Oh Toei... line fading woes

[jcaliff]

I'm still rescanning cels for my gallery. I'm making progress. Slow progress. I'm currently working on shoujo stuff. I just scanned my few Sailor Moon cels. These cels have never been framed, and lived the past 15 years in an art portfolio in the closet. But unfortunately, nothing can really prevent Toei cel line fading. Having the original scan to compare to makes it all the more painful.

Original scan:



Scan from today:




So frustrating. And yes, my scanner still won't scan certain colors of pink properly. Thank goodness I've only got one Black Lady cel. Editing her hair in Gimp was loads of fun.

[Sui Kune]

Out of curiosity, did you notice any vinegar smell when you pulled it out? I noticed with my Hotaru cels with accelerated line fading, they tend to also have Vinegar Syndrome. From Sensei's advice, I bought a bunch of Microchamber paper from Bags Unlimited and put one in the front of the cel bag of each one I've noticed the smell. While it sucks that there's really nothing more we can do besides perhaps eventually commissioning new trace line layers, having those Microchamber papers in there gives me the piece of mind that there's something in there at least slowing it down.

[Keropi]

Argh! That sucks! Ow... Sorry to see that.

That's something I've been worried about myself because I do see some line fading from when I bought my cels.

The thing is it was always difficult for me to scan my cels properly. If I didn't sharpen the image, the line fading looked far worse than how it actually was, but if I did sharpen it the image looked far better. One of these days I'll have to find the proper sharpening amount to accurately represent how they really look in person.

[jcaliff]

Out of curiosity, did you notice any vinegar smell when you pulled it out? I noticed with my Hotaru cels with accelerated line fading, they tend to also have Vinegar Syndrome. From Sensei's advice, I bought a bunch of Microchamber paper from Bags Unlimited and put one in the front of the cel bag of each one I've noticed the smell. While it sucks that there's really nothing more we can do besides perhaps eventually commissioning new trace line layers, having those Microchamber papers in there gives me the piece of mind that there's something in there at least slowing it down.

I don't really notice any strong smells.

Fortunately, I do have the douga, and I've considered how difficult it might be to use that to trace new lines on a new layer. But for now, I'm just going to leave it.

[BuraddoRun]

Dang, that is scary. I shudder to think what some cels will look like 30 years from now.

[sensei]

[Is getting ready to put together a disgusting and unsettling post on the topic of Vinegar Syndrome, complete with photographs.]

Yes, basic response is to sandwich the cel with microchamber paper and isolate it from other cels (i.e., don't leave it in the Itoya with other healthy cels, as the condition is contagious). Check it often and replace the microchamber paper when it starts to smell acidic, as that means that its neutralizing capabilities have been surpassed. Archival sites I've visited suggest putting the cel in cold storage. Even 50 degrees (F) is believed sufficient to prolong the life of such a cel substantially.

[Keropi]

How do you store your cels again Sensei? I've forgotten what you said previously about how you store them.

[pixie_princess]

I don't really notice any strong smells.

Fortunately, I do have the douga, and I've considered how difficult it might be to use that to trace new lines on a new layer. But for now, I'm just going to leave it.

Question. I have the vague recollection that Toei xeroxed the trace lines directly onto the cel (and then painted it on the underside)...

Do you think that perhaps doing that (on a separate piece) and then going over that with black paint (paint marker?) might be a quick and dirty way of fixing the lines instead of commissioning someone?

[sensei]

How do you store your cels again Sensei? I've forgotten what you said previously about how you store them.

I don't have any unusual way: they'e in Itoyas, set upright like books on a shelf. Polypro cel bags, not sealed and typically slit or clipped on one side to allow air to escape.

I am being more vigilant, though. One side rationale of my tenth anniversary celebration was to go through my whole "core" collection (obtained 2000-2002), rescan, and look for problems. Like jcaliff, I did notice some line fading, though not as dramatic, and I'm moving toward a system in which when I replace cel bags, I don't just clip a corner but slit the bag all the way down one side and store the cel with the slit side up (i.e., toward the part of the page that is also open to air).

I also am more prone to slip a microchamber sheet into the front of a cel bag if I notice anything odd about the way it smells. I do have two cel sets that I'm certain have the first signs of vinegar syndrome (and did when I obtained them). They are isolated from my other cels and get special treatment (more on this later).

[sensei]

Question. I have the vague recollection that Toei xeroxed the trace lines directly onto the cel (and then painted it on the underside)...

That's correct. From the 1960s on most studios used a modified photocopy machine to print an image of the douga (flipped of course) on the backside of the cel. The pigment was powdered carbon plus some kind of plasticizer (various companies had different formulas) that melted under heat and sealed the carbon against the acetate. (This is why a healthy cel smells just like a sheet of paper that's just come out of the copy machine ... same stuff.)

So in practice if you could get a photocopy machine to accept a thin plastic layer, you could put the douga in the top, hit the button, and get a new set of trace lines. I've never done it, and I expect there are tricks to doing so, though. (I got some Korean cels once that actually had all the episode/cut/sequence coding from the douga photocopied all along the bottom edge of the cel.)

[jcaliff]

Yeah, I'm actually thinking I might for a short term fix buy some of those printable clear film sheets and just do a photocopy of the lines from the douga. I'll let you know how it turns out.

It really is fascinating how the different studios age. The cels in this particular portfolio are all shoujo anime cels of approximately the same age. The series were stored in random order, and different studios spread out from each other. But there's no question the Toei cels show the worst signs of fading. Here are some examples:

Fushigi Yuugi (Studio Pierrot) - almost no fading in any of my cels


Marmalade Boy (Toei) - significant fading in every cel, though some worse than others


Hime-chan's Ribbon (Studio Gallop) - some fading in the hair, but little otherwise


Akazukin Chacha (Studio Gallop) - a little fading here and there, seems to be linked to paint color


Akachan to Boku (Studio Pierrot) - almost no fading in any of my cels


Cuty Honey Flash (Toei) - obvious fading in both cels, but i've only got two so not a huge number to compare


Saint Tail (TMS) - fading in Meimi's hair, little elsewhere, seems color linked


Sailor Moon (Toei) - significant fading in all cels but one. Why, oh why, is this the only Sailor Moon cel I own with NO line fading?

[Sui Kune]

Oh I greatly look forward to your post, Sensei! I haven't isolated my Vinegar Syndrome cels yet, but I'll definitely pull them out and give them their own Itoya once I do my cel bag and Microchamber paper change. I should finally be moving out into my own place later this year, too, so I'll be able to have a separate room for my toys and portfolios that I can keep at a cooler temperature. (Humidity thankfully isn't a problem, my old window has been replaced and is nice and sealed, and my dehumidifier crapped out but I got a shiny new one for Christmas.)

Another interesting note on Toei trace lines is in the case of hand-done trace lines, there's been no signs of fading at all. These are my two cels from a flashback sequence, that I believe were hand inked with both white and black ink:





And a third example from Luna-Art's gallery:

http://www.luna-art.com/cels/sm1695rser.htm

So it's probably additional nails in the coffin of evidence that Toei's xerox method is behind why Toei lines fade much more rapidly and prominently than other studios.