There's a secret organization somewhere in England created to defend the Queen and country from monsters of all sorts. Yes, it's hard to believe in this day and age... but really, isn't this the true age of monsters?
Enter Hellsing, an agency, long in tooth, with the experience, know-how, and... er... equipment to handle the problems that arise when vampires, ghouls take on these dark forces.
"What equipment?" you may say. How about another vampire, and a big pistol loaded with special silver bullets? That oughta do the trick.
Hellsing, the long-awaited manga, is finally in America – thanks to Dark Horse Comics and the folks at Digital Manga, and you're gonna love it. Come get some smart-ass gore and action as only Japan seems to produce, in that crazy "non-Western" formats the kids seem to love. And nice and thick at over 200 pages!
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.
I was having some second thoughts if I should continue this series. I love the plot but the art (I find) is not that great (maybe I've been spoiled by other manga artists). I might check out the anime though because Alucard is life.
The plague of my high school grades. I read the first volume and then watched the original anime. After the character designs of the tv show, the art in the first volume made me nervous, but not nearly as much as I was dissatisfied by the ending of the tv anime. So when I realized that the manga followed a completely different storyline after the first book, I was devouring the chapters online. The art style is so unique for manga, so gritty and mecha while still being so sensual and raw. And not to mention absolutely crass-tastic. What I would expect from a vulgar, ero-mangaka otaku like Hirano. The storyline is incredibly researched for being so farfetched. True Dracula fans will fangasm at the beautifully illustrated nods to Stoker's original story. But I had many interesting nights on wikipedia thanks to Hellsing, from pages of the occult to Schrodinger's cat. The OVAs certainly do it justice, for Hellsing fans who are, by loyalty, patient. They are usually released every 2-4 years. More years for the dub. But the manga certainly stands distinct and is worth a full read.
Un primo volume di introduzione ai personaggi e delle forze in campo. Poco lo spazio dedicato ad Alucard. In attesa di una trama corposa che regga la narrazione.
How do you take down an army of pesky vampires terrorizing modern Europe? A bigger, more powerful vampire with cool guns and a badass outfit, of course.
Integra is the granddaughter of Van Helsing and her trump card is a powerful, scientifically enhanced vampire warrior named Alucard who has been in service of the family ever since he was defeated by Van Helsing many years ago. Supernatural crimes are running rampant all across the country and the Hellsing organization is hard at work, employing their top secret weapon Alucard to dispose of these menaces one silver bullet at a time. There seems to be a more sinister threat lurking in the background that links all these random killings together, and the Hellsing crew is on the case.
Meanwhile the Vatican is waging war against terrorist resistance groups and unholy monsters in their own way: their top secret holy trump card Father Alexander Anderson and his disciples. Anderson and his crusade make easy work of their foes until they encounter Alucard and the Hellsing crew. Their ideologies clash harshly, but soon they might have to put their differences aside to take down an even greater enemy.
A good action packed start with tons of brutal monster combat, vampire/priest action and blood spraying all over the place. Lots of fun.
It's been ages since I last read some Hellsing. I never realized until in retrospect just how crazy nineties it is. You've got your badass supernatural barely-hero protagonist, your paper-thin plot with lots of bloodshed, and the fairly standard big-eyed art style. All the usual trappings. Very little worthwhile on its own - in these days that I know more of its peers, I realize it hasn't so far had much of its own to offer.
But it's going to get better. If you like this vampire stuff at all, you might want to pick it up just the same.
I read the first eight volumes of this some time back—between one and four years ago—and the other day I noticed that volumes nine and ten were available, picked them up, and concluded the series.
I suppose I have a love-hate relationship with Hellsing, and for two very obvious reasons.
On the side of love are Sir Integra Wingate Hellsing, the titular heroine of the series, a no-nonsense, hard-as-nails woman whom singlehandedly runs an organization devoted to keeping England free of freaks and monsters, and her primary servant, Alucard. That's "Dracula" backward for a reason. Alucard is a shameless monster, bound to the Hellsing family and acting only at the behest of his master—and taking great delight in the destruction of freaks, i.e. lesser vampires. He's as amoral and cunning as Integra is driven and dedicated, and together the two of them make me fangirl with glee.
On the hate side of the coin, however, we have four little words: Nazi werewolf vampire cyborgs. I wish I were kidding. Really, Hirano? Really? That was the best you could do? I swear I have a minor aneurysm every time I think about it.
