Hellsing Ultimate

By: Robert Murphy

For centuries, the royal houses of Britain have kept a dark secret from the world, vampires and the undead exist in this world and it is quickly revealed that things do in fact go bump in the night. To counter this threat, a special force of dedicated individuals, headed by the heir to the “Hellsing” legacy, works tirelessly to hunt down and root out the undead wherever  they hide, to protect Queen and Country (how very British, am I right?). Under the direct authority of the Queen, Integra Hellsing leads the Royal Order of Protestant Knights in a shadow war against her family's most ancient foe, but unlike her ancestors, Integra fights these demons with something no one would expect, a vampire of incredible power named Alucard. The patriarch of the vampires and a living embodiment of all that it means to be vampire and he most certainly is not afraid to show it.

Alucard and Seras

If you haven’t heard anything about “Hellsing” until reading this review know this, this is not a touchy feely anime, not by a long shot. This is an incredibly dark show, centered around vampires, and I mean real vampires, the stuff of nightmares that devour your flesh and relish in it, nothing of the crap vampires you see in movies today. Alucard (or Dracula backwards as some of you may know) is a real, traditional vampire right down to the core, although you wouldn’t know it from his up to date attire vastly different from his predecessors. He's also a vain, snide son of a bitch (which I personally enjoy) but also he’s possessed with a dignity that is missing from more recent treatments of vampires. He's anti-hero through and through, but you just can't help rooting for him even when it's obvious he's not really a good guy at all. Then there is Integra Hellsing, who is the model of a cold hearted human (but with her job, can you blaim her?) she's the direct descendant of people whose lives were dedicated to dealing with the darkest of evil things and it shows. Her butler/bodyguard, Walter is also very cool, with his polished English manners contrasted by the skill with which he cuts up ghouls with mono-filament wire makes him a character that may rival your liking of Alucard. And last, but not least is Seras Victoria, a member of London’s police force, who is nearly killed in the first episode, but is saved by Alucard by being made into a vampire herself. She is quite possibly the most "normal" of the main characters, as the newbie-vampire of Hellsing, her training and struggles with her new un-life give a bit of comedy to this dark show.

Lady Integra.  Not exactly what you would call a warm, endearing woman.

As I said before, Alucard and his powers are right out of the old novels and ancient tales on vampires, there is no masquerade in the story either, Alucard is a vampire he doesn’t care who knows it and he is not shy about throwing his power out there for all to see. Alucard has it all: the speed, the strength, regeneration, the ability to summon hell hounds, change into bats, and even pass through shadows. “Hellsing” has tons of great atmosphere, cool characters, and lots of guns-blazing action, with that in mind, it may also be a bit too much for some audiences, it gets down right gruesome quite frequently in these jam packed episode and I myself don’t mind this one bit but others may not be as accustomed to all the blood, violence and mayhem. This is definitely not a show for the squeamish, but then again, a show done about vampires any other way would just be, well “Twilight” comes to mind. Each episode is an incredible ride and I highly recommend it to anyone who does not mind gore, not sexual but definitely adult scenes, religious references….okay put it bluntly, you can’t be a prude if you want to watch this show.

Good:

-Portrays a classic vampire story

-Cool characters, each with their own unique personalities and appeal

-Gore and lots of it

Bad:

-Not for the squeamish

-It’s lude and crude, and while I myself like that, it’s not for everyone

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Dance in the Vampire Bund

Buy Dance in the Vampire Bund at **Amazon**

By: Robert Murphy

Alright, alright I know this is going to have some of you cringing at the thought of vampires and romance but oh well here we go with “Dance in the Vampire Bund,” a supernatural love story that follows the emergence of vampires into the human world. The story revolves around Mina Tepeş, princess-ruler of all vampires, and her protector Akira. Like other vampires, Mina has been in hiding with her people for many years and seeking to end centuries of isolation, Mina gains permission to create a special district for vampires, "The Bund” off the coast of Japan. Mina then reveals to the world the existence of vampires and her desire for both races to live together. Tensions, however, run high as fearful humans and extremist vampire factions begin to interfere with Mina's wish for peace with the human world.

The show itself is like many out there is based on a manga, and unfortunately like most animes, the manga continues to go on while the show doesn’t and we are left with a fractured series like “Claymore” and “Black Blood Brothers”. The show itself plays party to a unique concept that has been tried before where vampires come out and reveal themselves so that they can co-exist with humanity (cue the “True Blood” theme song). However this seems to take a back seat through most of the series as most all of the attention in the show is given to Mina; our alleged ancient and “wise” vampire leader who acts more like the spoiled child form she appears to us as in the show. Some attention is given to Akira, Mina’s long lost love and werewolf bodyguard (werewolves that are established as willing protectors and servants of vampires in this series) but even though Akira is essentially the main character, he often gets out shined by Mina. And as I said before, the show is very much unfinished, normally this wouldn’t be too big of a deal but throughout the show everyone is trying to figure out what happened to Akira on his last mission where he lost his memory from a tragic discovery. Because the show doesn’t continue with the manga (at least for now) we don’t understand what happens to Akira and even understand it because after we find out the mystery the show ends.

(Above: Mina Tempes Queen of the vampire race)

I feel that I must take some time to exercise a word of warning to anyone who wants to check out “Dance in the Vampire Bund”, Mina, our spoiled little princess, is in a child form throughout the entire show and this wouldn’t strike to many people as bad until you start watching. Mina frequently removes her clothing throughout the series and often puts Akira in uncomfortable situations like putting suntan lotion on her body. Other unnerving situations include: the gynecological exam she’s forced to endure during the length of the series, this skates pretty close to kiddy porn and it is clearly played for eroticism, unfortunately. Other instances occur during the show as well with the ex-president of Akira’s class becoming a vampire which causes her feelings for a young boy to escalate to very complicated levels of attraction.

“Dance in the Vampire Bund”, while having questionable moments that test the boundaries of "kiddie porn," still makes for an interesting show to watch for its take on the vampire stories that we have seen all too much lately. While Mina steals most of the show for herself and her spoiled brat attitude, she actually is a pretty interesting character; and while I don’t like spoiledness at any level, Mina makes her's actually appealing and often quite funny. If you are a kid though I wouldn’t recommend you see this show, strictly teens and adults only.

Good:

-An interesting take on the vampire stories we’ve seen

-Mina steals the show but is an engaging character

Bad:

-The show is unfinished

-The child like porno angel is a little much

-The ending leaves so many questions and is very out there

Scully rating: 5.0 out of 10