Hellsing, Wolf's Rain, Dear Boys

[thistlechaser]

More anime viewing last night.

Started with my last downloaded ep of Hellsing (#9, I believe). Bad cliffhanger! I wish I could find the last eps to download. Love the series. Really strong female lead, along with a cute girl and some very interesting guys. Amazingly good art style and music.

Wolf's Rain: I watched one ep (the first one) a day or two ago, and two more last night. I'm very, very "eh" about the series. The animation is nice enough, but the plot has major and serious holes in it. Plus it has giant guns and robots/fighting things and such like that -- not my style. The music is really blah (too much English-language pop-type songs). But it's really the story that makes the series fail for me. I'll probably watch a couple more eps of it to confirm my feelings, but I think Wolf's Rain will end up getting a big thumbs-down from me.

Dear Boys: Watched only one ep, but was reminded how much I love the series. Interesting storylines, almost every character is nice to look at, and there's just so much inter-character dynamics. Oh, and great music. How can you beat Japanese rap? And some sort of other hip-hop type of music. Hee. Fun and interesting! And did I mention that almost all of the guys are really attractive? Mmm.

I'm still waiting for the last two eps of Get Backers to be translated. I'm looking forward to seeing the end of the storyline.

Comments

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

Plus it has giant guns

Of course, there are no giant guns in Hellsing.

and robots

I'd actually forgotten there were robots in the show, so utterly incidental as they are.

fighting things

Oh yes, no fighting in Hellsing. Certainly nothing explodes in fountains of blood.

plot holes

Nope, no plot holes in Hellsing! No horrible glaring inaccuracies, either!

too much English-language pop-type songs

I take it you never noticed that Mr. Big did the ending theme to Hellsing.

Heh...Don't get me wronng. I don't care if you don't like Wolf's Rain...It's been a while since I saw it, honestly. It's more that you like Hellsing that boggles my mind. The art is certainly stylish, no doubt, but I'd hardly call it amazing...It's inconsistent and stiff, occasionally slipping into periods of low-quality. The music, yes, is very good. But I think it's the characters where you lost me. I do like Integra quite a bit, but she's underused. Honestly, I could scarcely find Alucard less interesting, and Victoria's poutingly indignant act doesn't do it for me. And her constant getting in the way is not endearing. The villain is also rather less than intriguing as a character. The plot is fairly disjointed, the creators arbitrarily dropping plot threads with no warning to pick up entirely different ones, and all too often the intriguing overarcing story is ignored in favor of graphic blood-letting.

All in all, it's an ambitious series, and one I really wanted to like...But I just couldn't. The effort and money put into it just don't match the ambition, and it shows. The series comes across like a good idea that was horribly neglected, then slapped together at the last minute. But of course, that's just my opinion.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Of course, there are no giant guns in Hellsing.

Sorry, my bad. When I said "giant guns", I meant giant guns, like sci-fi big. All the guns in Hellsing are based on real ones, though in the case of Victoria's I'm sure not meant to be hand-held. I'm not even a big gun fan, but I love just staring at Hellsing's weapons.

I'd actually forgotten there were robots in the show, so utterly incidental as they are.

Yeah? Maybe it'll get better then. In the first three eps they're rather noticeable.

fighting things

Oh yes, no fighting in Hellsing. Certainly nothing explodes in fountains of blood.

I'm fine with fighting (more than fine), but by "fighting things" I meant robots and whatever the heck those "guns on hose-arms" things were in the train scene.

Nope, no plot holes in Hellsing! No horrible glaring inaccuracies, either!

Got to disagree with you here. In Wolf's Rain, wolves were supposed to be extinct for 200 years... yet when in human form the werewolves leave paw prints in the snow and throw the shadow of a wolf? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over? Not to mention, the idiots shape shift in front of humans! And fly all over buildings like lupine Spidermen. Why the heck aren't werewolves well known things? What in Hellsing is nearly this bad?

I take it you never noticed that Mr. Big did the ending theme to Hellsing.

*laughs* Is the ending theme in English? I hated it from the first couple notes, so I've always turned it off before getting to any vocals.

It's more that you like Hellsing that boggles my mind.

Don't just like it, I love it. We've disagreed on Victoria before, so I won't go into her now (other than the more I see of her, the more I like her). Alucard's not my favorite by far, but I'm okay with him. Love Integra, love how strong she is and how she stands up to everyone, and I'm dying of curiosity over what's between her and Alucard. But a lot of the more minor characters have my attention as well -- such as Walter. Love him. There must be some interesting backstory behind him, and I can't wait to find it out.

All in all, it's an ambitious series, and one I really wanted to like...But I just couldn't. ... But of course, that's just my opinion.

Sometimes I think that tastes in anime vary even more than in American movies, books, and TV, or maybe that there are too many more details that can make it or break it for someone in anime... (Have you ever argued about music in American TV shows?)

Thanks for the comments!

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

What in Hellsing is nearly this bad?

First off, I never said there weren't questionable issues in Wolf's Rain. I wasn't defending one, I was attacking the other. :)

And here's where one of our major differences lies. I'm generally not a nitpicker while being entertained by a narrative. If it manages to maintain narrative flow and be entertaining, I probably won't notice minor inconsistencies. In that, I'm less offended by the farfetched/fantastic aspects of Wolf's Rain than I am by the fractured nature of Hellsing. When the story randomly drops subplots and characters, never to be seen again, I find it more difficult to ignore minor factual inconsistencies.

Incidentally, I really like the Hellsing manga. It doesn't suffer from most of the issues I have with the anime. In fact, the creator was less than thrilled with the anime, as he was unable to put much of the story into it that he wished, as it was a rushjob. Many of the plot elements in the anime represent things that were built upon in the manga...but not the cartoon. Plus, there was some interesting allegory involved. And if you like Walter, there's a very cool storyline involving Alucard and young Walter fighting Nazis. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting.

I've seen almost no manga of any kind yet, but it's another thing on my 'things to check out' list.

And if you like Walter, there's a very cool storyline involving Alucard and young Walter fighting Nazis. :)

Oooh, that sounds really interesting!