Shadows on White Gallery Updates

[teggacat]

gosh I dont always post here but I do always check out your updates, Rekka. I always
enjoy visiting your gallery, its so cheery and full of gorgeous cels
and if I lived so near Nakano I'd be in trouble
anyhow, thanks so much for sharing!

[Rekka Alexiel]

gosh I dont always post here but I do always check out your updates, Rekka. I always
enjoy visiting your gallery, its so cheery and full of gorgeous cels
and if I lived so near Nakano I'd be in trouble
anyhow, thanks so much for sharing!

Hey, there! Thanks for taking a look and posting! I'm pretty bad at communicating with other collectors these days, so I tend to just be a shadow on the forum and elsewhere. heh

I don't live very close to Nakano, it takes probably an hour one way...but in Japan terms, that's still pretty close. I haven't been able to go recently simply because of the crazy financial situation I'm in right now--it's even worse than the last time I first opened offers to items in my gallery (which is still open!!!). I'll have to borrow money from work friends just to get through this last week before payday. *sigh* Totally sucks. And still no positive word about a new job from August. Totally not in a happy place right now, but to counter some of those icky feelings, I've just uploaded a couple new additions that have been waiting to be updated.

Gakuen Benriya Series: Antique Heart OVA Takahiro & Touru

This is a pretty huge find for me as it's the first cel from this show that I've ever seen/found in years of searching. It's from a very simple, one-shot OVA from the late 80s.

Gulkeeva TV Episode 23, Touya


Senritsu no Stratus Hiyori & Zillia Attack Sequence

[Rekka Alexiel]

I've been working pretty hard the past couple days to update images of items in my gallery. The old design used very small thumbnail sizes--so small, that compared to the newer 250w thumbnails I'm using now, I can't imagine WHY I used such tiny thumbnails in the first place! You can hardly SEE what you're clicking! lol

Anyway, I have almost ALL sections for Gulkeeva updated, many with squeekin' brand-new scans!! So check those out if you haven't yet.

Lastly, I have a couple new additions...although 2 of them are not necessarily *new*. I've had them for who-know's-how-long before I rediscovered them. I must not have been able to make scans right away and then I completely forgot to add them entirely. Happens more often than I would like... *sigh* But it is a kinda neat surprise to go, "Ooooh yeah! I remember this!!" xP

Wild Knights Gulkeeva, Episode 17 - Touya

I absolutely love the artwork in these couple episodes (10, 17, and 23) which were directed by Muroi Fumie. Her designs are my standard look for the characters, even though Hirai Hisashi (ie. Gundam Seed) is truly the main character designer for the series. This is another cel that I somehow *forgot* that I had. It's a very nice pan cel from the short black-and-white sequence during Touya's solo fight with the Animanoid girl who tried to pose as his flame, Konoha. He eventually sees through her guise and is very, very pissed. He takes on her and her mech single-handedly!

Wild Knights Gulkeeva, Episode 23 - Touya

This is the END cel from this sequence, which joins another sequence mate in my gallery. I somehow completely forgot I had this. This when Touya manages to somehow pilot an enemy mech and flies into enemy territory--the commanding building, no less. But he's really only able to do this by subtle help by the enemy themselves who want him to come in and be captured! This is as he's walking blindly into a dark room within the fortress where Prince Zaza is waiting for him...

Ys II Heaven's Sanctuary, Episode 3 - Adol

I am extremely happy to add this beauty! Through years of collecting this show, scouring to find new cels, I am so very happy with how this section has shaped up in the end. Let's just say one would be very lucky to find anything from this 4 part OVA series. *heart throb* Anyway, here's a gorgeous shot of Adol toward the end of episode 3 as he is very admirably facing off with the much stronger demon, Dalas. What I love about this cel is how very clearly his green eyes contrast with his red hair. I think very subconsciously the character of Adol influenced the design for Hisoka, the main character in my novel series. But who can resist that red hair/green eye combo!?!?

[Gonzai]

As always - beautiful update! ^_^

[Rekka Alexiel]

Hey there, Gonzai! Thanks for taking a look! *hugs*

I'm having a bit of insomnia tonight, especially after I heard word that I don't need to be into school tomorrow!! Yay! So I guess it's beach day instead!!

