The Last of Sensei's 2012 Upgrade Thread: Mayan Doomsday!

[ReiTheJelly]

[Princess Nadia]

Now they are striking!

[cutiebunny]

Yay! Congrats on the Light Card gengas.

There's been quite a bit of artwork on YJ this year of the Light and Dark cards. I hope some more is made available soon.

[sensei]

Thanks, Rei and CB. Rest assured that the sketches are in much better condition now than they appeared in the dealer's scan. The pile of used tissues, with sticky ends of adhesive tape curling around in them, was an impressive and gross spectacle at the end of the operation. And thanks, Nadia. It is a striking and unforgettable moment. I'm only sorry that in the new RS format the extra sketches are autosized top to bottom so that you get only a faint idea of the rough and the pan douga. I'm tempted to add them as new items and then make them password-only items to keep the gallery tidy.

Also I decided to put the description on the side this time instead of selecting "bottom" as I always do. Surprise: there evidently is no "side" information option in Rubberslug any more. Heh. Who knew.

It is shaping up to be a very tight race for "Gallery of the Year," with none of the usual contenders easy to count out.

[KuroiTsubasa4]

Awesome job on the clean-up, the sketches look great That celotape stuff seems almost impossible to get off. Do you know if it damages cels? Or is it only sketches that are in danger?

[sensei]

Awesome job on the clean-up, the sketches look great That celotape stuff seems almost impossible to get off.

It's daunting: some projects I've put off for months and years until I had the time and gumption. But with a little experience the tape removal isn't in itself difficult. See the little tutorial I put up on tape removal a few years ago.

The only change I've made in the process is that I now remove the tape along the edges of joined sheets, let the solvent dry, then add tiny strips of filmoplast P archival tape to hold the two sheets together in original orientation. This brand of tape is expensive, but it's not only acid-free but buffered with an acid reducer. I bought a 50 m roll of it some years ago from a library supply site and use it so sparingly that the roll still looks the original size.

Do you know if it damages cels? Or is it only sketches that are in danger?

So far as I can tell, celotape does not damage cel plastic. I would not advise using any solvent more powerful than isopropyl alcohol on a cel. That will remove stray blobs of cel paint and adhesive, but also dissolves trace lines and sequence numbers as well. I've used it very sparingly, a little on a tip of a cotton swab, and with extreme caution. In my opinion, you'd be more apt to damage the cel by removing the tape than by leaving it stay where it is. (The cel, being chemically active, is more likely to hurt the tape than vice versa.)

Congrats, btw, on your recent batch of CCS additions. The Ep. 69 cel + background is especially nice.

[Macron one]

An excellent addition once again, sensei! I was keeping an eye on that YJ auction and very nearly placed a bid on it myself, but decided that i'd already spent enough money on several previous purchases. I'm certainly glad to see that you're the one who won the auction, as i can't imagine anyone better suited to preserving them in optimal condition!

[sensei]

Thank you, Macron one, both for the good words and for not bidding. Looking forward to seeing your recent acquisitions go up!

Next upgrade will be in early November. Too early to tell just what the final mix will be, but you can expect to see Blue Bird, Hyper Police, and Tree of Palme in the mix. Plus yet one more "One of a Kind" impulse buy. (I'm such a sucker for anime art that has cute kitties in it!)

PS, I fixed the thumbnail issue by severely cropping the pan images from the bottom. They lose some of their stature, but the face and shoulders are the most impressive parts anyhow.

[KuroiTsubasa4]

Congrats, btw, on your recent batch of CCS additions. The Ep. 69 cel + background is especially nice.

Thanks It's my first original BG from CCS. It's very similar to the one you have actually.

[tex-chan]

Beautiful additions, Sensei -- as always!! There is something so impressive and graceful about these sketches. I'm really happy to see them at home in your amazing CCS collection. Congrats!!

[sensei]

My last big upgrade of 2012 is up now, somewhat delayed by my fill-in teaching job, which involves a once-a-week commute into Washington DC, plus a rare academic conference, followed by Frankenstorm, the Election, and a Nor'easter.

