WARNING: This review contains an opinion that may differ from your own. I ask that you please read it with an open mind. If you're a fan of this manga/anime, hey I'm completely okay with that. I respect your opinion. Just how you should respect mine.

I know I'll get some hate for this, but whatever, this must be said. When you create a manga, there are three things that you can judge it on. First is the characterization, then the story and lastly the art. Hellsing fails when it comes to story and characterization. Before I go any further, I'll tell you right now there will be some very minor spoilers but there's nothing that will ruin the series for you and I'll warn you ahead of time.


The story takes place in the United Kingdom where the British government employs a special group named the Hellsing organization. They defend the country from things that go bump in the night. It' run by Sir Integra; (SPOILER UP AHEAD) it was originally started by her great grandfather, the notorious vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing. They incorporate a powerful vampire named Alucard. So yeah, you can kind of see where this is going, the Hellsing manga is like one of those "what if" stories. In this case, it's with Bram Stroker's “Dracula” Novel where instead of killing the count, Abraham Van Helsing keeps him alive and uses him to fight off demonic entities, vampires and ghouls(SPOILERS ARE OVER). I won't go any further, because I don't want to ruin what's left of the story (which isn't that much anyways).


Hellsing's narrative is really lacking, there isn't much depth and it doesn't engage you. Not to mention, it's way too simple (especially for a seinen manga), and isn't that multi-layered or complex aside from a plot twist that occurs towards the end of the series. I wouldn't have had a problem with it if the manga was shorter, but at 92 chapters, I was expecting more story. Obviously, Kouta Hirano knew this, so he needed a way to entertain the reader; which was to throw in a whole bunch of action and graphic bloody violence to the point where it became borderline exploitation. I remember reading Hellsing up to the halfway point and kept asking myself when will the story take off? It never did. Even though the story isn't that well written, I'll admit it's very well paced and there's always a smooth transition from one scene to the next.


Now on to the character's, okay let me start off by saying that Alucard has to be one of my all time favorite characters in all of manga and anime. He is the definition of badass and is a great example of the anti-hero. It's always fun to see him destroy his enemies mentally and physically. Not only that, but his whole persona and appearance is memorable. With his red duster and hat, to his large pistols and circular framed glasses. Of all the characters in the manga he had the most depth and was the most fleshed out. But still, he could have gotten a little more development. You couldn't imagine how frustrated I got when finally, we were given some back ground info on him but it turns out that it was only about 5 or 6 pages worth of material. Then it went back to nonstop action and violence. :( Furthermore, as for the others, they got little to no characterization whatsoever. For example, Seras Victoria, she barely got any development. Aside from trying to adapt as a newly turned vampire, there wasn't much else to her. About midway through, I began thinking that Kouta Hirano just put her in there because she had big tits. Don’t get me wrong, Seras is put to good use in the series but she just lacks depth. Like Alucard, we only get a small amount of info on her past later on in the manga. The same thing applies to the other characters as well. Sure, some of them had personalities that might make one stand out from another, but they were all one sided and flat. As I read further on, it became apparent that Hirano was too caught up with making them look cool and badass when they're fighting. And so, he completely forgot to develop them.

Finally the art, the best part about the Hellsing manga; the manga author may not be able to write, but he sure can draw. The character designs are distinctive and fit perfectly for this horror themed manga. Implementing thick lines into the designs was an interesting idea. Backgrounds were very detailed and crisp as well. Although, Hellsing’s art doesn't start out that great in the first 8-10 chapters (especially the design for Alucard). But by volume 3, it changes for the better.


All in all, Hellsing is a mediocre Seinen manga in my opinion. If you're looking for great storytelling and Characterization, look someplace else (Berserk, Vinland Saga and Monster). But if you want action and graphic violence then you’ll probably enjoy this. My suggestion to you is go watch Hellsing Ultimate instead, it’s a very faithful OVA adaptation of this manga. It’s a little more enjoyable than its counterpart because there is an OST, animation and of course, Crispin Freeman’s AMAZING dub performance. This all distracts you from the fact that the story and characterization isn't so great. So I think you’ll definitely have a more enjoyable experience with that.