I probably should have saved my latest update until now or sometime tomorrow but... I was able to make a brief stop into Nakano today to pick up a pretty big wishlist item! It doesn't fulfill any specific wishlist image or anything like that, but it's pretty close! I've already posted it on RS but let me update this thread with it now...!! ^^;;

Wild Knights Gulkeeva, Episode 26 (final) - Touya

I recognized this cel upon first glance and was really quite shocked that anything this cool would pop up. This is from the final battle of the final episode in the series with Touya being the only one of his comrades still standing to face down the baddie. I love how front and center his merged blade/axe weapon is! There are some major spoilers related to what's going on in this scene, so if anyone is curious, you can read my somewhat full commentary about it on the RS page. Ohh! And I think I utterly out-geeked the seller, too, when I so giddily said it's from such a cool scene in the final episode. heh Maybe he wished he set a higher price for it then...? xD

Sorry for all the updates in the past couple days...! I typically don't have many things to update but things arrived within a day of one another. If I don't update right away, I'm likely to forget to do it at all.

I guess now I will try to sleep... it's already going on 3am. ARG!

[sensei]

Thanks, Rekka, for all the hard work you're doing on your gallery to make it more attractive: new scans, detailed descriptions, better thumbnails, etc. That's work that really shows your devotion to your gallery and to your favorite series. I hope your financial situation gets clarified soon: it is nerve-racking to be in this kind of situation and not really know what your work situation will be next month. At least your gallery can absorb some of the pent-up energy, but for your sake (and your gallery) I hope things fall the right way for you.

Thanks for sharing: I'm intrigued by the character/costume design of your Gulkeeva cels. It reminds me strongly of Magic Knight Rayearth (which I see was airing at exactly the same time in 1995). Touya in particular reminds me of Hikaru in MKR with the elaborate forehead armor. Thanks too for the good background notes, which are invaluable for those of us who do not know this series well. It only has 12 ratings on ANN, I see: two very good, four good, one not-really-good, one awful, one "worst ever." From your descriptions it seems better than "so-so," ANN's summation.

And thanks too for the detailed account of Antique Heart. That seems very Shinto in its conception of kamis that become devoted to a specific place and who cause trouble when their home is disturbed. It seems also worth knowing: Takahiko was voiced by Toshihiko Seki, who later did Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing and Genjo Sanzo in the Saiyuki franchise, so it seems classy (but again ANN has next to nothing in its entry on it). It is sad that for some such series, especially one-shot OVAs, that cels were not preserved in any quantity. I keep watching for another cel from the Youseiou OVA, which seems likewise interesting and worth knowing, but I've only ever seen the one.

Congratulations, and godspeed on your gallery remake. (But can I get you to do something other than dark red on black for links? Due to my partial color blindness, I can't read these headings without a lot of effort.)

[Rekka Alexiel]

Hey, Sensei, thanks so much for your message!

Thanks, Rekka, for all the hard work you're doing on your gallery to make it more attractive: new scans, detailed descriptions, better thumbnails, etc. That's work that really shows your devotion to your gallery and to your favorite series. I hope your financial situation gets clarified soon: it is nerve-racking to be in this kind of situation and not really know what your work situation will be next month. At least your gallery can absorb some of the pent-up energy, but for your sake (and your gallery) I hope things fall the right way for you.

Making the new scans and images has actually taken less time than I initially thought, especially when my automated actions in Photoshop are actually doing what I want them to do! lol I can do a lot of batch resizing and editing that way, although I don't like how it positions the black boarder for thumbnails--I still do those manually.

As for the financial situation, payday is coming this Friday so I have enough to get by until then... and as far as the next job goes, I still don't know anything about that. I think I will contact my previous employer again and see if they have any openings. I really don't want to go back to them, but I think they would re-hire me if they have openings. Why train a newbie when they could have me back again...? I think they were a little disappointed in losing me in the first place...!! So please, any positive thoughts/vibes/prayers for finding a job that I don't hate would be most appreciated!! THANK YOU!

Thanks for sharing: I'm intrigued by the character/costume design of your Gulkeeva cels. It reminds me strongly of Magic Knight Rayearth (which I see was airing at exactly the same time in 1995). Touya in particular reminds me of Hikaru in MKR with the elaborate forehead armor. Thanks too for the good background notes, which are invaluable for those of us who do not know this series well. It only has 12 ratings on ANN, I see: two very good, four good, one not-really-good, one awful, one "worst ever." From your descriptions it seems better than "so-so," ANN's summation.

That's very true!! I never thought of that, but it stands to reason that shows airing at the same general time would borrow influences. Actually, all of the Senshi in Gulkeeva have some sort of headpiece like Touya.

