Once upon a time, Vampire Princess Miyu seemed, to me, to be everywhere. People debated the ethics of cosplaying her barefoot, multiple manga series saw English translation, and both the OVAs and the TV series were licensed. And then, all of a sudden, she seemed to disappear. While the return to print of the 1988-89 OVAs is a good sign for Miyu's fans, there's no word as of this writing on any of her other media being rescued. But for those who have never met her, this is a good introduction and may spark renewed interest in the franchise.

The OVAs are, essentially, standalones within the greater franchise. They take the perspective of Himiko Se, a spiritualist (sub) or medium (dub) who has come to Kyoto to investigate strange occurrences. Although she has been hired by the parents of a young girl named Aiko who has been in a persistent coma, she quickly discovers that people, primarily young women, have been going missing. While she suspects that Aiko is possessed, it soon becomes apparent that there's more going on in the city than anyone knows – and that it all somehow relates to a strange girl named Miyu.

Miyu, she explains to Himiko, is a vampire, and is tasked with sending evil beings known as Shinma (demons in the dub) back to the Dark where they reside. There's a mildly Lovecraftian feel to the worldbuilding on this front, but the most important element is that Miyu, and Miyu alone, is bound to return Shinma from whence they came. She's aided by a silent figure in a cloak and mask, her Shinma companion Larva. She has little real interest in helping Himiko, but when it becomes clear that a Shinma is involved, she steps up to do her duty.

Of the four OVAs, the first two are the strongest. The first, “Unearthly Kyoto,” introduces the characters and the world, but more importantly, is filled with an eerie atmosphere that makes some of the more pedestrian or nonsensical plot elements work. Miyu, appearing in her “classic” outfit of a white dress with a red ribbon tied around her foot and ankle, is hauntingly adolescent – you could believe this girl has been thirteen for decades and never truly grown up. She teases Himiko while warning her not to get involved, and makes it clear that she's always willing to interact with humans for a price. Himiko sees her as being cruel, particularly in the case of a young man whose blood she drinks to grant him eternal happiness – he's rendered almost catatonic in his vampire-induced blank bliss. But Miyu counters that all she's done is exactly what he asked. If this isn't what he wanted, he should have phrased his question differently.

Episode two, “A Banquet of Marionettes,” is equally atmospheric and possibly a bit creepier depending on how you feel about unclothed traditional Japanese dolls. The Miyu in this episode is a bit more selfish than in “Unearthly Kyoto,” although recognizably the same character; she's fighting for her prey with Ranka, a Shinma who has taken the form of a living doll. Again, Miyu is recognizably a teen who has never had the chance to grow up, and there's a real question as to whether what she would have done for the boy she wants would have been any better than what Ranka did – because the boy from the first episode is barely more than a doll himself. The overarching theme between these two episodes is that humans don't necessarily know or want what's best for them, and that creates a space the Shinma can slip into. Himiko can protest all she wants, but ultimately in a battle between vampire and Shinma, she will be powerless.

Episodes three and four attempt to tell us Miyu's backstory, which is a bit different from both the manga and the TV series' take on it. In this telling, Miyu is the daughter of a human and a Shinma, and her vampiric blood awakened when she was thirteen. (Some other versions put her at fifteen.) It's interesting, but ultimately neither as haunting nor as interesting as the first two episodes, which do more for the worldbuilding and atmosphere of the story. It also feels as if Himiko was simply shoehorned into these episodes, which isn't great.

Art and animation are very much of their time – as are the two English dubs. That's right, both the UK dub and the American dub are present on this disc, along with the original Japanese, so you can pick and choose based on what you remember first seeing or prefer. The sub is the strongest track, although there's an admirable job of matching Himiko's Japanese voice and delivery closely in both English tracks. But both dubs sound stilted, and Miyu's creepy giggle rings false. There are also some noticeable mispronunciations, the most egregious being that Aiko is said Eiko. But you can glory in the late 80s fashion no matter what language you choose, with such hits as stirrup pants and tube tops among Himiko's fashion choices. The animation ably supports the story, giving the impression of doing a lot with a little and being particularly good at hair and cloth movements.

The Vampire Princess Miyu OVAs are perhaps a relic of a bygone time, but they're still worth watching. Atmospheric and eerie, at least in the first two episodes, it's easy to see why the story took off the way it did.