Anime Review: Vampire Princess Miyu

Earlier this year, around Halloween, I did a group-watch with some friends of the anime OVA series Vampire Princess Miyu. I also apparently completely forgot to put a review up at the time – time to fix that.

Vampire Princess Miyu follows, indirectly, the title character – Miyu – a vampire tasked with hunting down demons who seek to harm humans, though she has little interest in actively protecting humans herself. Our point of view character for all of this is an exorcist and medium, Himiko, who is also pursuing various monsters, but frequently finds herself outclassed and outmatched by her opponents and ultimately ends up needing to be saved by Miyu and her familiar, Larva.

The way this plays out over the course of the OVA is that it effectively serves as the horror film of the episode. Each episode, we encounter a new demon that’s preying on humans, with Himiko either hired to investigate or eventually going because she suspects she’ll find Miyu. Miyu is also, independently hunting this demon, and the two of them uncover the mystery behind the demon’s actions and their goals – with the story often ending with some note of tragedy. Generally, Miyu shares very little information with Himiko, with Himiko doing most of the digging on her own, until she hits a particular point – which is when Miyu basically gives Himiko an “atta-girl” and explains whatever she hadn’t been able to figure out yet, leading to the confrontation with the demon and its eventual defeat – though not necessarily without innocent blood being shed before that point.

There’s some continuity between the stories, but that mainly is made up of Himiko’s steadily learning more about the more powerful spirit threats she’s up against, and about Miyu’s capabilities. However, Miyu herself remains something of an enigma until the last episode, where we get her origin story.

The animation of the show is great, and gets across a moody and atmospheric tone. It makes for a horror series that rather than being scary instead creates a more gothic and spooky tone. There’s a sense of dread and a lingering awareness of the mortality of all the characters involved, instead of relying on scares with grotesque or horrific imagery.

In all, I enjoyed the OVA, and do intend to hunt down the TV series at some point in the future. I do also hope that the manga does receive a license rescue – it had been licensed by Studio IronCat before they closed their doors.

Vampire Princess Miyu is available on: