I first learned about the rare Super Mario anime OVA over at The Mushroom Kingdom and immediately desired to see it no matter what (being the Mario-fan that I am). Unfortunately, “no matter what” didn’t extend very far once I learned that the OVA was uber-rare, with cassette tapes selling for several hundred dollars on the Japanese market. So I figured I’d never get to see it.

Then You Tube came along…

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

“I Love You” clip

Unfortunately, I can’t find the rest of it (maybe the entire OVA hasn’t been uploaded, yet)

The OVA adapts the story of the original Super Mario Bros video game rather loosely, but the animation is rather good. It’s done in a “cartoonish” sort’ve way and it has a bit of a Super Mario Bros Super Show vibe to it (maybe it was using actual sound fx and game music during the program). Still not sure why Luigi is in blue and yellow clothes, though. The voice acting is pretty good, too. I like Luigi the best, though Mario isn’t half bad. Princess Peach is nerve-racking, however. Overall, it is a very fun piece of rare Mario media that’ll only take 20 minutes of your life. If you enjoyed the Super Mario Bros Super Show and its various follow-up shows, then chances are you’ll dig this.

And if that isn’t enough weird and rare Japanese Super Mario animation for you, there’s also this:

Super Mario Brand Furikake Commercial

Super Mario Kart 64 commercial