Sailor Moon "For exhibition cel"s on Mandarake

[LunaArt]

I hope someone can help me with my many questions.

Can anybody explain what a "for exhibition cel" is exactly? How was it made? And, by whom and for what purpose?

There are several Sailor Moon cels added to Mandarake's everyday auctions section the other day that are all listed as "For exhibition cel":
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 8200100002
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 5540100001
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 2150100029
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 6240100007
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 5300100004
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/ite ... 9450100010

Does anybody know what a "for exhibition cel" looks like in person? All of these "cels" have line fading, making them look like true production cels, at least on the scans. Does it look like a true production cel in person?

My two biggest concerns are that, first, collectors are going to buy these without realizing they are not production cels. And, secondly, that someone will buy them and slap a sequence number on them and try to sell them as real production cels on eBay or something. Several of these images are highly sought after by SM cel collectors.

P.S. One more question, what do those thick blue borders around some of the thumbnails on Mandarake's everyday auctions signify? Does anyone know? I have always wondered what they mean.

[Rekka Alexiel]

Well, someone with better knowledge about this can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a cel for display (exhibition use; that particular word is displeading, I think) is merely a cel that has been prepared to be displayed in a frame. I believe they are still production cels but perhaps with copied backgrounds, cut cels to fit a frame, etc. I'm not sure that "for display" automatically makes the whole thing a copy or reproduction cel, but that possibility is still there, I suppose.

Not sure about the blue border around the images. It looks just like it was added just to highlight the images on the page.

[LunaArt]

That's what I originally thought too, Rekka, but I sent Mandarake an email asking if these were production cels. They responded to me last night saying that they are "not actually production cels" and that these exhibition cels were "made for showing". They said that there is probably an actual real production cel still out there (I guess meaning that the true actual production cel is still out there floating around in someone's collection/possession).

Before I sent Mandarake that question, I had thought that perhaps they were cels that the Toei studios saved and used for some kind of special cel exhibition and then sold them off later. But, then Mandarake admitted they are not production, so I don't know how or why they were created. Maybe they are just fancels? But, they all have line fading, which is odd for a fan cel. Some of them have cut numbers, but none of them have sequence numbers. It's so weird.

[sensei]

Maybe what I've heard called a "test cel," i.e., a cel painted prior to the actual animation process to make sure that the color scheme works. I have a pair of identical CCS cels, one with normal coloring, one with "light-blasted" colors, both with dougas and (different) sequence numbers. But only the "light-blasted" one was verifiably used in production, so I assume the "normal" one was just "made for showing."

There are other CCS "test cels," mostly for the First Movie.

[cutiebunny]

I was wondering if they were cels that Toei used in the museum portion of their studio. When I went there in 2008, they were featuring an exhibit of 1980s Magical Girl anime, and they had what appeared to be production cels that were cut out, layered together and then mounted on a wall...kinda like seeing someone display multiple family photos in one frame.

It could be that these were specially created for something like that, or a GoFA (Gallery of Fantastic Art) display. I don't know if there were any Sailor Moon exhibits there, but there was a Rozen Maiden one several years ago, and Madhouse was hired to create some cels for the purpose of exhibiting. The one I have is of Souseiseki & Souseiseki - http://cutiebunny.rubberslug.com/galler ... mID=350581

GoFA does rotate their exhibits often, so 16 years after the end of the series, I would be surprised to find there wasn't some display either dedicated to the anime, the manga or both.

They're nice cels and some of the images are quite lovely, but I can't see myself bidding on them as much as I would had it been the production version.

[Nehelenia]

They are 100% fake. You can take all sequence printscreens and you will never find a matching one. The lines are differently designed too, as if they are not from the same designer, and its colours some of them look alike, and some of them don't look like sailor moon. Notice carefully the curves too, which are a completely different design than the ones we usually see, and in all "excibition cels" you can see a different design on noses. I can keep analyzing it furthermore, but i don;t think it's worth it. I am just irritated i almost took the bait and i was ready to bid them too, but something seemed not right ;/.
Anyone knows who bought them afterall by the way?

