Hellsing Ultimate at 20: The definitive vampiric horror anime

When Kohta Hirano’s Hellsing first ran in 1997, it leaned hard into the gaudy excess of the vampire myth, reworking Bram Stoker’s Dracula into a grindhouse saga. The Hellsing organization stands in for Van Helsing’s legacy, and Alucard—pledging loyalty after his defeat—serves as a sadistic exterminator of supernatural threats.

Hirano’s panels revel in lurid chaos, letting characters hack, slash and blast foes into oblivion. Gonzo’s 2001 Hellsing adaptation runs 13 episodes and notably tones down Hirano’s audacious style, diverging from the manga while finding strength in creative reimagining and Yasushi Ishii’s opening theme.

A more faithful OVA, Hellsing Ultimate, premiered on Feb. 10, 2006, embracing the operatic grandiosity of the source material; two decades on, Ultimate is widely seen as the superior adaptation and highlights the limitations of its predecessor. The two versions diverge in key story choices.

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