Vampire Princess Miyu: Volume 2 (1988) – DVD Review

Vampire Princess Miyu, or Kyûketsuki Miyu, is an interesting tale about well, a vampire. The movie broken up into four “episodes” over two DVDs, so we’ll be breaking up our review the same way. This interesting little anime has a nice twist on the vampire sub-genre and really plays more in drama than in horror (which is definitely not a bad thing). Director Toshihiro Hirano (Devil Lady) does an excellent job bringing a fresh look into the tired vampire genre. Note: This review is for the second two episodes in the series.

Rating:

Episode 3: “Fragile Armor” – In the third episode, Himiko Se (Stephanie Denise Griffin) agrees to help Miyu (Annemarie Zola), a vampire who happens to look like a child, defeat an insanely powerful suite of possessed armor. In return she demands answers to some of her (and our) questions regarding the vampire princess and the ever-present Larva (her silent companion). As the story unfolds, not only does her story come to light, but things begin to fall into place on all sides of the series.

Episode 4: “Frozen Time” – The fourth episode brings back our two leading ladies. This time, Himiko wanders into a mysterious mansion where she finds out that Miyu grew up there, discovers how Miyu became who she is (both interesting, but after a while rather tedious), and what her life was like before she was turned into a vampire. Miyu was a pretty obnoxious little girl, but it’s interesting to see the trauma she went through that caused her to become so uncaring later on. The audience is also treated to a bit of info on Himiko and how she ties into Miyu’s world.

The second disc of Vampire Princess Miyu is a lot faster paced out of the gate then the first film. The story moves quicker, and by the end of “Fragile Armor” the audience has a much better grasp on what is going on. There are still unanswered questions, but we do learn the full extent of Himiko’s power, what Miyu’s limits may be, and even who the bad guy is (up until this point, almost nothing had been explained). It does get a little convoluted and the audience won’t realize, until the end of the fourth episode, that the story technically ends at the end of “Fragile Armor” and “Frozen Time” plays out as more of an epilogue.

The animation, while dated by today’s standards, is nowhere near as bad as some anime I’ve watched. There are some scenes where action lines form around the characters, but for the most part the movements of the characters are rather fluid and believable (as much as vampires and demons can be).

Now, you’re all probably wondering about the action. After all, this is a vampire flick. Well, the action definitely picks up in “Fragile Armor” from the first two episodes of the series. It turns into a four-way battle royal and leaves two of the characters dead. It’s at times like these that the story shines its brightest (mixing story and action), and I’d have to say that “Fragile Armor” had the best action in the series (along with a great twist ending). Sadly, almost all action is sucked out of the fourth episode. “Frozen Time” plays more as a long expositional piece then an actual story piece and suffers greatly in the action field. I think there was one actual flourish of action.

The characters’ motivations become much clearer in the last few episodes. Miyu continues her quest to find an unknown force until she enlists Himiko’s help to save Larva. And what about Himiko? She’s been chasing Miyu the whole time, yelling at her constantly about how she’s not going to let her drink any more human blood, but is there something more to it? There just may be. I think the back story about Miyu is cool when it’s being told, but on the screen it grinds the momentum to a halt and seriously hampers the pacing of the series.

As it stands, Vampire Princess Miyu is a good anime. In my last review I said it was “pretty damned good”, but after finishing the series I’d say it’s just good. If at all possible, pick up the first volume and watch those two, then let your mind wander to where you think the series is going (or, watch through the third episode and stop there). Otherwise you may be disappointed when a potentially amazing anime falls flat on its face.

EXTRAS:

IMAGE GALLERY: This time, the only extra feature is an image gallery that’s set to some of the theme music from the show.