The big winner is, unexpectedly, Mushishi, which (thanks to a sale by redwolf ) has been expanded from two galleries to four. Better yet, the new sketches come from two of my most favorite episodes, #14 (In the cage)and #16 (The daybreak snake),both of them based on international legend types that I've known since before I became a folklorist. The featured images are rather stark at first glance, but keep in mind that they are all original art, and not much of that ever appeared on the market from this highly acclaimed series. For more moxie, browse through the galleries, where you'll find screen caps and copy layouts in the thumbnails.

Another big winner is A Tree of Palme, from which two sellers offered some of the best stock I've seen on YHJ in three years. I was able to pick up some nice images from major scenes, notably the poignant moment when Palme asks Popo to accompany him on his quest and the terrific moment when Popo takes Palme's side, even when the warrior Shatta warns them that he will kill both of them to avert the apocalypse that has begun. (Oh, golly, don't ask me to explain: just rent the movie and watch it a couple of times.)

Perhaps the star of this batch is the huge cel of the nightmarish Koram starting all the trouble by giving Palme the Egg of Touto. I'd had the original production background since 2006 (it was the first thing from the film I bought), but it came with all the end key cels, and I'd coveted a set-up from earlier, showing the crucial handover. This was exactly what I wanted, and now that is reunited with its canvas-sized bg.

Some major items got added to my Tennimon galleries when the curator of "Murder on the Menu" agreed to take offers. Two come from the crucial scene when Natsumi's wish is granted and she gets to see her deceased brother again in a vision. Another comes from a dramatic moment in the final episode when Natsumi makes a crucial move that helps move the series to a happy ending. But personally I like this nasty image of Silky, who's just done in one of the second story arc's major characters and is going to do in another one if she doesn't shut up right now. (Ah, but said character is being voiced by Sakura Tange, and do you think she's bloody likely to comply? ... "Murder on the Menu" indeed!)

Hyper Police gets two additions, one of the fox spirit Sakura in an embarrassing situation and the other of the cat-girl Natsuki who's just been busted!

My "Golden Age" explorations continue with a small but extremely expressive cel of Mamezo, the little bratty kid/bean beetle hybrid from the 1973 Toei series Microid S, who's gotten himself stuck in a bog somehow. And there are four new cels in the 1980 Office Academy series Maeterlinck's Blue Bird, including Mytyl and the quirky clockwork helper called The Time, plus a couple of images from the ultimate happy ending when the children's mother comes home from the hospital.

CCS wasn't neglected: I've added a hard-hitting image from Meilin's bout with The Fight Card.

And there's always the random impulse buy, this time a pan sketch of all the principal characters in Yumeria, a 2004 harem/moe/magical-girl + hentai-loser series adapted by Studio Deen from a video game. Plot and dialog are both less good than Usagi-chan, but, like that hentai series, Yumeria happens to have very good artwork.

I may toss in one more little update before the end of the year, but otherwise this is likely to be it for 2012. The "gallery of the year" decision looks to be a very, very, difficult choice, with CCS, Condition Green, Usagi-chan, Tennimon, Mushishi, Syrius no Densetsu, Blue Bird, and Tree of Palme all potential contenders.

[Quacker]

Congratulations on your latest captivating & brilliant additions Sensei.
I always look forward to your updates - each eclectic mix, brings both surprises from old favourites as well as new discoveries, along with your detailed summaries & "Sensei checks".

I enjoy each your Tenshi updates because as far as I am aware "Tenshi ni Narumon" has yet to receive an Official local Australian release - it does look to be a very compelling, well-drawn series with some equally beautifully drawn characters.
From this batch, showing my bias once again, my nominated favourite would be your new CCS cel of Mei-Lin. I am yet to see this episode as yet, but this is such a strikingly action-esque moment (almost brutal in its detail).

Hopefully you will be able to fit in another update by the year's end.
Hmmm as for your section/gallery of the year, that is a very tough choice.......but my vote would go towards Palme; as over the past few months, this collection has really grown while you have discovered & unearthed some truly wonderful cels of the main & secondary characters.

[Yupa]

Wow, more sketches of Mushi-shi! I did not expect to see more of that series, so it's a pleasant surprise. I like how you have enough sketches to be able to retell the plot of those episodes. There's some great background work in that series.

