Gott Mit Uns
Hells Gate Arrested
Well, it's that time of year again! Spooky season. The month of pumpkin spice. Donuts and cider and football (oh my!). I'm just now thinking about what I want to do special for this month, and I think mainly I'm going to try and watch some classic horror movies, listen to my favorite gamut of musical acts (the Misfits, the Cramps, AFI, Orchid, etc.), and rewatch some things to put me in the mood for Halloween nights and Halloween frights.
One such thing I've got on my watchlist is my annual re-watching of the Hellsing anime, both the excellent OVA series and the first, thirteen-episode anime adaptation that came out in 2001. While the OVA is really, really good, as well as a near-perfect adaptation of the manga, I actually prefer the 2001 series. I know—blasphemy if you're a fan of the franchise. But hear me out: the 2001 anime is actually really cool.
Of course, when you compare them objectively as animated series, the OVA series blows the 2001 anime out of the water: the animation is better, the art is always on-model, the voice acting (both sub and dub) clears, and the story is absolutely a more faithful adaptation of the manga. But that first anime...there's just something about it, you know? For lack of a better term, it's just oozing with STYLE.
First off, there's the art. Now, I won't deny that, due to its smaller budget and shorter available production time, the art can look a little sketchy at times. Plenty of stuff that doesn't look that great here and there, as is common with a lot of anime that was coming out in the early 2000s. But. BUT! Sometimes the art just hits, you know? The way that the often bright reds just pop against the jet blacks, the neat triangular thing they do with the shadows to create depth on Alucard's riding jacket, the way that the gore just looks really visceral sometimes. Oh, and one more thing—they aren't afraid to make Alucard look a little ugly sometimes! SPOILERS (if you're fucking stupid): but the guy is supposed to be Count Goddamn Dracula! He's supposed to be scary! He should look a little ugly or unsettling sometimes! In the OVA, even at his creepiest, he still looks kinda pretty. Which is fine, I guess, but I think it's cool when a main character is a monster and is actually allowed to look the part.
What's also neat about it is the writing, which takes a very different approach than both the OVA series and the manga. It's a lot more decompressed (probably since the manga was still coming out when it was being produced and they had to stretch for time), which led to it taking on a very unique feel. You get to spend more time with members of the Hellsing organization that aren't just the main cast, and there's a bit of a "monster of the week" format, where you get to see how they deal with smaller-scale threats. It makes the world of that setting feel very "lived in", for lack of a better term, like things happen outside of the main cast of heroes and villains, and the series exists in a world that isn't just a convenient backdrop for gallons of blood and sick-ass vampire fights. Plus, the story is largely told through the eyes of Seras Victoria, which both provides a little extra character development to our favorite vampire protégé and allows her to act as sort of an audience-insert-type character. It's a neat framing, and it helps us immerse ourselves into the strange new world Ms. Victoria now finds herself in.
Finally, I cannot get enough of the music. The soundtrack, composed by Yasushi Ishii, has so much fucking attitude it should practically be required to listen to it with a backwards ball cap and a pair of sick shades (cigarette optional). It's not what you'd expect for a horror series; bluesy, jazzy, and semi-psychedelic. But it fits with the atmosphere and action so damn well. I don't understand how they pulled it off, but it's one of my favorite anime soundtracks of all time.
Overall, the 2001 Hellsing anime is a moody, urban-gothic experience with plenty of flaws but a bunch of attitude and a hell of a lot of charm. If you haven't watched it yet, give it a try, and if you have watched it already, give it a rewatch! You might find something neat you didn't notice before. There aren't many series, anime or otherwise, that are quite like it. And while (like I said before) the OVA series is technically better, I'll be damned if I don't prefer the darker, horror-focused tone of that first series to the over-the-top gonzo action of the OVAs. Maybe I'm caring more about style than substance, but style can take you a long way.
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