CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I would like to get a few opinions about Hellsing the Anime, vs. Hellsing the Manga. I like vampire fiction (yeah, I voted for vampires, not werewolves, sorry Kiba-Kun!) so I started watching the Hellsing anime. I thought the premise was intriguing, but was really put off by the amount of profanity in it. So I stopped watching it, but I still was still interested in the story. Last night at Joseph-Beth, I was flipping through the Hellsing manga and it didn't look like it had as much profanity and crudeness as the anime. Of course, though, it still pretty violent since it is all about killing vampires and vampires killing. It also seems to have the Catholic vs. Protestant vampire hunter stuff in it, too. Can anyone give me some advice about this? I'd maybe like to read the manga, but not if it goes off in the direction of the anime. And I'd appreciate your thoughts about how you decide whether manga fits with Phillipians 4:8 or not. "Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise." I realize this could easily steer into a theology debate or a thread where folks start attacking other's moral choices about what they read - please don't! Let's follow all the rules. I would really like to know the opinions of some of my fellow CAA'ers.

Well, first of all, this would probably be better suited for either the Anime or Manga forums [take your pick].

Second . . . I've actually read the first three volumes or so of Hellsing the manga, and I'd say for me . . . I'm not interested in continuing. Granted, I thought the premise was interesting, but, while there were protagonists, there were no heroes ~ no characters you could really root for [except maybe Seras Victoria, but she's it]. It was also very violent ~ pointlessly so. As a side note, I thought it was inventive and rather hilarious to see Alucard pull a unit of medical bllood out of his coat pocket, insert a straw, and drink it like a Capri Sun drink. That was actually pretty cool. I won't go and say anyone who reads it is sinning ~ I don't think that's my place ~ but I will say that there are better series to follow . . . like, say, TSUBASA RESERVOIR CHRONICLE!!![/fanboy] Actually, I wouldn't mind trying my hand at a short vampire manga once I have skills. There's my 2 sens.

.rai//

Since, in essence, this is a question about the manga adaptation of Hellsing, I made the decision to move it to what seemed to me to be the most appropriate forum.

If I recall, the manga has less profanity and sexual content but more violence.

HisaishiFan wrote:Can anyone give me some advice about this?

About what, specifically?

HisaishiFan wrote:And I'd appreciate your thoughts about how you decide whether manga fits with Phillipians 4:8 or not.

In my mind, there are two basic ways to interprete the passage. According to the first, I think that basically every single form of entertainment that exists does not qualify. According to the one I feel is more in line with what Paul meant suggests that Hellsing is acceptable to read if it isn't a stumbling block to you or others. There are some that I think shouldn't be subjecting themselves to nearly endless violence, but most can handle it maturely.

Was this thread meant to address which form of Hellsing is of superior quality? I have thoughts on that, but I won't bother typing them if no one else is interested.

Well, I decided to pop the $13! (you were right Mics - very expensive) and try the manga when Jo-Beth was having its manga part last night (10% off). In answer to your question, UCP (when I write that I think United Cerebral Palsy instead of Uncreative, sorry!), I'd like to hear more about which version you think is of superior quality and why. I guess I was also hoping for some more Phillipians 4:8 discussion. I agree with your assessment about an overly broad reading (everything is bad unless it is Christian genre entertainment (and then the quality is usually horrid, sorry!)) But I think we don't always recognize stumbling blocks, maybe if we did we wouldn't . . . um, stumble over them so much? Maybe they are sort of cumulative or maybe they affect our view in general (sort of like what you said about violence?) and we don't notice that we're changing not for the best.

HisaishiFan wrote:In answer to your question, UCP (when I write that I think United Cerebral Palsy instead of Uncreative, sorry!)

Heh, that's okay. There are a lot of acronyms for those letters actually, so I'm used to it. The University of California always makes me do a double-take.

HisaishiFan wrote:But I think we don't always recognize stumbling blocks, maybe if we did we wouldn't . . . um, stumble over them so much? Maybe they are sort of cumulative or maybe they affect our view in general (sort of like what you said about violence?) and we don't notice that we're changing not for the best.

That's a good point]I'd like to hear more about which version you think is of superior quality and why.[/quote]
Good. Overall, I find myself somewhat divided on the subject.

You see, I think the manga has superior versions of certain scenes, but others are improved in the anime version. The anime quickly moves away from the manga's plot, and the plot that it creates isn't all that amazing. But the truth is that the manga's plot so far hasn't been exceptional either - basically lots and lots of bloodshed.

So far I like the manga's plot better overall and I like that it has more character development. However, Hellsing doesn't really thrive on plot or characters; it pretty much runs on pure style. In that department, the anime has packaged itself much more slickly (in technical details as well as superior art).

Hopefully that gives you an idea of the difference, though feel free to ask more specific questions. I think that my decision about which version is superior will ultimately be decided by if the manga develops a deeper or more complicated plot.

While I like the manga MUCH more than the anime, it should be mentioned that the later volumes become progessively worse morally, at least imo. Things like:

[spoiler]Babies being eaten and Victoria's mom's corpse being raped right after she was killed [/spoiler]

are not exactly things I like to see. I may read it in the bookstore from time to time, but I don't think I'll be supporting it anymore. It's a shame they have to put in things like that ruin the great story for me. I really like the characters so I don't want to give up on it. In the English version at least, the language CERTAINLY gets worse. While the first volume had very few curse words, by the seventh volume there's f-bombs left and right. Silly translators.

Ewww . . . okay, I agree: that's thoroughly disgusting. Well, I guess I'll have to wait and see what I think after I've read a few more volumes. I sort of like the fact that the vampires are violent and completely otherly (NOT human at all) - and I like the fact that they aren't the standard romantic type fictional vampires. I hope the plot does pick up - just reading the first volume of the manga I'd say that UCP is right, the manga does have more character development than the anime. Well, I may pick this thread up again in a few weeks after I read a few more volumes!