Hellsing for the Day

Saturday was the first day of Anime Vegas, the small (a few thousand attendees) con at Cashman Center in North Las Vegas.

Saturday’s highlights centered on one of the Japanese guests of honor, Kouta Hirano, creator of Amy’s favorite manga, HELLSING. On Saturday, the con held a lottery for tickets to get a sketch from Hirano. I was one of the 30 people who won.

As the photos show, I received a very nice sketch of Hellsing character Seras Victoria from Hirano. I mustered my limited Japanese sufficiently to tell Hirano the sketch was beautiful; and to wish him a fun time in Vegas.

That evening brought the premiere (possibly the world premiere; it hasn’t debuted yet in Japan) of the second volume of HELLSING ULTIMATE OVA, the animated adaptation of the manga which features a bigger budget and a more faithful version of the manga than the 2001-2002 TV series. The episode was subtitled. This second episode (which tells the story of the nasty Valentine Brothers’ assault on the Hellsing Organization’s headquarters) featured dazzling animation of the vampire battles, leaving the TV series’s animation in the dust.

After the lights came up, I notice Hirano in the back of the room. I thanked him in Japanese, which earned me a deep bow from him.