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REVIEW: Hellsing OAV DVD 1


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Cowboy Cadenza



Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 243
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:30 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I'm not sure if the news that all the animation teams are booked up is good or bad. Either we're in for a slew of great stuff or a massive oversaturation of dribble.


These days I think it tends to mostly be dribble, with a few gems mixed in.
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crow-kun



Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 155
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:19 am Reply with quote
[quote="GATSU"]Hitokiri:
Quote:
Zac:
Quote:
If you're complaining about the original Hellsing TV series, then I really have a hard time believing that you were a fan of the Tenjo Tenge anime, which was really, really terrible compared to the manga it's based on.


I'm not sure how more gratuitous porn is any better. Rolling Eyes

Whoa....wait a minute have you even read the Tenjou Tenge manga?
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:18 am Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
Yeah, just thought about that and edited my post. Guess that's part of the big difference in the prices. And I'm glad I pre-ordered the LE, can't wait to hear it in DTS Razz.


Geneon's Ergo Proxy arrived here last week, and it to has DTS English. I prefer the days when Champloo and Gungrave days when the Japanese track had the DTS treatment, but the DD audio on Geneon titles seem to be well produced too. I believe that 2 DTS and 1 DD track should fit comfortably (like the SAC DVDs) especially if they are only doing one episode per disc, and I hope Geneon does this in the future.
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I have a question for people who didn't buy this online, were you able to find it at Best Buy? It was in the Sunday ad and yet when I got there around 12ish no dice. One of Best Buy customer service reps told me that they hadn't received any DVDs yet. When I ask about getting the LE or regular DVD she didn't really seem to understand so I left. I went across the street where my local anime store is located and purchased the LE DVD.

Delta
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:19 pm Reply with quote
Deltakiral wrote:
I have a question for people who didn't buy this online, were you able to find it at Best Buy? It was in the Sunday ad and yet when I got there around 12ish no dice. One of Best Buy customer service reps told me that they hadn't received any DVDs yet. When I ask about getting the LE or regular DVD she didn't really seem to understand so I left. I went across the street where my local anime store is located and purchased the LE DVD.

I went to two Best Buys on the release day and saw nothing at either store. I pre-ordered the LE from Deep Discount DVD on Nov. 15, but they still have its status listed as a PREORDER that was to ship on Nov. 30.

To this day, it still hasn't changed yet...
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Ingraman



Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1082
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 5:50 pm Reply with quote
Deltakiral wrote:
I have a question for people who didn't buy this online, were you able to find it at Best Buy?


I was at one Best Buy this morning, and was told that they didn't have any copies of any of the versions of Hellsing (and checking the BB website on one of their computers said that none of the stores in the area had them).

After getting home a couple of hours later, I checked the website again, and found that at least a couple of the local stores had checked them in.

Quote:
When I ask about getting the LE or regular DVD she didn't really seem to understand so I left. I went across the street where my local anime store is located and purchased the LE DVD.


After finding out that the BB closest to me had received them, I went over and grabbed one of their $25 (discounted to $23) copies of the LE DVD that does not include the "figure" (a BB-exclusive according to the sticker). Since it is the same thing that came with the R2-LE, why do I need to waste money on another one?
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:25 pm Reply with quote
Deltakiral wrote:
I have a question for people who didn't buy this online, were you able to find it at Best Buy? It was in the Sunday ad and yet when I got there around 12ish no dice. One of Best Buy customer service reps told me that they hadn't received any DVDs yet. When I ask about getting the LE or regular DVD she didn't really seem to understand so I left. I went across the street where my local anime store is located and purchased the LE DVD.

