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Last edited by Key on Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

I'm a big fan of the TV series, so naturally I decided to check out the first OVA episode when it was offered up at a convention over the weekend. Though played only in subs, it looked like it was from the upcoming official Geneon release.

I was mightily disappointed with what I saw. The first OVA episode, which covers the same territory as the first three TV episodes, might stay truer to the manga but it isn't an improvement. It had some silly humor that the TV series didn't have and explained a couple of points better, but it lacked the style and flair which made the TV series so great. It was also sorely deficient by comparison in character development; the TV series did a much better job of making even the villains seem alive. The music was a substantial degrade from the original, too, and I'm not convinced that the artwork was even as good.

Granted, the OVA did have its moments, but overall it's far inferior to the comparable content in the TV series.

Other thoughts/opinions from those who have seen both?

Stylistically I would say that the OVA did match the manga better, but somehow it never achieved the level of dynamic action seen in Hirano's work. Can't really put a finger on it but something was off.

I also liked the first vampire hunt with Seras much better in the original anime. In general I favor the slimmer look of the TV series but I still very much enjoyed the fight with Anderson. As far as the humor I know it seems very out of place but that is exactly as it comes off in the manga, where some really dark moments can be suddenly interruped by the bizzare comedy. Can't say I like it, but since the goal here is to follow the source material I wont complain.

Ultimately I would say the worth of the OVAs will be in how well they handle the story that the series did not. Hellsing gets incredibly awsome once the whole Nazi Freak war begins and as long as it gets animated properly it will still be superior to the series and its ridiculously lame ending.

I liked everything about Hellsing OVA except the music. I thought the music was what made the series in the original Hellsing TV, and to see the great soundtrack gone from the OVA was EXTREMELY disappointing for me.

Other than that, I like the fights, gore, art style, and characters better in the OVA. I haven't read the manga btw.

Key wrote:

style and flair

The style and flair of cheap computer animation and off-model character designs?

Aswell as introducing one of the most stockiest and boring plot-device villians out of nowhere?

I guess the TV series did paint a different picture of Hellsing than the Manga/OVA was/is going for, which is probably why it would seem dissapointing, because you're expecting a high-budget adaptation of the TV series.

Not that I'm berating you, but a lot of the production was made due to dissapointment in what the TV series was. Therefore it should've been more, well, obvious, that it'd be a different kind of feature to that of the TV series.

cheezisgoooood wrote:

I liked everything about Hellsing OVA except the music. I thought the music was what made the series in the original Hellsing TV, and to see the great soundtrack gone from the OVA was EXTREMELY disappointing for me.

disappointing is being nice, i think the music is absolutely awful. it doesn't even sound like a real score, it's like some kind of generic filler music that was just thrown in there on short notice. it makes it really hard to get into.

i do like the outro music though.

I thought, visually speaking, the OVA was better. If you're asking which I prefered? The series.

The OAV was over the top, chaotic, with a mix of sillines and gruesomeness and generally should not be taken seriously. In other words, it was just like the manga Razz

And I liked it. Granted, I wasnt swished off my feet by the first instalment of this new Hellsing, but I am still having high expectations for the next episodes, when they come out.

Of course the series does have it flaws. The music... I simply loved the music from the original TV series, but the OAV had nothing of this sort. Like the Batman Begins movie. Loved the movie, had it flaws, but the music could use a little bit more touching up. And... god dammit, who HONESTLY can say they didn't crack up when Andersen TRIED talking in English? I almost pissed my pants at that moment.

Steventheeunuch wrote:

The style and flair of cheap computer animation and off-model character designs?

Aswell as introducing one of the most stockiest and boring plot-device villians out of nowhere?

I guess the TV series did paint a different picture of Hellsing than the Manga/OVA was/is going for, which is probably why it would seem dissapointing, because you're expecting a high-budget adaptation of the TV series.

Not that I'm berating you, but a lot of the production was made due to dissapointment in what the TV series was. Therefore it should've been more, well, obvious, that it'd be a different kind of feature to that of the TV series.

