MediaOCD to Release Vampire Princess Miyu Blu-ray With Blank Cover
The release is a rare public acknowledgment of a licensor-side breakdown that forced a distributor to abandon standard packaging entirely rather than let a finished HD remaster go unreleased.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime Trending, The Fandom Post.
MediaOCD will release the Vampire Princess Miyu OVA on Blu-ray on or before September 8, 2026, with a completely blank cover due to an inability to get packaging approval from Japan. Founder Justin Sevakis explained that the company hit a procedural dead end with the Japanese copyright system and made no progress on approvals for over a year. The situation was compounded by the discovery that MediaOCD's license for the series, inherited from AnimEigo's previous owners, expires next year, leaving no time for a proper release. The disc will be exclusive to the MediaOCD store and will ship in a matching slipcase. It includes both the UK and US English dubs alongside the original Japanese audio and English subtitles. Pre-orders are available for $24.95. Sevakis noted that if a miracle occurs and a proper package can be approved later, MediaOCD will offer a way for buyers to get it without repurchasing the disc. The four-episode OVA, directed by Toshihiro Hirano, features character designs by Narumi Kakinouchi and music by Kenji Kawai, with animation by AIC.
Sevakis said the approval process hit a "procedural log jam" that could not be resolved. "The wall we hit with approvals would likely make it impossible for anyone to release it in the future. What a waste!" he wrote in the MediaOCD announcement. The disc will ship "on or before" September 8, 2026, with pre-orders live at $24.95. Sevakis said the limited release "lets us have some fun with this" and promised "some fun opportunities to be creative once this ships."
The OVA was directed by Toshihiro Hirano and Eri Tsukamoto, with series composition by Noboru Aikawa. The Japanese voice cast includes Naoko Watanabe as Miyu, Mami Koyama as Himiko Se, and Kaneto Shiozawa as Larva. The English dubs from the UK and US are both included. AIC handled animation. The series was one of AnimEigo's earliest VHS releases and introduced Western fans to Japanese supernatural horror without the humor common in other titles at the time.
Outside the OVA, the Vampire Princess Miyu franchise includes a manga, a TV anime, and other spin-offs. A new manga, Vampire Princess Miyu-Yu i, launched in 2025 and will receive its third digital volume on June 13, 2026, published by SB Creative.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.