review provided by Katie and Andrew
Title: Hellsing Ultimate Volume 2
Director: Tallesin Jaffe
U.S. Distributor: Funimation
U.S. Release Date: November 13, 2012
Format and Length: DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack / 180 Minutes
Genre: Action, Thriller
Age Rating: 17 and up
Overall Personal Rating: A-
Similar Series or Titles: Devil May Cry, Hellsing, Hellsing Ultimate Volume 1
Synopsis:
Alucard and the entire gang are back for Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two. Things are heating up between the Hellsing Organization and the crazy Nazi Major, but Alucard is far away on another mission. Whatever will Sir Integra and Seras Victoria (Police Girl) do? They will split up and try to survive until Alucard comes back to save the day. Police Girl and the mercenaries that Sir Integra hired will stay back and protect the Hellsing Manor while Sir Integra and the Iscariot, along with Anderson, try to protect the streets of London from the Major’s vampires and the ghouls that they create. Add in the fact that the Vatican decided to send in the crusaders and things get interesting quickly. Make sure to watch out for flying body parts and blood along the way.
Finally, Alucard comes back to save the day. He is finally allowed to show his true form and that allows him to fight against the crusaders and the Major’s undead army. Of course, the Major had planned for this and it does not faze him in the slightest. But of course, what would Hellsing Ultimate be without the fighting between the Iscariot and the Hellsing Organization? Never fear, Anderson and Alucard will make things interesting and not even give Police Girl a chance to break up their fight.
Commentary:
Once again, I can say that I really enjoyed watching Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two. This time around they decided to add some interesting animation within the episodes as comedic relief. Those short scenes had me holding my side because I was laughing so hard. The music was roughly the same as Volume One, slightly gothic and fit well with the theme of the anime. The ending animation and music was different for each episode. I have to say that this OVA series has worked its way into my heart and I hope that there are more episodes released soon. The animation was better this time around, which was nice.
The character development was greatly improved this time. They focused on Seras’ background mostly, but it added much depth to her character and made me like her even more. She is still the comic relief at times but she also turned into a serious character when the time called for it. It was also interesting to see the past between Sir Integra and the Minister of Defense because it showed their mutual respect for each other. They also gave insight into the Iscariot’s past, for better or worse. The Nazi’s also had their background focused on this time. We learn all about the “special experiments” they did during WWII and the consequences that the world faces due to them.
I also loved the interaction between Police Girl and the leader of the group of mercenaries, Pip Bernadotte. Their story is not the classic boy meets girl love story, but it is romantic in its own way. Thanks to them, we also learn what happens when someone willingly allows you to drink their blood and because of that Police Girl turns into a true vampire. That is the first thing that Alucard notices upon his return.
This anime is available in the Blu-ray Combo Pack and that includes 3 DVDs and 2 Blu-ray disks. All episodes are on the first Blu-ray disk and the extras are on the second. I believe that there are two episodes per DVD and then the final disk is the extras.
Extras:
Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two includes episode commentary, dubbing Hellsing – the 10th year anniversary interviews, Hellsing cast round table discussion, anime Vegas 2010 Hellsing Panel, fans’ questions answered, The Dawn: A Supplementary of Hellsing, textless closing songs, U.S. Trailer, and previews as the extras. Again that is a lot of extras but I do recommend that you watch The Dawn: A Supplementary of Hellsing as it shows the work of Alucard during WWII.
Overall Grade: A-
Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two is a very gory and bloody anime. This volume is much more bloody than the first one, but do not let that deter you from watching, just be prepared.
