Having barely survived a devastating attack, Sir Integra
Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing dives head first into an investigation into the
organization known as Millennium. The
search for clues sends her best Vampire Hunters: the powerful Alucard, rookie
former police officer Seras Victoria and Mercenary Pip Bernedate to Rio de
Jinaro. Here, the night becomes the
backdrop for a bloodsoaked duel between Alucard and the first true Agents of
Millennium. But these foes are only the
vanguard of a much larger force, one poised to bear it’s decades old fangs down
on London itself.
Yeesh. Im starting
to think that Hellsing Ultimate might be the first Halloween themed Anime ive
chosen that is truly scaring the crap out of me…no scratch that, Supernatural:
The Anime Series was pretty damn scary when it wanted to be. But even Sam and Dean might’ve been terrified
of the horrors Alucard brought to bear this week as the prelude to all out war
concluded and the stage was set for an even bigger blood bath to come next
week.
While it’s easy to classify Hellsing Ultimate as a
Horror/Action series, I feel like Episodes 3 and definitely 4 teetered more
towards the former. Sure Alucard got to
use some killer Gun Fu on several SWAT teams in Rio (and pretty much give a
Alucard far more capable and unleashed than the version in the 2001 TV
Anime). But the sense of dread he
brought to the battle was staggering.
When Alucard is on the scene and youre on the side trying to kill him,
it’s so overwhelmingly one sided its kind of nightmarish to observe. This wasn’t any more clearer than poor Rip
Van Winkle’s operatic last stand against Alucard on the Eagle. With bellowing vocals and a bombastic
orchestra, the last third of Episode 4 played like opera of the finest caliber
and provided a very different kind of action, more tragic than all out
cool. And Alucard is in his
element. The chaos is his Christmas and
even if he is stuck at sea, he isn’t worried.
He knows how much fun he’s going to have when he gets back to London.
Rip Van Winkle and her predecessor, Tubalcain Alhambra
continued Hellsing Ultimates trend of creative and fun adversaries for Alucard
(even if he was just kind of toying with them cause they stood no chance). Tubalcain was a cool Latin version of Gambit,
complete with card tricks and confidence to spare. Whereas Rip Van Winkle was dispatched rather
easily (albeit slower for more Alucard torture), we got a pretty solid duel of
magic and some gun play as well with Tubalcain’s duel with Alucard (and even
got some added assistance from Seras too).
We also got some new players sticking around for a bit. First up is Pip Benradotte and his crew of
mercenaries, the Wild Geese. These guys
are meant to replace the slaughtered Hellsing membership and Pip had a couple
of fun bits, especially when he single handidly took out a collection of
corrupt officials with the efficiency of a seasoned veteran. Then there’s Enrico Maxwell, representative
of Rome and someone who is arguably just as dangerous to Hellsing as the
Millennium threat itself. His promise to
Anderson that the Church intends to bring a Crusade to London to clean up
Millenium isn’t a threat to be taken lightly.
We’re already going to see the city overrun with Nazi Vampires. How much worse is it going to get when an
insane Pastor tries to bring his interpretation of Gods wrath down on the
helpless city?
All in all, this weeks duo of episodes is better than the
debut but its not without some drawbacks.
The Major’s monologues about his war fetish go on much longer than they
should and its time that could be spent developing Hellsing more, or giving us
some more action. There isn’t even a lot
of distinction between the speeches, he loves war and would sleep with its
personification if he could…moving on.
I’m also still adjusting to the sudden doses of humor that pop in from
time to time. The museum stand off
especially comes to mind. When it looks
like Alucard and Anderson will get that much anticipated rematch, Seras drives
a heard of old folks between them to get them to stand down. Oooook?
It just feels out of place and there were moments in Episode 1 that felt
the same. I’m all for a little levity
but when it’s a huge tonal shift, even for a second, it’s noticeable and hard
to ignore. Also, Integra tries to seduce
Seras with blood? I love Integra, she’s
one of my favorite Anime heroines ever.
But the end of Episode 2 had her begging Seras to come out of her
bloodrage…now she’s playing temptress?
Maybe I’m missing something…maybe I should just move on. Working better was Alucard and Integra’s always
awesome back and forth. Integra’s
furious commanding of Alucard to slaughter all enemies while Alucard teased
Integra about how much she probably enjoyed said slaughter only for her to deny
it was fun.
Well, as far as nightmare fuel goes, Episode 3 and 4 of
Hellsing Ultimate was an inferno by the time all was said and done. With the promise of a war to end all wars
descending next week and Alucard stranded in the ocean, things are about to get
even more interesting. I wonder how
quickly Alucard will get back into things but I have a feeling it will fall to
Seras, Integra, Pip and Walter to carry things a bit until then. I hope they, and Hellsing Ultimate, are up to
the task. See ya next week everyone.
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