SkarKrow said:
Headdrivehardscrew said:
I have no intention of being a dick here but I'd really love a level-headed explanation of what's so great about Hellsing apart from it's violent as hell and Alucard is a badass?
I watched the entire thing and found the story to be a bit of a mess and nothing seemed to have a point other than spectacle. I haven't watched Hellsing Ultimate or read the manga, and I know that the anime strays far from the manga, so maybe thats why.
I do not feel like I've been exposed to your unmentionables yet, kind sir.
I liked the manga already, and at first I did not like the Gonzo spectacle that, indeed, strays quite a bit from the manga material. Yes, I had a moment or two of genuine WTF? before I sat down and watched beyond, what, episode three.
Contrary to my expectations, I ended up liking both rides, and - up to now - I felt no need to check out Hellsing Ultimate yet, as I am happy with the Hellsing experience I got up to this point. I didn't pay much attention to the release of Hellsing Ultimate when it first came out, and now that Umanosuke Iida is dead, I just somehow don't feel like checking out Hellsing 2.0. It might be awesome, it might be good, it might be better, I really don't care right now. As I said, for the time being, I'm good.
Yes, you are right; there is spectacle, and it's rather over the top most of the time. But the portrayal of the ongoing struggle and just how the different characters are trapped in their own destinies, world views, belief systems and pre-determined places in the world is, methinks, pretty much the closest an anime got to, say, Shakespeare or Dante Alighieri level material. It also reminded me, at times, of the smirking little French rat-faced funnyman, Molière.
Then there's the character of Alucard. Just the name 'Alucard' is so overused in Japcrap material of all sorts that one is tempted to disqualify it, roll it up into a dunce hat and set it on fire; that would, however, be a mistake. It's just how the Japanese handle these things. I like parts of the portrayal of Christianity (or faith, in general), I like the bio-punk, cyberpunk steampunk melange of visual style. I like the bonus added content of vampires and undead and demonic whatevers and that sprinkle of Lovecraftian Ctulhu thingamabobs. I like the general feeling of dread and despair and the Edgar Allan Poe vibe they got going.
Alucard is, in one way, a reiterated, recycled interpretation of, say, Blade, just without the Wesley Snipes antics and illusions of grandeur. Alucard really is, as you put it, badass, and he's so overpowered it made me wonder constantly about why he would do a lot of the things he does, and why he does them the way he, well, did. Past tense. He's pretty much a supernatural version of the Joker of Morisson/McKean's awesome Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, the graphic novel that inspired Heath Ledger to become the Joker of Christopher Nolan's one seriously impressively good Batman movie. He used to be the super-villain, the main antagonist, the dude Bram Stoker wrote about back in the day. In this alternate universe, he was not eliminated, but enslaved for generations in human terms. Then he was locked up in the basement, the key thrown away. He should hold quite a grudge against the Hellsings and humans in general.
Alucard, the über-killer obeys to Integra Hellsing's calling, but he refers to this very circumstance as "pitiable" and "pathetic". He also likes to mention that he'll never understand humans, driving home the point of him being not only not entirely human, but being something else entirely.
When he gets down to do the dirty work, limbs will fly, bodies will get torn apart, his molten silver cross bullets will tear through undead meat and time and space like the free radical he himself is. When he lets himself go, he's bound to make a mess, and it might remind one of the berserker form alter egoes of say, Alice in American MgGee's Alice or Torque's monster form in The Suffering. But with Alucard, it's different. It's as if his more human form is actually not his proper self, just a form of less offensive, stiff upper lip disguise, a sort of public service because it would suck being a monster amongst all these pious weak meatbags all day long.
Yes, he was enslaved and turned and put on a leash, but young Alegra Hellsing released him. It really looks like he chose to hang around and lend a hand by his own free will. I think it's this bit that impressed me most, and it's a bit of lore or read-between-the-lines material that makes the whole premise that much more powerful to me.
Also, he saved Seras Victorias 'life' by turning her into a vampire after she has been mortally wounded. However, she still refuses to drink blood and is hellbent on clinging on to her humanity, which is, of course, but a fading memory, a figment of her imagination, a thing of the past. (Insert random Dark Souls quote here)
This TV series (DVD box set, nudge, nudge) focuses on Alucard and Seras Victoria, which, I think, is fair game and an excellent decision.
Paladin Alexander Anderson is sort of the Agent Smith of this rewritten re-telling of choice cuts of the Hellsing lore. He's an epic foe, although not quite a villain, and he's got some sort of Godly cheat code on all the time. Just a man with an agenda and a different opinion on what's hot and what's not. Sort of what you'd get if you were to put Perez Hilton and the Pope into Brundlefly's excellent teleportation pod. The PerezPope.
Oh, and then there is Incognito. What an excellent antagonist. Come one, undying vomitus maximus with a giant axe and a grenade launcher he fuels with demon vomit. You can't get much more genuinely wacky-scary than that. And he only exists in this TV series.
Just another sprinkle of awesome.
Level-headed enough?
