Vampire Princess Miyu

Vampire Princess Miyu is among one of the many underground and little known anime titles of the late 1980s. Most people would naturally write off shows like these popping up around this time as a sort of generic, simplistic garbage. I can see why though, one does not need to search far to reinforce the pure late 80's cheese we all know. Yet Vampire Princess Miyu does stand out among many shows and for good reason. While the ever growing theme of vampires have been done over and over again, this anime offers a unique approach to the gothic and vampire aesthetic. Instead of justshooting for a straight typical vampire story, it offers a lot of difference in terms of storyline and execution. It tells a short tale of a girl named Miyu, whose destiny is to banish demons called Shinma and return them to the land of the dark. She is then pursued by a strange woman who desperately wants to find out about her origin. Already, we have a very unique and engaging plotline. Sadly, despite it's very short length, it becomes incredibly repetitive very fast. Each episode is told from the perspective of the woman who is hunting after Miyu, trying to stop her from taking innocent human lives. It follows an incredibly repetitive and formulaic approach to storytelling, which makes for in turn, very predictable outcomes. Of course, I could not also go without mentioning the main thing that never fails to drag down old school anime: the voice acting. I felt as though if I had watched the subbed instead, I would have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of the show itself. The incredibly laughable and non-emotional dialogue between characters is really what dragged it down so much, but I suppose it's something that was to be expected. Yet, like with all late 80's shows, I just love the "rough" look of everything. The animation is nothing short of very well down. The mysterious demons and environments are incredibly detailed and add a very great atmosphere. The action sequences, while very few, definetly keep you enthralled. As for the characters themselves, there was a good number of development going on. It delved into all of the main character's back stories without feeling incredibly forced and overdone. It gave a very good insight on each of the three involved. Despite all of this, the very short length, awful voice acting, and very formulaic episodes are what makes it just satisfactory, rather than anything noteworthy. However, the fact that this short little OVA will never see the light of day for most people, it is really worth your time to check out, as it won't take anymore than 2 hours. A very unique and awesome approach to vampire storylines and great use of visuals and atmosphere.

Vampire Princess Miyu (the 1988 OVA) is a masterpiece of gothic horror. It is the legendary "Dracula anime" that you have been waiting your whole life to see, without so much as knowing that it ever existed. If all you're looking for is a quick recommendation, then you have my blessing to go and watch it right now; I have already given this OVA my highest possible endorsement, so you can stop reading here and thank me later. Your time is sacred, and so too is beautiful artwork. If you are looking for a more thorough introduction, read on. Vampire Princess Miyu (the franchise) is alsoone of my favorite IPs of all time. Without spending too much time discussing the specifics of the OVA, I'd like to explain a bit as to the matter of "why" that is, as well as express my strong feelings about the Miyu IP in a more general sort of way. This will require discussing both this OVA and the 1997 revival TV anime series, which I will do in an entirely spoiler-free way and at no great depth. To that end, this may read a bit as a heartfelt history lesson, moreso than a review... At first. My hope is that you will eventually see some of what made/ makes this series appeal to me, decide on a watch order, and experience "Miyu" for yourself. And now, a brief history of "Miyu in the West." In the West, knowledge of Vampire Princess Miyu (the franchise) would have mostly been confined to an older generation of otaku, who happened to be very active during the dog-days of VHS hunting... The era when all anime were considered "obscure," by Western standards, and some happened to be less obscure than others. These individuals would have likely been between the ages of 15 and 30-something years old around the time of the OVA's release and, further still, likely also had some direct or indirect connection to Japan, through which they were able to source their anime. That is already a very exclusive group of people, and the problem only gets worse as time goes on... I shall continue. While I was not alive at that time, going off of the various second-hand accounts that I've obtained through former hardsubbers, I have developed the understanding that, while Vampire Princess Miyu (the OVA) was 'known of' amongst Western otaku, it was still a fairly obscure IP at that time. This seems to have been a result of being buried by other anime which were popular at that time... Namely, Maison Ikkoku, Kimagure Orange Road, Urusei Yatsura, etc... as well as having the problem of needing to be translated, in order to be understood. In summary... In order to watch this OVA, in the West, at the time of its release, you first would have needed to: 1 - Have been an active otaku VHS-hunter. 2 - Have known that Vampire Princess Miyu (the OVA) exists. This process would usually involve either direct mention from another otaku, with some connection to Japan, or buying a physical Japanese-language catalogue and attempting to read it. 3 - Have been actively hunting for the VHS. 4 - Have successfully sourced the VHS, likely either from a college club, or else directly from Japan. 