Expectations were high for the new Hellsing Ultimate, Volume Three OVA, and it didn’t disappoint. Volume Three in the OVA picks up at volume three in the manga:
The Hellsing organization is in shambles after a devastating attack on their London base by two powerful, but artificially manufactured, vampires. The Valentine brothers, Luke and Jan, managed to wipe out all but a handful of soldiers at Hellsing Headquarters before being destroyed in turn by Alucard and the mystery group behind them, Millenium.
To make up for Hellsing’s lack of fighting force, Integra enlists a specialized group of mercenaries, the Wild Geese to act as Hellsing’s new army. Seras is introduced to the new soldiers as an example of the vampires they’ll be facing in battle, with much disbelief on their part.
Meanwhile, Sir Integra is forced to play nice with Vatican’s Section XIII head, Enrico Maxwell, in order to gain vital intel on Millenium. After Integra and Maxwell’s mutually distasteful meeting, Alucard is dispatched to South America to deal with this (not so) new threat.
I was worried at the beginning of the volume that they were going to stray into unknown waters when they failed to adhere strictly to the manga with the first scene (social commentary on the war, anyone?). However, creative license was used and the deviation was minimal at best. I was gun shy, I suppose, after the original anime derailed and the studio started making crap up as they went along.
Although this volume is fairly true to the manga, there were a few rewrites, reshuffling of sequences, twists of the visuals, and some blatant omissions. One scene omitted, although fairly minor in the manga, was one which I had hoped to see animated. Bummer.
The animation is still going strong in Volume Three, and the attention to all the gory detail really appeases my secret blood lust. I’m also liking the little vignette that plays at the end credits after each volume. In Volume Three, it’s an awesome flashback of Walter C. and Alucard back in the day.
I’m absolutely loving the fact that there is NO innuendo thus far in this OVA. The first anime was rife with hints of secret crushes and of loyalties that went beyond master and servant. Volume Three is straight up action and horror. No drama, no romance, no crappy love to slow down the plot. Alucard comes across in the OVA as a single minded destroyer; a tool Integra simply has to point in the right direction to have havoc and death ensue. So far, so good. I hope the studio keeps sticking to their guns and stays faithful to the manga.
I’m not feeling the music for the OVA. It’s way too orchestral for my tastes. Yasushi Ishii did a helluva good job with the first two scores and I wish they’d used him again for the OVA. Perhaps, however, the studio wanted as much distance between the OVA and the original anime as possible. I understand that, but the music just doesn’t jive for me. Some people, though, may enjoy this score if they haven’t heard Ishii’s take on Hellsing. Anyone else liking the score for the Hellsing Ultimate thus far?
The voice acting is good and I really like Joji Nakata as Alucard. Everyone else is just as good, but I think they nailed Alucard’s voice for the Japanese cast.
The following volumes for Hellsing Ultimate will be awaited quite eagerly at our house, and I imagine, at the houses of fellow fans just as rabid as us. Volume Four can’t come soon enough…
Hellsing Ultimate, Volume Three gets
outta of a possible four gummies.
