Once gods and demons lived together with humans, but now they sleep in the Dark. The sleep of these beings, the Shinma, is not a quiet one. Disturbed human minds call the Shinma from the Dark to wander in the human world.
The Vampire Clan was set the task of guarding the Shinma's sleep and returning stray Shinma to the Dark. But of that clan there is only one girl left to guard against the Shinma.

Her name is Miyu, Vampire Miyu.

Vampire Miyu is a series of four OAVs (original animation videos), a current TV series and six volumes of manga (Japanese comics) written and drawn by Narumi Kakinouchi. She has also written a "Comic Novel" and Vampire Yui, five closely related volumes of manga. A Dahlia: The Vampire book was recently published; there is supposed to be an upcoming live-action movie to go with it. Toshihiro Hirano co-wrote the five Shin Vampire Miyu: The Western Shinma Saga books and directed the anime.

Manga:
Lemures impersonated a vampire, killing all of Miyu's intended victims even though he gained no sustenance from them. He was in Japan when Larva first came. They had said they would drink a toast in Miyu's blood when she was killed. After Miyu returned Lemures to the Dark, Larva promised his friend that when they were both in the Dark they would drink the toast using his blood -- blood that was mixed with Miyu's.

Anime (OAV 3):
Lemures imprisoned Larva and used a deluded human spirit to attack Miyu. Lemures' magic had used the suicide of a woman to put the soul of her dead husband into a suit of armour. Miyu was unable to defeat this creature because it was not a true Shinma. Lemures was lured from hiding and reduced to ashes. Before Lemures died, Larva managed to tell him that he wished to stay with Miyu because he understood her sorrow.

Main Characters

Miyu is an eternally 13 year-old vampire charged with hunting shinma (god-devils) and returning them to the dark. In the Miyu manga and anime, vampires do not suffer from holy symbols, exposure to sunlight, garlic nor any other of their usual problems. They do, however, drink blood. By giving her blood to a human, she can give that person eternal life or let them live in a dream world. The similarities between Miyu and the shinma that she returns to the dark are frequently examined in the anime and manga.

Larva is a Western shinma that came to Japan to kill Miyu before she became a vampire. However, he waited too long; when he finally decided to kill Miyu his touch awakened her vampiric nature. Miyu gave him some of her blood, and he is bound to her because of this. Since that time Larva has worn a metal mask (in the anime, he is also forbidden to speak). Larva is Miyu's eternal guardian and her only friend. His presence greatly improves Miyu's skill in returning shinma to the dark. Presumably, when the last of the other shinma are returned to the dark, Miyu and Larva will follow.

Himiko Se is a spiritualist who appears in (and narrates) all of the anime, but she is not in the manga. Although she originally wanted to destroy Miyu, she later begins to accept that a vampire doesn't need to be evil. In the last episode of the anime, it is revealed that Himiko has carried Miyu's blood since childhood, and will eventually become a vampire.

Yui is a vampire of the same clan as Miyu. Her mother was bitten by Miyu and her father was a shinma. Miyu hopes that Yui will help her return the stray shinma to the dark. Just as most of Miyu's powers are associated with flames, Yui uses sakura blossoms. Yui, along with her friend Nagi, appears in most of the manga.

Nagi is the brother of a man that fell in love with Yuki, the vampire twin to one of Yui's ancestors. Like Yui and Miyu, he lives without aging; he is a member of a "ghost clan."

Ichirou looks implike or perhaps elfin, but is actually a werewolf. This is revealed in the third volume of Shin Vampire Miyu. In wolf form he defeats Water Lipper. He only appears in Shin Vampire Miyu.

Shinma

Raen appeared in the first OAV. Like Baku of Japanese myth, this shinma fed on dreams. Raen possessed a young girl that thought of herself as a vampire. It gave her dream-parents and took the form of a traditional vampire, including all of the vampiric limitations. The girl died when Miyu returned Raen to the Dark.

