Kyuuketsuki Miyu (OVA)

Title:Kyuuketsuki Miyu (OVA)
Kyuuketsuki Miyu
Vampire Princess Miyu (OVA)
吸血姫美夕 (OVA)
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , ,
Notables: R1 License - AnimEigo
Vampire Princess Miyu. . . eternally 14, eternally gifted with the job to send the "shinma" back to the darkness from which they came. But what other mystery lies in her golden eyes?

[OVA, 1988/89, 4 episodes, 25 min; see also: Kyuuketsuki Miyu (TV)]
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 7 6 7 7 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:124#1552]
Vampire Princess Miyu follows a Japanese vampire girl named Miyu and her Shinma companion Larva who are tasked with banishing stray Shinma, a race of god-demons that manipulate and consume human souls. This OVA adaptation of the manga series explores some of Miyu’s cases in hunting down Shinma and her origins, while being observed by a Japanese spiritualist named Himiko Se.

Like many OVA titles of its era, this adaptation of Vampire Princess Miyu mainly exists to give fans a sampling of what its manga source material is like and have them buy the manga to see more of Miyu’s exploits beyond the anime. As an introduction to Miyu’s premise, this OVA does a solid job exploring our female lead’s exploits and origins within its 4-episode runtime. The first two episodes serve to explore Miyu’s encounters with enemy Shinma, while the later two explore elements of her character that include her bond with Larva and her past before hunting enemy Shinma. The series carries a haunting and bittersweet tone throughout its run to show how dark Miyu’s world is when dealing with her duties and those who become involved with the world of the Shinma, allowing the series to carry an effective sense of horror as it explores more of Miyu’s world. The animation does an effective job at conveying Miyu’s setting and characters with nice animated details and muted colors to compliment the anime’s tone. Backgrounds are a bit on the sketchy side, but the OVA does an effective job at depicting its occasional bits of action that demonstrate Miyu’s power and the dark nature of the Shinma she confronts.

The OVA does have its faults. Himiko’s character contributes little to the series as she mainly exists as a human observer of Miyu’s actions, is exclusive only to this OVA from what I gather as she never appears in the 1990s TV anime adaptation that later came out, and can be a bit grating with her protests at challenging Miyu. Plus as this series mainly exists to promote its manga source material, the storytelling within Vampire Princess Miyu is largely self-contained in each of its episodes and doesn’t give viewers much to go back to, which could limit its rewatchability with some fans wanting a longer series run given Miyu’s premise.

Still if you are a fan of old-school anime and craving horror with your viewing, Vampire Princess Miyu offers solid horror and storytelling with dabbling into Miyu’s exploits dealing with enemy Shinma and her origin story.

Last updated Saturday, May 09 2020. Created Tuesday, February 28 2012.
Watch 8 7 8 7 5 8 Devil Doll [series:124#752]
[Score: 71% = Watch+. Recommended Fantasy/Horror animes: sola, Interlude]
While this short and compressed set of four OVA episodes obviously lacks enough space to develop a real story line (hence my low rating for this - I would love to have the relation between Miyu and this woman developed in more detail), it made me look forward to the TV series (that was produced 8 years later) to provide for that as well.
Miyu isn't about easy solutions, it is sad and depressing, and you can't easily put the characters into the 'good' or 'bad' drawers ... which gives this anime its unique quality. Yet, this is more like a canapé for the real show in Kyuuketsuki Miyu (TV).

Last updated Friday, June 06 2008. Created Sunday, June 08 2003.
Watch 9 8 6 7 8 7 Sesen Kelader [series:124#471]
To simply put the matter, the TV series is better. In the OVA Yamano Miyu acts less maturely than the one in the TV series, and is not so "mysterious." And for miscellaneous parts, in the TV series Larva can take off his mask with his own free will (and I like that a lot :) ) and is not "controlled" by Miyu. Moreover, he fights so violently in TV series with his nail(...) and Death scythe.
The OVA tried to compresses TV series' matter into four episodes, but I don't think they did it well.

Last updated Thursday, January 02 2003. Created Thursday, January 02 2003.
Buy 9 9 8 9 9 8 angelfury_13 [series:124#360]
This really suprised me. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Wonderful, watch it if you like dark storylines. Hint- Everyone pure in this dies.

Last updated Wednesday, August 07 2002. Created Wednesday, August 07 2002.
Buy 10 10 10 10 Pai [series:124#196]
Ah, now this is quality entertainment. Vampires and anime, what a wonderful combo! The characters is beautiful, the music wonderful. I don't think I could say anything negative about this OAV. If you don't believe it's that good, at least rent it! You will not be sorry...

Last updated Wednesday, August 22 2001. Created Wednesday, August 22 2001.
Buy 10 9 10 8 10 10 dea ex machina [series:124#166]
This was the first anime I watched that got me "hooked" on anime (as opposed to thinking that it looked good without really liking much more than the aesthetics). I really love the atmosphere of this, as well as the uniqueness of the premise. The moral ambivalence of Miyu and her role is quite fascinating and stands out from your typical good vs. evil plot. Definitely a must see if you enjoy dark, atmospheric stories.

Last updated Monday, April 02 2001. Created Monday, April 02 2001.
Buy 8 8 10 9 10 7 Mark Clifton [series:124#126]
A wonderfully dark series! If you like an Anime that never has a happy ending, this one is for you! ^_^ By the way, Larva kicks ass!

Last updated Wednesday, January 24 2001. Created Wednesday, January 24 2001.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 9 Wendi [series:124#43]
Kyuuketsuki Miyu is one of the best animes ever, in my opinion. The story is dark, haunting, and sad. It's my favorite! The first time I watched it was 5/6 yrs ago and I'm still hooked! You should definitely buy or rent it.

Last updated Sunday, May 28 2000. Created Sunday, May 28 2000.
Buy 8 8 9 9 9 8 o [series:124#15]
This is not your typical gothic vampire tale - oh no, add some traditional Japanese elements. No gore, just a dark atmosphere and a study of human nature with an interesting overall plot (despite necessary redundancy in each episode). Get the OAV.

Last updated Monday, September 13 1999. Created Monday, September 13 1999.
Buy 8 8 10 10 10 7 Tsuki [series:124#8]
The story of "Kyuuketsuki Miyu" was one of the first I watched and one of my favorites, even now. It goes into the supernatural of Japanese beliefs, and is very, very interesting, to say the least. If anything at all, watch it to see one of the most well known bishonen, Larva. ^_-*

Last updated Monday, September 06 1999. Created Monday, September 06 1999.

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