Sensei's Upgrade 2011.05: More killers and beauties

[sensei]

My annual “back to school” update is now live, a unusually wide-ranging one that covers eight galleries. It continues my interest in lethal and sinister female characters that is showcased in “Running with Scissors, my current “Quirky Tour.” New sinister dames include two of the Angels or Battle Dolls from the CLAMP-inspired series Angelic Layer:


Angelic Layer: Angel Shirahime


Angelic Layer: Angel Hikaru decks Tsubaki

Angelic Layer now has a gallery to itself, so stop by and browse some of the information that I researched up on the series and the then-brand-new gallery (BONES) that produced it.

Other women up to No Good include


Vampire Princess Miyu


Maeterlinck’s Blue Bird: The Queen of the Night
(Though to be sure, this Queen is ambiguous in gender, a bit like Nakuru/Ruby Moon in CCS.)

But there are other new items that appealed to me for other reasons. For some time I’d been lurking for a nice Hyper Police OP cel from the exuberant ending where Natsuki finishes her day by dashing to the Lamp Café for her mug of warm catnip-infused milk. It was a delight to see this one pop up on the Takemura Cel Shop:


Hyper Police: Natsuki nearing the Lamp Cafe

Likewise, I was happy to add this naked and bashful Mimika to my own guilty gallery of indulgence:


Usagi-chan de Cue!! Mimika blushing

My Tennimon gallery is a little richer for adding a new cel of the odd pair of angelic conspirators:


Tenshi ni Narumon: Raphael Rejoins Mikael

One of my random browses of Inuyasha offerings was stopped cold one day when I saw this lovely piece:


Inuyasha: Shippo and Kirara (original set-up)

Shippo is one of my favorite side characters. But I saw another reason why this piece caught my eye when I saw what came with it:


Inuyasha: Shippo and Kirara (Shoko Ikeda layout) (with Tatsuya Ishihara’s seal of approval).

Another item that had me captivated as soon as I saw it on YJ was this one:


Gegege no Kitaro: Yumiko-chan and Kitaro dancing

I don’t know much about it, except that it is obviously from the third Kitaro series (1980s) as Kitaro’s mortal friend Yumiko only appears in this version. But what a beauty: colors, composition, pose.

So two pugnacious kick-boxing dolls, an intense vampire, a series villain of indeterminate gender, an ecstatic cat-girl, a bashful bunny-girl, a mischievous fox spirit, a roguish one-winged angel, and a pretty girl dancing with a one-eyed undead yokai. Fall is off to a good start!

[KuroiTsubasa4]

Congrats on the lovely additions I saw that Inuyasha one up as well and thought it was a wonderful two-shot. Such great color and a nice composition!

[Yupa]

Great update Sensei! I don't know any of the series (I really should watch more classics), but I love the artwork. My favorite addition is the Tenshi ni Narumon cel.

[rallihir]

Sensei,

Very nice additions. I particularly the Natsuki cel from Hyperpolice. As usual, your descriptions and organization are exquisite.

[ReiTheJelly]

I love your new Angelic Layer pieces, especially Shirahime. *_* That Miyu cel is gorgeous, too.

[sensei]

Congrats on the lovely additions I saw that Inuyasha one up as well and thought it was a wonderful two-shot. Such great color and a nice composition!

Thank you, kuro. Actually, there's a sequence-buddy going around on YJ now: http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m91907951 It's a copy background (and the A1 of Kirara is part of the copy, so you just get the B5 of Shippo) But the original bg is already a laser print copy, so it's not as much of a loss as it might seem. Price is also very good (poor Shippo isn't seen as very collectable...)

Did you get the sad-eyed Syaoran Sunday morning? I had to prepare to go in for choir rehearsal for the 9/11 remembrance our church held.

Great update Sensei! I don't know any of the series (I really should watch more classics), but I love the artwork. My favorite addition is the Tenshi ni Narumon cel.

Heh. Y'know when you've been here too long when series that used to be "the hot new thing" are now "classics." (Same deal with music: I remember when the bunch of us teens cruising the neighborhood would pull over to the side of the road to listen to cutting-edge hot-off-the-vinyl-press records like "Sounds of Silence" and "Norwegian Wood.") Tennimon is hard to get, but if you slip me a mailing address I'll ship you some CD-ROMs. Keep in mind that the series is very random up until just before the moment that the cel you liked appears.

Very nice additions. I particularly the Natsuki cel from Hyperpolice. As usual, your descriptions and organization are exquisite.

Thanks, Craig. That's high praise from you. As a broken-down scholar, I still love finding out the backgrounds of my cels and writing them up. And, yes, I jumped out of my seat when that Natsuki OP came up for sale.

I love your new Angelic Layer pieces, especially Shirahime. *_* That Miyu cel is gorgeous, too.

Sketches of the Angels have always been very hard to get, for some reason. For a long time, all you saw were head shots of the main characters. And as they sit on opposite ends of the Layer and concentrate hard, they're rarely worth getting. Meantime, the Angels are duking it out in some nicely conceived martial arts duels, and it was nice to catch some of these. One used an odd spelling of the series, so I actually found it by happenstance.

Toshihiro Hirano directed MKR and VPM (and the Rayearth OVA) in one continuous burst of artistic creativity. I've rarely seen a Rayearth or a Miyu cel that was less than lovely. Some, however, are just memorably so.

[teggacat]

Excellent detailed update as we've come expect from you Sensei! Great job!
As been stated, the IY set is really sweet, with all the bells and whistles to boot.
And Miyu is stunning , but I think my favorite this round is Natsuki, so energetic and just plain ole fun!
Thanks For Sharing!