I think you're missing the fact that I'm only comparing equivalent content here - i.e. the first OVA episode vs. the first volume of the TV series, which cover the same story ground. Granted, I wasn't impressed with Incognito or the ending of the TV series, either, but that's not what's being compared here.

And again, while I'm sure the occasional silliness does match the manga better, I found it more detracting than entertaining.

And is it just me, or does the artwork really break down at a couple of points?

Anyway, I'll probably still get it when it comes out in the States, if only to see what alternate direction the later episodes take the story. I'll also be curious to see if they use an entirely different English dub cast, as the original dub cast worked so well.

I hated Icogneto (I could care less how you spell that stupid name) with a passion, however I admire their attempt to try to make up some filler like story because the manga wasn't far enough to follow the origenal story with the origenal TV series.

Personally I really liked the OVA, however I believe it wasn't as impacting as the TV series simply because I read the manga first, then saw the TV series, then the manga, so I KNEW what was gonna happen, and I'd seen it animated before. I believe as the OVA continues and we get to the parts we havn't seen animated yet, it'll get more intresting.

I was a bit disappointed in the OVA. The whole thing felt rushed since they were trying to fit an entire volume's worth of material into a single episode. Even at 50 minutes, it needed more time.

In addition, the TV series did a better job at setting a dark atmosphere. In fact, the OVA pretty much lacked an atmosphere due to the rushed nature of the show. I have no problem with the inclusion of the humor, which the manga does have, but I missed the atmoshpere of the TV series.

Honestly, for the material thats been covered so far, I think the TV series was better. However, even if the new manga-based material is rushed, it will be far better than the latter portion of the TV series.

I like the OAV a lot. Screw the fact that it feels rushed since the there's not much to the characters in the first place besides Seras. Granted, I've only read up to vol.2 of the manga, but the Hellsing franchise never struck me as something deep or full of meaning. It's just bloody good violence with all sorts of cool weapons, powers, and factions going at it.

After reading vol.1 and watching episode 1 of the OAV, aside from Integra's flashback, it was just like watching the manga in color and motion.

Compared to TV, I prefer OAV's art. I watched a little of TV ep.1 after watching OAV ep.1 and just couldn't get used to how digital everyone looked. The color and painting felt too computerized and saturated as opposed to the darker tones and shading of OAV.

The designs also look.. "edgier" (I guess would be the right word). In the manga I got the sense that a lot of the characters felt kind of feminine, sometimes too much. But in such a fantastic world (as in full of fantasy), you'd expect a big, bad vampire like Alucard to look creepy and foreboding instead of the skinny, thin-haired guy on page 16 of vol.1.

Not to say I don't like the manga art. But when making the transition to anime, you have so many things at your disposal, you can't help but make improvements or altercations when needed. And in the case of OAV, I think the more "dehumanized" designs and outlining really brings out that dark atmosphere through the characters and background (I prefer a dark, black sky as opposed to a bright, red one).

Animation is obviously better with the higher budget. And Gonzo has been known for having their ups and downs in this department throughout various series as well, so that takes care of that.

The music of OAV didn't bug me as much as most people complain. Yes, I admit TV's soundtrack is pretty rocking, but I'm pretty open to a wide variety of sounds so long as they have some kind of flow. OAV mixes orchestral, techno, and a lot of stuff I'm not really sure how to identify, but I still like it.

Overall, there's nothing I can complain about. It's still as entertaining as any part of Hellsing whether it be manga, TV, or this new adaptation. I'm still having fun watching, and that's all that matters Razz

.

Key wrote:

I'll also be curious to see if they use an entirely different English dub cast, as the original dub cast worked so well.

Didn't you get the memo? Wink

I saw the OVA a few months ago, and I thought it was on par with or somewhat better than the TV series (in view of content, not the way Hellsing TV). I did crack up at the attempted English, and a lot of the fights were impressive. Still, I didn't really think, "Wow, this is soooo much better than the TV series." I liked the TV's focus on Seras Victoria more, at least as long as it continued. Then again, I haven't read the manga, so I can't be impressed by the faithfulness-to-the-manga qualities of the OVA.

