tomo.