5 - Have devised a way to consume the content. This could have involved knowing how to speak Japanese, getting a Japanese-speaking friend to translate it for you, obtaining a rare, hardsubbed VHS from an anime club, obtaining a synopsis write up and/ or consuming the anime without actually understanding any of its contents. Failing any of that... And you likely would have failed, somewhere along that chain... You would have to wait until 1996, when AnimEigo released a dubbed version of the OVA to VHS, and either buy it or rent it from your local video store (Ie: Blockbuster,) assuming it was locally available. This would have been the easier way to watch this OVA, by far, all the way up until AnimEigo released it as a DVD in 2001. If you missed that, then you probably would not be watching it until anime entered the fully digital age, sometime between '07 & '12... At which point, somebody would have likely uploaded it to an early streaming site. Even then, at this late stage, you most likely would not have known about the existence of "Miyu" (the OVA.) By this point, this OVA would have been over 20 years old, and a bygone phenomenon. Yes, there was a made-for-TV anime series, but this did little to draw attention towards the OVA, which pre-dated it by around ten years. Unless you were an extremely early MAL-user, or you were otherwise introduced to the OVA by some other friend, website, or happy accident, then there was only one other way to learn about it. This final way would have been to somehow catch the dubbed version of the 1997 revival TV anime series, enjoy it enough to care about the franchise, and eventually come to learn about its superior counterpart later in life, as a result of your dedication. Lo' and behold, that is exactly what happened to me. I got my first taste of "Miyu" (the 1997 anime) as a teenager in the later 00's, via its release to Comcast's infamous 'DVR' selection, not ever knowing that OVA existed until just recently. For those not familiar, Comcast would occasionally release anime titles to a dedicated subsection of their On-Demand video titles, called "Anime On Demand" or just "Anime." These titles often included that which was far beyond the pale of what your average kids would have been familiar with at that time, or been groomed to expect at their local video stores. You would often see titles with extremely dark themes released to this platform, without any warning whatsoever to the consumer. While by no means the worst offender, "Miyu '97" was no exception to this pattern, and this is precisely what I liked about it as a teenager. The format of the "Monster of the Week" also worked well for a release to DVR, because anime releases to DVR came in batches, and were never consistent. In other words, you were very likely to be missing episodes, in between updates to the catalogue. Considering the format, that didn't matter so much, and it was okay by me at that time. I recently revisited that anime for the first time in fifteen years, rounding off the episodes I had never seen, and ultimately completing my rewatch just prior to watching this OVA. Half a lifetime had passed, in the time since I had last seen it... And yet, I was surprised to see how well most of the episodes held up over the years. While its visuals and the school setting are somewhat dated by today's standards, the 1997 anime boasts an utterly impressive soundtrack, excellent Japanese voice acting, an often-excellent episodic structure, and a unique aesthetic feel that has stuck with me all my life. The titular heroine, Miyu, is a complicated character, but mostly likeable and very unique. Her motivations are so unlike other heroines in anime, and that is what I find so fascinating about her. Without going into depth, Miyu can be called neither good nor evil. So marked are Miyu's and Reiha's actions throughout the duration of the '97 anime, that I am forced to laugh any time that a mid-wit poseur claims Madoka Magica to be a """deconstruction""" of the magical girl genre, in any way whatsoever. Yes, it is true that, among the 26 episodes, there are a handful of stinkers. Episode 18 comes to mind, as does the very end of the series (which I appreciated, for what it was, but did find unintentionally funny at times.) Even those episodes were charmingly awkward and/ or funny, and were inoffensive in the grand scheme of things. But of course, the number one thing which makes Miyu '97 so noteworthy-- and this does carry over to the OVA-- is that almost every episode, no matter how good or bad, hits you with an ending that absolutely slaps you in the face. Just watch episode 2 and tell me that I'm wrong. Miyu '97 may not be the bloodiest show that you will ever watch, but it will always deliver some of the coldest, most brutal scenarios and episode-endings that you will see put to anime. This brand of horror-factor is the main appeal of the franchise, as I see it, and thus I have elected to underline it here. You will be creeped out, and thrown off. Queue my contemporary introduction to this OVA, through MAL, and I have totally fallen in love. The OVA completely does away with all of the nonsense that the TV-anime did not need, and leaves you with only the undiluted essence of what makes "Vampire Princess Miyu" (the IP) so great. There is no more school setting, no Pikachu-esque mascot character, no convoluted re-writes of established source material, no episode padding, no occasionally-terrible artwork, and no bullsh!t. All four episodes are fantastic. This is a beautiful anime; the soundtrack is once again excellent, and may I just say that it really does show that the entire thing was drawn on cels. Best of all is that Miyu completely drops her TV-anime stoicism act for this OVA. Miyu is an evil little b!tch, and you will love every second of it. She is totally different from the Miyu in Miyu '97, and that's an incredible thing to see once you have that context. The final product is easily a 9/10; maybe a solid 10, under weaker standards. The fact that this OVA not only scored lower than the TV anime series which it easily surpasses, and no higher than a 7 at the time of my writing this review... while crap like Freiren sits on top of the whole pile... is such a funny joke that I forgot to laugh. Now, the question is: Do you watch the OVA first, or the TV anime which succeeded it? Personally, I would elect to do as I did, and watch the TV anime first, assuming you have the time and interest to do so. Otherwise, just watch the OVA if you're short on time. If you can manage to get through the TV series first, however, you'll really appreciate both products more, both on an individual and a collective level. The most compelling reason to do this is because the TV anime does possess a slew of great episodes, but is also a flawed series. Trust me when I say that you will not want to miss '97's best episodes, or its best "mic-drop" moments. I also appreciated the creative process behind the '97 anime much more in retrospect, after watching its source material unfold before me in real time. But you won't want to bother completing a 26-episode slog, if you watch the OVA first only to find yourself disappointed with what comes next. Either way, definitely watch the OVA no matter what, if for no other reason than the visuals.