Falling somewhere in the middle are Integra's improbably impressive butler, Walter, he who designs the outlandish guns that Alucard and Seras use; Seras Victoria, the "police girl" that Alucard makes into a vampire and his servant at the beginning of the series, and who serves as fanservice bait for the majority of the run; and then, of course, the oft-incomprehensible pages and pages of black and white splash art in which there are presumably fights occurring beneath the motion lines and blood splatters. Happily, while such scenes are plentiful, they are nicely counterbalanced by the odd, brilliant, beautiful pictures, such as one of Alucard, sprawled out in a chair, looking utterly debauched while surrounded by numerous empty bags—formerly holding blood. The parallels to an alcoholic surrounded by bottle of bourbon were deliberate, evocative, and altogether striking.
So, while there's a lot here that sounds terrible, there's a lot that is wonderful, and I highly recommend the series. It's a fantastic antidote to the sparkly vampires we're getting socked with these days, and hammers home the point (pun intended) that only a human can defeat a monster.
I absolutely love Hellsing, a little less by the end than in the beginning, but still five stars worth. It is dark, gritty, gothic and just this side of insane. The baddies are bad, but the hero is even worse. Alucard is a psychotic, blood thirsty, vampire with a wry sense of morbid humor. He truly revels in the carnage he creates. Sir Integra Wingate, who by the way is female, is my favorite type of woman—strong, flinch-less, and in complete mastery of an overpowering mythical force, not to mention an assassin-cum-butler and an international 'peacekeeping' organization. Granted, Hellsing does take some getting used to. It's a manga, but set in England, the body count is extremely high, and there is enough blood to drown it. But if you like dark manga, it is worth reading.
Acabo de encontrar entre mis cachivaches mi OVA de Hellsing. Si, lo estoy viendo luego de haber visto el animé por el 2005 en Animax. Tan kawaii no puedo ser!! No recordaba lo bueno que estaba, me encantaba Seres como policía, y su relación con Alucard 😍. Las noches que habré pasado en Fanfiction y en el foro de FMA con mi amiga Dany escribiendo fanfics...
Mhmm. This manga is something . Apart from Alucard I didn't really care about the other characters honestly . The art was a bit messy . But I kinda enjoyed this . However I'd recommend to watch the anime than reading the manga .
May I interest you in: 🧛🏼 action, fantasy, horror manga 🧛🏼 seinen manga 🧛🏼 a sassy mangaka (most of his other word is hentai, but this isn't - for now, at least) 🧛🏼 a hot MC 🥵 🧛🏼 trans rep (among the main characters! In 1998! Wow) 🏳️⚧️
“Hellsing” is a triumph of style over substance. I would usually be the first to cry fowl at style outweighing story, but this is one of the few examples where the style becomes the substance. There is still an interesting story in this classic manga, but the further the story progresses the more convoluted and poorly paced it becomes. The final few volumes can be hard to follow as things build to a climax. However the characterization is always good and memorable. Though the characters are not the deepest, they are fleshed out enough to be interesting and play off their situations in ways that makes the action that much better. Even the villains are given enough of a personality and presence to stick with you after the curtain drops. But the star of this manga is the art and it makes everything else tremble in its wake. Nearly every page is a kinetic joyride of line work and detail. Many of the panels are so intricately detailed you could drink them in for a full minute. The persistent use of energy and motion to sell the action makes even small skirmishes enthralling. The use of costume, design, and composition sells every scene. You might call this the height of cool. Alucard, his cohorts, and the villains are brought to life by the riveting artwork. This is by far my favorite ‘vampire’ story. Not only because the action is visceral, but because the vampires are what they should be: brutal, blood thirsty, and the epitome of suave. If you’re interested in vampires, you can't avoid this for long. If you’re interested in action, give it a whirl. If you’re interested in good storytelling and world-building, you should consider this worth sampling at least.
Hellsing by Kohta Hirano offers an intriguing premise, some exciting fight scenes and gore, however, unfleshed characters and subpar writing prevents it from reaching the top.
