Long-time readers know I have a “no pirating” rule, so a lot of classic anime has been closed to me. Some years ago, it came to my attention that a fan-funded DVD of the classic Magical Angel Creamy Mami had been released. Alas, I missed the window of opportunity to purchase it, so this title quickly sank back into unavailability.
I recently discovered that it has cropped up on Amazon Prime Video. This was likely announced somewhere, but I missed it. I am reminded of the odd event from some years ago in which the long-lost Harmony Gold localization of Minky Momo quietly and mysteriously appeared on Amazon streaming and then disappeared again just as mysteriously and quietly. Some other magical girls, such as Lyrical Nanoha, have also disappeared from Amazon without explanation.
That being said, I think it’s a good idea to watch Creamy Mami while it’s available. There’s no telling when it might not be.
Magical Angel Creamy Mami is probably the most famous and best-loved magical-girl title from the Studio Pierrot era. It was the first “mixed-media” magical-girl franchise and introduced the concept of the “magical girl idol,” the heroine who lives a double life as both an ordinary girl and as a pop star, a concept that has been recycled in everything from Jem and the Holograms to Hannah Montana. The show launched the musical career of its main voice actress.
First thing I’ll note about the show is that Amazon wants a hefty chunk of change for it. Since this was made in the days when anime was a more robust medium, it runs to a full fifty-two episodes, which is gigantic by today’s standards (but not even enough for syndication in the U.S. when it orginally aired). Amazon wants a cool eighty-four bucks for the “HD version,” which you don’t even get to own and keep. We must note that this is an obvious ripoff: Having been made in the early 1980s, this show cannot be in high-definition, and no amount of tweaking can make it into genuine high-definition. The SD version, however, is half the price of the HD version. Since the “HD” version shouldn’t even exist, buy the SD version instead. The price is still too high, but it’s at least not obscene.
