"Herushingu" (2001) TV series 2001-2002

Creator:

Kohta Hirano

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Action | Animation | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

The war has begun!

Plot:

A British taskforce, lead by the daughter of the vampire hunter Prof. Van Helsing, battles the supernatural with the aid of two vampires.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Evil | Ghoul | British | Master Vampire

Cast

Jôji Nakata	...	Alucard (13 episodes, 2001-2002)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Integra (13 episodes, 2001-2002)
Fumiko Orikasa	...	Seras / ... (13 episodes, 2001-2002)
Crispin Freeman	...	Alucard (13 episodes, 2001-2002)
K.T. Gray	...	Seras Victoria (13 episodes, 2001-2002)
Victoria Harwood	...	Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing (13 episodes, 2001-2002)

Also Known As:

Hellsing (USA)
Hellsing: Psalm of the Darkness (Australia)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA (some episodes) | USA:TV-MA | Australia:M (some episodes) | New Zealand:R16 | UK:15

Trivia:

The character of Paladin Alexander Anderson is based on actor Edward Van Sloan who played Prof. Abraham Van Helsing in _Dracula (1931/I)_.

Quotes:

Alucard: What a lovely night. It makes me want to have a bite to drink.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sungnyangpali sonyeoui jaerim (2002)

great action AND story. Something to sink your teeth into.

I had mixed expectations before seeing this series. First, I really like stylised action anime and I really like vampire-hunter genre. I was also excited by the reviews I've read at IMDb and how fans of other vampire movies recommended Hellsing to me. But I also read the the makers of "Hellsing" also created "Ninja Resurrection" which turned out to be one of the worst, most appauling animes I've seen.

Well, after watching the English dub of the series I have a lot of positive things to say. The dubbing was excellent, and the casting for Allegra was especially noteworthy. The animation was very good as was pacing of the series and the characterisation. My absolute favourite element of the series was how it showed the relationship with the Hellising Organisation with the Crown of England. Watching the politics unfold was a real treat, and it was so realistically done. There were a lot of unanswered questions, but I didn't have a problem with that as their mystery both added to the series' mystique and left the door open for a possible second season.

Although I would have preferred the final fight seen go the more vampiric route, rather than a demonic powers route, I do not cite this as an objective criticism of the movie. I guess certain "hell" themes make me a tad uncomfortable, but that is just a personal reservation of mine.

In the final analysis, I recommend this series. The direction was so solid and the story was so interesting that watching the 13 episodes back to back felt more like watching a really good epic movie. See it!