Hellsing Ultimate

I've always liked the original Hellsing, so I was excited when I heard that it would be remade. The original definitely had style, but the storyline was butchered and the pacing was questionable. I've only seen 3 episodes (each about 45 minutes) of the new Hellsing Ultimate, but so far it trumps the original in every way. More violence, more plot, more character development, better animation, and even some comedy! So far this series has been great, and many things that were confusing or didn't make sense in the original fit in perfectly. I highly recommend anyone who liked the original give it a try, and even if you didn't like the original or never saw it...give it a shot!

Claymore

So I had heard good things about this manga and I decided to try it out the other day. I had watched an episode of the anime and I didn't really like it. The choreography was poorly done (basically just still frames from the manga) and the gray outfits were boring. However, I was pretty bored so I gave the manga a shot.

It started out rather slow, the first few arcs were rather bland. However after a bit it picked up and I began to enjoy it. I ended up reading all 73~ chapters that night. The story is fairly dark and there is no humor. The fights are interesting, and the general concept is as well. Basically, Claymores are women who fight yoma (monsters) with giant claymores. The Claymores are part yoma themselves (which gives them the power to fight and sense yoma). Any Claymore that releases too much yoma power will cross the line and become an Awakened One, unable to return to their human form.

One of the downsides is that almost all of the characters are Claymores - blonde haired, silver eyed women who all have claymores and the same outfit. Telling the characters apart can sometimes be difficult or down right daunting.