In today’s episode of Anime Breakfast we’re going to talk about Hellsing, an anime that takes the theme of religion and criticizes it with some healthy black humor, lots of blood but, above all, battles with demons, monsters and supernatural creatures in a show of gratuitous violence !
We ended the year 2023 with a nice top of the best anime 2023! Instead, we want to start 2024 with a much less family friendly episode, with violence that is very rarely seen in the media in general. But the strong point of this anime is not the huge amount of violence (which, it must be said, is a great pleasure for the eyes), but its strong criticism of the Christian religion. That’s right, you read it right, the anime we will talk about today criticizes Christianity without any filter, which has always been an extremist religion and which repudiates any other religion. Kota Hirano (take a look at his biography) he in fact had the courage to freely express his thoughts on Christianity, focusing heavily on his toxicity and the evil it creates in its extremism with his greatest work that made him famous: Hellsing.
A dark world | Anime Breakfast: Hellsing and the criticism of Christianity
Before we talk about why this work is courageous, we want to introduce you to the world of Hellsing. First, the work takes its title from a London family house, namely Hellsing. Why is this family so important? The Hellsings, from generation to generation, have continued to struggle in a world ruled by supernatural creatures, that is ghosts, ghouls and vampires, creatures that have always been hidden from the eyes of ordinary people, which is why they have always been considered urban legends to scare children and therefore considered fictitious creatures. In reality, things are very different from what people think: monsters are real.
One of these monsters, Alucardis in fact a weapon of the Hellsing family, which has been hidden for some time to face a great threat with the aim of conquering the world and establishing a new empire: and the Nazis. But not just any Nazis, but Nazi vampireswho want to take revenge after being defeated, but above all they want to realize their broken dream: the destruction of London. Vampires, therefore, especially Nazi ones, always remain monsters, horrendous creatures to be destroyed, which must be stopped, thus confirming the rule of supernatural creatures that remain threats to humanity. In reality, however, as we have said, Alucard was created to protect the worldconsequently to destroy the Nazi vampire organization.
When religion hurts | Anime Breakfast: Hellsing and the criticism of Christianity
You will believe, then, that the story is about Alucard being the exception to the rule, that not all monsters are monsters and that not everyone deserves death and hatred, right? Hellsing isn’t just that. In the work, in fact, there is a character on which Hirano’s criticism is based, namely that the extremism of Christianity is harmful. What happens during one of the protagonist vampire’s patrols, in fact, is the clash against the prete Alexander Anderson. Anderson is a priest sent by the Vatican to counter the threat of vampires, considering them to be beasts of the Devil, creatures to be destroyed, without exception.
Anderson is convinced of doing good, of helping the world, even clashing with Alucard. Aside from the epic nature of their fight, the message is very clear: extremist Christians are a danger to the world. What we see in the clash, in fact, is Anderson misunderstanding Alucard’s intentions, focusing on his monstrous appearance and his nature as a vampire, superficially believing that Alucard is another monster to be destroyed. But he’s lucky that Alucard isn’t like the other vampires and he got it harsh training from House Hellsing, becoming a skilled fighter both with firearms and in close combat. The dualism between Alucard and Anderson, in any case, is the most interesting aspect of Hellsing, which makes Christians think a lot with a question: What is God’s message?
Your race does not define you | Anime Breakfast: Hellsing and the criticism of Christianity
And we come to another message that Hellsing wants to convey to us: not all monsters are monsters. Of course, Alucard is an extremely violent protagonist, who has no qualms during his clashes with his opponents and is almost a machine at the service of the family that created him, protecting at all costs Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, or the new leader of the house, daughter of Lord Hellsing, who created Alucard specifically to protect her daughter in case someone made an attempt on her life. Alucard is a creature created to serve the family to protect it, but Integra has decided to train the vampire to become the defender of the human race.
In the end, in fact, Hellsing becomes a battle between “good” monster and bad monster, that is Alucard against the Nazis. At this point the anime becomes one spectacle of pure violence, an intense, stupendous violence, a violence that becomes a true expression of art, with the London vampire sent to massacre Nazi vampires, staging another war that breaks out between London and Germany. What Alucard does in his fights, in fact, especially in the final part full of explosions and blood, is real entertainment. The violence seen in this work has a beauty that easily surpasses all American action films, because of its freedom of expression and black humor.
What is good and what is evil?
The doubt that awakens the author of the work, in all the violence and political incorrectness that can be seen in Hellsing, is what really is good? Fight in the name of God? Spread his word, without taking into account other religions, other points of view and other traditions? What is evil instead? Don’t accept the religion of a God that doesn’t belong to you? Stick to the ideas you created? Even though Hellsing is a spectacle for the eyes, the morality is based precisely on this, on the criticism not only of Christianity, but of every sort of religion that wants to impose its own rules, lacking respect for other people’s traditions or, in any case, causing harm convinced instead of doing good for the world.
Father Anderson’s actions are in fact wrong, even if carried out in good faith, following an ideology that is probably not even innate in him, but which was simply instilled in him by the Vatican. Anderson is a Christian slave to his own religion, a closed-minded man who is unable to open his horizons. This puts the world in serious danger as he becomes a great obstacle for Alucard, making it difficult for him to defeat the real threat and save the world, only because Anderson is an extremist Christian and doesn’t look any further. Therefore, if you believe in a God, this does not mean that you cannot do so freely, but do not make it so extreme that it hinders others.
The Anime Breakfast episode ends here! With this, we strongly recommend recovering Hellsing, a work that absolutely must be seen, Christianity or not. Continue to follow us on TechGameWorld.com for the next episode of Anime Breakfast and much more from the world of cinema!
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