Delta


i didn't find any at my best buy. I went around 10a.m. and the shelf was the same as it had been when I went Sunday for something esle. I called and they still don't have it
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indrik



Joined: 22 Jul 2006
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Location: yonder
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:39 pm Reply with quote
It wasn't just Best Buy around here- FYE, Circuit City, the local anime/comic store, nobody had them. A couple of Best Buys say they do now, I'll have to try again.
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WesW



Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:35 am Reply with quote
I agree with Key on this series. I watched the first two volumes last night, which cover approximately the first 8 eps. of the series, and I came away thinking it was even more of a shame that the first director hadn't been given the proper funding to continue the series the way it was in those initial eps.
If the OVA follows the manga more closely, then the manga must be pretty cartoonish, 'cause that was what the OVA's too often looked like. The huge bullet entry holes, the exaggerated bodies during the "comedic" breaks (I put comedic in parentheses because they really came off badly), it just all screamed "Something for teen boys to watch when they can't find any pro wrestling on TV." The distorted expressions always seemed out of place to me when they were used in FMA; in a "mature" series like this they seem ridiculous. At the end of volume two, there was a joke made about which category, the living or the dead, Alucard and Victoria should be placed in when counting up the survivors of the Hellsing assault. This is the type of humor a series like this needs, not all that kiddie stuff.
I guess a lot of the gun violence is more about style than accuracy, as is the case in a typical comic book, but that technique just doesn't translate well to film. Again, it just makes it all seem adolescent.
It you're mature enough to read these forum posts, then you'll most likely want to give this one a rent before you buy.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:52 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I agree with Key on this series. I watched the first two volumes last night, which cover approximately the first 8 eps. of the series, and I came away thinking it was even more of a shame that the first director hadn't been given the proper funding to continue the series the way it was in those initial eps.


The anime had a predetermined episode count and the manga would have only just begun the Millenium stuff back then. They really had no choice but to make their own ending (too bad it was such a crappy one). Funding wouldn't have been an issue.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:08 am Reply with quote
WesW wrote:

If the OVA follows the manga more closely, then the manga must be pretty cartoonish, 'cause that was what the OVA's too often looked like. The huge bullet entry holes, the exaggerated bodies during the "comedic" breaks (I put comedic in parentheses because they really came off badly), it just all screamed "Something for teen boys to watch when they can't find any pro wrestling on TV." The distorted expressions always seemed out of place to me when they were used in FMA; in a "mature" series like this they seem ridiculous. At the end of volume two, there was a joke made about which category, the living or the dead, Alucard and Victoria should be placed in when counting up the survivors of the Hellsing assault. This is the type of humor a series like this needs, not all that kiddie stuff.
I guess a lot of the gun violence is more about style than accuracy, as is the case in a typical comic book, but that technique just doesn't translate well to film. Again, it just makes it all seem adolescent.
It you're mature enough to read these forum posts, then you'll most likely want to give this one a rent before you buy.


The manga is gleefully violent. Hirano revels in it. If you're sincerely upset about the size of bullet entry holes, then you might not enjoy it; Hellsing is over-the-top. Wait until this gets into, say, volume 5 or 6, and you'll see what I'm talking about. The original TV series simply wouldn't have been able to handle the material that's in the comics; not only is it far too graphic (and perverse), it just didn't have the feeling of revelling in delicious, filthy violence, and completely outrageous plot developments.

Just to give you and idea of what I'm talking about, here's a pretty major spoiler from volume 8 of the manga:

spoiler[The Millennium Nazi group invades London and basically slaughters every man, woman and child; Alucard reverts back to his original form, Vlad Tepes Dracula, and unleashes an army of the thousands of souls he's slaughtered over the millennia. Meanwhile, to fight back Alucard in the 3-way war for the ruins of London, Alexander Anderson stabs himself in the heart with a nail that originally pierced the right hand of Jesus and becomes a monster made of divine thorns.]

It is so ridiculously and wonderfully over-the-top. I love every page; it is the ultimate guilty pleasure. And to me, the OVA is already headed down the right path to execute the Millenium Nazi storyline perfectly.

