Okay, this is basically what threw me into the Vampire Fandom, so please excuse my nostalgia, my feels and my superlatives
Miyu has three (well, actually four) parts to it.
There’s a manga, a TV anime series, and OAVs. (there are also Drama CDs but those are.. well, Drama CDs, man).
The basic idea is the same: Miyu, a vampire who “awoke” at 14, keeps and protects the world from Shinma (demons, spirits…) which she sends back to their planes of existence. She is follower by Larva (”Lover” ?), a demon whom wears a mask to show he’s become her slave/servant. She’s been around for about a hundred years or so.
Vampires are born and are “regular people” until they awoken, but in Miyu, she’s the only one around. Others are just other supernaturals.
She can hang out in the sun all right, and has a lonely life.
Depending on what you’re looking at, the series as a whole can be either Kyuuketsuki Miyu, Vampire Miyu, or Vampire Princess Miyu. Kyuuketsuki means, in Japanese, “blood sucking demon”, but in the case of Miyu, they changed the kanji for Demon into a kanji for Princess. So either some translations “add” princess, or just “ignore” the pun/kanji trick change.
It’s a shojo (”for girls”), with personal and physical horror, and with quite a bit of action, fighting and else.
The Manga
There are actually “two” manga, Kyuuketsuki Miyu and Shin Kyuuketsuki Miyu (basically “vampire princess miyu and new vampire princess miyu). Second one is basically a second season.
There’s also a spin-off called Vampire Princess Yui, who is both Miyu’s Daughter and Sister (something about her having fed form Yui’s mother while she was still pregnant…)
The manga is very beautiful, the drawings are light and easy to follow, and it’s a great horror story, a story of characters dealing with lots of struggles. I think it’s very artistic. She mostly fights against Western Demons who come to “conquer” the country, somehow, and because they want to take back Larva for themselves. Does Larva want to leave? Who knows.
The Anime
The Anime is nice but the art isn’t as beautiful imo. The music was done by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell guy), the opening is amazingly beautiful (here is the English version, with the subs).
Each episode, Miyu hunts down a demon which she sends back to darkness, with a metaplot line.
There’s also a few characters that don’t exist in the manga (a cute mascot, a human that befriends Miyu), and the general plot with the Western Demons of the manga is absent. But there are hints around.. And well, the metaplot is awesome. It’s a 24-26 episodes format series, so nothing too new or odd.
The OAVs
Four OAVs were made, before the TV series, and each episode is a specific fight against one demon in particular. The main character, tho, is a human woman, an exorcist. It’s very Buddhist. It’s super fun and interesting.
Again, amazing music, beautiful art, personal horror, beautiful scenes and screen-caps…. They were made in the 80s so fashion is very 80s Japan (those of you who watched Cat’s Eyes or City Hunter…). Still.
Miyu is dramatic, beautiful, spiritual, and all about choices, humanity, ethical, and relationships. It’s not cliché, it’s not openly spoken off, but I do recommend them because it’s beautiful.
Tell me what you think of it please! It’s dear to my heart :)
(I cosplayed both Miyu and Larva back in my early teens :D)
One of my favorite series of all time and one of my gateways along with the tv show Forever Knight. My Larva doll by Tsukuda Hobbies is still on my shelf
