Review of Vampire Princess Miyu: Vol. 1

Introduction

So you have a series of 24 episodes, and 6 discs on which to put them. The maths seems pretty easy, but Vampire Princess Miyu manages to confuse the issue with its release format, a legacy of the earlier US release. I first caught the end of this series a couple of years ago with two discs of 5 episodes apiece. However it turns out that the first three discs in the series are a lot less attractive financially, containing only three episodes each. An irresistible bargain gave me the chance to sample the start of the series.

Shinma are supernatural beings that corrupt the hearts of men and lead them to ruin. Banished in ancient times to the Darkness, a few stray Shinma remain wreaking havoc on unsuspecting individuals. But there is a Guardian to defend us, the Vampire Princess Miyu, a Shinma herself who hunts down these monsters and sends them to the beyond. Larva, a Shinma from the West who acts as her protector, and Shiina, a small creature who acts as her adviser, help her in her duties. This volume introduces the characters and sets out the show`s premise.

There are three episodes on this disc, The Fang Knows, At The Next Station and The Forest Calls, and unlike on the final discs, they are presented as one hour-long movie, with the intervening credits and episode previews edited out.

Video

Vampire Princess Miyu is presented with a 4:3 format. The transfer is clear enough, with a sharp image and good colours throughout. The animation is variable, occasionally very good and atmospheric, but sometimes the minimalism associated with anime is taken too far, with a few scenes a little too static. By and large the character design is also top-notch, but there are a few points where things look a little under par.

Audio

You get DD 2.0 English and Japanese soundtracks on this disc, and while the stereo is understated, it is evocative and certainly establishes the otherworldly feel of the stories. The atmospheric music is a big part of this, coming from the composer of the Ghost In The Shell movies, Kenji Kawai.

As usual I chose the original Japanese soundtrack, but I did dip my metaphorical toes into the dubbed version. The dub isn`t the usual travesty (although the main character does sound a little somnolent), and the English track does come across as just a tad crisper than the Japanese. The subtitles are of the translated English variety.

Features

Extras on this disc include the original Japanese title sequence, as well as a Shinma gallery, which has nine line sketches of the Shinma encountered in the episodes.

Conclusion

Having seen the end of the series, I know that Vampire Princess Miyu is a decent story that entertains with a nice collection of supernatural horror tales. Unfortunately, this first disc is something of an inauspicious start to that series, and a big problem is the run time. I have seen plenty of series that are presented this way, three episodes to a disc, they can be entertaining, and if the episodes are consistently good, then the short run time seems less of a problem. Trigun and Kiddy Grade are examples of where this approach works. The risk is that if an episode turns out to be a stinker, then that disc becomes substantially less attractive. The first episode of Vampire Princess Miyu turns out to be that stinker.

There is nothing wrong with it in terms of story or writing, it`s just that as a series debut it fails to register. It immediately puts across the `monster of the week` ethos behind Vampire Princess. The story about a teacher pressured by rumours, and her students winding up dead, their blood drained is certainly watchable. It also puts across Miyu`s character, and introduces her helpers Larva and Shiina, and we get an idea of what her mission in life is. But that is it. This is an episode that could be placed anywhere in the run, or even stand alone outside the continuity. It`s only with the following episodes that we get some world building, and some idea of the over arching story that will stretch through the remainder of the series.

When we see Miyu start attending her new school, and go against her solitary nature by making friends with Chisato, Yukari and Hisae, it`s then that the series develops something of an emotional hook that makes it more compelling to stick with. The subsequent stories do continue the monster of the week vibe with a gory `artist` preying on women travelling on the Metro, as well as a tribal mask that possesses its wearer. I do feel though, that the stories aren`t quite up to the level of those that will come later in the run, but the character work in the final two episodes on this disc is essential if you are following the overriding story.

This volume is a fairly run of the mill start to an enjoyable series. It`s hurt by the low episode count and a distinctly uninspiring debut episode, but the stories are entertaining, and the final two episodes on the disc serve well as an introduction to the series.