CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Thanks to Hitokiri, we now have a Hellsing review up. Good thing too, because we've gotten some questions on the series and I wasn't relishing the thought of watching it for review purposes. Now I don't have to!

http://www.christiananime.net/forums/reviews.php?display=56

Hitokiri, you did a great review! I missed seeing your comments in the comment section. Did you like it? I enjoyed it up to around the 5th episode. I had to watch the whole series with my son; however, because it had the coolest vampire in the world. We had a lot of discussions afterward. What can you do with a 14-year-old boy? Alucard is just too awesome.

true_noir_chloe wrote:I missed seeing your comments in the comment section. Did you like it?

Hitokiri, if you'd like to add your own personal comments, just go ahead and either post them here or PM me exactly what you'd like in your review.

This whole thing sounds like a bad idea...

i just sent my comments to Gypsy

I understand that part of the series is about the rivalry between Rome and the Church of England. How did they handle this? I've heard that they make the Catholic Church out to be evil. Is that a fair assessment or are they overblowing the issue?

I would not agree with that....the way it hit me after watching the series was that the Catholic church was there to destroy the evil...not be it. The one priest was kinda nuts...but no worse really then Wolfwood. I did not feel that Hellsing villanised the Catholics...then again I am not Catholic so I might not be the best source to ask....I would say if it did anything it made vampires look good somtimes...when there not dumb ones...lol.

Thanks. I appreciate the info.

If you want more... our Catholic Priest friend does act pretty non-Christian, but no more than Wolfwood or most priests that you see in anime. Also, he's fairly respectable for the role. Basically the way he seems most hellish is that he's determined that all vampires are evil. However, I would have to reluctantly say that he's pretty cool...

I should be more specific. His powers were apparently given to him by God (no respect for theology here, but I hadn't expected any) to slay vampires. He is a regenerator, which means he can take bullets to the head and the like. Also, he disperses in a cloud of Bible pages. General disrespect for Christianity, though probably not directly intended.

There, the comments are posted. Sorry about the wait!

Paladin Alexander seems like a intresting character. However, he is not only reluctant to kill vampires but also humans as well, mostly the Hellsing Organization which the Vatican dispises. Hellsing brilliantly shows the rivalry between The Helling Organization and the Vatican which makes them both out not to be evil but just on seperate sides, even though thier common goal is the same: to rid the world of vmapires.

Hellsing uses a vampire and the Vatican uses a priest.... thats fairly funny to me.

I don't have much of a problem with hellsing except for how they portry all Catholics as either [admin snip, watch the language spelled out or not], or as fanatical and crazy.

Protistent Vampire

Best
Oxymoron
EVER

Bemanisuperstar, What on earth are you talking about? And Samurai watch the language.

Shatterheart wrote:Bemanisuperstar, What on earth are you talking about? And Samurai watch the language.

I think he's referring to the fact that Alucard fights for the Protestants. Though he is not a protestant so therefore he isn't a protestant vampire.

He doesn't really belive in thier believes as he says. The only reason why he fights for the Hellsing Organization to rid the world of the "cheap imitations" (labratory vampires).

I think people are looking way to far into this anime....its not protestants vs Catholics....I own the series....and I never caught that watching it. And he fights for the Hellsing group because he protects Integra.

Exactly... thats his job.

I totally agree with Shatterheart's last post. I've seen the whole series, and it's well done. This may have not been one of my favorite animes; but, everyone always reads so much more into these things.

Could be that way. We'd have to ask the creators.

The Protestant/Catholic tension that exists between various individuals (for example, Shatterheart, episode 3) is quite accurate for the time period it is meant to take place in. I never considered it to be more than accuracy.

Haven't we had enough discussing of whether it's bashing Christianity or not here? I don't appriciate grave digging just for the sake of controversy.

I love Hellsing...Really well done.

In the name of God,
May the impure souls, The living dead,
Be banished to eternal damnation.

Amen

Well, I just saw the first disc. It was substantially more sexual than I was expecting. Some of it wasn't even implied, just obscured. I've not been bothered by the violence much, and the jury's still out on the priest.

Interesting, my bro saw it and went as Anderson to a con, and I wasn't too thrilled about it from hearing the title and the basic premise alone..... Thanks for the review, makes me have more ground to stand on when discussing it with the sibling ^_^

CDLviking wrote:Well, I just saw the first disc. It was substantially more sexual than I was expecting. Some of it wasn't even implied, just obscured.

I haven't seen this anime (and no real plans to). Do you think the warning rating on our official review needs to be raised?

Well, we gave it a five. My inclination is to say that's about right. There's quite a bit that's obviously present, just not visible. I'm just going to say what it is directly because I don't feel like phrasing things nicely at the moment.

[spoiler=sexual content]Most likely CDLviking and I are both thinking (it is the worst that comes to mind) of a scene in which there is obvious but not seen oral sex.[/spoiler]

That, and...
[spoiler] In episode 3 there is a homosexual vampire that goes berserk after his lover is killed. There is nothing explicitly sexual shown, but I didn't like the plot device much.
In episode 9 a female vampire basicly sexually assaults Integra before killing her. Again, there is no nudity, but this time we actually see what she does.[/spoiler]

I guess whether the rating is appropriate depends on what the rating is intended to convey. If it is the overall content of the series as a whole, then yes, it is appropriate. If it is meant to reflect the extent to which those scenes containing sex go, then I would say it should get at least a 7. I don't mean to call into question the way that other people rate shows, but I use the second method when writing a review because I feel it better prepares the viewer.

[spoiler=sexual content]Ah, I hadn't considered the homosexual vampire. True, it is a generally immoral plot device. I hadn't really considered it; I was mainly just annoyed by him.

Actually, I was only referring to the first disc (3 episodes, by my count), so obviously I didn't mention episode nine.[/spoiler]

Bump to fix last-posted flag. Carry on.

I like the series. Only thing that bugs me is that Seras Victoria talks too softly in the dubbed version. She sounds great in Japanese.