Overall Rating: Manga - A+ Original anime series - B New anime series - A+ Summary: Hellsing is a manga series by Kouta Hirano. Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the mysterious and secret Royal Order of Protestant Knights, Hellsing, as it combats vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural foes who threaten the kingdom of England. The main character, Alucard (Dracula cleverly spelled backwards), is used to kill other supernatural creatures, and makes Seras Victoria (a cop he shoots to kill another vampire) into a vampire early on in the series and we get to watch her deal with her new life as a blood drinker with some hilarious (and sometimes creepy results).
I love vampires, so it's not much of a surprise that I like Hellsing, a series based around vampires and supernatural organizations. So, why does the series get three separate ratings? It boils down to the fact that the first anime series is a lot different than the manga and the second series.
I was first introduced to Hellsing with the original anime series, which was based (loosely!) on the manga. At the time, roughly 2002 or 2003, I thought it was amazing. Unfortunately, the end of that series is extremely weak on plot, and feels rushed. It's like the people involved had a brain-storming session over a pile of coke, had a bunch of cool ideas, but couldn't figure out how to bring them together into a cool ending. Not to mention the fact that the concept for the final villain, Incognito, is kind of racist (from the "Dark Continent", ends up wearing little more than jewelry), and is pretty fucking lame when compared to some of the other villains introduced earlier in the series.
Later, I found out that only the first 6 episodes or so were based on the Manga, and the rest of the series was made up for the anime. That explains why it felt so rushed, because it was! So, I decided it was time to check out the manga, to see if the plot held up longer in it.
The manga blew away the anime, and now I have some trouble watching the old series. In the manga, you get more detail and more character development, and more characters. For example, Alexander Anderson is introduced in the the old anime series, but we don't meet the other members of Iscariot. Nor is there any hint of the Nazi organization, Millennium. I could go on, but the point is that the manga kicks the anime's ass. If you've seen the anime, do yourself a favor and check out the manga. If you haven't checked out either, then get your vampire loving ass out to your local comic book shop (or wherever you buy manga) and pick it up. If you don't love vampires, then I hate you. Ok, maybe not hate, but seriously what's up with that shit?
The new anime series on the other hand is completely faithful to the manga, and definitely worth watching. The production value is a lot higher, the creator is behind the series, and overall it's simply kick-ass. My suggestion is to read the manga (volumes 1-7 are out now, and volume 8 is scheduled to come out in early July), then watch the new OVA series, Hellsing Ultimate, and then watch the old anime. It's all good, but the manga and the Ultimate series are a lot better. It's like watching the season of Angel where he gets fat and then going back and watching season 2 or 3 of Buffy. No one likes a fat vampire.
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L O L i ate this up, knights, paladins, vampires ??? you mean my three favorite things ??? baddies left and right and i gave alucard the voice of ghost lol
I liked Kohta Hirano’s manga HELLSING. The manga is about the story of Alucard and his vampire hunting adventure. The story is based in England. It is about a vampire named Alucard. He is a vampire hunter who kills other vampires to stop the human race from going extinct. I really liked the part when Alucard fights the Paladin because the action is very entertaining. I would recommend this book to the manga readers because as a manga reader I really liked this book
Sıkıcı bir derste gizlice okuyup bitirdim ehehehee • Uzun zamandır merak ettiğim mangalardan biriydi. Zaten vampir temalı şeyleri her zaman ayrı severdim, bu cilt de güzel bir maceranın başlangıcı oldu.
It's been my first manga ever and I'm very nostalgic when it comes to it. Maybe it will be also the first one I will ever buy and keep (I'm planning to get FMA, too)? We will see.
He's got some really bitchin' shoulder pads! Bizarre, fun manga starring Celes Victoria, a virgin girl who is turned into a vampire by Alucard (Dracula in reverse). Great art and storyline as the mastah and his fledgling chase after bloodsuckers in the name of Integral, Alucard's master. STAND YOUR GROUND, POLICEWOMAN!!
Full of vampires, guns, cool female characters and unadulterated nineties edge. The art is not great — the characters are often out of proportion and lumpy, and it doesn’t flow that well — but I like the energy well enough to continue.
I don't found it engaging. Anyhow completed. Maybe because I don't like blood gore and the plot was partly religious which I found difficult to understand.
Nosotros, la Real Orden de Caballeros Protestantes, conocida como la organización "Hellsing", hemos luchado contra esos monstruos. Hacemos el servicio el secreto al encargarnos de esas criaturas anticristianas olvidadas.. las que quieren violar al imperio británico y a la iglesia protestante.