Vampire Princess Miyu (TV)

Original Title: 吸血姫 美夕
Romanized: Kyuuketsu Hime Miyu (or Kyuuketsuki Miyu)
Literal: Vampire Princess Miyu

Plot Synopsis

Miyu is a strange creature in a world of dark supernatural beings that lurk just below the surface of modern society. She is a Guardian, a special vampire gifted with great powers and charged with returning stray Shinma--demons who prey on human frailty--to the Dark from whence they came. She fights with Larva, her faithful Shinma servant, and Shiina, a minor demon with the power to see through illusions, but there are many forces at work against her--the many Shinma of Japan, the possibility of an invasion by Western Shinma, and even her sometime ally Reiha, another potential Guardian. But as she walks among the humans to protect them from their own weakness, is it possible that she may begin to fall victim to these human emotions herself?

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 11/20/2003

Vampire Princess Miyu is a magical girl show done as dark, gothic horror. Each element, from a rabbit sidekick to surreal battles, twists an anime standby into something darker, and the setting, a modern world with dark forces and things beyond the scope of rational understanding lying just below the surface. Although the world is at times inconsistent, and the monster-of-the-week episodes can drag on occasion, thanks to plenty of action, a number of creepy situations and moments of chilling realization, a solid voice cast, and appropriate music, the series comes out ahead on average.

So long as you don't try to compare it to the far more elegant and creative Japanese gothic horror of the OAVs, the Vampire Princess Miyu TV series stands out a dark twist on the traditional schoolgirl action genre.

US DVD Review

Tokyopop's 5-episode per disc DVDs are well done, featuring crisp video and audio (though a few spots on the video have a surprising amount of visible dirt considering how new the series is), English subtitles, a separate subtitle track of only the translations of onscreen text that can be turned off via the menus, plus full English and Japanese cast lists. The attractive menus provide access to individual scenes, plus a few goodies, but the best extra is an insert in the case with sketches of each Shinma with plenty of notes by designer Teraoka Kenji.

Content Guide

Some pretty scary stuff and some graphic violence put this into probably the high end of the 13-up range.

Violence: 3 - There are a few particularly graphic Shinma death scenes, but mostly the violence is less gory.

Nudity: 1 - Some exposed skin, but no nudity to speak of.

Sex/Mature Themes: 2 - A few implied mature themes, and a lot of stuff that's just scary.

Language: 1 - Very little strong language.

Notes and Trivia

Based on the Vampire Princess Miyu manga series by Kakinouchi Narumi.

The title is something of a play on words; it can be read as "kyuuketsuki," the Japanese word for vampire, but the final character is written using the character for "princess" (which can also be read as "hime"). The meaning, therefore, comes out as "Vampire Princess Miyu", though it could be read either "Kyuuketsu Hime" or "Kyuuketsuki."

Availability

Available in the US from TokyoPop on 6 bilingual DVD volumes. Was previously also available on dubbed VHS.

The soundtrack is also available from Tokyopop.

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