Forum - View topicHellsing Ultimate (OAV) (w/ index).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11311 Location: Frisco, TX |
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(8/8/14)
EDIT: My update of the 2nd volume/episode. Volume II (clicking this will take you back to the Index) ---------------------------------- Plot Summary Amidst the situation that occurred at Badrick (at the end of the previous volume), Integra has convened a meeting with The Twelve to discuss her findings: a computer chip embedded on the bodies of ghouls that allow them to walk even when their master has been killed as well as converting virgins (who would normally become midians, instead). Meanwhile, the Valentine brothers, Luke and Jan, tear down the front door with an army of ghouls equipped with body armor and guns, infiltrating Helling's headquarters and easily wiping out any resistance. As Jan proceeds to dispose of The Twelve, Alucard, Walter, and Seres split into teams, with Walter and Seres headed to the top, and Alucard awaiting Luke in the basement. Neither Luke nor Jan were successful in their battles. But Integra was able to at least get one word of information out of Jan before he was burned alive by his employers: "Millennium." ---------------------------------- Comments This episode had much better pacing than the first one: less camera panning, less dead sound scapes, and a lot more "motion" (as in actual character movement), overall. It also had a ton more gore than the first, which only adds to the franchise's cool factor. In terms of the story comparisons between anime and manga, it's pretty much panel for panel, again, aside from the one flashback they added to the anime that loosely makes reference to Alucard's background (can't remember if they show this in the manga, but I guess I'll find out in the coming weeks), and then the omission of one chapter (but will tie in better with episode 3 as part of its opening act). At this point, it's sort of understood that the Hellsing organization has been around for a bit. But as viewers, it's mostly left to our imagination as to what they did to earn their studious reputation for being the ultimate group of monster hunters. We never fully realize just how "big" they are. And given the way their forces are absolutely decimated, I think it's safe to say that was a pretty big blow. However, It still doesn't quite establish the mythos of the organization itself, and could probably have used a few more chapters of world-building. On the other hand, though, this episode did a great job of establishing just how *huge* the gap of power is between Alucard and pretty much any other vampire he'll end up facing. The whole Control Art Restriction thing was complete bad-assery at its finest. And what started as some punk vampire running his mouth turned into a genuine slaughter and wiping of the of floor with his dead carcass. I remember the first time I saw this back in the TV series and thought it was so cool and creepy at the same time. And suffice it to say, I still get a few chills, even today. It's that cool a scene. Furthermore, we also get to see Walter for the former bad-ass he once was. Okay, even as an old man, he's still pretty awesome. But the whole razor wires theme is pretty effing stylish. I've only read about Hellsing: The Dawn through various blurbs and have yet to actually read it. But FYI, yes, they *did* animate it, and yes this pack of fansubs *does* comes with it. So look for that when I finish the OAV. Production-wise, there were lots of shots that seemed very obviously up-scaled from SD material (i.e. kinda' blurry in HD), which isn't totally bad if you think about the time this episode was made (2006, right around or before the advent of HD anime). And overall, a lot of it actually looks pretty decent, considering the circumstances. Still love the art style, though. Animation was a tad rough in some spots, but I believe it improves a lot in episode 3 (particularly that fight against Dandy Man, if I recall correctly). Great episode. ---------------------------------- Screen-caps                                                  
---------------------------------- I'll try to add pictures of the Limited Edition Geneon DVD set, later, since I just realized I never took pics of it. Stay tuned for next week's episode (another really bloody one). And thanks for reading. Last edited by Tony K. on Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:27 am; edited 7 times in total |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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I'm a little behind the times when compared to all of you posting in the thread, I just bought volume 1 and 2 courtesy of coming to AX, and no it wasn't LE. But, after watching both episodes, I have to say that this series totally kicks ass in what it does. There is so much more going for it than the original series does, and it stays way more faithful to the manga than the TV series. What's even better about all the fighting that happens? spoiler[More blood. And totally just a blood bath like an onsen. Another great thing is that the humor of it is just like the manga. Seras has her moments of figuring out what's going on, and if in a humorous moment, all you see is Alucards glasses shining.] Excellent series, I can't wait until they bring out the new volumes, and I'm looking forward to the new volumes of the manga too.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Hellsing Ultimate 3 is ready for pre-order!
Ultimate 3 DVD Ultimate 3 Limited Edition DVD I can't wait until the time 
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Hisdon
 Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
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I've been wondering about this for a while now. Ova 4 should be coming out around the last quarter of the year based on their usual 6 month release schedule. However, i can't find any info on the 4th one and a date. Has there been any announcement or am I looking for something that's nonexistent at the moment?
