About Kyuuketsuki Miyu

Vampire Miyu is based off of a manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi. It first became short four part OVA series in 1988. While generally true to the manga, it was a particularly dark series. In the 90's, another series was produced that was separate from the OAV. It follows a more typical adventure by Miyu. Overall it was more upbeat and more like a magical girl anime.

----- FAQ -----

What is a Shinma? Are there really Shinma in legends?

There in fact is no such thing as a Shinma. The word itself was made up by Kakinouchi, so no there aren't Shinma in legends, although some are based off of folklore. The word Shinma consists of two Japanese characters (kanji): Kami - meaning a god, and Ma - meaning a devil. Japanese Kanji can have a variety of pronunciations depending upon the word, or how various kanji are grouped with other kanji. The kanji for kami is pronounced "shin".

The word itself gives definition to what a Shinma is - a being which is both god, and demon. Shinma are grouped together in clans. In the OAV they point out that Larva's clan is a renegade clan, in the manga there is clarified to be a difference between Western and Japanese Shinma (Larva being from the western sect). The Japanese Shinma lay in slumber, probably for the rest of eternity. It is Miyu's task to return the Shinma who do not sleep to the darkness. This also means that eventually Larva will have to be returned to the darkness as well.

Is the title actually Vampire "Princess" Miyu?

Um... yes and no. The word for vampire in Japanese is "kyuuketsuki" consisting of three kanji, which directly translates into sucking-blood-spirit. If I'm not mistaken this word came directly from China. However if you look at the title, the third kanji has been changed by Kakinouchi to be princess, so the new word is sucking-blood-princess (pronounced "Kyuuketsuhime"?). This is a nice little play on words that the Japanese occasionally like to do, but unfortunately gives translators nightmares. AnimEigo decided to keep the translation for princess when the released the OAV. The manga however was still translated just to Vampire Miyu.

Who is Yui?

Vampire Yui is sort of a spin off series of Vampire Miyu The third kanji is also changed for Vampire "Princess" Yui, but I'm not getting into that again. Yui's father is a Shinma, and her mother has heritage from Shinma, and blood from Miyu, so it's all sort of tied in there. The story of Yui is totally set apart from that of Miyu, although she does make an appearance in Shin Vampire Miyu.

----- Voice actors (OAV) -----

Character         Japanese Voice         English Voice
-------------     ------------------     -----------------
Miyu              Watanabe Naoko         Pamela Weidner
Se Himiko         Koyama Mami            Stephanie Griffin 
Narrator          Naya Goroo             David Stokes  
Ryooko            Kobayashi Kiyoko       Connie Nelson
Miyahito          Toriumi Katsumi        Shaun O'Rourke 
Aiko's Father     Nakamura Hidetoshi     Turner Knox 
Aiko's Mother     Matsuoka Yooko         Hope Brownewell 
Doctor            Genda Tetsuyoo         Lee Dominick
Ranka             Shoo Mayumi            Belinda Bizic
Yuzuki Kei        Horikawa Ryoo          Michael Granberry 
Shiba             Ueda Toshiya           Tom Maddis 
Kei's Mother      Asai Toshiko           Ellen Lee 
Kei's Brother     Kubota Masato          Robert Wailes 
Kayo              Shinohara Emi          Linda Carlisle 
Larva             Shiozawa Kaneto        Zach Hanner
Lemures           Mitsuya Yuuji          Chad Carlberg
Miyu's Mother     Ikeda Masako           Melissa Stanley
Miyu's Father     Suzuki Kiyonobu        Bob Sayer
Akiko             Takada Yumi            Jessica Watson 

-----  Vampire Miyu TV ----------------------------------

Miyu              Miki Nagasawa
Larva             Shinichirou Miki
Chisato           Asao Shirakura
Yukari            Chiharu Tuzuka
Hisae             Kokoro Shindou
Shiina            Mika Kanai