Hellsing TV

Pros:
-The animation was pretty solid early on
-Great voice acting in both languages
-Funky yet freaky soundtrack
-I have to admit I love Seras' blue uniform
-Some cool action in the later episodes
Cons:
-The animation becomes very inconsistent
-Bad CGI
-The story becomes nonsensical
-The non-manga supporting characters are forgettable
-Incognito; there are Digimon villains cooler than this reject from Tron

Verdict: The first seven episodes are great. Everything afterwards is best left buried in the Blockbuster bargain bin.

Hellsing Ultimate

Pros:
-Superb animation
-Better CGI
-Much faster pacing, no filler here
-The original cast returns (Anderson's new seiyuu is a blast)
-The music, while not as quirky as the TV show's, is still cool
-Has a goofier sense of humour
-Double the gore; ghouls bleed good ol' plasma instead of dust

Cons:
-It's a little too fast-paced, seldom giving the viewer a breather
-Seras' yellow uniform takes some getting used to
-Uh, not much else

Verdict: HU vol. 1 delivers the all the sexy, darkly comic ultraviolence of the manga with fangs bared and the safety off. I can't wait for more. Twisted Evil

Last edited by MaxSouth on Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:59 pm; edited 10 times in total

This is an immortal, ever relevant subject, so lets not say this is "necroposting". Besides, I am going to compare TV with OVA. In few words, both projects are definitely worth watching, even though have long list of big and small issues, some of which insult viewer's intelligence:

_________________________________________________________________________________

HELLSING (television series), list of issues (positives will be in the summary):

Concept/characters/story:

1) anime frame for a season is 13 episodes, and it shows. This anime is few episodes longer than it had to be. The beginning is mostly useless; and lets not say "it is world-building": truly excellent anime never needs any lame excuses, they just move the story forward, making the "world-building" along the way;

2) events go as if cell phones do not exist, which leads to few ridiculous plot developments;

3) the main vampire is said to serve Hellsing woman for his own interests, but no such probable interest is offered. Even if you guess that the interest is just to find targets for next big fight, it still makes no sense as this vampire could have chose any target he likes without any need for a master. Also, spoiler[it was never explained why he was in jail for decades] (it makes no sense).

4) the main vampire character is supposed to be spoiler[Dracula], but in this anime his behaviour is unauthentic to both mythological creature and real life historic person. There is nothing classy in taking a known name for the sake of catching an eye of the viewer and then replacing the traits that pertains to it with whatever authors like. Just come up with your different character altogether, including the name;

5) police girl character has big breasts, but is basically useless through the series. There is nothing interesting about her, and not much happens with her or within her. She is shown to behave unprofessionally, not like policewoman at all. Hesitates to "kill" ghouls that were her former comrades while it is obvious that they are nothing like humans any more, so this drama is totally fake;

6) Hellsing woman is supposed to be cool, but shown to be serially clueless and incompetent. She was made by authors to forget to arm her organization with silver bullets so almost all of it was wiped out in one of the attacks. She also "forgot" to order her vampire servant to guard her mansion and members of her organization -- as if she wanted all of them die. It is also weird that she is called "Sir", not "Lady";

7) existence and abilities of strings-guy make no sense as he is said to be just human;

Visuals/animation/style:

1) dirty colours;
2) outdated, cheap, rough, inelegant hair design of police girl and Hellsing woman;
3) old character design style overall, including big-noses, skewed chins when you look in profile;
4) in many scenes lower jaw does not move when characters talk;
5) tacky blood fountains erupt after wounds appear -- as in cheap horror films;
6) cheap cinema move of cross hand shooting.

Summary: Despite the criticism, overall rating is "Very Good": because of great main vampire character (visual design, animation, voice, behaviour), cool magic, and great music.

