Through Netflix, I’ve picked up Hellsing Ultimate, a re-take of the original Hellsing that claims to be more similar to the manga than to the original anime. Since I greatly enjoyed the Hellsing anime, I figured I’d give it a shot.
Since I haven’t read the manga, I’m not going to comment on the similarities there. However, there are some extremely large differences between the two… some good, some that I don’t find so charming.
First: The plot is significantly different from the anime. Instead of the plot focusing on the sinister schemes of a great ancient vampire, the vampires are blamed on a supposed Nazi plot, and the feud between the Vatican and the Hellsing organization is played up much more. The characters are also developed in a significantly different manner. Alucard is much more of a monster, and Integra is also much more willing to unleash Alucard’s might. In a similar vein, Seras Victoria isn’t nearly as whiny in Ultimate, which is much appreciated.
The pacing is also very different. Ultimate’s episodes are only 50 minutes long, and a single episode is the equivalent of 5 or 6 episodes of the first Hellsing anime. While I’m a fan of concise storytelling as much or more than anyone, I find that in places, necessary detail is left out. However, this lack of detail is not enough to negatively affect the story.
However, there IS one aspect of Ultimate that is nothing but grating. Hellsing Ultimate has the nasty habit of descending into some form of “humor”, which is less amusing than annoying, and it serves to do nothing but break the drama up and distract the viewer, and if it didn’t exist, Hellsing Ultimate would be significantly better altogether.
None of Hellsing Ultimate’s flaws are major enough to convince me not to watch it, and so I’ll probably continue. When Hellsing Ultimate is good, it’s very good, and I am liking what I’ve seen of this alternate plot so far. While the full series isn’t out yet, I’ll be looking forward to it when it finally does come out.
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by Will Raus Personal |
Is this a re-take of the first series??? Or is this a complete new story?? I just doesn’t seem to get the right answer on this one. According to you it’s a sort of remake of the first series with a bit of changes in the storyline and some different accents?
In that case I’m not shure to buy the series… I liked the first one but well…
Still have to watch a couple of other series I bought like Samurai Shamploo and Ninja Scrolls… so I’ll be busy quiet a while.
PS: great site!!! I will be following this one from now on!
It’s more a retake of the first series. I hear that it more closely follows the Hellsing Manga rather than the anime version, but again, not having read the manga, I’m not exactly sure what the specific differences are, but it is somewhat a “re-take” of the story.