Pink Lady Monogatari: Eiko no Tenshitachi (partially found anime TV series; 1978-1979)

1978 - Pink Lady Monogatari Eiko no Tenshitachi.jpg

Title card.

Status: Partially Found

Pink Lady Monogatari: Eiko no Tenshitachi (ピンク・レディー物語栄光の天使たち Pink Lady Story: Angels of Glory) is a biographical slice-of-life anime series produced by Toei Animation that aired on TV Tokyo from October 24, 1978 to June 26, 1979. It ran for a total of 33 episodes - including 2 clip shows and a prologue that premiered one week before the show proper.

Premise

The show was based on the real lifestory of popular superstar female pop music duo Pink Lady.

Despite the title and the content of the show, the main characters were not actually voiced by the Pink Lady duo; professional voice actresses Michiko Nomura and Junko Hori portrayed Mie and Kei, respectively.

Pink Lady also didn't perform the opening (OP) and ending (ED) songs, that were sang by a group of child actors known as Young Fresh, from Japanese entertainment agency Toei Jido Kenshu Jo ("Toei Children's Training Institute", now known as Toei Academy).^[1]^[2]

During the show, there would be live action sequences featuring the actual Pink Lady duo (Mie and Kei) as they would be shown talking in their studios or actually singing their songs in musical interludes.^[3]

Pink Lady would later make an appeareance on notorious short-lived 1980 TV variety show Pink Lady and Jeff for American audiences, as their English-language song Kiss in the Dark was a hit in the country.

Episodes

#	Original Title	Air Date	Status
0	"前夜祭「今完成ピンクのアニメ」"	October 17, 1978	Lost
1	"星は海から生まれるのです"	October 24, 1978	Lost
2	"おてんばデュエット"	October 31, 1978	Lost
3	"ごめんね天国のお父さん"	November 7, 1978	Lost
4	"哀しみの二ッ星"	November 14, 1978	Lost
5	"ひとつの糸に結ばれて"	November 21, 1978	Lost
6	"ふたりで踏んだ初舞台"	November 28, 1978	Lost
7	"明日さく花"	December 2, 1978	Lost
8	"ワン・ステップ・ジャンプ"	December 12, 1978	Lost
9	"ふたりでひとり"	December 19, 1978	Lost
10	"とんでけクッキー"	December 26, 1978	Lost
11	"こころの手紙"	January 9, 1979	Lost
12	"心はひとつ "	January 16, 1979	Lost
13	"愛のネックレス"	January 23, 1979	Lost
14	"くじけるものか"	January 30, 1979	Lost
15	"あたたかな母の胸へ"	February 6, 1979	Lost
16	"巣だつひな鳥"	February 13, 1979	Lost
17	"さようなら故郷"	February 20, 1979	Lost
18	"可愛いファン"	February 27, 1979	Lost
19	"若いふたつの芽"	March 6, 1979	Lost
20	"ふたりの友情"	March 13, 1979	Lost
21	"二人三脚"	March 20, 1979	Lost
22	"ペッパー警部誕生"	March 27, 1979	Lost
23	"はばたく日は"	April 3, 1979	Lost
24	"愛の拍子"	April 10, 1979	Lost
25	"ふるさとの涙"	April 17, 1979	Lost
26	"祈りの旅"	April 24, 1979	Lost
27	"にじ色の別れ"	May 1, 1979	Lost
28	"ＳＯＳ！"	May 8, 1979	Lost
29	"花ひらく夜"	May 15, 1979	Lost
30	"おもいやり"	May 22, 1979	Lost
31	"きびしい歌の道"	May 29, 1979	Lost
32	"木枯らしの詩"	June 5, 1979	Lost
33	"故郷の青い空"	June 12, 1979	Lost
34	"歩んだ道" (Clip show 1)	June 19, 1979	Lost
35	"栄光への歩み" (Clip show 2)	June 26, 1979	Lost

Status

The anime hadn't been reaired since it's original airing or released in other countries despite having strong ratings.^[4] However, the anime's OP and ED were included in VHS compilations of Toei theme songs #6 released back in 1986.^[5] As such, they're the only footage currently available to watch online. Due to some legal issues among Pink Lady, it is extremely unlikely this show will ever appear on home video or even streaming services.

At one point, the owner of fansite Pink Lady America posted some screenshots from one of the episodes; however, it is not known if he still owns any actual footage.