Reviews

Anime adaptations created before the end of their respective manga are quite common, and in many cases the lack of a pre-established ending necessitates an anime-exclusive ending that inspires viewers to read the manga. In some cases, such as Berserk '97, this can work well and the anime can be a respectable work on its own merits. Sadly, this is not quite the case with Hellsing 2001, which obviously does not hold a candle to either the manga or the amazing Hellsing Ultimate OVA's. Maybe it's a bit of a dead horse at this point but eh we're reviewing it anyways.

The story is primarily anime-only filler, only covering up to the fight with the Valentine brothers, thank god for Jan. This means theoretically we would have plenty of time for character exploration/interaction. Seras Victoria is firmly the protagonist here, as much time is devoted on her transition into becoming a vampire as well as her interactions with the police force. Alucard is moreso a supporting character who shows up for a couple minutes per episode. Surprisingly, his character is not really prominent, although he still steals the show due to his OPness as well as great voice acting from a fledgling Crispin Freeman. Freeman had a banner year in 2001 as he also voiced the meme-warrior Straight Cougar in SCryEd. Thank god he's here, because the rest of this English Dub cast is pretty bad. The worst of them is by far Seras, who is reliably flat and unemotional the entire run. Due to her aforementioned prominence, this makes certain scenes quite unbearable at times.

Sadly, we are also missing many of Hellsing's great characters, including Pip, Rip Van Winkle, The Major (who is replaced with a bog-standard Naruto filler villain named Incognito - needless to say he's a poor substitute). My boy Alexander Anderson is barely in this thing, and when he is he's made out to be a total bitch, which is not true in Ultimate or the manga. This loose characterization was appalling imo.

Otherwise, the animation was mostly fine for the time period. Action scenes weren't great but there were some still shots with a lot of flair and style to them that I liked. The soundtrack is perhaps the best part of this series, having a unique jazzy, bouncy quality to it that belies the otherwise gothic setting. Sadly, the music doesn't really match up with what's going on in the scene, and often comes as incongruous as a result. So at the end of the day, I can't really recommend anyone revisit this series when much superior alternatives exist. Hellsing Ultimate and the manga are fantastic, but this does not even live up to the level of what was out in 2001. So it with disappointment that I concluded this series.