Finally Caught Maya the Bee

You are NOT going to 'FN believe this... So here's a long time project my even dorkier younger brother was able to acquire after all these years... a show we were set in front of countless times during those mindless years from 1990 to whenever it went off the air way before I was eight (but if you've figured out by now, I was "eight-ish" for a very long time). This was Maya the Bee, some Japanese cartoon from the 70's (aired in the US in the early 90's) about a bee named Maya, her brother, and I think a grasshopper.

The only thing I remember from the show is the episode where they get stuck in a plastic cup of what appeared to be orange soda (they enjoyed it until they realized they were trapped!--should have listened to the grasshopper...).

Anyways, retrieving this show on DVD is quite a trick, particularly since it has appeared throughout the world with varying accessibility and completeness--some episodes released in German were never released in Japan, and the original Japanese DVDs have no English translation sub or dub--making them pointless unless you're an obsessed fan of the show and rarer than unobtanium. Even more, the original English edition appears to have been lost because the company that distributed it in America went under and the rights to the show went all over the damn place, so the only format some of these are available in is old VHS from people who were possessed into taping episodes. That means, in the set I have my hands on now, there are some episodes which are only partial. One episode clips off the last three minutes... another is only three minutes.

Here's what the "one fan besides us" said after having braved the back room deals, shifty go-betweens, and possible danger leading up to making this black market find: 

This is the highest quality set available, and in fact, the only set available at this time. Maya the Bee is perhaps the rarest cartoon I've ever searched for, and finding episodes has been no easy task. I have even decided to include the partially complete episodes I've found as any footage at all is rare, and I must assume that fans will even appreciate viewing fractions of episodes if they're available. After years of hunting, I've been able to compile this rare collection of episodes. I spent months capturing, digitally restoring, and converting the series to DVD format for the first time ever. This ensures quality every time you watch, unlike VHS tapes, which deteriorate over time.

Thank you Stuff I Like.