Hellsing Ultimate: Collection Volumes 1-4 Blu-ray Review
Bloody good.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, October 20, 2012
What's in a name, or indeed in one single letter? Take the case of what is colloquially called "Engrish" for example, a
term some may find objectionable but which is bandied about without any real pejorative subtext by a lot of people
these days. My youngest son spent a couple of weeks this past summer in China, on a field trip facilitated by his middle
school (we hosted a Chinese student earlier in the school year). My wife and I presented him with a sparking new
IPhone in order for him keep in touch with us and also to serve as his camera on this exciting journey. When our son
returned to us, he had snapped literally hundreds of pictures, with the vast majority (as in all but a handful) being of
what he called "Engrish", the sometimes admittedly very funny weird translations that adorn Chinese placards, banners
and signs throughout the nation. There's something akin to "Engrish" afoot in
Hellsing with its lead character,
one whose name is variously offered as either Arucard or Alucard, which those who notice such things is either a slightly
morphed version of Dracula's name spelled backward or a straight ahead mirror image of the name (a name which pops
up in some previous
Dracula film outings). The character is in fact identified as Alucard all over the place, but the
subtitles for
Hellsing as well as the commentary tracks included on this release, not to mention the dialogue
itself, clearly replace the "l" sound with an "r" sound, which is probably neither here nor there but which does give a
just slightly wacky sound to an otherwise pretty gruesome vampiric agent who works with an agency known as Hellsing
whose mission it is to rid England of various bad vampires and other things that go bump in the night. Whatever you
call him,
Alucard (which is the form of the name which will just arbitrarily be adopted for this review) is one of the coolest ghouls
in
anime, a vicious and even haunting specter who is both downright frightening and also weirdly funny some of the time.
Hellsing has kind of an interesting adaptive history. Like many anime, it was culled from a well received manga
that appeared in the late nineties. The original anime television series departed from the manga's storyline in several
significant aspects, and some fans of the manga were not shy about voicing their displeasure.
Hellsing Ultimate
was the result, a new set of OVAs that hoped to get the story back to its manga roots and also provide a continuation
of
the manga's arc which had not yet been published when the original anime started airing. While there's a lot to like
about
the original
Hellsing series, anyone wanting to get a real feel for what the manga had to offer should probably
stick with
Hellsing Ultimate.
These first four OVAs do a fantastic job of introducing the main characters and (in some cases unlike the original
Hellsing series) giving us some context and back story for them. The first OVA in fact gives us a brief look back
to Hellsing's leader's childhood. Integra Wingates Hellsing is seen as a little girl, attempting to escape from her
dastardly Uncle who is none too pleased that his dying brother, Integra's father, has bequeathed the Hellsing
organization to his little girl rather than to his brother. Integra's father has warned her about his brother's nefarious
plans to do harm to the little girl and cautions her to find help in the Hellsing's castle deepest, darkest dungeon. It's
there that we meet the wonderful Alucard (and/or Arucard, depending on your facility with "Engrish").
We quickly move forward in time to Integra's adulthood. England is having all sorts of problems with various evil
entities, and Alucard's attempts to deal with one invading horde of vampire-controlled zombies (don't worry, it makes
sense within the sometimes daffy context of the franchise) results in a young policewoman being mortally wounded.
Alucard gives her a choice: either die or become an eternal vampire herself. This character turns out to be another
major player in the OVAs, one Seras Victoria. While Seras is ostensibly a vampire slave to Alucard, she turns out to be
his partner in crime (or in fact
reducing crime) throughout the OVAs.
We also meet one of the main villains of the piece, Father Alexander Anderson (and it's part of
Hellsing
Ultimate's topsy-turvy world that the undead vampire is the good guy while the putative religious figure is, despite
his noble intentions, kind of a bad
guy out to kill many of Alucard's minions at Hellsing), as well as two brothers, Jan and Luke Valentine, evil vampires
whose machinations to overthrow Hellsing provide
a lot of drama in the second and (tangentially at least) the third OVAs. There's a fine feeling for place if not especially
time in this series. Part of what makes it so unique is the discordance between the stiff upper lip British approach
toward life in general and the hyperbolic aspect of England being overrun by all sorts of goblins. The time element is a
little more problematic, as some of the show feels like it's supposed to be at least slightly in the future, but we also get
elements like villainous Nazis playing into some story arcs.
Hellsing Ultimate is not a show for the squeamish or faint of heart. As several of the voice actors joke about in
the commentaries included on this release, this set of OVAs features some of the most nonstop carnage in any anime,
vampire related or otherwise. Virtually every OVA is filled to the brim with blood, guts and gore, not to mention
evisceration and outright dismemberment. There's an almost freakish sense of humor that runs through a lot of the
mayhem, however. It may not make watching the gruesome events unfold any easier to take (especially for those with
weak stomachs), but it gives this reboot a really distinctive and oddly enjoyable demeanor.
Hellsing Ultimate: Collection Volumes 1-4 Blu-ray, Video Quality
Hellsing Ultimate Volumes 1 – 4 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded
1080p transfer in 1.78:1. I'm a little conflicted about this release. As many
Hellsing fans probably know, FUNimation
picked up the license of these titles from Universal Geneon, and though their packaging indicates an HD Native source, my
hunch is that
refers to FUNimation's kind of odd verbiage that labels "pre-upconverted" product (i.e., SD native product that is delivered
to them upconverted) as HD Native, something that I'm assuming is the case with at least the earliest OVAs here, which
date from 2006. Parts of this transfer look exceptional, especially some of the more graphical elements, while other
elements have the kind of gauzy soft ambience that usually indicates an SD native source.
Hellsing fans know what
a dramatically designed anime these OVAs are, and quite a bit of these first four outings pop with substantial color and
solid contrast, helping to make the often very dark surroundings bristle with really good detail.
Hellsing Ultimate: Collection Volumes 1-4 Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
There is a lot of vampire related anime to choose from, and many of the offerings are quite good in and of themselves, but
Hellsing Ultimate is a (no pun intended) cut above. Relentlessly stylish, filled with intriguing characters (none more
so that Alucard himself) and offering a nicely complex and nuanced overall storyline, this set of OVAs restores the anime to
its manga roots (even as it takes off on a few new tangents, especially starting with the third OVA). This first of two
Hellsing Ultimate Blu-ray sets ports over the plentiful supplements that were featured in the Limited Edition DVD
releases. Video quality here is just a little iffy at times, but audio quality is excellent. Overall,
Hellsing Ultimate Volumes
1 – 4 comes
Highly recommended.
