Vampire Princess Miyu...
I've always had a fascination with vampires, so, of course, Vampire Princess Miyu had to come home with me...
According to the liner notes for Vampire Princess Miyu...
Vampire Princess Miyu was more of a dramatic piece that happened to include vampires then the tale of horror I was hoping for. I was thoroughly bored from start to finish and I actually fell asleep while watching this title twice. I used to have both subtitled VHS volumes. I gave Vampire Princess Miyu a 1 out of 5. In the aftermath of the Ultimate Otaku Fall Cleanup, I decided not to keep it in my archive.
Sometime ago, AnimEigo produced a trailer using a track from the Vampire Princess Miyu soundtrack, specifically, Shinma Lemures. I really wanted that track, so, I picked up the soundtrack CD. The Vampire Princess Miyu soundtrack CD has 19 tracks and I liked 10 tracks for a total of 52.6% which works out to a rating of 3 out of 4.
Volume 1
Vampire Princess Miyu. Is she friend, or fiend? As the demonic forces of the Shinma strive to obtain a foothold upon the mortal plane, Spiritualist Himiko seeks the truth. Join us now for two elegantly chilling journeys into the occult - Japanese style!
Unearthly Kyoto
Himiko travels to the ancient capital of Japan to exorcise a slumbering child, only to be confronted with a wave of vampire attacks. Here she meets the mysterious, childlike Miyu and her silent, enigmatic companion. Is Miyu behind the attacks? or does she, too, seek the real culprit? And if so, why?
A Banquet of Marionettes
Himiko is hired to investigate several mysterious disappearances at aschool. At the site of each, a strange doll has been found. Here she again meets Miyu, now apparently a student. Miyu has designs on the body, and perhaps the soul, of the school hero, Kei. But so, it seems, does another...
Volume 2
In this volume, two more tales will bring to a head the confrontation between Miyu and the Shinma, and reveal the terrible secret that binds the fates of Miyu and Himiko.
Fragile Armor
Himiko agrees to help Miyu defeat a ghastly armored monster. In return, Miyu tells the tale of how she met Larva, her silent companion. Later, Himiko learns of the tragic fate of a husband and wife. Meanwhile, a beautiful young man with a ghastly laugh circles and waits. Who is he? What is the secret of the Armor? And what of the Shinma? Can Himiko put the pieces of the puzzle together in time?
Frozen Time
Himiko travels to Kamakura, a childhood home. There, she dreams of herself as a child, running in terror from a mysterious mansion. Now the mansion has a new tenant: Miyu. Miyu at last tells all -- of her discovery of her true nature after her first meeting with Larva, of the secret concealed by Miyu's parents, and of the night that Darkness and the Shinma gathered together. And, finally, Hirniko realizes what it is that has bound her destiny together with Miyu's... forever!
The Title: The actual kanji reading of the title is "Kyuuketsuhime Miyu," which literally translates to "Vampire Princess Miyu." However, the series creator, Kakinouchi Narumi, used a variant reading of "Kyuuketsuki Miyu," which translates to just "Vampire Miyu," and this is the official Japanese title of the series. With the permission of Sooeishinsha, we decided to use "Vampire Princess Miyu" because it more accurately conveyed the original meaning of the Japanese title.
"Shinma": We decided to use the term "Shinma" as it appeared in the original because there is no equivalent English term that properly expresses the concept. "Shinma" is in fact a made-up word that was created by Ms. Kakinouchi by combining the kanji for "Kami (God)" and "Ma (Demon/Devil)." As any given kanji may be read one way by itself, and in one or more other ways when used in combination with other kanji, a Japanese writer who decides to coin a new word has a great deal of flexibility in deciding how it will be read. Thus, in "Shinma:" the first kanji, "Kami," is read "Shin."
"Larva" and "Lemures": The Japanese language uses fewer distinct sounds than English; one example is the lack of distinction between "R" and "L" sounds in Japanese, which results in the old joke about "Flied Lice." This presents problems for the translator when an English word (especially an obscure one) is rendered in Japanese and subsequently must be converted back into English. What is actually being said in the videos is "Labaa" or "Lavaa" ("B" and "V" are almost indistinguishable in Japanese) and "Remuresu," but there was no clue, either in scripts or other published materials, of the proper English versions. Was "Lavaa" supposed to be "Laba," "Lover," or "Lavah?" We didn't have a clue, so we went right to the source: Ms. Kakinouchi, the author, who provided the correct romanizations.
Vampire Princess Miyu was more of a dramatic piece that happened to include vampires then the tale of horror I was hoping for. I was thoroughly bored from start to finish and I actually fell asleep while watching this title twice. I used to have both subtitled VHS volumes. I gave Vampire Princess Miyu a 1 out of 5. In the aftermath of the Ultimate Otaku Fall Cleanup, I decided not to keep it in my archive.Sometime ago, AnimEigo produced a trailer using a track from the Vampire Princess Miyu soundtrack, specifically, Shinma Lemures. I really wanted that track, so, I picked up the soundtrack CD. The Vampire Princess Miyu soundtrack CD has 19 tracks and I liked 10 tracks for a total of 52.6% which works out to a rating of 3 out of 4.
