HELLSING: THE DAWN

HELLSING: THE DAWN is the prequel manga to Hellsing. It takes place fifty-five years before the main Hellsing storyline, during World War II, and features a teenage Walter C. Dornez and Alucard (in a female form) on a mission from the Hellsing Organisation to destroy Millennium's base in Warsaw, Poland. It's also known in Japan as HELLSING: Gaiden (ヘルシング: 外伝,).

While its tankōbon form was released in 2012, the original 6 chapters was made back in 2001; however, it could easily be assumed that Kouta Hirano had lost a little motivations for it. At the time, the original Hellsing manga was also being written and drawn, so Hirano had very little time to work on the manga and eventually; putted the manga on a halt. It's also unknown if this manga will ever be picked up again and continued by Hirano, or it'll be forgotten and eventually; cancelled, as it has never been officially stated that The Dawn had been cancelled.

Plot
1944, Warsaw; Poland... The war, each day, gets more intense and seems to be not stopping. Each day, the Nazi gets more stronger and stronger, and they seem to plan something dangerous; creating an army of artificial Undead beings to strengthen their army, in which, their genius mad doctor, is an expert at.

While doing so, the Hellsing organisation, a secret organisation based in the UK, in which, specializes in eliminating the undead; founded by Abraham Van Helsing himself, received an information that the Nazi's Führer, Adolf Hitler, had entrusted an unknown man to create Battalion of vampires. Noticing how dangerous this mission could be, Arthur Hellsing, the Hellsing organisation's head, held a meeting with Sir Hugh Irons, about what to do.

With likely no other safe options, Arthur sent the organisation's trump card, Alucard, along with 14-year-old Walter C. Dornez, to deal with them.

Setting
Taking place 55 years before the main plot of Hellsing, the Dawn serves as a prequel to the original manga; and is set in Warsaw, Poland during World War 2. Its dark and gritty world provides the iconic aesthetic that the Hellsing manga has, however, there's a slight comedic tone to it; which features more often than its sequel. Mostly, the story unfolds in the Major's secret base.

Protagonist(s)

 * Alucard
 * Walter C. Dornez

Supporting Characters

 * Arthur Hellsing
 * Sir Hugh Irons

Main Villain(s)

 * The Major
 * The Doctor
 * The Captain
 * Rip Van Winkle

Other Character(s)

 * "She"

Chapters

 * The Dawn - 1
 * The Dawn - 2
 * The Dawn - 3
 * The Dawn - 4
 * The Dawn - 5
 * The Dawn - 6

Production
Many of Hellsing's cast reappear in Hellsing: The Dawn as the main antagonists, such as the Major, Doc, and The Captain. Since 2001, six chapters have been released and published in special editions of Young King OURs magazine. It has also been revealed that the The Dawn will be released in tankōbon form for the February 2012 release of Young King OURs issue as a mini-volume.

Hirano has never made any chapters afterwards; therefore, making chapter 6, the last chapter of The Dawn. However, the Dawn was never confirmed to be cancelled, therefore, it is unknown if the manga will continue or not, considering Hirano's known "laziness", and the fact that he's currently writing and drawing another manga.

Possible Continuation
In the Hellsing Official Guide Book, Hirano said that he would like to continue the manga - however, could not because he doesn't have any place to draw (the Drifters manga is his top priority). He also hinted that the Dawn was supposed to have 80 more chapters, which, combining it with the 6 chapters that the Dawn currently has; it makes a total of 86 chapters. He also thought about letting the Dawn's story unfold along with Warsaw Uprising.

In an interview with Pafu magazine on 2005, Hirano shows that he doesn't show much interest working on the Dawn; describing the Dawn as kind of a "snack", and he wasn't even sure on continuing the Dawn after Hellsing had ended. He later goes on stating that he created the Dawn for fun, which means that he wasn't taking the Dawn seriously - which could explain the comedic scenes appearing more frequently than Hellsings.

Hellsing: Ultimate Special
Taliesin Jaffe, the director of the Hellsing: Ultimate OVA Series has﻿ stated in a panel at Otakon 2008 that The Dawn is going to be animated as part of Ultimate. It was recently revealed in the official features page for Hellsing VIII on the official Japanese Hellsing website that the special Short Gaiden in the extra disc that comes with the limited edition of Hellsing Ultimate OVA 8 will, in fact, be The Dawn. The post also stated that the team will be working on a manuscript from Kouta Hirano himself and that the 4 pages of this manuscript will be included with the volume's liner notes booklet.

Gallery
Illustrations=