DVD Review - No Turning Back from this Bloodbath

In case you haven’t read my previous posts about “Hellsing Ultimate,” here’s a simple warning. If you’re the type of person who would faint at the sight of blood, definitely do not watch this series.

Now then, let’s move on.

“Hellsing Ultimate” continues its goofy plot with a storyline where the Catholics are creating violent forces to help the Nazis.

Yes, it is admittedly a silly plot, when you actually think about it. I’m guessing that the Catholics supported the Nazis for money, to pay for retirement plans for their vampire-hunting paladins.

After a heated discussion with a papal official which almost ended in a bloodbath, Integra von Hellsing discovers that the Millenials are the Nazis, who escaped to Germany after World War II. They’ve apparently got plenty of violent ghouls ready to kill people around the world

Thankfully, the Hellsing organization recruited Wild Goose, a band of the best mercenaries around. They needed them after that bloodbath in the previous episode. Alucard was given a pretty simple mission in Brazil—search and destroy.

There’s really not much to this series—it’s a big, wild bloodbath. At least for part of the episode. At the end of the episode, Alucard drinks the blood of the assassin hired to kill him. Through the blood, he discovers that the Nazis want to engage the world in a never-ending war. And Alucard's even more determined to kill the Nazis.

But even if this is a bloodbath, “Hellsing Ultimate” has the strongest anti-war visuals ever. Blood gushes over in an ugly mess. Bodies are left as empty skeletons. Bodies are torn apart. Nothing is glamorized.

And war is ugly, but then again, nobody should even be fighting Alucard, the ultimate soldier, in the first place. All armed forces undergo the risk of their lives if they ever face him. Alucard is an invincible bloodthirsty monster. He wants to exterminate the Nazis, even if humans get in his way.

Admittedly, “Hellsing Ultimate” is almost way too nihilistic for its own good. But that’s the point—-the violence is splattered in a grotesque mess that no one wants to see. Alucard would almost be a complete anti-hero, if Integra didn't give him the guidance to take down the Nazis.

And even though Seras, the former policegirl turned vampire, doesn’t like blood, she still joins Alucard in his killing spree. After all, she has been sexually mistreated in awful ways, especially in the beginning of the series. Perhaps she wants her revenge against the masculine forces that hurt her.

Sure, “Hellsing Ultimate” is a revenge anime with the most sinister hero in anime history, but the characters are taking their sweet revenge against the violent masculine power of the Nazis. Despite how absolutely mindless this anime is, “Hellsing Ultimate” is a grotesquely beautiful romp to destroy all the extreme hatred and violence in the world. Just keep in mind that the Catholics are not really secretly supporting the Nazis as they are in this DVD. Believe me--they’re not.

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DVD Review - Hellish rampage

It's an understatement to say that the second volume of "Hellsing Ultimate" is a gorefest. If an anime fan gets squeamish at the first sign of blood, then they really, really, really don't want to watch "Hellsing Ultimate."

Volume two of "Hellsing Ultimate" is filled with soldier decapitations, hundreds of chopped limbs and buckets of blood. It's not pretty, and the plot is somewhat stale, but the action and drama will keep anime fans on the edge of their seat.

The volume starts at the Hellsing Organization building, where Integra discusses with some executives about the recent increase in ghouls around Romania. But then two tough ghoul brothers decide to invade Hellsing by turning the entire army into ghouls.

Fortunately, Integra's professional killers are ready to take them all down. Seras Victoria has her powerful sniper rifle and Walter C. Dornez (codenamed the "Angel of Death") has invisible strings that can slice through bodies. And Alucard is, well, the most indestructable vampire I've ever seen.

To make a long story short, the Hellsing vampires make mince meat out of the ghouls. The last ghoul revealed that they are controlled by microchips to follow orders from a group called Millenium. And Millenium is somehow related to Hitler and the Holocaust. Yeah. It's really implausable, but considering how many people died in this volume, I'm willing to believe anything.

So far, "Hellsing Ultimate" doesn't really have much of a plot, even though it involves some creative storylines involving conspiracy theories and German Nazis. For the most part, "Hellsing Ultimate" volume is a big bloodbath, with body parts flying everywhere. One scene in particular almost turns into a rape scene, until Seras breaks out in a bloodthirsty vampire rage. Oddly enough, only Integra is able to calm her down by embracing her and telling her that everything's alright.

But "Hellsing Ultimate" is also confronting the serious issue of chaotic violence, rape and fear. Certainly violence and sexual violation is something worth fighting against. This makes Seras a rare character that possesses the dual-personalities that Nausicaa had in "Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind." She is compassionate, but she has the potential to turn into a violent monster when she needs to.

And Alucard is a veteran vampire warrior, who wants to die with honor. Some might call him insane, because of his immense power. However, he also has the psychotic desire to die from a worthy opponent. He's an insane undead man, tired of living through numerous wounds, who just wants peace of mind.

"Hellsing Ultimate" is a fascinating character study of masculine and feminine personalities. While the series' plot is a little too simplistic, the characters are so amazingly complex. "Hellsing Ultimate" is a series about violent wars against ghouls, and the vampire warriors who are traumatized by the wars. "Hellsing Ultimate" may be one of the surprise series this year. My only complaint is that each volume is only about 45 minutes long.

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DVD Review - What the hellsing?

"Hellsing" is one of the deadliest vampire action series ever released. This review is about "Hellsing Ultimate," supposedly the ultimate version of this bloodfest.

However, it reflects so many changes to the original TV series so much that previous fans might not appreciate the so-called ultimate version.

For the uninitiated, "Hellsing" is a series about the Hellsing organization, bent on keeping the bloodthirsty vampires from sinking their teeth into the citizens of Romania. The organization, led by Integra Hellsing, sends a special vampire to slice the chests of these other vampires. His name is Alucard, and as far as I know, even if someone chops off his head, he can come back to life.

The first volume of "Hellsing Ultimate" covers the first three episodes of the "Hellsing" television show. In a short summary of this disc, Alucard recruits Seras Victoria, a policewoman, as his apprentice vampire. Alucard and Seras also fight Alexander Anderson, a Catholic paladin. Yes, there is actually a clash between the Protestant Hellsing Organization and the paladins of the Vatican.

There are many changes that could keep old fans of "Hellsing" from watching the new ultimate version. For starters, the first DVD is a near-perfect adaptation of the original manga. Because of this, the ultimate version is missing the cool, collected style of the priest vampire, who seduced Seras Victoria in the TV version. Now the priest is a blatant pervert who grabs her crotch and declares that he intends to rape her.

Of course, the ultimate version of "Hellsing" is close to the manga, but the director sacrificed his own original take, which was admittedly much cooler. The original TV show had an awesome mix of honky-tonk pianos and funk music in the background. It felt like a dark version of "Shaft," with Alucard saying in Japanese "Keep your hands off her," and yelling "PUNK!" in English. And Alucard even had cool dialogue about his custom-made silver bullet pistol.

Then again, "Hellsing Ultimate" was made with a much more horrific mood in mind. The series has plenty of bloody action sequences where thousands of zombies riddle Alucard with a million bulletholes, and yet Alucard manages to come back to life. Of course, with a nearly invincible vampire, I wonder how dramatic this series can possibly get if Alucard cannot die.

Still, this is a solid second rendition of a good vampire series. Some people may want to steer away from this super-violent series, but if anyone is in the mood for violent anime, "Hellsing Ultimate" is a must-see.