Hellboy Animated : Sword of Storms

Wait a minute, tell me - why is everyone so annoyed by Hellboy's legs? Yeah, I know - you probably don't know the original comic and first encountered "Rudoch" in Del Toro's blockbuster. There’s no need to sneer. As a big Hellboy fan, I have to say that this cartoon was a hell of a success. It's got (apart from the cigars and some blood) everything I know from the books and pages. The simpler animation suits Hellboy perfectly, the music is also appealing, but the biggest win is still the story, which has the old Mignola oozing out of it in all directions. Magical passages like the heads (they are even in one of the comics, which was a pleasure), spiders, the water monster or the final battle against demons and their minions, definitely have the right atmosphere. A plus is, of course, the dubbing of the characters and then the whole charmingly colorful environment - Japan suits Hellboy. I give it five honest stars and I am very, very happy. (10/10/2010)

I think it's great that even for two animated films (and one short film), they managed to get the actors from the film version to lend their voices to their characters. On the other hand, due to a different animation style than the classic Mignola drawing, this film feels quite ordinary. It lacks the right mysterious atmosphere and becomes quite average. Yes, there are mysteries here, there are elements that are typical for Hellboy - legends and stories from various mythologies - but suddenly it sounds strange when one is not familiar with Hellboy's universe. (12/03/2014)