Hellsing is pretty much one of the first anime I ever watched too. I have the OVA and for some reason have yet to get past the second episode.
And Hellsing is the only manga I have ever read. The first two or 3 volumes
Goddamn was it a fucking wait for both the translated manga AND the OVAs to get released.
Kinda understandable though... in both cases it's cause Hellsing really doesn't do well... I mean in terms of R-rated J-horror schlock it's popular but that's like, 0.00001% of what sells...
I definitely got the impression Kouta was going around to different animation houses for eps 6-10 and going "Pleeeeeeease finish adapting this?

"
And like none of the animators even knew what Hellsing was, but there's like one SVP-level guy who's a massive fan that went "WE'RE FUNDING THIS."