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. As of March 2009 all chapters have been released in 10 volumes in Japan. Hellsing chronicles the efforts of the mysterious and secret Hellsing Organization, as it combats vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural foes who threaten England. Both the manga and OVA adaptation are noted for their heavy violence.
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 Geneon. It follows the manga storyline more closely than the anime series. The first episode was released in Japan on February 10, 2006, and as of December 26, 2012 all ten episodes have been released. The sixth OVA in the series was made available on both DVD and Blu-ray; both Blu-ray and DVD editions of episodes one through five are available in Japan as of October 22, 2010. The first episode was released in North America on December 5, 2006, and as of November 13, 2012 eight episodes have been released.