Vampire Princess Miyu, Vol. 01

Vampire Princess Miyu #1

by Narumi Kakinouchi

In order to preserve the original integrity and the haunting details of the delicate line art, this saga will be printed in a Special Japanese Format Graphic Novel Edition reading from right to left. Follow the adventures of Miyu and her faithful companion Larva as they hunt wandering Shinma and come to terms with their place in the human realm.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Vampires, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Paranormal

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Narumi Kakinouchi (垣野内 成美 Kakinouchi Narumi ) is a female Japanese manga artist, animator, director, character designer, and an animation director. Some of her work has appeared in the adult manga magazine Lemon People.

After graduating from high school, she began working at Studio Beebo under the direction of Tomonori Kogawa, then moving on to Studio Io, Artland, AIC and other studios where she was an animator, designer, and animation director on many TV series and OVAs. She made her manga and character designer debut with Vampire Princess Miyu. Due to her magnificent artwork, she became very popular even outside the anime and manga scene, doing illustrations and character designs for many other projects.

Kakinouchi made her key animation debut with her work on the 1980 series Space Runaway Ideon. She then garnered great attention as the character designer, storyboard artist, and animation director for the Vampire Princess Miyu OVAs in 1988, and in March of that same year she co-authored the first Vampire Princess Miyu manga, serialized in the mystery/horror monthly manga magazine Susperia.

She made her directorial debut with Ryokunohara Labyrinth in 1990, in addition to being the character designer, scenario creator, storyboard artis, and animation director for the OVA.

Kakinouchi is married to anime director Toshiki Hirano.

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for complete series



Miyu, guardian of the lost shinma, banishes the demons to their darkness and prevents their contact with humans. But not all humans want to be apart from the shinma – and not all shinma are evil. With that, Miyu does not only face the lost shinma of this world, but also threats of revenge from both sides. Yet it seems there is an eternity left before her task is won.

Vampire Princess Miyu is one of the most confusing manga I have come across and that is mainly due to its clumsy start. You are tossed into the story without much explanation of what shinma are, what Miyu is (other than a vampire but it is obvious that she is not your traditional vampire) or what exactly happens to the people whose blood she takes. After reading a volume or two (and with the help of a little research) I got the gist of it and was able to follow the story for the most of it. It is still rather confusing and the beginning is very episodic – that also makes it more difficult to get into.

As mentioned, Miyu is a vampire. But she is certainly not your traditional vampire. One could describe her as a combination of Western vampires and Japanese lore. What Miyu has in common with Western vampires is her need for blood, her immortality and cold and pale skin. However, she can move freely in daylight and does not take any harm by things such as crosses or holy water. She is not a vampire because she herself was bitten once; she is a vampire because she is half human and half demon.

With her half-blood, she became immortal during her mid-teens and stopped ageing physically. She makes a rather intriguing character because she is neither good nor evil. She hunts the demons called shinma and sends them back into the darkness because it is her duty. She hardly ever lets her emotions get in the way of that. Because of that, she leaves a trail of angry people who come to seek revenge. On top of that, it often seems as though there are two different personalities within her. One of her former life as a human, and one of the immortal demon guardian. Sometimes she will be childlike and has a rather cheeky and playful side to her. But then she can be a competent and serious opponent when her duty calls.

Her whole of being a vampire and needing blood seems vastly secondary; when she drinks someone’s blood, she also gives them their eternal dream. It seems these people either die or continue living in a kind of trance in which their soul lives on in their most desperate dream. In most cases, it is shown as her doing these people a favour. She is giving them their dearest dreams rather than letting them suffer on and grow old in a cruel world. I heard someone say they think Miyu is shallow because she only chooses “beautiful” victims. I would have to disagree with that, though; my interpretation is that she chooses victims with beautiful souls (not that that rules out a beautiful appearance). She has also given it to those who she believes deserve that happiness.

