Vampire Princess Miyu - OVA

Summary: >

Being a spiritualist, you'd think that Himiko Se would be a bit spacey, but nothing could be farther from the truth. As someone who investigates mysteries of the occult in order to help people, she's level headed, logical and quite perceptive. Although knowledgeable on other worldly things, she apparently didn't know as much as she thought when she started a seemingly minor job in Kyoto. It seemed like a little girl was simply possessed by a fox spirit, but no incantations worked. And then there are these attacks by a vampire around the city. Could these events be linked?

That's when Himiko encountered her: the vampire girl Miyu. She's playful like you'd expect of such a young girl, but she still seeks the blood of humans to sustain herself. Able to appear in daylight, unaffected by crosses or holy water; she's not what you would expect of a vampire. Still, Himiko finds Miyu is also not cruel natured either. As she tends to stray again and again across the path of creatures known as Shinma, beings that are both god and demon; she may in fact need Miyu's help more often than she'd like.

Is Miyu good or evil? What exactly are the Shinma? And what is up with that guy who hangs out with Miyu? These questions and more are answered in Vampire Princess Miyu.

Thoughts: >

By now Vampire Princess Miyu is an anime classic, so obviously it has a bit of a dated feel to it. For its time, the designs and animation are quite good. It's actually a bit hard to describe what makes Vampire Miyu such an impressive title. I first watched it years ago, and I've seen tons of anime since, but still this title in particular seems to still have a unique feel to it. While it's an extensive series in manga form, introducing us to Miyu's world through Himiko worked perfectly. She encounters Miyu, but is also oddly driven to know more about her past. So this way we get Miyu's back story filled in with the regular story. It gives everything an aura of mystery, and while it's also dark and brooding in ways, it's never really heavy either. One thing I always liked about Vampire Miyu was that it's got a feel that is just so distinctly Japanese. It's not just one element, but the way that everything works together. Not like a cultural lesson or anything, it's just the general atmosphere.

So recommendations? It's hard to keep my bias out of the picture because Vampire Princess Miyu has been a favorite of mine for so long. If I were to list my favorite anime soundtracks, this title would be first or second. The story is top notch. The designs, the animation, the characters... it's all there really. If there is one pitfall of the series, it's that the dub is poor. If you can overlook that, or preferr subtitles anyway, the title is otherwise untarnished. Good stuff. Watch it.

Screen Caps: >