Just so everyone knows, one again this content was a horrendously small amount compared to the price of said content. My review does not represent amount of content rather quality of the content itself. I can't fully recommend a DVD and Blu Ray purchase due to both the price and amount of content. That being said, some may find it worth while simply because of the ability to up-link through an HDMI port. That is all.
WARNING possible spoilers WARNING also possible horror references WARNING
So the plot is about a group of vampire hunters and their newest recruit hunting vampires. Turns out there is a recent growth of vampire numbers and thus it is the task of the Hellsing organization to discover the cause and exterminate it. The premise is simple enough, but the execution is amazing. See, first little twist (twist if you haven't seen Hellsing before or read my review of the previous series), is that the Hellsing organization is using a powerful vampire by the name of Alucard as their main weapon. Next twist is that most of the vampires the organization fights are artificially created. Third twist is that the Vatican have bred their own vampire hunters, and while they have a truce with the Hellsing organization they are not friendly with each other. Lastly it turns out the artificial vampires are created by a band of Nazis who survived WWII and since their leader is obsessive about war either winning or losing, he has created vampires to fight a war with England and mostly Hellsing Organization.
The idea that an increase in vampires promotes vampire hunters is age old honestly, but this anime really has its fair share of twists and turns for certain all of which really bring interest into the viewer. There is a lot of wonder as to what the Major, the leader of the last Nazis has up his sleeve, and only time... or the next few volumes... will tell what he intends to do with his little war. It is a complex story with a few twists involved, but dang if it doesn't grab your attention.
The villains outside of the Major and Alexander Anderson are a bit lack luster. You really don't know much about them and the anime alludes that there is more to their story but often times their background is cut short and their deaths don't appear to mean much to anyone. Kind of a "villain of the week" situation. While this isn't bad, it really doesn't set up any of the characters outside of a good fight scene, and leaves a little anticlimactic as they do build up each villain to a certain point. That being said it is a small flaw as most of these villains are simply cannon fodder for the Major's little game. The main characters, Alucard, Victoria, and Integra are all back. Instead of focusing on Victoria and her struggles, this round we focus on all three characters rather well with none of them trumping the other, except perhaps Alucard being just above the rest in bids to be the main character of the series. Alucard is also the scariest vampire in the series, while we see a few cliche vampire moves from the others, Alucard is psychologically horror filled. You are bound to me more fearful of Alucard then any of the actual villains. Victoria is more friendly with Integra this time around and while she is still trying to cling to her humanity, she has a bad tendency to lose control and slaughter anything around her that isn't an ally. Integra is more friendly with Victoria but other then that is literally unchanged from the former series. Anderson is still a brute but more of a character this time around and more interesting, and Major is a sadistic war monger who is interesting but also disturbed.
While yes there is a flaw with the "villain of the week" thing the anime has, the characters are all excellent for the most part. None of the characters are badly written among the main group and it is refreshing to see the anime focus on all five of them rather well. There are also a few villains who while were cannon fodder we at least get to see some characterization in them, and there is a main character, the "Angel of Death" that we know little about so this should get good.
Alucard is scary, this is the main feel you get outside of excitement for the action, though you get that too. The action is really cool in this anime, and Alucard's forms are something to be amazed and bothered by at the same time. There is a bunch of blood and gore, but only Alucard brings the horror element. There is also Integra's care over Victoria that you can feel at times as well. Outside of those, there isn't much in the way of emotional pull. In the first few minutes you meet Victoria you feel bad for her, as it is said she is a virgin thus the priest vampire at the start decides to defile her before drinking her blood so she doesn't turn into a vampire. Yeah, not much here honestly outside of action.
At times the bodies seem disfigured, and the movements of their mouths seem wrong as their lips never touch. Outside of that, the animation quality is amazing. When characters fight, either Walter, Victoria, or Alucard, it is amazing ESPECIALLY in HD. None of the four short film like episodes are bad in their own way, and while they do seemed a bit rushed, this only hurts the development of characters like Dandy Man. There are a few flaws yes, but they are easy to overlook as the animation quality, especially the horror that is Alucard, is just amazing.
Sword wielding priest, Nazi vampires, Alucard's monsterous form, all of this is incredibly creative. The design of the characters, settings, and overall creative flow is great in this anime. There really isn't much I could say about this, outside of talking more about the awesome charcter designs and abilities each character has that is unique to them. The powers of Alexander is pretty cool as well, and the abilities of the main human fighter Walter are unique and interesting as well. Nothing but praise here.
The issue with my way of reviewing isn't that I'm bias, but rather if an anime does good with what it has, it can get a really good score. This anime is tied with the previous series of Hellsing in score. Which is better? This is far superior then the previous Hellsing series, but they have the same score. Reason being is because the previous series didn't have many flaws and did great with what it had, and this anime is the same despite being better quality in most categories.
If you love horror and action you may like this anime. If you enjoyed the previous Hellsing series you will LOVE this anime. If you like cool action scenes involving vampires, you may enjoy this anime. If you like the idea of Nazi vampires this anime is for you. I can't recommend this anime to people who don't enjoy the action horror scene, but if you do, why haven't you seen this anime yet? Hellsing Ultimate is the animation that is more based on the manga, and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend giving it a look as soon as you have spare time.