Despite Miyu’s neutrality throughout most of the series – she has let one or the other shinma slip away who eventually became her friends and allies. Most notably, her partner Larva. He was a shinma who was sent to kill her before she became immortal. Instead, he was there when she awoke as a guardian and has been her loyal friend and servant ever since.

Miyu sometimes appears to sway between acceptance of her immortal life and longing and sad memories of her childhood. She questions the loneliness that comes with immortality and feels as though she has failed her mother by not staying human. This gives the series an overall melancholic feeling. While it is tagged as horror, I would not classify it as such. It is a rather dark story with many tragic fates. It is not the type of book you would want to read to make yourself feel good.

So after putting some thought into what exactly Vampire Princess Miyu is about, I am not sure whether to say that this is a good or bad manga (which is always subjective anyway). I have to confess that I found it somewhat dull – it had quite a few boring moments and, as mentioned before, it is confusing and hard to get into. However, there is a uniqueness to it that makes it interesting in its own right and one does start to get drawn into the story once one spends time with the characters. Somewhere halfway through the series, it becomes less episodic and has a few longer arcs and plot points that make it look like an actual story.

However, the one biggest plus for Vampire Princess Miyu is the art. I do not think the covers represent the art very well as they do not show off the beauty of what is found inside. Kakinouchi Narumi has one of the most beautiful art styles out there. She draws the characters with such grace – the textiles and hair in particular. Not to mention the hands; she draws some of the most beautiful hands ever. It is worth flipping through one of her books just for the sake of looking that those hands!

[Blanca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hacía tiempo que no leía un manga, así que no pude resistirme a empezar este. Tiene un muy buen comienzo, y a pesar de ser un poco antiguo, las ilustraciones son preciosas *-* ha sido un gusto leerlo, pronto me pondré con el segundo. Os lo recomiendo muchísimo

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zum Inhalt:

Die dämonischen Shinma entstehen aus den Ängsten der Menschen und nähren sich von ihnen. Um sie zu bekämpfen soll der Klan der Vampire sie jagen und auslöschen. Miyu ist die Auserwählte und kämpft mit ihrem Diener Larva gegen die Ausgeburten der Finsternis…

Als das Mädchen Yui von einem Shinma getötet wird, ist ihre Schwester am Boden zerstört. Miyu bietet ihr an sie für immer von ihrem leid zu befreien, doch auch das hat seinen Preis…

Außerdem ist Sho einer der schönsten Jungen an der Schule. Miyu überlegt, ob sie ihn ewig leben lassen soll, doch dann kommt sie einem dunklen Geheimnis auf die Spur.

Auch hat Miyus Diener Larva eine finstere Vergangenheit, welche die beiden für immer aneinanderbindet. Als der Shinma Lemures auftaucht, erkennt er in Larva seinen einstigen Weggefährten und fordert ihn heraus…

Außerdem trifft Miyu auf ein Mädchen, welches ihren Bruder nicht gehen lassen will und sich wünscht emotionslos zu werden. Als sie hinter Miyus Geheimnis kommt, will sie sie bestechen.

Und wir erhalten einen einblick in Miyus Vergangenheit…


Cover:

Das Cover fand ich sehr ansprechend. Wir sehen hier auf schwarzem Grund die beiden Charaktere Miyu und ihren Diener Larva. Dabei muten die beiden in ihren scheinbar traditionellen Gewändern fast märchenhaft an. Wirklich klasse gemacht.



Eigener Eindruck:

