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 presented in a 4-episode OVA (Original Video Animation) licensed by AnimEigo in 1988, and was later adapted into a 26-episode television series licensed by Tokyopop (later by Maiden Japan) and released in 1997. Plot Stranded in the space between the human world and the demon underworld, the series central characters are a Japanese vampire girl named Miyu and her Western Shinma companion Larva. Miyu is the daughter of both a human being and a Shinma (a name for a race of "god-demon"). She was born a vampire and as such, she was awakened as the guardian whose destiny is to hunt down all stray Shinma and send them back to "the Darkness"; charged with the responsibility of returning the evil demons away. Before turning 15 years old, she yearns to return to the darkness herself but not until she has banished all the Shinma from Earth. And since her awakening, she remains cut off by the facts of who and what she is. Most locations in the series are evocative of traditional Japan. Characters Major characters Miyu (OVA) (Japanese), Pamela Weidner-Houle (English, AnimEigo dub), Annemarie Zola (English, Manga Entertainment dub) Miyu (TV) (Japanese), Kimberly J. Brown (English, ep 1–7), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English, 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"). When in her vampire appearance, Miyu is always barefoot even in the snow as she doesn't get cold. 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 child-like, manipulative and playful, and very flamboyant in talking, especially when having a conversation with