is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally adapted as a 4-episode original video animation (OVA) series released in 1988 and licensed by AnimEigo, and later as a 26-episode television series released in 1997 and licensed by Tokyopop and later Maiden Japan.
Plot The series takes place in Kyoto, and follows Miyu Yamano and her Western Shinma companion, Larva. The daughter of a human and a Shinma, Miyu was born a vampire and awakened as the Guardian. She is tasked with hunting down stray Shinma and sending them back to the darkness. Before she turns 15, she longs to return to the darkness herself, but not until she has banished the Shinma from Earth and learned who she truly is, as this information has been withheld from her since her awakening.
Most locations in the series evoke traditional Japan.
Characters
Main
Miyu (OVAs) (Japanese), Pamela Weidner-Houle (English, AnimEigo dub), Annemarie Zola (English, Manga Entertainment dub) Miyu (anime) (Japanese), Kimberly J. Brown (English, ep 1–7), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English, ep 8–26) A girl who appears to be around 13In the OVA. or 15In later volumes of the manga. years old, but is actually much older because she is a vampire. Her origins and personality differ between adaptations: in the OVAs, she is the child of a human father and a vampire mother in post–World War II Japan, while in the anime she is the child of a human mother and a Shinma father, who was the previous Guardian, in pre-World War II Empire of Japan. In the OVAs, Miyu is childish, manipulative, and playful, while in the anime, she is more reserved yet kinder. In both adaptations, Miyu becomes the Guardian, also known as the Watcher, after losing her parents. She has the power to teleport, levitate, open dimensional portals, and attack with fire. In the OVAs, she fights in several attires, while in most media, she usually wears a short pale blue kimono with a red ribbon around her right foot. Although she is a vampire and must drink blood to survive, Miyu is unharmed by sunlight, holy water, or crucifixes, and her reflection is visible, which may be because she is half human. She chooses her victims carefully, as she usually chooses those who have suffered loss and offers them to be with their loved ones in their dreams in exchange for their blood, putting them into an endless state of daydream or sleep. Miyu is protective of Larva and, in the manga, is implied to have feelings for him. In the anime, when she disguises herself as a human, she goes by the name .
Larva (OVAs) Larva (anime) A Western Shinma. In the OVAs, he arrives to kill Miyu and prevent her vampire blood from awakening. However, after he accidentally triggers it and she drinks his blood after he lowers his guard, his face and voice are sealed behind a mask as punishment for his failure. In the anime, Larva confronts Miyu after she becomes the Guardian, but she drinks his blood after he defeats her. In both cases, Larva starts out as an unwilling ally, but later pledges to be by Miyu's side because he can sense her sorrow, such as during their blood-bond, and in the manga, it is implied that he has feelings for her. Larva can use his nails to attack and, in the anime, also wields a scythe. In the anime and manga, he can access Miyu's flame powers but rarely does so, saying it reminds him of his greatest defeat. Unlike in the OVAs, in the anime and manga, Larva can speak and remove his mask. His name is derived from the lemures of Roman mythology, who are also known as larvae; his mask may derive from the fact that "larvae" is Latin for "mask".
Shinmas are demons from another dimension called the darkness who possess the powers of shapeshifting and flight and take advantage of human souls for their own gain, luring them with illusions of their dreams or desires. After escaping into the human world after being sealed in the darkness for thousands of years, it is the job of a Guardian vampire, such as Miyu, to return them to the darkness. While it is implied that they feed on human emotions, there are some instances of Shinma feeding directly on humans, such as Ga-Ryu, who drinks blood, and Koh-Waku, who devours them. Not all Shinma are inherently evil, however. Some use their abilities to interfere with humans for their own purposes, while others help humans by targeting others. Shinma can come from several countries, including Japan, China, and the Western side. The kanji for Shinma literally means "god-demon".
OVA series characters
A cynical, stubborn and knowledgeable spiritualist who meets Miyu during a job in Kyoto. Their paths cross throughout the series as Himiko searches for her, initially convinced that she is a monster with no redeeming qualities, but later changing her mind after learning more about her and Larva. At the end of the fourth OVA, Himiko is shocked to realize she met Miyu as a child. It is implied that she has vampiric traits that have yet to manifest, as she was the first human to exchange blood with Miyu after she became the Guardian.
Appearing in Episode 1, Unearthly Kyoto, he is a boy from Kyoto whom Himiko befriends. His girlfriend, Ryouko, was murdered by a "vampire", which he did not know was actually a Shinma, and he blames himself for being unable to protect her. Because of his grief, he later accepts Miyu's offer to exchange their blood, which Himiko witnesses. At the end of the episode, he is in a catatonic state; Miyu, disguised as a schoolgirl, tells a group of girls not to worry about him since he is happy now.
