This
trio is leading the revival and expansion of the manga and animated
versions of Hellsing. Yasuyuki Ueda, producer of the original and new
OVA Hellsing series, is on the left; Kouta Hirano, the manga's creator,
is in the center; and on the right is Yoshiyuki Fudetani, chief editor
of Young King Ours, the manga anthology that publishes Hellsing and has
become a birthplace for other wild manga (such as Excel Saga) that have
been made into successful anime. "Volume eight of the Hellsing manga
came out this month," Fudetani said. "I want to have volume nine come
out before the end of the calendar year, so it's my job to make Mr.
Hirano do his work. I don't think it's possible to have volume nine
come out before the end of the year." If Hirano's manga is produced
slowly, the anime's production is on pace and a fresh episode was
previewed for fans at the Otakon panel. That preview, which shows a
more rough-hewn art style close to Hirano's drawings, has Seras
Victoria in a yellow uniform, and all but literally duplicates Hirano's
humorous superdeformed style in places. The background music also is
different in the new series than the old, and deliberately so. "I don't
like to repeat what I did the first time," said Ueda. "The music in the
first one was inspiring, but it made the first Hellsing look more like
a music video rather than a drama. In the new Hellsing we want to have
more drama, so we're going to use music in a more traditional manner."
Among
the flood of nonsensical questions asked by fans at the panel, some
gems of information emerged. Hirano noted that much of the basis of
Hellsing comes from Bram Stoker's Dracula works, and "There's a little
bit of the movie incorporated in it as well" - presumably the 1930's
film with Bela Lugosi. Another item hinted at in the first Hellsing
series around Arucard carries a lot of weight, according to Hirano: "In
the recent developments, if you can look at volume eight of the manga
he's turned into Vlad the Impaler. He's more Vlad than what you've seen
in the manga up to now." Hirano said his favorite Hellsing characters
are the Valentine brothers (who also appear in the new animated
series), joked that Walter the butler was the result of "...a figment
of my imagination, wishful thinking for wanting to have that kind of
butler myself," and said his motivation was "jealousy" in the creation
of Arucard. One fan asked Hirano if it was hard to kill off his
characters, and he replied that "I have the most fun when I'm killing
off a character." And, when asked about the running joke in the manga
volumes about needing an assistant artist, Hirano announced that he had
finally hired that assistant.
This
trio is leading the revival and expansion of the manga and animated
versions of Hellsing. Yasuyuki Ueda, producer of the original and new
OVA Hellsing series, is on the left; Kouta Hirano, the manga's creator,
is in the center; and on the right is Yoshiyuki Fudetani, chief editor
of Young King Ours, the manga anthology that publishes Hellsing and has
become a birthplace for other wild manga (such as Excel Saga) that have
been made into successful anime. "Volume eight of the Hellsing manga
came out this month," Fudetani said. "I want to have volume nine come
out before the end of the calendar year, so it's my job to make Mr.
Hirano do his work. I don't think it's possible to have volume nine
come out before the end of the year." If Hirano's manga is produced
slowly, the anime's production is on pace and a fresh episode was
previewed for fans at the Otakon panel. That preview, which shows a
more rough-hewn art style close to Hirano's drawings, has Seras
Victoria in a yellow uniform, and all but literally duplicates Hirano's
humorous superdeformed style in places. The background music also is
different in the new series than the old, and deliberately so. "I don't
like to repeat what I did the first time," said Ueda. "The music in the
first one was inspiring, but it made the first Hellsing look more like
a music video rather than a drama. In the new Hellsing we want to have
more drama, so we're going to use music in a more traditional manner."
Among
the flood of nonsensical questions asked by fans at the panel, some
gems of information emerged. Hirano noted that much of the basis of
Hellsing comes from Bram Stoker's Dracula works, and "There's a little
bit of the movie incorporated in it as well" - presumably the 1930's
film with Bela Lugosi. Another item hinted at in the first Hellsing
series around Arucard carries a lot of weight, according to Hirano: "In
the recent developments, if you can look at volume eight of the manga
he's turned into Vlad the Impaler. He's more Vlad than what you've seen
in the manga up to now." Hirano said his favorite Hellsing characters
are the Valentine brothers (who also appear in the new animated
series), joked that Walter the butler was the result of "...a figment
of my imagination, wishful thinking for wanting to have that kind of
butler myself," and said his motivation was "jealousy" in the creation
of Arucard. One fan asked Hirano if it was hard to kill off his
characters, and he replied that "I have the most fun when I'm killing
off a character." And, when asked about the running joke in the manga
volumes about needing an assistant artist, Hirano announced that he had
finally hired that assistant.