In mehreren Kurzgeschichten begleiten wir Miyu und ihren Diener Larva bei „ihrer Arbeit“. Dabei bekommen wir nicht nur einen Einblick über die Gefahr rund um die dämonischen Shinma, sondern auch einen Abriss davon, wer Miyu eigentlich ist. Als Heldin der Geschichten bekämpft sie zwar die Shinma, wirkt aber mit ihren Entscheidungen oft herzlos und bisweilen auch ein wenig depressiv. Wirklich begeistern konnte mich dieses Charakterdesign also nicht. Und auch die Geschichte, die Miyu hier bestreitet sind bisweilen sehr schwammig. Zwar gibt es viele Details, aber trotzdem wirken die Geschichten recht wirr und chaotisch, fast ohne Sinn und Verstand. Da es sich um einen Manga aus älteren Zeiten handelt, will ich nicht sonderlich auf die Qualität der Panelen eingehen, aber irgendwie wirkt alles trotz Details recht skizzenhaft. Mich jedenfalls konnten die Kurzgeschichten rund um Miyu nicht wirklich überzeugen und ich fand sie eher langweilig. Schade eigentlich. Denn durch den Status als absoluter Mangaklassiker hatte ich mir irgendwie mehr erhofft.



Fazit:

Obwohl es sich hier um einen absoluten Mangaklassiker handelt, konnte mich die Geschichte von Miyu nicht überzeugen. Das ist mir alles zu verwirrend.





Idee: 4/5

Charaktere: 3/5

Logik: 2/5

Spannung: 2/5

Emotionen: 2/5





Gesamt: 2/5



Daten:

ISBN: 9783551754011

Sprache: Deutsch

Ausgabe: Flexibler Einband

Umfang: 194 Seiten

Verlag: Carlsen

[Larosenoire299 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Một trong những bộ về vampire mình thích nhất. Nét vẽ ma mị không lẫn vào đâu được. Cốt truyện cũng hay nữa. Những giấc mơ vĩnh hằng Miyu ban cho các con mồi của mình để đổi lấy mạng họ nó chỉ là 1 ảo ảnh, nhưng người ta vẫn tình nguyện lao vào (làm mình nhớ tới Hoa tư dẫn - dệt nên một giấc mộng đủ đẹp để họ sẵn sàng từ bỏ thực tại). Đa số con mồi đều khuất phục, sẽ tình nguyện chìm đắm trong giấc mộng tươi đẹp đó, cơ mà cũng có người thì không :v Giấc mộng dù đẹp nhưng nó cũng chỉ như 1 cách chạy trốn thực tại mà thôi.

Mà thi thoảng méo hiểu thật có ra Miyu có yêu Larva thật không hay nó chỉ đơn giản là sự chiếm hữu nữa. Tình cảm của Larva với Miyu thì nó quá rõ luôn rồi, nói ít làm nhiều :v Phản bội gia tộc, đối đầu với thầy, anh em, rũ bỏ trách nhiệm để ở bên Miyu và đồng hành, bảo vệ Miyu (thật ra nhiều đoạn sến lắm).

Nói chung không có điểm nào không ưng về bộ này hết. <3.<3

[Veronica Pappolla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho fatto, e continuo a fare, molta confusione sulle serie della nostra cara principessa vampiro. Ma facendo un piccolo raffronto iniziale già da questo primo volume le cose vanno molto meglio, la trama è più alla mano del lettore ma le storie dei capitoli si interscambiano troppo velocemente!

[TT · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read so many books just looking for that next great series to discover. I collected about 30 ongoing series at the highlight of my manga days and waiting between releases was painful!

[♡✨Sky✨♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Muhammad Syahmirzah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I bought it from my friend because... It's Narumi Kakinochi's. I once read Julin (Lin3 in Indonesian version) and I fell in love with her drawing style. I once read the reviews of this story from a local anime-manga magz. And the review has warned us that the weakness of this manga is "the past scenes that will randomly appears and sway our concentration in which focusing to the current scene".

But I didn't know if that would be this severe. I couldn't catch the universe. When she said that she was commanded to catch the devil and return them to dark world, she didn't say who command her. She said that her mother was a half vampire. But the mother didn't realize that she had that vampire blood. How come???

The flow of the scene was so haphazard. I couldn't feel the correlation between one scene to another scene. Thanks God, Narumi Kakinochi's drawing style never fail to amaze me. So I keep reading.