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11311 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Just read Vol.3 of the manga and saw Episode 3 of the anime last night (subbed by mahou, a quality vesion), and man did that kick some serious ass!!
It's not quite a direct interpretation of the manga as they spoiler[ took out most of the Wild Geese introduction and also that "don't touch my coffin'!" bit], but overall, they've got the violence and drama to a T. In terms of animation, this was even better than Episode 2. It was very fluid and had some great camera-shaking effects during the action sequences. There was also some new music as well, at least I think I heard one or two new tracks. One of them even sounded like it was trying to pull off that grunge rock style of the TV series, but I forget the time stamp at which it was played. I haven't read past Vol.3 yet, but I was pleasantly surprised to see spoiler[ Tabulcain get killed at the end of Episode 3, as opposed to having a standoff, ending it there, and waiting another half year to finish it.] Great seiyuu work as well. Jouji Nakata still gives me the creeps with his Alucard, and even more so here with some of his dialogue during spoiler[ the scene where he kills all the SWAT guys, then explains to Seras that they're at war.] I was also happy to hear Houchu Ohtsuka as Tabulcain. Ever since hearing his villain work as Gates in FMP! TSR, I really like that kind of slyness in his voice. spoiler[ Too bad he got f'ed up and eaten by Alucard  .]
I can't wait to get this on DVD in October. It's gonna' rock your socks (if you like uber-violent action anime, that is). |
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ultrapostman
 Posts: 164 Location: New Jersey. Don't you just love traffic circles? |
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I've read the manga, and seen the OVAs, and I'm interested in what's going to happen in the fourth OVA. spoiler[ That's where Rip van Winkle is introduced, and she's my favorite villian from Hellsing. Maybe there might be part of the fight between her and Alucard (from volume 5) in OVA 4
. ] At least I hope so.
[edit: Spoiler tag fixed. - Keonyn] |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11311 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Volume III (Click to return to opening post)
Hey, hey folks. This will probably be the last Hellsing Ultimate DVD we see for a while in the States, but I'm happy to present you with Volume III and all its gory goodness. At this point, I'm feeling very inspired to start mini-reviewing a few anime titles I feel are worth exalting publically on the forums (much like my Mushi-Shi thread, which I plan on getting back to sometime this week  , I've been so busy and switching between new titles, manga, etc. But I swear, I'll update it soon!).
Anyway, I thought in the spirit of Hellsing's fandom, I may as well fancy this thread all up and do a little of the same as I did with Mushi-Shi. Pics of boxes, cases, plot summaries, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'll go back and edit my opener and previous posts a little later, but Volume III's is essentially the "beginning" of the trend here. ------------------------ The Product: Front of the case (sorry for the blurriness, I'll redo it soon) Back of the case (more blurriness, sorry )
Open view of the case with mini poster and index sheet Anderson relief in its box Anderson relief put together and hanging on the wall (very difficult to put together, those glasses are metal, so be careful you don't break them!) Alucard relief (technically Vol.I, but I finally took it out and put in the wall with Anderson) Integra wall scroll I bought at Anime Fest (technically Vol.II, but it looks so damn cool, I thought I'd take a picture )
------------------------ Plot Summary: spoiler[ So with the new material picking up where the TV series essentially left off, we're introduced in this ep. to the Wild Geese and Capt. Bernadotte being hired. Back at Hellsing HQ, they meet Integra, where she then tells them their mission will be to kill vampires --> camera zoom to Seras (so cute!). Not believing she's a vampire, she beats the snot out of Bernadotte with just her fingers, when Alucard shows up (walking through the wall).] spoiler[ Walter then gives word to Integra saying she's received a summon from Iscariot's Enrico Maxwell to meet in person at the museum. While there, Maxwell decides to taunt and trash talk, calling her a sow, when Alucard hears this and decides he wants to kill Maxwell. Although, he actually brought his version of an ultimate weapon as well. And so, they face off. But not wanting to wreck the place, Seras intervenes just in time  .
