T5W#530-Top 5 Changes Hellsing (2001) Made from it’s Manga (Episodes 1-7 Only)

Recently Retcon 404, a YouTube Anime Vlogger who does a lot of Gundam content, did a full series retrospective on the first Anime adaptation of Hellsing from 2001.  I put the title on in the background while working on Gunpla and it occurred to me just how different this version was from both the Manga and the more faithfully adapted Hellsing Ultimate.  A lot of this has to do with the fact that by the time it was released (or even initially worked on), the Hellsing Manga only had 2 volumes completed.  Ergo, it went the Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) route of making a brand new story arc for its second half.  Well for todays Top 5 Wednesday, we’re gonna look back at the first half of this iconic action/horror classic to identify the Top 5 Changes Hellsing (2001) Made from it’s Manga (Episodes 1-7 Only).

 
Special Thanks to Retcon 404 for giving me this idea.  If you love Mecha and especially Gundam, his retrospectives are pretty damn awesome and you can check them all out here: https://youtube.com/@retcon404?si=yPlHzIdG1brkTNgv

 
#5-An Interesting Filler Episode

While Hellsing Ultimate didn’t require any filler to complete it’s runtime, Hellsing 2001 had one particularly stand out original episode before it’s predominantly original second half.  Episode 4, “Innocent as a Human” finds Seras investigating a Snuff Film ring using Vampires and Hellsing paraphanelia.  It’s an interesting look at how the underground world of Hellsing seeps into the rest of society and just how twisted Humanity itself can be as much as the monsters Alucard and Seras face.  Naturally, Alucard takes the ring down in expected bad ass fashion and leaves Seras with a lot to think about when he deals with the ring leader in particular.

 
#4-No Signs of Millenium

The Millenium Group is essentially a horde of Nazi Vampires who have been waiting for the chance to kick off World War III more than half a century after the fall of Nazi Germany.  While they are teased in the kick ass teaser trailer for the 2001 Anime, they never make an appearance, nor are mentioned by Jan or Enrico Maxwell during their respective scenes with Integra.  Given how bats*** bonkers the Manga gets with all the gory and nightmarish imagery, I get why this might not have made the cut for the TV Series…also the Manga wasn’t even close to ready to unleash that on the world.  It wasn’t until Hellsing Ultimate that Hellsing got to square off with its true foes and send them back to Hell where they belong.
 

#3-Integra Doesn't Stop Seras’ Bloodlust

While the Valentine Brothers Siege on Hellsing HQ is pretty faithful to the source Manga, there are a couple of big changes made to the ordeal.  We’ll talk about the other in a second but here I point to the moment when Seras becomes surrounded and overwhelmed by her former teammates who have become undead Ghouls thanks to Jan and his men.  When it looks like she’s done for, Seras breaks out into a Blood Rage and decimates all comes with ruthless efficiency, a far cry from the cute but uncertain Police Girl.  In the Anime, it’s Walter who snaps her out of her trance.  However, in the Manga, it’s Integra who rushes to the Police Girl and holds her from behind, begging her to come back to normal.  It shows a bit more character and humanity from the big boss of Hellsing and I wish the TV Series had kept it in.

 
#2-Jan’s Final Fate

Whether it’s the Manga, TV Anime or OVA, Jan Valentine is one of the most entertaining characters in all of Hellsing.  His non filtered potty mouth gives him the best lines and his English VA, Josh Phillips, is having a blast with the dialogue in both versions of Hellsing.  His final fate in the TV Series isnt too different from in the Manga, only in the Anime, he’s gunned down solely by Integra.  In the Manga, the entire Round Table joins the Hellsing Leader in lighting the upstart up with holy bullets from guns galore.  It shows that even though they do have to make Integra clean house afterwards, the Round Table still has some backbone behind it and will stand with Integra to defend themselves from the army of Undead sent to kill them.  Also Jan never mentions Millenium before he burns to death.
 

#1-Alucard vs. Anderson

No matter which version of Hellsing you’re checking out, Alucad vs. Alexander Anderson is always the title match everyone wants to see.  What you might not realize watching the TV Anime, however, is that their two encounters in Episode 3 & 7 are meant to be one big fight way back in the beginning of the Manga.  All the decapitations, Alucard hinting at his true power and even Integra getting involved is divided between these two episodes and it kind of dilutes just how epic the initial encounter between Alucard and Anderson really is, a nice opening salvo for things to come later.  Idk maybe it’s because the writers of the Anime didn’t know what to do with Anderson in the back half of the show (though he does make a cameo appearance in the Series Finale), and wanted to give him two episodes of screentime.  Still this is one fight that deserves to be read in the original Manga or experienced in Hellsing Ultimate cause the TV Anime only hints at just how crazy a showdown between Vampire and Exorcist can really get.