Quick Info
Author: Kohta Hirano
Publisher: Darkhorse Manga
Published: December 15, 2009
Availability: In print, buy the deluxe omnibus edition on Amazon, Crunchyroll shop, eBay, and Dark Horse Digital for the IOS and Android app
Story Summary
Hellsing Manga Vol. 1 by Kohta Hirano is about a police officer named Seras Victoria, who lives in the village of Cheddar. She is attacked by vampires but is rescued by a powerful vampire named Alucard, who is part of the Hellsing Organization, a group that hunts vampires to protect England from them.
The Dialogue Is Well Written, but Accents Make It Difficult to Read
The dialogue is definitely interesting and well-written. The story is definitely entertaining, and it’s a strong point of the manga. A quirky thing about the manga is that they try to give Father Alexander Anderson a Scottish accent, and Hirano does this by spelling words how they are accented, making it difficult to understand what you're reading, and you have to really concentrate on what the character is saying because the accent makes reading it out loud or in your head harder than it should be.
The Characters
There’s Integra Hellsing, the no-nonsense leader. The butler Walter Dornez and the zealous Father AlexanderAnderson. His antagonistic rivalry with Alucard is a recurring theme throughout Hellsing. I also like the action and the characters.
The Artwork is Good
The action scenes are very well done and exciting to look at. It’s definitely an interesting manga and has very good artwork and character designs.
The art style is unique and memorable. If you read the manga or watch the anime Hellsing Ultimate, you'll be able to recognize these characters anywhere, and that makes the manga stand out.
The Manga Has Solid Storytelling
This manga is very interesting with well-written characters and a solid story. The story is definitely well doneand the characters are people we can rally behind, not to mention that the character designs and artwork look really good too.
It has gotten off to a good start with an interesting setup, good characters, and solid artwork to keep you reading and wanting to know what will happen next.
It can be very over the top, but it's a lot of adult fun that an older audience will enjoy.
No Sparkling Vampires Here
If you want a good manga to read and you like vampires, are sick of silly romances (stupid Twilight), and you want an action-packed mature title, pick up Hellsing Volume 1, you won’t be disappointed. Action vampires abound in this manga; it's especially nice since this series is complete now and you can buy the entire thing to own.
This goes back to a lot of the traditional vampire lore, with some modern twists of course, but Hellsing reminds us that vampires are supposed to be scary monsters.
Parental Advisory
As a note to parents, this manga is a very violent, bloody manga. There is a lot of violence and gore, and strong language too. This manga does contain the F-Bomb and is definitely not for readers under the age of 16.
Also, if you're a religious person, you'll probably be offended at the portrayal of Catholic and Protestant characters, as Father Anderson comes off as a crazy zealot, who will happily kill heathens in the name of God; the Protestant Knights don't act very religious at all.
If you're a religious person, you'll probably be offended by Hellsing.
This is an adult manga and should be treated like adult literature. Keep the kids away from this one; this isn't intended for them.
This Manga is Ridiculously Over-The-Top
This manga runs on Rule of Cool; it's not realistic at all, with vampires being ridiculously powerful and Catholic Priests who want to kill heathens and heretics. It also beats the romanticization of vampires to death with a stake; they're actually dangerous in this story.
The violence is over-the-top, having a ridiculous amount of gore that gave it the 17+ rating from Dark Horse Manga. It's definitely aimed at the adult crowd with its hyperviolent art and strong profanity.
It's not meant to be deep or profound; it's just Kohta Hirano having vampires do cool and ridiculous things in his story.
Overall Grade: A (With Warnings to the Religious)
I highly recommend this manga to anyone who likes vampires, and if you want something that has action, is well written, and very well done with excellent characters and artwork.
It does have the potential to offend Christians, mainly with the portrayals of characters affiliated with the Catholic and Protestant churches.
I haven't bought the series yet because I can get it from my local library for free, but I feel it was worth my time to read it. It was a very exciting manga, and I enjoyed it even though I don't read a lot of vampire books or novels.
If you’re old enough to read it, you should definitely see if your local library has it to read. Still, I recommend buying it because it’s well worth your time to read it, and it’s an action-packed manga that I enjoyed reading.
You can read my review of Hellsing Volume 2 if you want to.
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