In my opinion neither adaptation really comes close to being as good as the comics, but this one is much closer than that TV version. What I honestly disliked most about the TV show - aside from the crappy animation and the terrible last third - was that they turned Alucard into this kind of bishonen sexual predator; in the manga he's a bloodthirsty monster. I want the monster, not some fangirl wank stuff.

MORE SPOILERS, from the manga:

spoiler[I mean, I get that Alucard does have a perverse side - wait until his "fight" with Rip Van Winkle where he makes her orgasm violently while he's drinking her blood after impaling her with her own rifle - but the TV version of the character just wouldn't do what the manga Alucard does. And I didn't like that.]

It might be just because I'm a huge fan of the manga and I really want to see those later chapters animated, but the TV show was really watered down and lame in comparison to the comics or this new OVA.

Also, as for your charges of the series being "adolescent", I can't really argue with that. Yeah, it is kinda adolescent. And I love it for that. I love how it has absolutely no pretension about what it is; it's just a gloriously violent and perverse vampire story with as many "Oh, shit that is awesome!" moments thrown in as humanly possible.

I like to think that I have high-minded taste when it comes to film, but Hellsing just hits all the right buttons for me when I just want to watch something that kicks ass. There are many anime out there that appeal much more to my higher sensibilities, and I appreciate those on a different level, but dammit, they're just not as unrepentantly fun as Hellsing is.
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ivanchoFAA



Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 35
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:30 pm Reply with quote
you know I think the english dub is the in the TV series and in this OVA SERIES. The japansse track is not so good in the tv series, but despite are the same voices, in the original japanesse , the actors in the OVA improved. For me both track are excellent.

But I want to wait for dub of JAN VALENTINE in the second episode. Hopefully the english dub will be even better than the tv series in the second part.
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dentedonion



Joined: 19 May 2006
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 2:10 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Also, as for your charges of the series being "adolescent", I can't really argue with that. Yeah, it is kinda adolescent. And I love it for that. I love how it has absolutely no pretension about what it is; it's just a gloriously violent and perverse vampire story with as many "Oh, shit that is awesome!" moments thrown in as humanly possible.


Very Happy Alot of the characters really seem to enjoy ripping each other to shreds. It really is the greatest "guilty pleasure" series.

I'm glad to hear the the dub was well done. I love the Japanese version, but I liked the different accents darkhorse created for the manga. I don't know for certain but I don't think it's possible to describe a scottish accent in the Japanese written language, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I also liked the accents in the dub voices so I'm looking forword to watching it after I get the dvd. (which hopefully will be soon)

By the way, Zac, would you know how long it takes for bookstores like Borders to get new releases of dvds like Hellsing? Sorry if this has been asked before.
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WesW



Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:22 am Reply with quote
Thank you for your detailed and patient reply, Zac. I obviously don't know anything about the manga, so if that type of thing is what fans expect and want from this series, then the highly favorable review was certainly warranted.
I never came across any prior criticisms of the TV series being watered-down or stylistically unfaithful to the manga, though I didn't go out of my way to research this series, either. Therefore, the OVA's changes appeared to me to be the abberrations. If the OVA is what Hellsing is supposed to be, then I'll try to relax and enjoy it for what it is.
I guess we still have Blood+ for a bloody-but-serious series.
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Rªdì¢âl_£Ð



Joined: 30 May 2005
Posts: 112
PostPosted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:17 pm Reply with quote
Sigh. I thought Geneon would correct this since it's a fairly clear error. The dub has Alucard saying that the Joshua fires a 13mm cartridge. The diameter .454 Casull cartridge is no where close to 13mm. The .454 Casull is basically a longer and hotter version of the .45 Colt which the .45 ACP is the shorter and rimless version of. All of these cartridges have a diameter of 11.43mm and as a reference a .50 caliber round has a diameter of 12.7mm.

I don't care if the Japanese version says 13mm, they're wrong to begin with. At least they cleared it up at the second episode. As an gun-educated person, errors like these can rub me the wrong way. Otherwise I enjoyed the dub.
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