Vampire Princess - Characters

Characters

• Miyu (美夕, Miyu?)

Miyu (OVA) Voiced by: Naoko Watanabe (Japanese), Pamela Wiedner (English)

Miyu (anime) Voiced by: Miki Nagasawa (Japanese), Kimberly J. Brown (ep 1–7) (English), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (ep 8–26)

A beautiful girl who appears to be around 13 (in the OVA) or 15 (in later volumes of the manga) years old but in fact is much older, being a vampire. In Japanese, "Miyu" means "beauty of the evening", "beautiful evening" or "evening beauty". She can teleport, levitate, open dimensional portals and use fire attacks (which also come in handy when sending a Shinma to "The Darkness"). In the OVA, she is the child of a human father and a vampire mother in post-World War II Japan. In the TV series, on the other hand, her mother is human and her father is a shinma guardian in pre-World War II Empire of Japan. In both cases, Miyu becomes the Guardian (also referred to as the "Watcher") after losing her parents. In the OVA, Miyu is depicted as childlike, manipulative and playful, and very flamboyant in talking, especially when having a conversation with Himiko, while the series' Miyu is more reserved, straightforward and composed. Even though she is a vampire, Miyu is not harmed by sunlight, holy water or crucifixes, and her reflection can be seen (this may be an effect of the fact she is not truly undead and her shinma parent is not like western vampires either). This is because she is technically a Daywalker, having one human parent and one vampire. She needs to drink blood to survive, and she chooses her 'victims' carefully, since she apparently cannot take blood from others unless they actually give it to her willingly. So, Miyu picks people whom she believes to be "lovely" (either in looks or personality) who have usually suffered a tragic loss, and offers them their greatest wish – to be with their lost loved ones, at least in their dreams – in exchange for their blood. These people live an endless dream state, which she calls "being in happiness" in the OVA. Miyu is protective of Larva and has great concern for him. In the TV series, when posing as a human, she goes by the name Miyu Yamano (山野美夕 Yamano Miyu). In the OVA, she is seen to wear different clothes in every episode she appears in. For example, in the first OVA, she wears her typical short kimono that is familiarized by all fans, and in the second, she wears a uniform during her stay at school, and wears a bright red yukata when speaking to Himiko and confronting Ranka. In the third OVA, she wears a winter kimono, which seems to cover her body more than the other two garments. Finally, in the fourth OVA, she wears a very heavy black kimono and also wears a mask. However, in the TV series, she only wears two types of clothing, the typical uniform and the kimono known by all fans and that is shown on box covers.

• Larva (ラヴァ, Rava?)

Larva (OVA) Voiced by: Kaneto Shiozawa (Japanese), Zach Hamner (English)

Larva (anime) Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese), Ryan Alosio (English)

A Shinma from the western world. In the OVA, Larva comes to prevent Miyu's vampire blood from awakening and kill her, but he inadvertently triggers it, and she drinks his blood when he drops his guard. As a result of this failure, Larva's face and voice are sealed behind a mask for all eternity. In the TV series, Larva faces Miyu after she has become the Guardian. After he has struck her down, she drinks his blood. In both cases, Larva starts out as an unwilling ally, but later pledges to be by Miyu's side because he can sense her sorrow, something he was able to glimpse at during both blood-bond scenes. Larva can use his nails to slash things and (in the TV series) he can also wield a scythe. He is very powerful, as he is seen to win against every shinma without getting mortally wounded. In addition to this, in the TV series and the manga, he is able to access Miyu's flame powers, but does so rarely (so he says) as it reminds him of his greatest defeat. Unlike in the OVA, in the TV series and Manga, Larva can speak and will occasionally remove his mask. The name "Larva" is taken from Roman mythology, which like "Lemures" refers to a restless spirit of the dead. Many of the Western Shinma appearing in the second manga series also follow a naming convention drawn from various European demons and spirits. Larva's name and signature mask may also have been inspired from the white, ghostly Venetian Carnival mask "Larva," also called "Volto." In Volume 1 of the TV series, Larva was called Lava in the English dub and subtitles. The following volumes referred to him as Larva.

• Shinma

Shinmas are god-demons that take advantage of human souls for their own gain. Escaping from a dark world, they hide in the human world, and Miyu seeks to return them to it.