[KuroiTsubasa4]

@Sensei- Nah I tried but it went into a very stressful autoextend 4 or 5 times T_T I originally thought I had him at starting prices since people usually don't bid after the 5 minute mark. Maybe I can find a sequence mate in Tokyo...

[D123]

I love beautiful killers and that Shippo is nice Kilala/Kirara looks perfect awesome shot, I considered bidding on it myself

[sensei]

Excellent detailed update as we've come expect from you Sensei! Great job!
As been stated, the IY set is really sweet, with all the bells and whistles to boot.
And Miyu is stunning , but I think my favorite this round is Natsuki, so energetic and just plain ole fun!
Thanks For Sharing!

Thanks for looking! Cels (and sketches) just wanna be admired! I love finding out about something I've bought, so much so that I actually write the descriptions while they are on their way or in the SMJ storage bin. I really like Natsuki, too. Maybe you'll see it later this year as a contestant in the "Joy" category.

@Sensei- Nah I tried but it went into a very stressful autoextend 4 or 5 times T_T I originally thought I had him at starting prices since people usually don't bid after the 5 minute mark. Maybe I can find a sequence mate in Tokyo.

That's a dang shame, but I too have had no luck on my CCS auctions. I think it has crossed the boundary to being a "classic" series, and while serious collectors once looked more at "classics" like Akira, DBZ, and Sailor Moon, now there's been enough time since CCS was released that people are seeing that it too is here to stay. Interesting. I've always been drawn to funky stuff: I remember coming to high school all intrigued by a new pulp novel that I'd found on a paperback rack: Frank Herbert's Dune. Nobody had heard of it or the author. I just knew it was good.

Anyhow, here to good luck to both of us on our next CCS bid (hopefully not on the same lot!)

I love beautiful killers and that Shippo is nice Kilala/Kirara looks perfect awesome shot, I considered bidding on it myself

Heh. There is that nice sequence-mate still going around on YJ... Thanks for the compliment: it really is a great pose. I like how Shippo gets to look as heroic as he feels.

[rallihir]

I think it has crossed the boundary to being a "classic" series, and while serious collectors once looked more at "classics" like Akira, DBZ, and Sailor Moon, now there's been enough time since CCS was released that people are seeing that it too is here to stay. Interesting.

I agree. I think that CCS by virtue of being one of the first "modern" and long running mahou shojo anime helped initiate and support the trend of kawaii mahoutsukai. The fact that it was from CLAMP and help cement their reputation as notable mangaka has certainly propelled CCS into the realm of classics. There remain many invested collectors of this anime in Japan who have yet to even let a portion of their collections come to the net, and I suspect, will hold onto many of the best pieces as long as they can.

[sensei]

I think too it represents a memorable "sakura" (in the sense of cherry blossom) moment, the very last years of traditional cel-based animation. As time goes by and CGI becomes everywhere the norm, people will look back at the very best series of the later 90s as being all the more lovely, since this technology was just about to disappear from the face of the earth forever.

[cutiebunny]

Wow..can't believe I missed both you and Rallihir's updates this weekend...

Nice cels as always, Sensei. I like the Myuu cel - it's got an intense expression. Was that the one on Mandarake?

I agree with you both about CCS, though, but I think price also has something to do with it. It's one of the few good late 1990s series with cels frequently, and other than the hankens, inexpensively, on the market. That, and it is a good series with that appeals to both children and adults.

[Captain Haddock]

Wow that's a nice haul of babes you've got! Perhaps your gallery could be changed to Sensei's Harem..? Just kidding, I was particually taken by the iyu and mimika they were both very colorful and the latter a lot of fun. You'll no doubt enjoy having them in your collection!

[sensei]

Wow..can't believe I missed both you and Rallihir's updates this weekend...

Can't imagine why you weren't sipping red wine and randomly browsing the Internet this last week.

Nice cels as always, Sensei. I like the Miyu cel - it's got an intense expression. Was that the one on Mandarake?

Yes, that was the one. I worry about Mandarake buys because sometimes when they arrive they have more intense line fading than the small scan would indicate. But this one was in sharp condition. I had a bit of a fight, but the final price was still good for a cel of this quality.

I agree with you both about CCS, though, but I think price also has something to do with it. It's one of the few good late 1990s series with cels frequently, and other than the hankens, inexpensively, on the market. That, and it is a good series with that appeals to both children and adults.

True. When I browse the CCS listings, I often think, "Gee, this would be a good time to start a collection of this series!" There are still many eyeworthy Sakura cels out there. But I'm finding that medium-to-high-end items almost always involve a battle, so things are tightening up even here.

Wow that's a nice haul of babes you've got! Perhaps your gallery could be changed to Sensei's Harem..? Just kidding,

I'd be a little apprehensive about trying to get close and personal with some of the babes I collect. A guy could get seriously hurt with those scissors, hammers, swords, and mithril-bullet-firing revolvers. Not to mention bows and arrows.

I was particually taken by the miyu and mimika they were both very colorful and the latter a lot of fun. You'll no doubt enjoy having them in your collection!

Usagi-chan de Cue!! really repays a watching, even if the nearly constant fan service gets annoying at times. It's nice to have erotica mated with a real plot, with lots of colorful and well-composed images even in the scenes when everyone (mostly) has their clothes on. It's not Chobits, but it's also not Lap My Lemons either. Plus animation direction by Yuji Moriyama (who was working on Gensomaden Saiyuki at the exact same time) ensures eye candy, not just T&A.

Thanks, all for visiting. I'll have another year-ending upgrade sometime in November, then work on my annual "Year in Review" quirky tour. (This has already been one of the quirkiest years on record for my gallery!)