Hellsing: The Dawn

Hellsing

The Dawn

Hellsing: The Dawn
Author	Kohta Hirano
Publisher	Shonen Gahosha
Magazine	Young King OURs+/Zokan
Other Names	ヘルシング: 外伝 (Hellsing: Side Story) (publication name)
Demographic	Seinen
Released	May 2001 Issue (OURs Zokan)
Finished	N/A (ongoing)
Adaptations	Special Supplementary

Hellsing: The Dawn is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kohta Hirano. It is a prequel manga of the mainline Hellsing series.

It first premiered in Young King OURs Zokan's May 2001 issue, and is still technically ongoing. The individual chapters were to be collected and published in tankōbon Volumes by Shonen Gahosha, however only a special issue collecting all previous chapter was released due to the limited page count of the series. 6 chapters of The Dawn was released before publications of Young King OURs Zokan, and later Young King OURs+ ceased. The series was adapted into a short, special 10 minutes episodes included within Hellsing: Ultimate OVA's 8th, 9th, and 10th episodes animated by studio Graphinica.

Summary

As the World War rages on to the climax, Arthur Hellsing, son of Abraham Van Helsing and leader of the Hellsing Organisation of the United Kingdom, received information that Adolf Hitler had entrusted an unknown man to create an army of vampires. Noticing how this could totally succeed in changing the tide of the war if they achieved that goal, Arthur entrusted young Walter C. Dornez and vampire Alucard to put an end into the operation.

Main Characters

• Sir Arthur Hellsing: Son of Vampire Hunter Abraham Van Helsing, Arthur Hellsing is a man of wits and knowledge beneath the womanizer personality he dons. Smart, he was able to take notice of the Nazi's secret operation that could've potentially turned the tide of the war had he not sent Walter and Alucard.
• Walter C. Dornez: Even at the young age of just 14 years old, Walter C. Dornez proves himself to be the strongest human personnel that the Hellsing Organisationcould offer. Yet however, he is also extremely envious and jealous of Alucard's abilities.
• Alucard: A mysterious figure that serves the Hellsing family and only them, Alucard seeks to enjoy the battle. He is Hellsing's trump card whenever a situation proves too difficult for any human to handle. The enormous power that he wields causes Arthur to use him sparingly.

Publication and Production

Around 2001, Hirano was given the opportunity to write a side-manga in the pages of Shonen Gahosha's Young King OURs Zokan manga anthology magazine. This was possible for Hirano, who was notorious for having deadline problems because the OURs Zokan books were not on as strict a schedule as OURs proper. Hirano intended for The Dawn to explore Walter's character and his eventual betrayal of the organization around that time. Yet, Hirano also described The Dawn as some sort of a side-snack; drawing it purely just for the fun of it. The story was suppose to unfold along with the Warsaw Uprising, and Hirano hinted that it would end within 80 more pages.

Until Zokan ceased publication, Hirano had released 4 chapters of The Dawn which was the direct cause of Volume 3's delay. In 2005, when the Hellsing: Ultimate OVA series was announced, Hirano and his editor appeared at Anime Expo 2005 to talk about the upcoming OVA. Young Walter's appearance in the trailer prompted fans to ask about The Dawn on a few occasions, at which point his editor proclaimed that if the fans wanted more Dawn, they would produce it. The two then shook hands, with Hirano moaning "oh great, more deadlines!"

Shortly thereafter, The Dawn moved into Young King OURs+ from Young King OURs Zokan. The first issue of which was Hellsing-centric. It featured cover art illustrated by Hirano, reprinted every chapter of The Dawn thus far leading up to the newly produced 5th chapter, and included a DVD that featured a recut version of the Anime Expo OVA trailer. After this printing, the 6th chapter was released before the publication of OURs+ ceased, and once again, The Dawn had been brought to a conclusion.

Despite its seeming cancelation, it was never officially stated to be canceled. Although the 6th chapter remains its unofficial last chapter. The conclusion of the mainline Hellsing story sparked hope that The Dawn would be continued, yet Hirano started 3 projects with Drifters being his top priority. However, Hirano has since stated that he does have a desire to finish The Dawn, but he doesn't have the time and space to do so. In 2019, Hirano noted that he'd continue The Dawn after Drifters is finished.

Releases

HELLSING外伝
February 1st, 2012	N/A
N/A	N/A
List of Chapters: The Dawn - 1 The Dawn - 2 The Dawn - 3 The Dawn - 4 The Dawn - 5 The Dawn - 6	Cover Character(s): Alucard Walter C. Dornez
Summary: During the height of World War II, Nazi Germany seeks to strengthen their soldiers with technology crafted under the influence of vampiric biology. Out of fear of this technology turning the tide of war in the Axis's favor, Sir Arthur Hellsing enlists his butler and soldier Walter C. Dornez and their Trump Card, Alucard to put a stop to the German plot, sending the two men into a conflict that will scar them both forever.

• All subsequent chapters of Hellsing: The Dawn was later re-bundled within special editions of the Drifters manga released in 2023.

Gallery

• Illustrations
• Issue Covers
• Chapter Covers

Trivia

• As of 2024, it is still unknown whether or not Dark Horse, licensor for the Hellsing manga series, would ever pick up The Dawn. Despite them recognizing the prequel series with a mere-mention within the Hellsing Deluxe Edition. Thus, rendering series unavailable to read officially outside of Japan, which has seen numerous re-releases of the series.