Hellsing

Hellsing

ヘルシング
2001 -2002 Gonzo Fuji TV 13 episodes Completed
Action Horror Supernatural Gothic
Details & Synopsis
The Hellsing Organisation exists to protect England from the things that go bump in the night. Vampires. Ghouls. The undead in all their configurations. Its secret weapon is Alucard, an ancient, almost incomprehensibly powerful vampire who works for Hellsing because he chooses to, and who destroys monsters with a casual, aristocratic brutality that suggests he finds the whole business mildly entertaining. When a young police officer named Seras Victoria is turned during a mission gone wrong, she becomes his fledgling, and begins navigating a world she was never supposed to know existed.

Produced by Gonzo and directed by Umanosuke Iida, Hellsing aired on Fuji TV in 2001. Thirteen episodes that diverged significantly from Kouta Hirano's manga, the source material was still running and the anime outpaced it, charting its own course into original territory. This is not the Hellsing of Hellsing Ultimate. It is quieter, more gothic, more atmospheric. Where Ultimate is a war epic, the original is a horror series with political teeth.

The English dub by Pioneer is exceptional, Crispin Freeman as Alucard set a standard for vampire voice acting that the genre has been chasing ever since. This was an Adult Swim staple in the early 2000s. A gateway show for an entire generation of fans who thought they did not like horror.

Thirteen episodes. No filler. Pure gothic atmosphere from the first frame to the last.
Alt Title ヘルシング
Studio Gonzo
Network Fuji TV
Aired 2001 - 2002
Episodes 13
Genre Action, Horror, Supernatural, Gothic
Status Completed

Hellsing 2001 Master Combat Ledger

Alucard vs. the Cheddar Priest

Episode 1 · The Undead · Seras Is Turned

Cheddar Village establishes the entire series in one mission. A vampire priest has turned the local population and much of the responding police force into ghouls. Alucard clears the village with contemptuous ease, but Seras is caught between him and the priest. He gives her a choice, shoots through her to kill the vampire holding her, and saves her life by turning her. The first fight is also the event that creates the show's second protagonist.

Debut: Ep 001 - The Undead

Alucard vs. Alexander Anderson: First Encounter

Episode 3 · Sword Dancer · Iscariot Arrives

The FREAK-chip case brings Seras and a Hellsing team into contact with Alexander Anderson, a Vatican paladin who treats both artificial vampires and Hellsing's own undead operative as targets. Anderson tears through the Hellsing squad, incapacitates Seras and then meets Alucard. The point is not a clean winner. It is the arrival of an opponent who can hurt Alucard, regenerate from catastrophic damage and enjoy the confrontation almost as much as he does.

Debut: Ep 003 - Sword Dancer

Hellsing vs. the Valentine Brothers

Episodes 5–6 · Brotherhood / Dead Zone · HQ Assault

Luke and Jan Valentine attack Hellsing headquarters with an armed ghoul force and nearly erase the organization's manpower in one night. Walter and Seras hold the building while Integra faces the attack at command level. Luke goes upstairs looking for the strongest opponent in the house and finds Alucard, who answers by releasing more of his restrained power. Jan reaches the Round Table but dies without giving Hellsing a clean explanation of who sent them. The victory leaves the organization alive and gutted.

Debut: Ep 006 - Dead Zone

Hellsing vs. the False Laura and the Castle Trap

SPOILER!

Episode 9 · Red Rose Vertigo · 2001 TV

The ninth episode is not a dockside duel with Incognito. Hellsing is pulled into a castle operation where the arrival of SAS forces immediately feels wrong, while a woman claiming to be Integra's sister Laura infiltrates the Hellsing estate. Seras and Alucard expose the impostor as a supernatural attacker, and the castle force is compromised as well. The episode matters because the Incognito arc stops looking like scattered vampire cases and starts looking like coordinated penetration of British institutions.

Debut: Ep 009 - Red Rose Vertigo

The FREAK Investigation Tightens

Episode 8 · Kill House · Hong Kong Factory

After the Valentine assault, Hellsing is rebuilding while the artificial-vampire problem keeps spreading. A Hong Kong factory linked to FREAK-chip production is destroyed before the organization can fully exploit it, and Seras works the investigation with an MI5 agent while Integra and Walter deal with the manpower crisis. It is a quieter episode, but it is the bridge between the Valentine catastrophe and the conspiracy that consumes the final arc.

Debut: Ep 008 - Kill House

Alucard vs. Incognito

SPOILER!

Episode 13 · Hellfire · Tower of London

Incognito finally meets Alucard at the Tower of London after the Hellsing Organization has been declared an enemy and London has become the stage for the conspiracy's last move. Incognito can survive Alucard's normal weapons and pushes him harder than any earlier opponent in the television series. Alucard turns the battlefield itself into the answer, melting a large silver cross and using the silver as the weapon that finishes the fight. The ending belongs specifically to the 2001 anime.

Debut: Ep 012 - Total Destruction