Castlevania: Nocturne Fans Need To Check Out This Classic Anime

There's a lot to love in Netflix's animated "Castlevania" shows. Based on the hit video game franchise of the same name, the sharply animated shows feature a fun alternate history to our own, where real-world events have been altered by the inclusion of supernatural beings like vampires and demons. There are some truly great characters with a lot of charm, some fantastically tragic antiheroes, and some good old-fashioned blood and gore. The sequel series, "Castlevania: Nocturne," has done well for the streamer, continuing the story set forth in "Castlevania" and setting up one of the best storylines in the whole saga, "Symphony of the Night." 

But even if Netflix inexplicably gives "Castlevania" the axe (or stake), there's great news for fans who just can't get enough of vampires, alternate history, amazing animated violence, and guys named Alucard, because there's a classic anime franchise that contains all of those things: "Hellsing." Not only that, but there are two fairly different versions, "Hellsing" and "Hellsing Ultimate," both based on the popular manga series by Kouta Hirano, and they're both worth checking out. If you're looking for something to watch to fill the "Castlevania"-shaped hole in your life, these classic anime shows might be your best bet. 

The latter of the two adaptations, "Hellsing Ultimate," is a 10-episode original video animation (OVA) from 2006-2012 from that hews much more closely to the source material, jamming as much of the manga's story into those 10-ish hours as possible. It's the more accessible of the two shows because it has cleaner animation and a more satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Like "Castlevania" and "Castlevania: Nocturne," it also throws the audience into a weird world headfirst and can occasionally be a little confusing, but the cool characters and even cooler fight scenes more than make up for it. 

"Hellsing Ultimate" follows the Hellsing Organization, a secret branch of the British government that protects its people from supernatural forces, headed by Sir Integra Hellsing (Yoshiko Sakakibara/Victoria Harwood), the granddaughter of founder Abraham Van Helsing. The Hellsing Organization's most powerful ally is a mysterious vampire called Alucard (Jouji Nakata/Crispin Freeman), though he's a little more bloodthirsty than the "Castlevania" character of the same name. This Alucard (sometimes Arucard) only answers to Integra, and at the beginning of the series he creates a fledgling vampire, Seras Victoria (Fumiko Orikasa/K.T. Gray), when he finds her dying from a vampire attack. This trio and the rest of the Hellsing Organization have their work cut out for them when a Nazi cult re-emerges and tries to take over the world using an army of vampires. Oh, and the Vatican have their own anti-supernatural division who are at war with the Hellsing Organization, with their own super-baddies.  

Within this apocalyptic orgy of vampire violence is a killer twist on Bram Stoker's original "Dracula" story, subverting the master and servant relationship between Dracula and Renfield with Alucard and Seras Victoria (who also subverts the Mina Harker/Lucy Westerna characters from Stoker's novel). Because the show was made by different teams, it's a little uneven in places, but seriously — who doesn't want to watch badass updated versions of classic gothic characters absolutely decimate Nazis?

The original "Hellsing" anime series was created by Gonzo and ran for one 13-episode season between 2001 and 2002. The anime features shorter episodes than the OVA and a much more serious tone (no wild Harkonnen cannon dreams here, folks!), which makes it a fairly different beast. The story diverts from the manga around halfway through and there's never a satisfying conclusion, but "Hellsing" still has a lot of the same great elements of "Ultimate," including the same excellent voice cast for many of the main characters in both the original Japanese version and the English dub, including Seras, Alucard, and Sir Integra. And while the animation is inconsistent at best, it's also more traditionally drawn than "Ultimate" and can feel kind of cozy and retro for anime fans of a certain age. 

The biggest thing that the original "Hellsing" adaptation has going for it, however, is the soundtrack. The stellar music and animation work in perfect harmony to create some incredible moments, and the songs are fantastic all on their own as well. For fans of the more operatic sounds of "Castlevania: Nocturne," the "Hellsing" soundtrack is going to be pure ear candy. 

There were rumors of a "Hellsing" movie in the works from "John Wick" writer Derek Kolstad back in 2021, so we could potentially be getting even more "Dracula"-subverting greatness based on Hirano's manga sometime soon. Though "Hellsing" and "Hellsing: Ultimate" are a bit more violent than the "Castlevania" shows and take place in a more contemporary setting overall instead of hundreds of years ago, they're still a neat treat for fans of Netflix's vampire anime.