Hellsing, Volume 1

Loved it then, love it now.

Fan of the anime and the manga

I've never read Manga before Hellsing. I don't really care for short stories (I feel like I've been cheated when I get to the end all too soon) and so I avoided Manga thinking it would be the same. However, after I saw the Anime I wanted to know more so I gave it a try. I was blown away. I didn't realize so much story could be conveyed with images and a little text. I was hungry for more when I got to the end of Volume 1, but fortunately there is more! Alucard is a delicious anti-hero and I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys vampire literature.

Sometimes the anime is great but the manga lacks something, or the manga is great but the anime just doesn't hold up - so having enjoyed the anime I thought the manga would fail me. I was wrong. Lots of gore, guns, cool lines from Alucard, great artwork and lots of details packed into this book. Within the 200 plus pages are not just six chapters of Hellsing dealing with rogue vampires, ghouls and Priests, but a extra in the form of a bonus story from a manga that never got off the ground about Section XIII(13), the special vampire hunting organization from Rome. I can't wait to see the other manga in the Hellsing series.

Some folks will already be familiar with the anime; others may be encountering this graphic gothic for the first time. I have to say, as a both a manga and a vampire fan, I was delighted to find, Kohta Hirano's HELLSING volume one published in English. The basics of the plot will sound familiar; a secret organization exists in England for taking on the paranormal baddies that terrorize the country. This organization is called Hellsing, and in their corner they have one unstoppable tool, a generations old super-powerful vampire named Alucard who can stop any of the nasties and make them go Aaargh! Splat! in the night.Probably on of the best things about the anime is that it never takes itself too seriously. Despite the incredible amounts of violence and gore, the dialog tends to be wickedly funny. Despite the allusions to Bram Stoker's DRACULA (After all, Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards) this manga quite gleefully ignores the Victorian sensibilities of the original tale and keeps the dialogue snappy and contemporary. Fans of Buffy the Vampire slayer may find this manga right up their alley. The story itself introduces readers to the cast of this series, Sir Integral, the head of the Hellsing organization and how she came to inherit the position with the help of Alucard their vampire who takes out the baddies for Hellsing others can't handle, and Seras Victoria, otherwise known as Police Girl who becomes Alucard's half-vampire servant when he saves her from dying. Other than the various zombies, vamps and other paranormal creeps Hellsing must put down, they also face off against the Vatican. Specifically section XIII of the Vatican; it's very own paranormal Special ops squad.The art is fabulous, deftly shaded shots with plenty of detail and a real sense of motion and power that convey the action adventure drama of the plot. The detail never becomes overwrought or lighthearted-although at times the drawing can be comic-and maintains the gothic flavor that is so essential. Be aware if you are just discovering this series that it depicts a great deal of blood and violence-and if this is not your thing, you may want to try something with less graphic detail. For those of you who like a little carnage with your manga, this will probably suit you just fine. Delightfully action packed, wickedly irreverent, and artistically excellent, it's no surprise fans are already impatiently waiting for the next volume!Be aware that the 13-episode anime series only loosely follows the manga storyline, so even if you've seen the anime, you won't be getting the exact same story. If you enjoy this series and are looking for some reading, I'd recommend BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL and, in anime, VAMPIRE HUNTER D. Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Honestly, if you liked the animated version of Hellsing, don't hold yourself back in buying the manga. The story dives much deeper, explaining some of the unexplained details in the anime, in the backgrounds of characters or something more basic like what constitutes a vampire. Leaving behind Incognito, the manga goes instead into the Millenium Organization, Nazis, Section XIII, much more....As for this first volume, here's my judging of it. Although the artwork seems crude and a little exaggerated at this point, it quickly develops itself even as you turn the pages, and in following volumes. However, being a bit more humorous than the anime, this allows to reader to never take it way too seriously, but instead enjoy it from a general aspect without looking at everything with a microscope. The translation seems faithful enough, and although Anderson's "accent" manifestation was a little annoying to read at first, it gives a better hint to his character. Everything else works out well.I fully reccomend this to the fans of the anime, and even give a little nudge to those who didn't find themselves ecstatic with the anime.

If you are a fan of the anime, or if you just like vampire machine gun violence, you have to check out the Hellsing comics. Published by Dark Horse(how fitting), this is one of the coolest comics I've read. It doesn't try hard at all to take itself serious, but the artist still manages to make you go 'Woah that is badass!' with super cool poses and dynamic action drawings. Volume 1 follows up to the Anderson(episode 3) Fight of the anime, but also includes the Master of Monster(Ep 8) chapter. After the second book the storyline will take a turn for the awesomer as it diverges completely from the anime and into the realm of Nazi Vampire Dictators and their plot to strike the heart of London. Also included is the short series Crossfire, featuring one badass female Priest with a penchant for firearms, and one crazy Nun with a Katana. Watch as they purify some fools in the best way possible, violently!A+++++++++++ would read again!