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Information | |
Title (English) | Vampire Princess Miyu |
Title (Japanese) | Kyuketsuki Miyu | Advertising Fantasy Novel | ![]() |
Notes | Vampire Princess Miyu vol#1 by Narumi Kakinouchi. Graphic Novel, US pub. Dec 2001, Studio Ironcat, 14x21 cm, approx 200 pp (un-numbered), $17.95 usd. ISBN 1-929090-16-1 (5+vols available) Original publication Akita Pub. Co. Ltd, 1989. |
Manga author/artist | Narumi Kakinouchi |
Date | 2000 |
Publisher | Studio Ironcat |
Edn. Language | Eng |
ISBN (review vol.) | 1-929090-16-1 |
Pages | 200 |
Price | $17.95 |
Size | 14x21 cm |
Cover | ![]() |
Synopsis | Vampire girl aided by demonic familiar banishes demons to the underworld. |
Review | This manga is closely bound up with the Vampire Princess Miyu anime which is better known. The manga author Narumi Kakinouchi is married to Toshihiro Hirano who directed the OVA anime. She is also credited with character design and animation on the anime. The original manga and the anime both appeared in 1988. Vol #1 is the first of the VPM mangas and contains 6 self-contained episodes, generally set around high school and in which Miyu bites several young victims, endowing them with a perpetual half-life of pleasant dreams. She is also battling and despatching the Shinma who are after the same prey. Miyu's teenage hormonal emotions sometimes conflict with her task. The tales frequently are ended in a visual and ambiguous way. The art style and the character designs of male and female characters are typical of shoujo manga - designed to appeal to high school girls. This volume is produced Japanese-fashion - it starts at the back and the art is not flipped. These self-contained stories are not very substantial and there is no ongoing narrative; instead there is a repetition of theme. Miyu spends more time agonising about her past and her situation than she does in the anime. This volume does not tie in with the anime at all, but at least one of the 4 OVA episodes (the doll episode) resembles a later manga story. In this volume Larva reveals his face, which he never does in the ovas and only rarely in the TV series. Al in all, the manga is much less compelling than the OVAs which had the advantage of somewhat better scripts, colour and superb background music. The manga also suffers from the same contradictions as the anime. Miyu can walk about in daylight and in various other ways fails to conform to the vampire stereotype. Her bite at best offers the sort of comfort offered by your friendly local drug dealer and is at worst fatal, so just how (apart from being beautiful and romantic) is she any better than the creatures she fights? Verdict: Pretty, but perhaps of more interest as a companion to the anime than as a work in its own right. |
References | Original publication Akita Pub. Co. Ltd, 1989. See anime OVAs and TV, also various websites. |
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