Actually what made me interested to buy this was because that anime-manga magz said that Miyu is a good vampire which is far different to other vampire concepts. She didn't kill her victims, she just made them having a long eternal sleep so they would stop feeling their suffers. And that she would just do that to the people that want it badly.

However, apparently Miyu is not as good as I thought. She was more like gray character. She only hunted "beautiful and handsome" people (ergh) which made me think that she is a bitch. And, she tried to influence those people to give them blood to her. So those people might have the choice to deal with their problems. But, Miyu attempted them to escape from their problems by having a long eternal sleep. And she did that because she needs to eat and what makes her different from other vampires if she is like that??? Yeah, maybe that's the irony, the hidden message behind this story.

I hate the chapter of Yuri, a girl who loves her brother so much to the extent that she can't accept her brother's upcoming marriage. And it was Miyu who influenced her to give her blood to her, in order to have an eternal dream about having her brother only for her. When Yuri finally gave in to her desperation, is that called by true happiness? How about her brother who then found her sister to be in the state of "comatose"???

Geeze

[Starbubbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had been dying to see the anime, so when i saw the book at half price books (for extremely cheap), it immediately gravitated into my hands and then to the checkstand. it's really a 3 1/2 stars for me. it's wonderfully dark, and gorgeous to look at. but miyu's character is flat. there is some character development, as in back story, but growth beyond that is nill. am i glad i got this? of course! will i now be seeing the anime? probably not. though, i'm sure the fire attacks would be much much cooler in motion.

this is an interesting take on what it means to be a vampire. i just find it odd that she acknowledges that she has someone, and that she cares for them, but then denies it all in the same breath. okay, maybe not in the same breath, but easily within the same chapter. miyu and larva have a co-dependent relationship (which is honestly the best way i can describe it), but i love watching it. i'll definately be reading this one again.

[octrivia deliani · Rating 4 out of 5]

berkisah tentang seorang gadis Jepang yang bernama Miyu yang merupakan setengah vampir dan setengah manusia. Miyu bertugas agar menjaga dunia manusia dari para Iblis-iblis yang senang mempermainkan manusia ke dalam kegelapan.
buku ini merupakan awal dari segala hal. kenangan saat Miyu masih menjadi manusia sampai terjaga menjadi seorang vampir diulas lengkap disini.
yang paling mencolok, adalah jiwa Miyu yang sangat labil dikarenakan masih ada darah manusia yang mengalir di dirinya, menyebabkan perasaan Miyu menjadi terombang-ambing dalam pemusnahan para iblis ke dalam kegelapan.
menarik untuk dibaca, kita dapat menyelami perasaan Miyu yang labil. walaupun kadang sangat membingungkan tapi buku ini tetap menarik untuk dibaca dan untuk penyuka misteri, have an enjoyed it!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reminds me of a the old Batman TV series (except I liked the Batman series), but a Barbie version--not a good one at that. Repeatedly, action will begin and then "Pow," "Wham", things magically change!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the books hard to find. a friend had them in school read the first book and seen all the anime dvds to this. still in love with this and anything vampire. wish this would come back later.

loves how a vampire loves a rabbit, a pink rabbit at that.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories aren't riveting, but the artwork certainly is. What I love about this manga and the anime as well is the deep sense of melancholy it evokes. I just love romanticised sadness!

Found several volumes of this series in a rundown second hand book store in Sydney. It was like KISMET!

[Elia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember liking the anime back in the day, but this graphic novel is just stupid. There's no actual story here, it's just a bunch of short stories that have nothing to do with anything where Miyu either kills cute girls or sends demons back to hell. Snooze.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark and mysterious. A nice vamp manga.

[Eaglechen · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst manga ever...

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

No se por que pero me encanta Larva

[Anna McWeasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Zeichnungen sind wundervoll! :)
Aber die Story.. man bekommt nichts mit. Aber es klingt vielversprechend! Vielleicht werden die naechsten Baende ja aufschlussreicher :)

[A. E. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Saw the anime)

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost a small collection of short stories, all of them I liked.