[logorzat]

Damn, I wish I would have saw this post sooner. I didn't realize that for exhibition cels were not production cels until I read this post. Now I'm probably going to be stuck with two of them.

[Jadeduo]

Hi Everyone!

I've posted the Hotaru that was part of these cels back in July... Long story short, I'm pretty sure that these were made by the studio for use in some sort of exhibition. I did find a matching screen shot and a friend showed me a scan of one in the sequence that is eerily similiar in size and placement due to the fact that from the screenshot you do not see the extra that always comes with owning the original piece there is no way this could have been produced from the matching screenshot...

I am unfortunately unable to post her scan without her permission, if there is anyone that owns one from the sequence that would like to lay in, please do!

Anywho go take a look at it, let me know what you think!

http://jadeduo.rubberslug.com/gallery/i ... mID=369806

Thanks,
Jadeduo

[Nehelenia]

But again, unfortunately, as you can see the actual cel and production has some serious differences in both tones and lines. Look carefully the lines of Tomoe's jacket. You can clearly see it's a completely different artist. SO i doubt the douga maches 100%. It is a good copy of the original but it is way too different from it.
Even Hotaru's right eye is painted completely different. (the black above the eye)
The xerography at the end of her blouze is different too. The original artist made it so that it is a bit faded so the one who sees it can sense the movement.
In the *copy* that line is as if it is made in photoshop (it is too perfect. Nothing made in hand is too perfect that's why they are better than the pc made ones)
Check the 1st line behind the 1st nail of Tomoe. It is also veeery much different.
And so on.....
Surely it is not made by the same studio, and 100% not made from the same artist.

[Jadeduo]

Hi!

Since there has still been some resistance to my analysis, I have always been more if a glass half full type of person so... I emailed mandarake directly and here is their response! Just a note they have a couple cels on the big web that are also for exhibit... So I'm guessing they have ways to confirm that these are still produced by the studio of origin...

Hello,

It was made by the studio, maybe used for advertising or display, we are
not sure...

Regards,

Mago

//////////////////////////////
Mandarake Inc
International Department
auction@mandarake.co.jp
http://www.mandarake.co.jp
//////////////////////////////

Jadeduo

[cutiebunny]

I guess my thought is, if you like it, what does it matter? If your intent is not to sell your collection, does it really matter who created them? Even going in, Mandarake provided very sparse details, and you were probably aware that you could be bidding on nothing more than a really nice fancel. I think most people realized that who bid on the auction - hence why the prices ended at what they did. Based on the previous prices that SM cels from recent BWAs ended at, the ESM cel alone would have cleared a couple grand had it been an actual production cel.

The hard part with researching this is that there probably won't be much information, if any, on the web, and what info you do find will require you to be highly fluent in Japanese. Even recent promotions are like this. I spent a significant amount of time researching a Pokemon shikishi that was awarded as part of a promotion for FamiMart in 2011 and I can't find any ads pertaining to it. And this is after plugging in several variations of katakana characters that would have been used. My experience has been,for the most part, the Japanese are not as big into provenance of anime/manga artwork as westerners are.

[lunacels]

Wow! And here we are, a year later, and I am reading this thread after buying the Neptune/S Movie cel on YJ. Oh well, that's OK--I would have bought it anyway (I'm a sucker for Neptune cels, real or fan). And at least it was a lot cheaper than it went on Mandarake.

The YJ listing translated text says, "Size will exhibit for the organization of Yu room month paste background no copy No videos." Whatever that means.

[lunacels]

...Wait...not the Neptune/S Movie. The Neptune/Nehelenia's Mirror Parodies. Wow, I must be tired!

[sensei]

"Size will exhibit for the organization of Yu room month paste background no copy No videos."

I'd need to see the Japanese: I'm still no good on reading normal stuff, but I can usually make something like this out. Translation engines make word salad out of the syntax, which is what happens here. "No videos" = no douga. "Paste background" = stuck to background. "No copy" probably means "not a repro cel." Lots of sellers ship in a "Yu pack," so I think that's where "Yu" comes from, so "Size . . . Yu room" might mean "Fits in a Yu pack."