The plot follows the Hellsing Organization which is lead by Integra Wingates Hellsing. The group's purpose is to encounter and destroy supernatural threats such as vampires and ghouls, while at the same time work under a tight blanket of security keeping these threats under wraps. Her weapon is a very powerful vampire under her complete control named Alucard. They conduct seek and destroy missions against the creatures. Later on, another outfit whom appears to be creating the creatures declares war on Hellsing, in which this drags Europe into the fray.
Hellsing Ultimate sure as hell knows how to wrap in the action oriented fan from go. It's a series that revels in its over the top graphic violence. The viewer is treated to one blood bath after the other. There are no punches pulled when it comes down to the violence. The action is provided through fierce battles resulting in exploding heads and bodily destruction. The battles mainly consist of shoot outs and chomp fest. Alucard also engages in brutal battles with other powerful types with blood crawling results. The violence only escalates as the series moves on with the best of chaos taking place between episodes 5-8 and especially 2; I mean good lord, this anime indeed knows how to shock with the mayhem.
I can't commend this series enough on its violent presentation. This world is hell, war is hell, and the characters are a reflection of this hell. At the very least one will get to understand the motivations of key characters such as the main antagonist whom calls himself The Major, along with the fanatical Father Anderson. Several characters do receive some focus and there are plenty of interactions that could have been better but along with the anime's atmosphere, they are outright wrecked by one glaring flaw, the misplaced comedy, I'll get on this in a bit.
The production values for this anime is quite impressive and it remained at a very high quality through out its complete duration. Visually, I will say it's on point as it blends CG animation with 3D and 2D effortlessly; there weren't many corners cut in regards to the backgrounds. They have a certain darkness to them with a nice amount of lighting and vibrant colors. The camera work is done exceptionally well capturing the quick paced movements, which is very necessary since some of the characters attempt to move in a blur in order to get to their enemies. The animation flows naturally like water without the slightest bit of jumpiness. The artwork is another highlight; Alucard is awesome especially in his supernatural form among others. There are also smaller details that can go unnoticed like writing on weapons and variety in zombie hordes.
The character designs look great with a heavy manga style to them with a dark outline. The sound effects need to be mentioned as well; gun fire sounds quite authentic, and simple effects such as squishing steps in pools of blood and bones being broken stand out. The English voice acting is superb with plenty of fine performances.
Now it's time to address Hellsing Ultimate's kryptonite because this indeed weakens the series as a complete whole, resulting in it becoming quite frustrating to sit through. Those out there whom have hit on the misplaced comedy really aren't exaggerating on how annoying it is.
The series heavily forces in highly exaggerated comedy with its dark content, and it clashes terribly like no other anime I have ever seen. I'm for real here, the comedic shifts are hauled into this anime kicking and screaming. Hellsing Ultimate had potential to be among the darkest anime series out there. The content is indeed disturbing so there's no need for this animated graffiti. There's a scene where a vampire has a dead infant in its mouth appearing to bite the baby in two, and this is during an all out mauling of the populace. I'm sure this sounds disturbing to most. Now take a look at how the very grim atmosphere is ruined; try to imagine witnessing comedic moments that could easily fit into Sponge Bob cartoons, such as highly deformed characters with big smiley faces and puffs of angry smoke shooting out their noses, with overly angry squinty eyes to try and make you laugh. This is totally unacceptable for an anime of this type, where you will witness a dead chick getting raped by a guy with a fork in his eye, and there are plenty of moments such as these. The comedy damages everything: character's images, atmosphere, tense interactions, and even its setting.
This series is also heavily hampered by some bad pacing and over-acting. There can be far too much dialog delivered at one time slowing things down to a crawl, to include some fights are too drawn out for the sake of time munching and this also grows annoying. I gave credit to the voice acting, but around mid way some individuals were straight hamming it up, and the tension was outright killed by straight up ego masturbating.
Hellsing Ultimate really could have been one of the greatest action anime titles ever, but it was hurt by a writing team that wanted to appeal to a fan base whom was better off ignored. I personally believe that the comedy is a make or break for viewers. If you're one of those types whom outright despise tonal whiplash then definitely skip this series. If you can ignore that then go ahead and give it a shot because you'll more than likely love this. It's not that I violently hate comedy in action or serious anime, but there are certain styles and settings where this type of puerile comedy is far more harmful, and Hellsing Ultimate is one of these types.
Highs: Production values, loads of barbaric violence, cool main character
Lows: Tonal whiplash is quite devastating, pacing problems
