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Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Hellsing


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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:44 am Reply with quote
Awesome! I recently bought the whole 10 volume set at a convention last summer. But I still haven't gotten around to actually reading the whole story. Between the OVAs and spoilers, I pretty much know it, so I guess that's part of the problem.

But yes! I love Hirano's style! It's a little overwelming at times but it fits the story. As for the Nazis, I don't think they can be
considered true Nazis. Their leader is a former Nazi but they only embrace the trappings of Naziism, not necessarily the ideology. They're basically a bunch of nihilists, who revel in total war and destruction for it's own sake. And as for the religious stuff, I don't think Hirano was worried about offending anyone since I don't think most Japanese follow or know much about Western religion. But I definitely wouldn't consider it anti-Semitic and the religious antagonism doesn't really bother me. Though it might bother more religious people but I don't think it's meant to be taken that seriously.

It's a crazy, over-the-top story and I think maybe a little tongue-in-cheek. Basically, Hellsing is crazy sexy cool and it and Hirano just don't give a f*ck!

Oh, and as you can tell from my avatar, I'm also into Vampire Knight. Which I guess is weird, since it's shojo but I love good vampire stories of all kinds. Not a Twilight fan, though.
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Brainchild129



Joined: 09 Aug 2011
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:02 am Reply with quote
Completely pedantic note: I thought Anderson was supposed to be Scottish. That's how the dub interpreted it, at least. Ultimately it doesn't matter, as he's possibly my second favorite character in the series (first is Integra, of course). The Alucard/Anderson fights have always been a highlight of the series - they're just both so focused and visceral.

I love this series. It's just so gloriously, almost psychedically insane, like a fever dream one has after watching a whole bunch of vampire and nazisploitation movies.

I read up to Volume 8 of this series ages ago. Recently I had been thinking about picking up the last two volumes just to see how it ended, and really if I was going to do that I might as well pick up the whole thing. When I found the first two at a used shop, I knew it was meant to be.
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phoenixphire24



Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 260
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:24 am Reply with quote
I love, love, love this series. It's definitely in my top 10. The art, the plot, the insanity...it's just all so delightful. Can't wait to see the rest of the OVAs.
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:34 am Reply with quote
Although I found the humor from the first volumes a bit simple, I really enjoyed the series (and Alucard's and Victoria's dreams were really funny). Alucard and Father Anderson are really awesome characters with the former never using all of his powers and the latter simply because he is a human who can fight vampires (and his English is epic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-okHc4NNzo)
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:50 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
although the real-life Hirano seems to be in danger of getting overtaken in popularity by his fictional alter ego/tribute character "Kouta Hirano" in Highschool of the Dead.


Now that's interesting to learn!

I remember watching the original TV anime (this version, I believe, has the superior soundtrack music) and was hooked. Then I watched the Ultimate OVA, and got put off by Alucard pointlessly slaughtering every single one of all those human soldiers and giving Van Winkle a slow and painful death for the hell of it. They're supposed to be the protagonists, protecting humanity and all that, and yet I found myself discouraged the rest of the way through and unable to fully root for anyone. So the only reason I decided to pick up the manga was to find out ahead of time if the Anime is worth committing to all the way to the end, assuming Funimation releases the whole thing. In retrospect, the only real reason I like the anime that much at all is because of the phenomenal dub cast.

Speaking for myself, Hellsing is not a story where I care about and cheer for the characters. At all. But one can still have a fun ride with it for the over-the-top, imaginative insanity alone. And for a male otaku manga-ka who had every opportunity to fanservice up his female characters, it's not all the time we get to see all the women be as genuinely tough and courageous as the men without once being rendered emotionally vulnerable, as well as have them killed off just as brutally.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:16 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
anti-Semitic (in the anti-Jewish sense, not the literal anti-Jews-and-Arabs sense)


That's what anti-Semitic means. The word was coined to have a more impressive-sounding term for "Jew-hating."
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:21 pm Reply with quote
Shay Guy wrote:
Quote:
anti-Semitic (in the anti-Jewish sense, not the literal anti-Jews-and-Arabs sense)


That's what anti-Semitic means. The word was coined to have a more impressive-sounding term for "Jew-hating."


