Director: Various
First Aired: 2006-2012
Contains spoilers
In my review of Hellsing, I gave a background that explained I had watched the original anime prior to starting this blog. Later I got the first 4 DVDs of the OVAs that make up Hellsing Ultimate, which is 10 OVAs in all and then I stalled as the further OVAs did not seem to emerge in the UK. Eventually I picked up a Malaysian set with the full OVA series and was all prepped to watch through Hellsing Ultimate.
Before that I re-watched Hellsing, wrote a review (and subsequently sat on it for quite some time) and then started watching the OVAs. For the first four, everything was running smoothly but then, in the Malaysian set, the subtitles changed from the professional translations used in parts 1 to 4, to literal translations and, with the series almost watchable, I stalled again. Recently, I found that a UK Blu-ray had been released of the 10 OVAs (including loads of extras) and I got back to it…
And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Every episode was properly subtitled (and voice acted if you prefer a dub) and the print quality was (as you'd expect) so much better on Blu-Ray. The Hellsing Ultimate storyline follows that of the Mangas much more closely than the original series and this means that whilst the first couple of episodes follow the earlier anime story fairly closely it soon diverges – with a story that sees the Last Battalion – World War Two, vampire Nazis – both behind the initial events and the focus of the episodes going forward, whilst the Incognito storyline is completely expunged.
The OVAs soon have an invasion of the UK going on and a counter invasion by the Iscariot Organisation on behalf of the Vatican, which they deem a crusade, one where they are as happy to kill British civilians as the vampires are. The leader of the vampires, an unvampirised Nazi Major (Nobuo Tobita) has very specific reasons for invading, partly the song of war and partly to do with Alucard (Jôji Nakata). The series is very bloody, much more rounded and has better character backgrounds.
One of my thoughts, rewatching Hellsing, was how unrounded Walter (Motomu Kiyokawa), the butler and assassin, was. He is better rounded in this, though in truth we get a tad more from the additional Hellsing Dawn, which were three short episodes, of which the first is an extra in the set (why the other two are missing is a mystery and a shame). Likewise, Seras Victoria (Fumiko Orikasa) was still used for both comedy and some low-level fan service, but was given a character development, had a dark background that was exposed late on and had much more in the way of kick ass moments. Seras did not become a ghoul when turned by Alucard because she was a virgin, and only virgins will turn into full vampires – a lore position that feels challenged later in the story by implicit elements.
The character that really did benefit from the longer run was Alucard himself. Definitively exposed as Count Dracula, and Vlad Ţepeş, there is perhaps less focus on his “locked” power levels – though they are still there. He is almost chthonic, able to become inchoate and, we eventually discover, he holds the souls of every victim – and there are many – each adding to his power. This is not a unique idea but the scale of this in Hellsing Ultimate is wonderfully chilling. We discover that Mina Harker was the one person whose blood he drank and then allowed her to drink his (Seras is offered his blood early on but does not take it). The better character and story development, coupled with superior animation does make this version the ultimate one in my eyes. 7.5 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On DVD @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
 |
| Alucard |
Before that I re-watched Hellsing, wrote a review (and subsequently sat on it for quite some time) and then started watching the OVAs. For the first four, everything was running smoothly but then, in the Malaysian set, the subtitles changed from the professional translations used in parts 1 to 4, to literal translations and, with the series almost watchable, I stalled again. Recently, I found that a UK Blu-ray had been released of the 10 OVAs (including loads of extras) and I got back to it…
 |
| Sir Integra |
And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Every episode was properly subtitled (and voice acted if you prefer a dub) and the print quality was (as you'd expect) so much better on Blu-Ray. The Hellsing Ultimate storyline follows that of the Mangas much more closely than the original series and this means that whilst the first couple of episodes follow the earlier anime story fairly closely it soon diverges – with a story that sees the Last Battalion – World War Two, vampire Nazis – both behind the initial events and the focus of the episodes going forward, whilst the Incognito storyline is completely expunged.
 |
| the Major |
The OVAs soon have an invasion of the UK going on and a counter invasion by the Iscariot Organisation on behalf of the Vatican, which they deem a crusade, one where they are as happy to kill British civilians as the vampires are. The leader of the vampires, an unvampirised Nazi Major (Nobuo Tobita) has very specific reasons for invading, partly the song of war and partly to do with Alucard (Jôji Nakata). The series is very bloody, much more rounded and has better character backgrounds.
 |
| Walter and Seras |
One of my thoughts, rewatching Hellsing, was how unrounded Walter (Motomu Kiyokawa), the butler and assassin, was. He is better rounded in this, though in truth we get a tad more from the additional Hellsing Dawn, which were three short episodes, of which the first is an extra in the set (why the other two are missing is a mystery and a shame). Likewise, Seras Victoria (Fumiko Orikasa) was still used for both comedy and some low-level fan service, but was given a character development, had a dark background that was exposed late on and had much more in the way of kick ass moments. Seras did not become a ghoul when turned by Alucard because she was a virgin, and only virgins will turn into full vampires – a lore position that feels challenged later in the story by implicit elements.
 |
| Alucard and Anderson |
The character that really did benefit from the longer run was Alucard himself. Definitively exposed as Count Dracula, and Vlad Ţepeş, there is perhaps less focus on his “locked” power levels – though they are still there. He is almost chthonic, able to become inchoate and, we eventually discover, he holds the souls of every victim – and there are many – each adding to his power. This is not a unique idea but the scale of this in Hellsing Ultimate is wonderfully chilling. We discover that Mina Harker was the one person whose blood he drank and then allowed her to drink his (Seras is offered his blood early on but does not take it). The better character and story development, coupled with superior animation does make this version the ultimate one in my eyes. 7.5 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On DVD @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
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