Appearing in Episode 1, Unearthly Kyoto, she is the only daughter of a rich, traditional family in Kyoto who has been in a coma for 60 days. Her parents call Himiko, believing her to be possessed, which Himiko confirms, but is unable to exorcise the demon and is attacked by a Shinma, but Miyu saves her. Himiko later learns that after Aiko and her parents were injured in a car accident, they donated their blood, which is implied to be hh blood, to save her life, after which she fell into a deep depression and blamed herself for their deaths. The "parents" that called Himiko were either ghosts or Shinmas, so she tries to exorcise Aiko again, and it is revealed that she made a deal with the Shinma that attacked Himiko, letting it roam in exchange for it recreating her former life, including her parents. Before Miyu banishes the Shinma, she tries to bite Aiko as she did to Miyahito, but Himiko interferes, and Aiko passes away after the Shinma is banished.
Appearing in Episode 2, A Banquet of Marionettes, she is a Shinma of the second tier who places the essences of her victims into life-size dolls and hides them in a school's warehouse in Kyoto so she can drain their life over time. She fell in love with a student at the school, Kei Yuzuki, in whom Miyu is also interested. Kei, who has grown tired of his mundane life, wishes to be with Ranka even after discovering that she had been using him. Since he voluntarily gave himself to Ranka and she fell in love with him, Miyu is forced to banish them both after she transforms him into a creature like her at his request. In the manga, Ranka is portrayed as an ally of Miyu and the ruler of the second tier of Japanese Shinma.
Appearing in Episode 3, Fragile Armor, he is an old friend of Larva who seeks to release him from Miyu. He uses magic as well as a human who became a Shinma, with his soul trapped inside of a samurai armor. Miyu, believing that Lemures has targeted her to become the leader of the Shinma, confronts him with Himiko's help, but he seals Larva inside a wall. However, Larva breaks Lemures' spell after his puppet Shinma captures and injures Miyu. Instead of banishing Lemures into darkness, Miyu kills him with fire as punishment for kidnapping and harming Larva.
Lemures also becomes a recurring antagonist in the manga.
TV series characters
Miyu's best friend at school and a student at Tokiwa School For Girls, who is unaware that she is a vampire or of her supernatural activities. In the final two episodes of the series, it is revealed that Chisato is a dormant stray Shinma and the main antagonist.
A Shinma who resembles a cartoonish bunny and is an ally of Miyu and Larva. Like all animal Shinma, she has one regular eye and one yellow eye usually covered by one of her ears; her yellow eye allows her to see great distances and dispel illusions.
A Yuki-onna who possesses the powers of levitation, teleportation, and manipulating wind and snow. Her widowed father, , was the leader of a group of Shinma protectors who were tasked with ensuring that a guardian would emerge during the Taishō period, which turned out to be Miyu. After the Bird Shinma, Black Kite, killed him, she discovered her ice powers after encountering a feasting Shinma. Since then, she has been Miyu's rival and has sought to destroy Shinma because she believes Miyu is not up to the job. She is less sympathetic than Miyu and is willing to kill those who stand in her way of destroying Shinma. After freezing the city, she and Miyu fight each other in a final confrontation. After Matsukaze's sacrifice, Reiha unleashes a blizzard that overwhelms Miyu before Larva breaks free and decapitates her. Her body, however, picks up her head and leaves, vowing to return one day and defeat Miyu.
Reiha's talking doll companion, who, like Reiha, is hostile towards Miyu. During Miyu and Reiha's final confrontation, Matsukaze uses his ice abilities to trap Larva in an ice barrier so Reiha can fight Miyu, and later sacrifices himself to protect Reiha from Miyu's flame attack.
Miyu and Chisato's classmate, who is tomboyish and protective of Hisae and Chisato. Chisato kills her and Hisae soon after they discover Miyu's true nature.
Miyu and Chisato's classmate, who is shy and intelligent and loves to read. She senses something strange about Miyu and tries to investigate. However, Chisato kills her, and Yukari soon after discovers Miyu's true nature.
Manga characters
A human who fell in love with a Shinma. After Miyu banished the Shima to the darkness, she later teamed up with other Shinma to take revenge on Miyu. It is later revealed that Yuma spent the rest of her life pursuing Miyu in order to destroy her and, on her travels, encountered several characters from whom Miyu had drunk from in earlier chapters.
The daughter of a human woman and a Shi, another type of demon, who physically appears to be twelve to thirteen years old. She is more shy and reserved than Miyu, and naive about the world. She is part vampire, as Miyu's blood runs in her veins after she fed on her mother while she was pregnant with Yui. Yui was drawn to Miyu's realm as part of a plan to resurrect her. Yui's weapon of choice is cherry blossoms, which she can manipulate; she grants this power to Miyu after giving up her own blood so Miyu can be resurrected. She is the protagonist of the spinoff manga series Vampire Princess Yui.
A Shinma and Yui's protector, who cares deeply for her. Despite his short temper, he is a loyal companion and allows Yui to feed on him as she refuses to feed on humans.
Cast +OVA series castCharacterJapaneseEnglishAnimEigo/ Swirl Films (1995)Manga Entertainment/