I'm being bored and lazy at the moment, so I'll explain the story a little bit more in detail for anyone who'd like to know.
I also have some more notes and scans from the novels here: http://firesanctuary.com/gulkeeva/

The story revolves around two parallel worlds, Eternalia and of course Earth. Eternalia is inhabited by two races: huminoids (human-ish people) and animanoids (furries). The huminoids are divided by a nasty civil war: Those living in the northern region of Northfeltia, the antagonists called Darknoids, and those who oppose them in Heaven's Tear. The overall premise is that Eternalia has fallen upon a devastating ice age. Everyone believes that the world is coming to an end and therefore something must be done to save their planet. Prince Zaza of Northfeltia believes that he must induce the "Oinaru Hanten" or the Sacred Reversal in order to save Eternalia. Princess Mereina, the ruler of Heaven's Tear, knows that if the Sacred Reversal is carried out, another innocent world will be sacrificed to save their own. So really, Prince Zaza believes he's doing the right thing to save their world even though he would be willingly sacrificing another separate world much like their own. Interesting enough, right? Then you add in an element of reincarnation, past lives, and resurrected souls to further complicate the plot. A thousand years or so in Eternalia's past, there was a great war in which four holy knights rose up and saved the world; they became what was known as the Legendary Gulkeeva Knights. As the years past and Eternalia once again faced a great danger, the souls of these four were resurrected. According to the novels, two of these souls didn't survive the transmigration but the souls of Radias, the Gold Knight of Earth, and Ryuto, the Silver Knight of Heaven, survived and sank into the bodies of two baby infants--Touya and Kira. [It is unclear whether these children had a soul of their own to begin with or if there are actually two separate souls living inside of them. Touya often fears that the soul of Radius will awaken and thusly destroy his own soul.] The two children of Eternalia and their parents are then sent to Earthside to await the pending fight. PHEW! That's a lot to take in, right?! lol

As for the ANN rating, I don't disagree with it. Although Gulkeeva is one of my favorite titles, it still suffers greatly in many areas, one is the fact that there are so many filler episodes and episodes with the ugliest artwork that sometimes I'm surprised I sat through the whole thing... The series does not do well with rewatchability. Some episodes are great and I could watch them a billion times over (like the final 4 episodes) but others, I'm just fine with never seeing them again. lol It's this hit and miss that really damaged the series as a whole. The story, too, is very sketchy. Some of the ideas in it are great, it's just there isn't enough time devoted to actually taking those ideas and thoroughly developing them. So much time was wasted with filler episodes and not enough devoted to really clearly telling the story. I think this is probably why, coupled with budget issues, the second season was cancelled. The end of eps. 26 *clearly* leaves the story open to continue.

And thanks too for the detailed account of Antique Heart. That seems very Shinto in its conception of kamis that become devoted to a specific place and who cause trouble when their home is disturbed. It seems also worth knowing: Takahiko was voiced by Toshihiko Seki, who later did Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing and Genjo Sanzo in the Saiyuki franchise, so it seems classy (but again ANN has next to nothing in its entry on it). It is sad that for some such series, especially one-shot OVAs, that cels were not preserved in any quantity. I keep watching for another cel from the Youseiou OVA, which seems likewise interesting and worth knowing, but I've only ever seen the one.

Indeed, that was Seki Toshihiko. xD Must love his voice!! *^^* And it's curious that so little in terms of production artwork would be saved from these older shows. What did production companies do with the biproducts then, just chuck everything in the trash!? Augh! What would be the logistics behind that? Simply there wasn't enough space to keep them or they didn't know what to do with them...?? It's quite a waste!

Congratulations, and godspeed on your gallery remake. (But can I get you to do something other than dark red on black for links? Due to my partial color blindness, I can't read these headings without a lot of effort.)

Oh awesome, thanks for the feedback! I've always been a fan of the black backgrounds, but you're right, it makes the darker fonts harder to read! Sorry about that! I'll get on thinking about a new color scheme since I haven't changed that probably ever since I first opened that gallery...!!

And thanks again for the post-- you gave me a lot of fun stuff to think about!!

[Rekka Alexiel]

After having my gallery hosted on RS for over 10 years, I'm still learning tricks on how to avoid the automatic alphabetic organization of series lists, thanks to a very simple yet time consuming trick that sensei was so kind to pass on to me!! THANK YOU!! You've really made one of my long-time RS wishes come true!