Ranka is the shinma in the second OAV and the backup story to Shin Vampire Miyu volume two. She takes the lives and souls of people, leaving them as Japanese dolls. When Miyu broke one of the dolls, it bled. Miyu and Ranka were in conflict over a handsome boy (Kei). In the end, Ranka and Kei entered the Dark together.

Western Shinma

Amy manipulates fire. He is a good friend of Spartoi. Since he burns the mother and her daughter who took care of Miyu when she was separated from Larva, Miyu gets really mad at Amy. "Go through the pain that you gave to that mother and her child, then die," Miyu says. Her flame kills him.

Cait Sith is the most evil shinma in this story. He has a secret aspiration to resurrect his mother, the greatest witch Caial. He orders his subordinates, Gigi, Gio, and Gia, to distract or kill Yui so that she can't resurrect Miyu. He searches for a dagger which can destroy the seal with which Miyu's ancestor sealed Caial.

Carlua is Larva's young cousin. When she was little, Larva left her to go to Japan in order to kill Miyu. He promised her that he would be back, but he became Miyu's servant and never returned. She came to Japan to get Larva back. Carlua loves Larva so much that she hates Miyu for possessing him.

Lemunia is Lemures' younger brother and friend of Carlua. He likes her a lot. When he tried to kill Yui, he got injured by Gigi, Gio, and Gia. Yui tried to cure him, saying "How hard it is to be betrayed by own companions...." He dies while preventing Gia from killing Yui.

Night Gia manipulates dreams. He attacks Miyu by using her dreams, particularly her memories of her childhood and awakening. He dies in volume 1.

Pazusu is almost like a father to Larva and Carlua. He was a friend of Carlua's father. After Carlua's father was killed by Caial, Pazusu took care of Larva and Carlua. Like Carlua, he came to Japan because of Larva. He tries to destroy Caial's body (now a stone statue) because she killed his friend, but he cannot stop her resurrection. When he destroys her body, he gets injured by one of the pieces of the broken statue. He keeps it in his body because he realizes that it can be her weak point. When Larva asked for Caial's weak point, he gives the stone piece to Larva, but dies after that.

Spartoi is a good friend of Larva and Amy. He uses a dragon that acts as his armour and a sword. He seems to be simple-minded. Spartoi grew up with Larva.

Water Lipper manipulates water. She fights with Ichirou, but at the end of the fight, she is killed by Gigi, Gia, and Gio.

Caial was a great witch that one of Miyu's ancestors killed, but she can be resurrected if her seals are broken by a special dagger. Her body has taken the form of a stone statue. Her son Cait Sith and her former servants Gia, Gio, Gigi and Gima are trying to resurrect her.

Gia, Gio, Gigi and Gima used to serve their mistress, Caial. Now that she is dead(?), they serve Cait Sith to help him to resurrect Caial. Gigi, Gio, and Gia kill Water Lipper and Lemunia to prevent their duty from being disturbed. Gima is killed by Aoi and Gia is killed by Miy

Lemures was a friend of Larva's from before Larva came to Japan. The anime and manga give differing stories about him, but in both he tries to remove Larva from Miyu's control.

Title: Vampire Princess Miyu (OAVs)
aka: Kyuuketsu Hime Miyu

Cast:
Miyu ..................................... Naoko Watanabe
Himiko Se ................................... Mami Koyama
Narrator ..................................... Goroo Naya
Larva ................................... Kaneto Shiozawa
Akiko ....................................... Yumi Takada
Kei Yuzuki ................................. Ryo Horikawa
Doctor ..................................... Tessho Genda
Armored Shinma ............................. Tessho Genda
Miyu's mother .............................. Masako Ikeda

© 2004 Immortality, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
View CREDITS for links.

* This page was meant to be viewed in frames. If the navagation frames are missing, please click here to view the site in its proper form. Sacrosanctum.org and all site contents, graphics, and design © Immortality, Inc. 2003, except where noted. Please visit CREDITS page for graphic and text credit information and links.