_________________________________________________________________________________

HELLSING ULTIMATE (OVA), list of issues (positives will be in the summary):

Concept/characters/story:

1) this show is at least one episode longer than it had to be; there were few dragged, slow, unnecessary scenes where characters ramble nonsense just fill the time;

2) long scenes with cheap, cheesy, embarrassing pathos that you can only see in tacky, classless Hollywood films. This includes pointless showcase of "heroism" where a commander stays in command centre without any real chance of it being useful;

3) authors' of use spoiler[Nazi] is similar to aforementioned use of spoiler[Dracula]: philosophy behind it interesting, but it has nothing to do with the name, and, in fact, it devalues the severity and danger of the issues associated with that name. Again: come up with your own name.

4) main vampire became all of sudden incapable of teleporting and can not fly, even though others can -- only to be late to the party to sabotage and endanger his master (for the sake of scenario vehicle moving the way that authors want);

5) Hellsing woman is praised again for how cool and powerful figure she is, but in reality she continues to be just as clueless and incompetent as ever. She again "forgets" to supply her team (mercenaries, this time) with enough quantity of silver bullets. She also gives stupid order to defend her mansion, even though there is no value in this. Her organization would be safer and more effective if evacuated, attacking London from the outskirts. Hellsing woman is shown to drive left-placed steering wheel Rolls-Royce, what makes no sense for UK;

6) police girl is an improvement in this OVA, though still lacking. Her background story was super over the top, it cheapens project to the level of a soap opera. She is shown shocked after seeing giant vampire as if she had no idea that supernatural things happen in her world. Vampires are shown to have super speed, but police girl is shown to slowly running away from her mercenary comrades to somewhere else (though it made no sense), and then waiting until almost all the mercenaries are eaten by spoiler[Nazi] vampires, and only then going back to shoot them as they discuss the taste of people they have just eaten. She is also shown hysterically crying for a random mercenary she knew just for few days -- not really believable. Also, the police girl is shown to take time to talk to herself aloud all while the rest of mercenaries continue to get eaten.

7) mercenaries: their philosophy might be interesting, but is totally fake, nothing like philosophy of real mercenaries: most of them are not fatalists at all; they are people who like war but take only calculated risks. Mercenaries are shown to have ridiculous discussions among themselves on how vampire police girl could die if they, useless humans, would not be able to protect her. Mercenaries' leader moves and fights after receiving wound that incompatible with such activity. Later he all of sudden becomes expert on spoiler[werewolves] and how to fight them.

8) main antagonist storyline: spoiler[There is no way to really hide giant Zeppelin, so Major's whole organization and its movement would be super easy to track and destroy. No chance for his organization to approach UK via air, either. In this OVA, UK is ridiculously shown to not have armed forces, only Vatican has it. Major orders to capture, not to kill Hellsing woman, but his vampires shoot multiple RPGs at her -- what makes no sense. Vatican is shown to have troops with weapons outdated hundreds years ago fighting against Nazi vampires, armed with automated guns; ridiculous.]

Visuals/animation/style/music:

1) totally out of style-and-mood "funny" animations;
2) in some episodes gore-blood overload is tacky and makes no sense, borders on fan-service for people who are into this thing; the kiss scene with bloody corpse makes me feel embarrassment for the authors;
3) Hellsing woman has now even bigger giant shoulders; this time she has serious hormonal problem;
4) Hellsing woman and almost everyone else now are even more into disgusting smoking habit;
5) too many characters have glasses and eyes that shine as projectors -- to the point where things almost get confusing;
6) while some of the music turned out to be as good as in the first Hellsing anime, some of it turned to worse;

Summary: Again, despite the criticism, overall rating is "Very Good+": great main vampire character (visual design, animation, voice, behaviour); cool magic; sometimes, great music; interesting philosophical backgrounds explored; the story towards the end is quite strong and even has level of cleverness to it. Plus, colours and overall quality of animation have improved.

[EDIT: Added paragraph breaks where needed for easier readability. -TK]

Added this thread to the Discussion Index under the TV series, as there are some decently apt contrasts/comparisons.

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