Well, if one wishes to be very pedantically literal, because Arabs and Jews are both ultimately Semitic peoples, one can try to insist that anti-Semitic refers to hatred of both, although I've never seen it seriously used that way.
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cucuc



Joined: 28 Oct 2009
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:48 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I like how all his chapter titles are references to '80s video games like Balance of Power, Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic, etc.

Glimpses through the chapter title list.

"Age of Empire", "Call to Power" (Civilization: Call to Power), "Ultima On Line", "D"...

"Flash Point" (Operation Flashpoint), "Soldier of Fortune", "Ogre Battle", "Get Away" (Getaway)...

"Hundred Swords", "Heart of Iron", "Warcraft"...

... and "Oblivion"!? (He even puts this 2006 game among ancient RPGs like "Black Onyx", "Sorcerian" and "Romancia"!)

There are in fact more post-1980s games! This article is totally inaccurate! Smile
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PBsallad



Joined: 19 Dec 2009
Posts: 338
Location: Phoenix
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:57 pm Reply with quote
I've read all 10 volumes, crazy series. I really enjoyed it.

Digital editions of the first 7 volumes are also available through Dark Horse Digital Comics.
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Snomaster1
Subscriber



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:16 pm Reply with quote
I've never seen the anime or manga version of "Hellsing,"but I do have a question. And it's a question that probably won't surprise anyone whose read my posts. Are there any American characters or how is America portrayed in this thing? Since America has both Protestants and Catholics living here,I just thought I'd ask.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4369
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:40 pm Reply with quote
phoenixphire24 wrote:
I love, love, love this series. It's definitely in my top 10. The art, the plot, the insanity...it's just all so delightful. Can't wait to see the rest of the OVAs.


Same here, though the ending ( for the manga ) to me is a little foo par in my sense.

though what made alucard in the anime ( at least in the english dub ) was that the character was voiced by Crispin Freeman. and in turn gave people interest in the manga.

Not to mentioned that it was the popularity of the TV series that gave the rise for the Ultimate OVA.

though it sucks that Geneon had to go six feet under before the OVA could be completed.
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Eldritcho



Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 260
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:59 pm Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
I've never seen the anime or manga version of "Hellsing,"but I do have a question. And it's a question that probably won't surprise anyone whose read my posts. Are there any American characters or how is America portrayed in this thing? Since America has both Protestants and Catholics living here,I just thought I'd ask.


None that i can think of, except possibly some of Pips men.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:31 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
When vampires—and ghouls, the zombie-like servants created by vampires—go on a rampage, the police call their superiors, and their superiors call the secret council who really runs Britain, and the secret council calls Hellsing.

If this series were to some some semblance of realism, the secret council would have been downsized and subsequently proposed for privatisation. Conversely, Lady Integra's tax rate would be reduced to 45p at the expense of Walter's pensioner allowance. (As for the Nazis, they would invade a sufficient number of constituencies to form the minority part of a coalition government at the next election.)
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:31 pm Reply with quote
Brainchild129 wrote:
Completely pedantic note: I thought Anderson was supposed to be Scottish. That's how the dub interpreted it, at least. Ultimately it doesn't matter, as he's possibly my second favorite character in the series (first is Integra, of course). The Alucard/Anderson fights have always been a highlight of the series - they're just both so focused and visceral.

.


He's definitely Irish. Hence why he is inflamed that the English (and Protestant) Hellsing organization would go after vampires in Northern Ireland.
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Youkai Warrior



Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 505
Location: Sarayashiki
PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:32 pm Reply with quote
I had passed on Hellsing awhile ago, but after reading this week's "House of 1000 Manga", I'm tempted to try it out. I still disagree with a vampire toting a gun (What creature of darkness needs a gun?) But it seems like Hellsing is more than that. I just might give this a try. Thanks, Jason.
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