buffy move over   June 30, 2007

Miyu is really cute   January 21, 2005

Is she friend, or fiend?   October 29, 2003

[Run Time: 50 minutes]


from Fringe Video Fanzine Issue #006   March 4, 2003
  3 out of 6 found this review helpful

In-depth sometimes confusing character driven manga with an occult edge about a girl who just happens to be a vampire. At times the animation is remarkable, other times still un-moving animated cells fill the screen. -/In "Unearthly Kyoto" As demons strive to gain control of the earths mortal plane a spiritalist named Himiko travels to Japan to help a child in a coma. Rumors of vampire attacks lead Himiko to discover the mysterious Vampire Princess Miyu. Although its hard to tell at first, ["...is she friend or fiend?"] this little girl-like princess is battling the evil Shinma demons who attack the human race. -/"A Banquet of Marionettes" explores the Miyu charactor further as we discover that she offers humans immortality in exchange for the blood she so requires. The last episode on disc one begins with several mysterious disappearances at a school. At the site of each, a strange doll has been found. Here we meet Miyu, now apparently a student, lusting after the soul of the school hero.
In the second disc Miyu offers the spiritalist the truth about herself, in return for her help battling the demon Shinma. Miyu's job is to gather stray Shinma on Earth, and return them to the dark. Aiding her is Larva, a silent, masked companion, protector, and friend. In -/"Fragile Armor" Miyu and Himiko team up to battle the armored monster as Himiko learns further secrets of the vampire, but can she put the pieces of the puzzle together in time. The last episode -/"Frozen Time" has the spiritalist learning of the small girls past, and their connection and future together. These original four episodes are contained on two discs. Another 21 episodes exist to confuse matters further?


Enter the Princess   December 31, 2002
  5 out of 5 found this review helpful

These episodes mark the first appearance of Miyu, a vampire who has been chosen to hunt demonic creatures called Shinma. Shinma feed on human misery and disaster, which they accomplish through a variety of seductive schemes. Miyu's companion on this lonely, and often grim, task is Larva, a Shinma with whom she has shared blood. In these early stories, it is never clear if the hero of the stories is Miyu or Himiko, a young spiritualist who perceives Miyu as a threat just as great as the demons the vampire hunts.

In the first episode, "Unearthly Kyoto," Himiko comes to the city to investigate the strange circumstances surrounding young princess Aiko, who pricked her finger on a rose, and now has been unconscious for 60 days. At first, this seems to have nothing to do with a series of deaths in which the victims are found drained of blood. It is only when Himiko is confronted by the creature doing the killing and Miyu who is hunting it, that she comes to believe that Aiko is more than a victim of a tragedy.

Then, in "Banquet of Marionettes," Himiko, hired to find and eerie doll that has suddenly appeared and disappeared, again crosses Miyu's path. This time Himiko is granted insight into Miyu's own struggle with ninjo and giri (duty and desire) when the vampire competes with a Shinma for the love of a boy. However, Miyu is frustrated as we watch this Kabuki-like puppet show unfold.

Artistically and story-wise, these OAV episodes are the best of the Miyu series so far. The work, often very dark and Gothic provides perfect settings for the disquieting, tragic tales. What the TV series has that the OAV does not is a high standard of animation, while these tales are most often drawn minimalistically against a beautiful, but static background. All deserve careful attention, as both series are significant deviations from the traditional 'Vampire Hunter D' fare.