Vampire Princess Miyu

Vampire Princess Miyu (Japanese: 吸血姫（ヴァンパイア） 美夕, Hepburn: Vanpaia Miyu) is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally adapted as a 4-episode original video animation (OVA) series released in 1988 and licensed by AnimEigo, and later as a 26-episode television series released in 1997 and licensed by Tokyopop and later Maiden Japan.

The series follows Miyu and her Western Shinma companion Larva. The daughter of a human and a Shinma, Miyu was born a vampire and awakened as the Guardian. She is tasked with hunting down stray Shinma and sending them back to the darkness. Before she turns 15, she longs to return to the darkness herself, but not until she has banished the Shinma from Earth and learned who she truly is, as this information has been withheld from her since her awakening.

Most locations in the series are evocative of traditional Japan.

Lemures also becomes a recurring antagonist in the manga.

Spread out over ten volumes, this series storywise falls somewhere between the OAV and the television series. In this version, Ranka is the helpful second tier Shinma, but Reiha is largely the same. Most volumes include several stand alone stories regarding Miyu hunting and locating stray Shinma. However, there are several chapters in various volumes relating to the western Shinma. In this version it is Lemures who was Larva's companion previous to him coming to Japan. There is also Carlua, who is the daughter of Larva's adoptive uncle, Pazusu. Carlua is deeply in love with Larva (as is Lemures) but both fail in their attempts to "rescue" him from Miyu. These result in Lemures being banished to the darkness until after the events of New Vampire Miyu and Carlua being repelled, and her little sister Lilith being incinerated by Miyu. Additionally, there is a human girl named Yuma Koizumi who is introduced in volume 4 who becomes a return antagonist. As a school girl, Yuma was loved and marked by a Shinma named Tsubaki. Tsubaki belongs to a clan of Shinma called "Muma". When he starts to be hunted, Tsubaki is surprisingly accepting, although sad; at the fact he will be parted from Yuma. However, when Miyu returns him to the dark, Yuma vows vengeance. With the help of Tsubaki's companions, Yuma attempts to kill Miyu, knowing Miyu would have difficulty attacking a human foe. The attack ultimately does not succeed and Yuma is left to her misery as Miyu refuses to feed from her (partially out of spite, and out of respect to Tsubaki). In volume 10, it is discovered the Yuma spent the rest of her life pursuing Miyu and her mystery, but is never able to kill her. In the end, Miyu visits Yuma on her death bed, finally drinking her blood.

The manga was licensed for a US release by Studio Ironcat, however, the company went out of business before the series was completed.

This series is encompassed in five volumes and covers the actual events that Miyu is given a glimpse of at the end of volume 10 of the original series. It takes place in between the first two volumes of the original series. The Western Shinma, led by Pazusu, and supported by Carlua (his daughter), Lemunia (Lemures' younger brother), and a powerful young Shinma called Cait Sith. The Western Shinma succeed in kidnapping Larva, purging Miyu's blood from him, and sealing his memory of his time with her. This results in a showdown where Larva kills Miyu, although he is not entirely certain why he feels bothered by this. In actuality, Miyu is not quite dead as her spirit survives through her blood that was passed from Yui's mom into Yui in utero (see Vampire Princess Yui below). Yui is then drawn to Miyu's realm to help her be reborn. In the meantime, it's discovered that the "rescue mission" was all a ploy by Cait Sith to reach Japan and retrieve a short sword in which his mother's spirit is sealed. It is revealed not only was his mother sealed by the Watcher before Miyu, Cait Sith (both are members of a nearly extinct clan called the Quarl) was actually responsible for putting the idea of challenging the Eastern Shinma into Lemures' and Larva's heads originally. As Cait Sith succeeds in resurrecting the queen (though not without a catch and mortally wounding Pazusu), the race is on to get Yui safely to the spot of Miyu's rebirth. With the help of the second tier Eastern Shinma and Lemunia, she succeeds and Miyu is brought back to life. After unsealing Larva's memories and reestablishing the blood bond, Miyu and the remaining Western Shinma join forces to defeat the Quarl and destroy the Queen. Afterward, Pazusu asks Larva to kill him so he doesn't die of his wounds and Carlua makes one last attempt to wrest Larva away from Miyu by threatening to kill him. Miyu calls her bluff and Carlua retreats, thanks to the newly freed Lemures. He explains as they leave that during Miyu's time being dead, many stray Shinma (including himself) took advantage of her absence to escape the Darkness once more. The series ends with Miyu and Larva heading off to start rounding these escapees up again.

This series was also licensed by Studio Ironcat for an English-language release, but the company actually completed the series before going out of business.