Current mood:	tired
Entry tags:	cons (conventions), hirano, manga, ova

A few things about the panel
Hirano-sensei, the producer and the publisher of Hellsing were present. The panel started with introductions and went straight to questions from the audience, some fun tidbits:

1) When someone asked if some of the stories like "Angel Dust" will be part of the ova, Hirano-sensei asked the young man what was he doing reading stuff like that and how old he was! He also jokingly said he didn't know those titles. You can say that the indirect answer was no XD.

2) The orchestra music for the series was being recorded in Warsaw as the panel was going on...the producer said the mp3's of the recording will be in his inbox tomorrow.

3) Someone asked about the fall out with Gonzo. Hirano-sensei said there was a small problem but he was not bothered by it. He also mentioned that there were problems with Gonzo even when the original Hellsing was about to begin. The producer also mentioned they liked what the new studio was doing (and judging from the clip, it is VERY good!).

4) When asked if "Crossfire" and "Jan and Luke Weather's report" will be animated, Hirano-sensei said he forgot about it XD. The producer said that for "Crossfire", they don't need to animate it because the characters already appear in the main story line.

5)Young Walter. The question was if the side stories will be ever continued? Sensei responded that the publication where they were originally released was no longer being published so there was little to do about that. However he left it to the publisher, looking at him. The publisher asked the crowd if they would be interested in seeing more young Walter, to which the crowd went mad. He said "we will release more in the fall!". Hirano-sensei shook hands with him and proceeded to say "More deadlines!"

6) There was a rude and annoying question which has been asked before regarding why are the main characters of Hellsing and Trigun (which happen to run in the same magazine) so similar and if he knew Mr. Nightow. Sensei responded that he really likes Trigun and that he knows Mr. Naito and that the similarities might come from the fact that he likes Trigun. So he was sorry about that. The producer also mentioned that Hirano sensei and Nightow sensei are from the same generation and like the same things. The publisher at one point had wanted to bring them together to a convention but they had been unable to do it. The guy that asked the question had implied that someone had told Naito at a different convention to buy the Hellsing manga (to see the similarities??) and asked the audience if he should...Most of the people present at the panel were annoyed at this and booed the person who asked this inane question and made the comment.

7)Someone asked where does sensei come up with Iscariot's army speech. He said "deadlines" XD

8) When asked about favorite characters, the publisher said he liked all characters but his favorite was Anderson because "he was not insane but was full of conviction". The producer said he liked Pip Bernadette because he gets to be lovey with Seras XD. Hirano-sensei said in the men: Anderson and Alucard and in the women: Seras.

9) The relationship between Alucard and Integra, someone asked where will it go. Hirano sensei said their relationship was master and servant and twisted love like that can be allowed XD. That's all he said about it XD (and it does make sense XD)

10) I just remembered this. Someone asked in the panel how he came up with everything happening in London. Hirano-sensei said that he had gone on vacation to London and the people in the hotel had been very rude. So it was an opportunity to get his revenge on London XD

11) As previously mentioned before, the ova doesn't have a set number of episodes since the manga is continuing so it is up to Hirano sensei.

There is more but I didn't take notes and that is all that I remember, people who were at the panel should add more XD

Edit: Hellsing trailer was awesome and if you are not up on the manga (well into manga 8), it is full of spoilers. It opens with an airplane with words saying "Warsaw, Poland 1944 and the bombs drop. Then the next is a little boy with long hair (hint, hint) with a huge gun all in shadow surrounded by ghouls. Then you see Alucard opening a door with his guns and then switch to the boy in shadows smiling widely. Sera's pose from manga 7 with the twin guns when the zeppelin is about to go to Hellsing is shown. She is wearing the original color uniform, yellow/brownish. You also get to see the part of Alucard when he arrives in London and bows to Integra (he is in shadows, you can only see the tatters of his clothes flying around). You see Doc, Walter, Pip (YAY!), Alucard and Anderson fighting, the whole Rip scene in the ship and when Alucard crashes. The zeppelin over London, the troops and the burning swastika. We also get to see glimpses Enrico, Major and a little bit of Dark Walter. The whole thing is put together really well and everyone was super excited. The song in the trailer is called "Broken English" and is performed by Schaft.