So yesterday, I was working nearly all day to organize and display things just the way I wanted... and I'm relatively happy with what it looks like now!

I've separated series into 4 main categories:

ABSOLUTE FAVORITES:
These are my all-time favorite shows that I am quite fervently searching for.

Minor Favorites:
These are still some of my top beloved series but they didn't quite make the cut into "Absolute"ness. lol Still actively collecting from these shows, too.

Shows I Really Like:
These are mostly nostalgic shows that I really liked in the past (and still do) but I am no longer actively collecting from due to monetary constraints or simply the lack of supply. Many of these titles are beyond *rare* to find.

Other Series:
These are the rest of the titles that I have managed to collect over the years. These are sort of my MISC titles, so if anyone is looking for making offers to items in my gallery, this is the best spot to go since I have a greater likelihood to accept offers on items in this category as opposed to something in my Absolute category. Don't get me wrong, though. I still like many of the items and shows in this category, simply when if I place something up against one of my higher ranking shows, the choice between the two is obvious to me. :p

I have also updated the text display on the main page. I don't know why the original design of RS has such TINY fonts...but I am currently using a rather small font, so if anyone has trouble READING anything, let me know. I've got the right-hand side series list organized the way I like it, so I might not be able to change the font sizes over there, but if the stuff on the left is too difficult to read, please let me know. I can tweak that.

ALSO, I've started to add series background information along with relevant themes, my general opinion on the show, and possible spoilers on the FIRST page of my Absolute Favorites list. I'm using a bit of Javascript to hide and display a bunch of text so the cels don't get stuck way down at the bottom of the page. If anything doesn't seem to work right for you, please let me know here.

As far as new additions, I do have a couple things that I need to upload, and I'm waiting for maybe one more package to arrive. Once those come, I will scan those and make another update. It may be my last update for August since I'm going to be strapped for money. I've got about $200 left for another 3 weeks before my last paycheck. It should be alright, because I figured out how to get cash from my American credit card at 7-11 ATMs. lol Of all places!! So I should be able to survive on that for awhile. The next task will be finding a new job...!! geesh

Anyway, if you haven't checked out my gallery in a while or maybe you have recently-- check out the new changes that I've made and see if you like it.

[Rekka Alexiel]

Okay, here we go! As promised, I have this update already up after I received the last couple items in the mail today!!

And I made a really cool but weird discovery! The last time I had gone into ASC, Tsuboi-san sold me a couple cels from one of my top shows, what I thought were identical cels to an auction he was running at the time. Very eager to buy anything from this show, I accepted his offer right then and there...and expected him to cancel the auction for those two cels. But he never did. He never sent me an invoice at the end of the auctions...so I sent him the amount for two auctions, leaving out the one I purchased directly at the store.

But, it turns out that the items I bought at his store and the ones on auction were sequence makes--DUH!! haha I'm a moron! And now I need to send him more money! xP He must think I'm a total idiot.

Anyway, here are a couple shots of the new additions. I couldn't be happier!!

[Rekka Alexiel]

Hey, everybody, I have a couple more updates to share. I recently added several more sketches from Senritsu no Stratus, but I'll get around to posting sample images of those soon. In the meantime, here are some awesome douga sketches from the Jyu Oh Sei opening sequence. I was a fan of the series when it first came out but it eventually faded from my mind until I rewatched it a couple weeks ago. I bought the manga back then, too, but I have no idea where it is. I must have brought it back to the States on one of my trips home. :p I'd like to read it again.







I have a couple more sketches to scan from this series and I'll upload those as soon as I can. <3

[Hakiri]

Wow Rekki, I absolutely love looking through your gallery ^^ The scans are stunning to the eyes and you've really made the gallery have that unique flair with putting all that time into the layout and images. (I still don't have a clue how to get titles to go in a particular order @__@)

Congratulations on the wishlist (a couple posts back), hehe I bet that shop owner was shocked! ^__^

And echoing a bit on what teggacat said, I'd be the same if I lived near Nakano! ^^"" I'd probably never come home XD

I can't wait to see more of your updates soon, thanks for sharing with us!! ^^

[Rekka Alexiel]

Ooooh, long time without an update. I still have some more to scan but here's the first batch of updates:

TOP FAVORITES
-------------------------------------------------
B't X


OTHER ADDITIONS
-------------------------------------------------
Elementalors
Generator Gawl
Nukunuku
Unknown<-- I know at least one of these has been ID'ed here on Beta...but I don't remember what it's from at the moment. I'll have to check the post again!! ^^;;;


NEW SERIES
-------------------------------------------------
Curse of the Undead Yoma
Digi Carrot
Dragon Ball
Fushigi Yuugi
Ranma
Shurato
Shuten Douji
Tekkaman Blade


Thanks for looking!

