Disclaimer: this review covers "Hellsing Ultimate," episodes 1 - 10, released between 2006 and 2012.Anime can be violent. At times, very violent. "Hellsing Ultimate" is all about violence, and it somehow delves into depths of violence that depict exactly how insane its characters are. It's disgusting, revolting, and yet you can't stop watching. "Hellsing Ultimate" is based off of the "Hellsing" manga, unlike the actual anime tv show with the same name. "Hellsing Ultimate" is an OVA series, meaning each episode is released directly to video, and generally has greater production values than your average series (with less concern over censorship). It follows The Hellsing Organization, grown from the expertise of the legendary Van Hellsing, and is lead by a new generation in Integra Hellsing. The Organization fights in name of her Majesty in England to rid the world of monsters, and more specifically, vampires and ghouls. Alucard is a master vampire unlike any other, and fights for the Hellsing Organization in the most brutal of ways. He, as well as new recruit vampire Seras, fight against occult Nazis in a group called Millennium, and also deal with the devoted Catholic group known as Iscariot. Blood spills. Heads roll. Or are eaten whole. Story might not count too much in this series (it sounds like a bad B-movie synopsis at first), but it gets the job done. Seras is focused on as she becomes more and more of a vampire after being turned into one for the first time, but this seems a side story at best. The meat is from the rivalry between the groups, as Millennium creates new armies of science-made vampires and demons. Volumes 1-3 are like simple introductory pieces, but it is from 4-8 where the real events begin, where a siege on London (and the world) begins, and it is glorious. During these times, people die, and survivors fight, and enough emotion is put behind these events to make you care before long. It seems impossible to conclude, but volumes 9-10 do exactly that... and that's where it falls apart. I apologize for spoilers, but we learn by this point that Alucard became the almighty demon he is because he was raped by the church as a child (NOT OK to explain why an anime character is broken or badass), the payoff of defeating the enemy army feels weak, and the damage (millions of lives killed, including certain ally characters) seems to be completely ignored or written over.
But never mind the plot. Action is where it's at! Blood truly never has looked so beautiful, and vampires have never better been represented. Action heats up further when Alucard really lets loose, and creativity is used in showing his truly demonic powers. The siege on London and the Hellsing manor are disturbing and epic. So perfect animation and visuals? Fans say the animation is incredible, but I disagree. The animation is uneven, using CGI and hand-drawn, noticeably taking shortcuts from time to time. It shows how limited Japanese anime can be, which I never really thought before. This may be because they don't match the visuals, which are, for the most part, perfection. Blood has texture and detail, maddening smiles cackle with glee. Although looking back, the first volumes look poor in comparison to the last, but that can be expected. More impressive is that the ten volumes look (mostly) consistent with each other, despite being made over six years between three different studios and directors. Music is grand with symphonic scores, j-pop rock, and occasional electric jazz. The English dub is as close to perfect as any dub has come, with accents and dialects mixed with witty and inspired dialogue to great effect. Also to note, the series has a strange sense of humor. I don't mean the dialogue, but the chibi scenes where drawing style changes drastically to match comedy anime shows. It is sometimes funny, but more often it feels VERY out of place. I suppose they were desperate to liven the show somehow. If you have a thirst for blood, this will satisfy. If you don't, this will make you, and you will still want more. "Hellsing Ultimate" is kind of a giant mess if you over-analyze it, but if you take it for a fun bout of violence or a grand vampire-ridden epic, it stands as one of the best anime you can get.