To get into the spooky spirit, why not watch “Hellsing,” and enjoy the bloodbath? Then once you’re done, there are two more installments in the “Hellsing” series: “Ultimate” and “The Dawn.” Focusing on the 2001 “Hellsing,” it has more fillers, but the anime’s art style is capturing to watch. “Hellsing” is the dark-action vampire anime we all know and love. The show follows a war between vampires and humans for control over territory.
Alucard, one of the few true vampires, is so powerful that he is unbeatable. He works for the Hellsing organization to exterminate non-humans. The Hellsing Organization is a secret organization within the Round Table that exterminates vampires and ghouls. Their focus is to protect humans from vampires, authentic and fake. Fake vampires use chips to change themselves from humans to vampires. The anime and manga portray Alucard as an anti-hero, but he greatly respects humans, especially the Hellsing organization’s heads. He fights by their side to help defeat fake vampires and true vampires threatening their safety and peace.
People from the Round Table wanted to stop the Hellsing Organization from taking over the killing of vampires. As the humans try to rid the world of vampires, they want to continue the fight between vampires and humans. Alucard’s sidekick, Seras, who turned into a vampire via Alucard, is a badass who helps the Hellsing Organization and Alucard fight against non-humans. Seras serves Alucard while Alucard serves Integra, the head of the Hellsing Organization. Integra is someone who despises vampires and wants to get rid of them. She also protects Great Britain and the queen by working as the head of the Hellsing Organization. While Seras assists the organization through various methods, Alucard is out looking for fun!
Alucard once mentioned in both the manga and anime that his name is an anagram. If read backward, it spells Dracula. However, Nosferatu has also been mentioned in “Hellsing.” Nosferatu is one of Alucard’s nicknames due to him being immortal and unkillable. Two of the oldest vampires in history could be an inspiration for Alucard’s background. Nosferatu is the name of Alucard’s first form he takes when he has fun fighting with strong vampires. Crispin Freeman, Alucard’s voice actor, has said Alucard brings out the essence of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. “Hellsing” has its way of bringing out impurity in the world of vampires, according to Freeman. The impurities in vampires are viewed as dangerous symbols of temptation, sex and violence.
If you’re interested in checking out what types of vampires there are, “Hellsing” offers two: true vampires and fake vampires. Since Dracula and Nosferatu are the two famous vampires known in “Hellsing,” I’m sure there are more inspirations from the oldest vampires. I’ve noticed Incognito could be inspired by the Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet. Incognito has a set of punishments that he wants to bestow on humans and vampires alike to gain more power. He punishes them for not obeying him, allowing him to cause further chaos. He wanted to create chaos for the world and set off humans’ impurities to become vampires.
A story about vampires sets the mood for Halloween. Maybe it’s time to hit up “Hellsing” and rewatch it for a good ol’ time. You can even watch the other series that “Hellsing” has! You can watch “Hellsing” and then “Hellsing Ultimate” for comparison. “Ultimate” has more details and gore than Hellsing. You can also read “The Dawn” which is a prequel to the “Hellsing” manga. The manga has 10 volumes you can search for online to read to better understand “Hellsing.” If you haven’t seen “Hellsing,” I highly encourage you to watch it if you are interested in action, dark fantasy and vampires. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the anime as the animation is older-looking. It is from the early 2000s which is different from the current style of animation. Alucard has kept me hooked on his personality and fighting style.
“Hellsing” is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Hulu. Enjoy the bloodbath and the spooky season!
By Ayla Hooper