Also wonderful additions to your Tenshi ni Narumon gallery. I especially like the first one of Natsumi. She has a nice expression and the lighting is also well done in that scene.

[teggacat]

As per usual, the newest Sensei update is quite interesting. I always learn alot about different series whenever
you update!
As usual, I am fascinated by your new Palme entries, the Hyper Police are really nice, the Mushishi is
quite an interesting journey, but I really like the impulsive Yumeria sketch, it is really beautiful!
Thanks once again for an enlightening update!
I hope you get chance to do another before years' end.
And I hope you fared well through the hurricane then the nor'easter, and throw the election in there ........

[sensei]

"Tenshi ni Narumon" has yet to receive an Official local Australian release - it does look to be a very compelling, well-drawn series with some equally beautifully drawn characters.

Thanks for your nice comments on my "Sensei check" excesses! PM me an address and I'll send you some CDRs. I got my set free from Vampyre of blessed Betarian memory (not Vampyreshoujo, but the one who was sucked into another world by her dolfies) and so it falls on me to pass on the favor.

my nominated favourite would be your new CCS cel of Mei-Lin. I am yet to see this episode as yet, but this is such a strikingly action-esque moment (almost brutal in its detail).

Heh. When that was broadcast in the Nelvana travesty version in the US, the Meilin/Fight scene was featured on the front page of the New York Times as an example of Dangerously Violent Asian Cartoons. Don't think this was why Cardcaptors didn't last so long, nor the rumor that it promoted Satanism (by encouraging kids to use tarot cards), but it didn't help moms and dads take the series to their hearts.

Wow, more sketches of Mushi-shi! I did not expect to see more of that series, so it's a pleasant surprise. I like how you have enough sketches to be able to retell the plot of those episodes.

Yes, it's nice even to have copies of the sketches and layouts to see how the series was produced, and so those blue-pencil "blueprint" drawings are great to own. They are detailed enough that one could probably build a reconstruction of that Ep. 16 room where the "Daybreak Snake" scene takes place. I tried to go light on the plot, though, and tell enough so that I could get someone interested enough to watch the episodes. Both have terrific endings that don't deserve to be given away as spoilers.

Also wonderful additions to your Tenshi ni Narumon gallery. I especially like the first one of Natsumi. She has a nice expression and the lighting is also well done in that scene.

That is such a pivotal scene, and it really makes you understand that she is the protagonist of the series, and not Noelle. (Or, rather, Noelle is her inner child, which she has tried to keep a secret from the world and herself.)

I always learn alot about different series whenever you update! I really like the impulsive Yumeria sketch, it is really beautiful!

Thank you, tegga. Collecting is a learning experience for me, and it's rewarding for me to pass on some of what I've found out in an update. It wasn't the first time I'd bid on art from Yumeria, but it was the first success. There were two ecchi sets that went up on the same morning, and I think the usual suspects had a big war over these and left this one relatively unguarded ... the auction was still a battle, though.

And I hope you fared well through the hurricane then the nor'easter, and throw the election in there

Thank you. Our "local news" is Channel 4 from New York City (all we get on the Cephiro news is the local weather forecast) and the coverage from Staten and Long Islands is really heartbreaking. We could have fared much worse, and in fact some towns west of us on the bay side did get serious flooding from the sea surge. Life is so much more fragile than we like to think.

We escaped the worst of the election, as Cephiro was not a battleground, and so we were spared the 22 political ads between each weather forecast.
I was reminded of an insight I had at Otakon in 2004 when I saw the huge crowd attending the L'arc-en-ciel J-Pop concert at 1st Mariner Arena. This ol' Southe'n dinosaur looked over that crowd of many colors and ethnic backgrounds and thought: "Like them, hate them, fear them -- in 25 years this bunch will govern this country." From what I've read of the election demographics, it looks as if they are already making their voice heard.

No, I don't expect that the country's path leads over the rainbow, and I expect that Obama's second term will be as bumpy as the first. But I also am resigned that time's arrow points forward, and so this country needs to follow suit and prepare itself for the challenges of the future, not fight the Civil War or the Gender War one more time. Trying to "take America back" in time is simply indulging in fantasy; we're better off getting used to the America that's coming into existence right now.
[Just my 50 yen: gomen if I've offended anyone ]