Dead Zone
From Anime Indepth
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The sixth episode of the Hellsing anime.
Summary
After recapping the events of the previous episode, Jan accesses the conference room comm system, and we’re shown that, back in the security room, Fargason is alive but badly wounded, and Jan reveals that he knows the Round Table members are meeting here, and that he’s coming upstairs to kill them. Seras appears in the security room, however, and temporarily immobilizes Jan while she escapes carrying Fargason.
Back in the conference room, Integra reveals that, while there is an escape helicopter outside waiting for them, she does not feel she can protect 11 people by herself, furthermore, the room they are in is protected by 15mm of solid lead. Seras, discovering Alucard in the lower levels, accompanies Walter to protect Integra, while Alucard waits for Luke to show up. As Integra blisters with confidence in Alucard’s ability to protect Hellsing, Walter, unleashing a stream of razor thin threads, reveals his abilities as a former Hellsing operative, devastating Jan’s ghoul platoon with back-up from Seras’ Hallconnen; Luke discovers Alucard in the lower levels.
As Alucard gets off a shot in Luke’s heart and Luke a shot in Alucard’s head, upstairs Jan summons all the fallen Hellsing soldiers, now ghouls, to occupy Walter and Seras while Jan escapes upstairs to the conference room. As Alucard and Luke regain consciousness, with Luke bewildered that Alucard is still alive, Alucard releases his control art restrictions to level 2, covering the area in shadows and releasing demon eyes and hellhounds on Luke, who, growing increasingly terrified, disappoints Alucard, who then eats Luke with one of his hellhounds. Upstairs, Seras goes insane with blood rage and tears apart the Hellsing ghouls with her bare hands, while upstairs, as Jan enters the conference room, Integra puts several incendiary mercury shells in his head, but, before Jan can be interrogated, he lights himself on fire, laughing all the while.
Trivia
-Thomas Cromwell, in reference to Alucard stating “Cromwell effect,” was the man who most openly recommended Henry VIII make himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. For more information, please visit the Hellsing Indepth References section.
-Even in the manga, Luke possesses a line to the effect of “don’t treat me like those other instant vampires,” even though the manga contains no “freak chip” vampires. In the manga, Luke can be seen as referencing the influx of vampires in general into the world, however, it can perhaps be seen as a point of inspiration to use the freak vampires in the anime, as, along with this line, the manga talks about vampires recently being implanted with chips which gauge their overall health during combat.
-The subtitles refer to Walter as the “Angel of Death”, however, in Japanese the characters are saying “Shinigami Walter (Wa-ru-taa)”, which literally translates to “Death god”.
-For the second time in the series Fargason is faced with his own limitations (the first time being the traitorous Steadler from episode 4), realizing that his trusted, human platoon was, in the end, no match for a force of ghouls and two freak vampires, and it also creates an indelible connection within him and Seras, which manifests nearer to the end of the series.
-How do Luke and Jan know about the Round Table meeting? It’s hard to say, in the manga they had the backing of the Millenium group, but here the only real way for a bunch of gang members to know about a top-secret political meeting is for there to be a leak somewhere…and yet, by the same turn, they seem to be unaware of the existence of the organization’s second vampire, Seras, so, perhaps Integra has been keeping her existence a secret to ease her superiors, who likely do not appreciate the existence of even one vampire agent within the organization.
-As a small point of interest, at the end of the previous episode, after the gunshot is heard over the communicator, the episode ends with Integra yelling “Filthy maggots!” However, right after that scene in the opening recap, Integra is calm and collected, as if she hadn’t just burst out screaming in the middle of a conference.
-“Dead Zone” is the name of a Stephen King novel which subsequently spawned a film followed by a TV series. For more information, please visit the Hellsing Indepth References section.
-This episode is based around the Hellsing manga, volume 2, chapters 3&4, titled “Dead Zone.” This episode is almost, scene for scene, from the manga, with a few exceptions, one, when Jan enters the Round Table conference, all the members pull out pistols and fire, Integra breaks down upon witnessing the massacre, Integra then shoots Jan who sets himself on fire, as usual. Second, Alucard, in the TV version, appears to have rescued/protected/sheltered wounded Hellsing soldiers, while in the manga he’s just sitting in the underground hallway waiting for someone to show up. The other difference is that, at the end of Dead Zone chapter 4, the Round Table leader has Integra personally execute all of her men, who are now ghouls, this scene is instead used at the beginning of the episode to follow this.
-This episode appears on the Volume 2 DVD, titled "Blood Brothers," of Geneon’s release of Hellsing.