After things calm down, Maxwell and Integra sit out in the courtyard or whatever, where he then gives her the dossier on Millennium, and then BAM, Nazis.] spoiler[ Alucard, Seras, and the Wild Geese are ordered to Rio de Janeiro to infiltrate/get some info. on Millennium, but the Major is on to them and orders a police raid, blah, blah blah. So we get to the raid, and they bust in and try to shoot the crap out of Alucard, yeah we know it doesn't work . Afterwards, he regenerates only to completely obliterate/mutilate the team. He then calls Integra asking for orders, where she vehemently tells him to not undermine her, and to SEARCH AND DESTROY!]
spoiler[ After that, Alucard goes on a killing spree, shooting up anyone in his way. And as they try to retreat, he uses his "Evil Love Beam" to hypnotize one of the officers to open the elevator door. His friends off him, but it's too late: Open Sesame!~, then bang bang, blood blood. He gets to the lobby where a handful of poor souls are about to get their carcasses tossed out and impaled by flagpoles. Alucard hurls them out and makes a flashy entrance.] spoiler[ Here, we (briefly) meet Tubalcain Alhambra, aka "Dandy Man," one of Millennium's crony vampire troopers. He uses razor cards (or whatever you want to call them). Thinking he can actually beat Alucard, they start going at it, give or take a few civilians in the process. Alhambra get's shot in the neck, but shows it's a feint as he morphs into cards, ambushing Alucard from behind.] spoiler[ Moving up to the rooftop, Alucard's having a little trouble just using his guns, so he decides to go full force with his dark magic and all out vampire abilities. With the help of Seras firing away with her machine gun and Harkonnen, Alucard manages to catch Dandy Man off guard and kick out his freakin' kneecap. Can't see that too well? Here's a close up. Then he uses a signature hand drive, collides in a match drive match with Dandy, and splits his freakin' arm in half, making him squeal like a pig.] spoiler[ The Major's all giddy at this point to see such carnage and destruction before his eyes, yaps a bunch about his ideals and plans, then we see the nail in the coffin of their Nazi-ism with yet another Zeplin. The volume ends with him singing, and we get some nice scenery. Credits!] And there you have it. ------------------------ Now for some quick thoughts. Art & Animation: Obviously the production staff is getting better and better with each episode. I especially like some of the color palettes for the skies and backgrounds. I'm so used to seeing inside scenery of this series, that I forget how nice the night can be, too. There's a lot, a LOT of red used in this one. Blood, blood, and more blood. Would've been nice to see more of it splatter or streak against the floor/wall or something. My favorite scene was the fight between Alucard and Dandy Man. Great choreography on the ground, especially when Dandy was running into the foreground, looked nice and smooth with the backgrounds and everything. CG seems to have been put up a notch as well. The part where Dandy was blocking all the bullets from Seras had some very well drawn closeups of the bullets almost hitting him (if you slow it down, like I had to do for screencaps). A lot of excellent shading and darkening where needed, too. And because of this, I'd recommend the best time to watch this is at night (obviously). Music: Again, I'm probably the only one that likes it, but it's most of the same soundtrack aside from maybe one or two new BGM pieces, if I recall. There's no Original Soundtrack available at the moment, so I can't really say I know the music just yet, but I think I remember at least one new track. While not overwhelmingly as cool and as full of ambiance as Ishii's score for the TV, I feel it adds enough generic style to the background to still compliment the on screen material fairly well. Plot/Characters: Should be self-explanatory if you've seen this far into the series. This is stylized violence with a lotta' bit of drama and a little bit of comedy mixed in. Everything is cool for the benefit of being cool. But contrary to the TV, we''re now getting the real deal of the story and not some series-killing white thing named Incognito. In particular, I was very struck by Alucard's speech to Seras spoiler[ after he killed the officers in his room. The whole "this is a war, you have to destroy all that stand in your way" speech is a nice gut check (literally) and adds, what I think, a good deal of drama to Seras' morality and such. We've only seen her go berserk at this point, but she hasn't fully accepted becoming a full-fledged Draculina and drinking blood just yet.] Should be interesting to see how that develops. Voice Acting: Another standout job by New Generation Pictures. Reading the manga, I was a little confused about Bernadotte's nationality at first, but then I figured he was French after all. Some of the way his dialogue was written in Dark Horse's release felt kind of like Australian at some points, but then I think he started saying "non, non, non," which I definitely believe to be French. Aside from the already well-established voices of Alucard, Walter, Seras, and Integra, we get to hear more of the Major and his elated German accent. Not too bad overall, but it must be very difficult to fake that accent all the time. I had a hard enough time reading in the manga and trying to mimic it in my head. Kudos to Gildirt Jackson (his English VA). Steve Wilcox (Tubalcain) did a nice South American accent as well. I'm glad it wasn't too Central American either, or maybe Cuban. It was a nice Latino kind of twang, yet also kind of elegant like.. Ricardo Montalbán (suave). Maxwell is probably my favorite in this episode. J.B. Blanc (the VA) is actually British, and if you watch the extras, you'll know he sounds very British. But to pull off an Italian-ish accent (or at least a very Italian-Catholic one) strikes me as quite remarkable. The inflection of his voice creates a great sense of hatred when he first meets Integra, and he pulls off the "man with a scheme" tone very well. Oh, and on one more note. I have to commend Taliesin Jaffe on the line during Seras' breakup of the fight between Alucard and Anderson. He actually has her speaking Japanese in the dub when guiding the Japanese tourists, "kochi desu yo~!" Haha, that cracked me up a lot. Such a great effort to retain some authenticity between the cultures. Japanese cast; we get some more great casting and acting from notable, all-star seiyuu here. Aside from Orikasa, Sakakibara, Nakata(!), and Wakimoto (such a crazy sounding guy  ), we also hear a notable guest appearance from Houchu Ohtsuka, who plays an amazingly evil bastard as Gates in FMP! TSR. While his Tubalcain isn't as sadistic as Gates, he's still plenty evil, and we get some great taunting when the initial battle begins, though not much else since his character is so short-lived.
