Hellsing - Protecting a very Japanese England

I've never been a massive anime watcher but what with my obsession with all things vampire I picked up the first episode of 'Hellsing' the other day.

Basically the story follows the fight of the Hellsing Organisation, pledged to protect Queen and Country, against the spawn of satan, the dreaded vampires in the most bizarre looking England you've ever seen.

Based on a Japanese shounen manga by Hirano Kouta, the animation is very slick, atmospheric and quite disturbing at times. Obviously as this is anime the first episode kicks off with a lingering look at a women in S&M gear before the gunplay starts.
But there's some nice touches along the way. Rekindling some of the old vampire legends, when one of these blood-suckers bites you, you're more likely to turn into a brainless, order-obeying zombie rather than another vamp.

So good stuff so far, complete with a spooky vampire priest and of course the strange shadowy figure of Alucard the vamp-turned-vamp-hunter who is obviously going to reveal more of his oh-so-secret past as time goes by (I wonder if it has something to do with what his name reads if you spell it backwards - shades of Son of Dracula perhaps)

Oh and of course, the woman who Alucard is attracted to looks a bit like a small child. With giant breasts.
Those crazy japanese.

Worth a look anyway. I picked up the japanese version for a tenner on ebay but I see in SFX that they're coming out on Region Two with an English dub too...