Welcome back, my friends, to horror anime month. This week we'll be looking at an OVA about a vampire. After last week I needed something with a strong and well developed female character who isn't sexualised, so we're looking at Vampire Princess Miyu. Vampire Princess Miyu originated as a manga by a married couple: Hirano Toshiki and Kakinouchi Narumi. You may recognise him as the director of Magic Knight Rayearth, Devilman Lady and many others. Her works are quite a bit more obscure so if you've heard of her it's probably going to be because of this or Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo, which shedid the illustrations for. Vampire Princess Miyu has two adaptations, an OVA from the late 80s and a TV series from nearly a decade later. I might get to the TV series at some point, but right now let's look at the OVA. There's not a major over-arching story for this. Basically, each of the episodes tells a different story. The first begins with a spiritualist named Himiko. She's called in to investigate a young girl who's been asleep for months. A condition that her parents believe is caused by possession. When she investigates she discovers that women have been being found with all the blood drained from their bodies. She's attacked in the dead of night by a swift moving robed figure and finds herself rescued by a girl in a kimono, a girl who feeds on blood and knows more than she'll reveal. Don't worry, I'm not going to do that for all four episodes. One thing I can say to the OVA's credit is that it has some really good suspense, a lot of which is created through mysteries. In the first episode you're left wondering what exactly is attacking people and what its connection to Miyu is or even if there is any. Every episode has a mystery like that, except for the last which answers a mystery that's been building for the entire OVA. The only real downside is the second episode which isn't nearly as suspenseful or interesting as the rest. A lot of the issue is that its mystery has an obvious solution virtually from the beginning. It's not really scary, but it does have some legitimately creepy moments so it's doing better with the horror aspect than everything I've reviewed so far this month. There are really only three characters worth mentioning in this. Miyu, Larva and Himiko. The other characters show up for one episode or part of an episode. A few of them do get developed, but most just serve a very specific purpose and never get actual development. As for our three major characters, Miyu is fascinating. A lot of the details about her are left unsaid, but very effectively illustrated. She's a multi-faceted character who's neither a paragon of virtue nor a blood sucking monster. She has a great deal of verisimilitude. Larva is less developed. He's a very mysterious character with motivations that are touched on a bit, but not much. He's mostly defined by his protectiveness of Miyu. Himiko is another interesting character. She wants to find and stop Miyu, but frequently ends up on the same side as her. She's the most relatable character since she's an ordinary human who's trying to make the most of extraordinary circumstances. So there's a lot of character depth for these three. Especially when you factor in the number of episodes. The art is reminiscent of 3x3 Eyes. The character designs use the same basic style and both feature very stylized and interesting supernatural elements. Vampire Princess Miyu has very atmospheric art. The backgrounds, the character movements, the entire aesthetic really, helps with the sense of suspense. That isn't to say that it's perfect. There are some scenes where the characters mouths aren't in sync with their dialogue but that's a minor complaint. The biggest art issue is that the action scenes aren't particularly intense. They tend to end pretty quickly. Although I'm not going to hold it against the series too much because it does use that time effectively to build suspense and develop the characters. The voice acting is pretty well done. I really like Watanabe Naoko's performance as Miyu. The laugh especially is just perfect. Which is good since you hear it quite a bit. Koyama Mami doesn't do as well in her role as Himiko, but she still does a good job. Shiozawa Kaneto only gets a few lines, but he gives a good performance. The music in this is amazing. It works with the art to establish and maintain a really strong atmosphere. Kudos there. The yuri factor is a 1/10. There's really nothing homoerotic here. My final rating for the Vampire Princess Miyu OVA is a 7.6/10. The stories have good suspense. The characters are well developed and interesting. The atmosphere, from a combination of the art and sound, is amazing. If there's one thing that holds it back it's the second episode and even it's okay. If you like 3x3 eyes or suspense in general you'll probably enjoy this too.