Hm.. can't say much else about the main cast. I'm sure anyone here that's a fan of Japanese seiyuu should know those voices pretty well by now, so I don't feel like doing any extra ranting (yet). ------------------------ But yeah, looking forward to Volume IV and Rip van Winkle, who'll be played by.. Maaya Sakamoto  ?! I don't think I've ever heard her play a real villain yet. spoiler[ It'll be sad to hear her screaming in pain when she gets killed  . She's such a sweet girl (Sakamoto, that is).]
EDIT: Fixed some grammar and spelling. Last edited by Tony K. on Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Ah yes, Links...Truely they are the Alucard to the Spoiler Tag's Anderson.
And now I am off to pray to the most noble and ancient gods of the post office. May they deliver my copy swiftly from the land of robert's anime corner store. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11311 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Heh heh, yeah I considered that you all could still see the texts that are linked, but let's be honest. There's not a very "deep" plot to Hellsing, so it doesn't really matter if you see just a few words unspoiled. The only reason I still put spoiler tags is to be picky for those who actually don't know what happens yet. It's not a deep plot, but a plot, nonetheless. In my Mushi-Shi thread, I did away with spoiler tags because the series is so episodic, so it's not like there's any continuity between episodes for a central plot, only atmosphere and whatnot. But yes, I recommend pissing yourself, followed by a course of praying to your impotent post office God. It is Sunday, after all .
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Honestly, they keep getting better and better when making each new episode of this series, which makes me even more impatient for when we will see war. As usual George Nakata and Norio Wakamoto delivered in their respective roles of their characters, especially when it comes down to the scene at the museum. But now we are seeing more of spoiler[the Major], and spoiler[his plans for what will become the climax of this series.] I can't wait to see who they'll be using for spoiler[the Major's henchman in the upcoming episodes, such as Rip Van Winkle and Schrodinger]
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Royal Devil
 Posts: 194 |
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Not to mention Hirano outright confirms his nationality at the end of volume six, writing "Loves boobs. He's French after all." 
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BrothersElric
 Posts: 1996 |
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I kind of took it as Australian at first myself, but it seemed there were a lot of Germain-styled accent in there as well, so when I tried to sound it out it sounded French, so that's what nationality I decided he was. Nice to know I was right!
I got volume 1 for my birthday like, 2 months ago, but then again that episode I actually saw fansubbed, so I actually haven't even put it in and watched it yet.  Still trying to get around to getting volume 2 though. I put that on my birhtday list as well but my dad didn't have enough money in the birthday budget to get it, so I guess I'm on my own, huh? It's nice to know volume 3 is out now too, but now I've got 2 DVDs to go after instead of 1!  They're definitely must haves though, as both are probably my 2 favorite volumes in the series, and it'll be something I'll for sure want to see animated!  (I don't know, though, volume 8 was pretty awesome!)
BTW, thanks for the pics Tony, it's nice to get previews like that. Now I'm just quivering with excitement to get into these volumes!
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7986 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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According to the dates here on the OVA's page 4 should be out already in Japan. I haven't seen any raws or subs out for it though.
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jj41
Posts: 2 |
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From what I understand it has been delayed. I believe it is supposed to be out by Christmas. On the Hellsing Japanese site it lists the release date as 2007.XX.XX. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I wonder if the Geneon issues are having any effect on it. I would think they would at least release it since they've already finished it, but I'm worried about the future volumes. I just read volume 8 of the manga today and I'll be sad if we can't that animated.
Well, I watched volume 3 yesterday and it was great. Sweet, glorious, over-the-top violence. And that dream was weird. |
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