Hellsing (ヘルシング Herushingu?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It first premiered in Young King Ours in 1997 and ended in September 2008. The individual chapters are collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha, with 9 volumes released as of October 2008. Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the mysterious and secret Hellsing Organization, as it combats vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural foes who threaten the United Kingdom.
The manga series is licensed for English language release in North America by Dark Horse Comics, in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, and in Singapore by Chuang Yi. In 2001, Hirano began publishing chapters of a prequel series, Hellsing: The Dawn, in special editions of Young King OURs, with six chapters released as of September 2008.
An anime series of the same name was produced by Gonzo. Directed by Umanosuke Iida, the series was based on the manga, but used a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka and is significantly different from the manga in terms of plot, though it uses some of the same characters and similar character designs. Spanning 13 episodes, it was broadcast on Japan's Fuji Television from October 10, 2001 to January 16, 2002. An original video animation (OVA) entitled Hellsing Ultimate is being produced by Satelight and Geneon. The first episode was released on January 22, 2006, with the OVA series following the manga story line more closely than the first anime series. As of November 21, 2008 five episodes have been released.