[sensei]

Congratulations, Rekka, on a big and wide-ranging update. I'm not familiar with many of these series, but you've certainly picked moments that are eye-catchers.

This cel from Curse of the Undead Yoma (sounds like a surprisingly good movie made in the late 40s by an independent British film studio) has got a lot of drama and sharp points. It that the Yoma with the indistinct face coming in on the left?

This cel shows Dragon Ball's Goku in a characteristically antisocial moment.

Kamome in Akihabara Dennou Gum (aka Cyberteam in Akihabara) looks irritated that she's not the character that guy fans buy body pillows of.

Congrats on getting a new kissy cel fromElementalors. That sequence reminds me a lot of the big "Fly me to the moon" scene from Escaflowne: Girl from Gaia.

Godspeed and ganbatte on getting the rest scanned!

[theultimatebrucelee]

http://rekka.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv ... mID=371333

This is Nami Yamaguchi from Silent Mobius, in case you haven't figured out. the "Attacked Mystification Police" written on her collar give that one away

[Rekka Alexiel]

As always, I'm late in replying, sorry!! m(_ _)m

This cel from Curse of the Undead Yoma (sounds like a surprisingly good movie made in the late 40s by an independent British film studio) has got a lot of drama and sharp points. It that the Yoma with the indistinct face coming in on the left?

Yeah, that's the spider Yoma/monster that comes back from the dead and attacks from behind...if I remember right. :p I do like the character design in this show. ^^

This cel shows Dragon Ball's Goku in a characteristically antisocial moment.

Is that who that is? lol My DB knowledge is severely limited. If anyone knows any further detail on this one, I'd love to know! :3

Kamome in Akihabara Dennou Gum (aka Cyberteam in Akihabara) looks irritated that she's not the character that guy fans buy body pillows of.

lol Oddly enough, I bought this in the Akihabara Mandarake. haha Just love those eyes!!

Congrats on getting a new kissy cel fromElementalors. That sequence reminds me a lot of the big "Fly me to the moon" scene from Escaflowne: Girl from Gaia.

Yes!! The movie is not the greatest of things... especially with the manga it's based on (and the author unwilling to give it a proper ending!!), but it has some good points that I like a lot. This particular scene in the OVA is one of my absolute favorites. I was lucky to add this new sequence mate for rather cheap. <3

Godspeed and ganbatte on getting the rest scanned!

Thank you!!! Sorry it's taken me this long to respond...and get another update ready! xP

http://rekka.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv ... mID=371333
This is Nami Yamaguchi from Silent Mobius, in case you haven't figured out. the "Attacked Mystification Police" written on her collar give that one away

Thank you!! I thought that writing on the front would be a good hint! xD

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now for some fun updates!

Here are the new additions to my top series:

• Samurai Troopers: Gaiden OVA (3)
  Added two gorgeous teary transformation sequence cels of Ryo that join their sequence mates that I acquired from Jenn almost 10 years ago!!

• B't X TV (4)
  Added some pretty decent cels of characters from nice scenes in the TV series: Maria, the Dark Knight Mira, the Death character, and also one minor cel of Karen.

• B't X Neo OVA (1)
  Added one very nice shot of Ron from the OVA series.

And here are some new additions elsewhere in the gallery:

• Ranma (1)
  Added that last cel from Ranma that I forgot to scan before.

• Salamander OVA (3)
  I had never seen this OVA series until now. It was *really* funny to see some things from the game (Gradius) make a cameo appearance in the anime, like that one boss battle...!! I didn't recognize some of the nice music that's actually in the game, though. I have one more cel that came with this set of 3...but I'm not sure if it's from the same series or not. I'll have to check before adding that one.

I still have some more stuff to add...but it may take me a while to get the images edited; maybe not if I do the actions right in Photoshop--the most work will be with RS since there are so many of them that need to be added. So stay tuned for more updates hopefully before the year is out. Those items include a small sketch set from Neo Angelique ~Abyss~, a cel from MAPS, a few from Gulkeeva, the others are a bunch of copied dougas from Samurai Troopers. I'm not big on copied anything, but it was cheap and there are a ton of interesting sketches of Ryo, so I'm happy. :3