Sensei's 2015.04 Update: Just in time for Thanksgiving

[sensei]

... will likely be a much more modest affair in 2013. Still, it's time to let people know that I added some things.

Probably the most important was a wishlist item in Rozen Maiden Episode 12. (Well, it was a wishlist for me at least: I was the only bidder for it at 500 yen.) (Obligatory spoiler warning!)

Some more sketch sets got unpacked from that dusty Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne storage box that turned up unexpectedly. These are now in their proper spots in KKJ Episode 34 and KKJ Episode 37 (now with enough to earn its own gallery!) Come admire Hijiri-sensei, the slimy high school history teacher who gains bishy hotness and unlimited riches by selling his soul to the devil. (Uh ... spoilers! if there are people who worry about KKJ spoilers any more.)

Any Ouran Host Club fans? I happened on three nice roughs, enough to open a new gallery for this great Bones series.

Three new cels for Hyper Police, none major but all eyeworthy and in great physical shape. I'd been wanting a nice chibi-werewolf for a long time, and this one fit the bill.

My pick, however, was a grab-bag set of cels from the 1980s "Golden Age" version of Gegege no Kitaro, a quirky exploration of Japanese supernatural folklore. They give a properly quirky overview of the series' cast, including the weird yokai that are featured in each episode. (I'm particularly fond of Akaname or "Filth-Licker.") The cels were much nicer in person than the dealer's scan had suggested. All suffer from the usual Toei line fading, but not badly, and the animation is often top-notch. A number came with separately stored dougas in great shape, a real rarity for this period when dougas were routinely allowed to stick tight to cels stored in big stacks.

Also, I've worked more on the new 3-part organization of the gallery (Golden Age, Classic cel-based, Contemporary CGI-based). Some existing galleries got divided to fit the scheme: Inuyasha, for instance, now has a cel-based gallery and a CGI-based gallery. And I divided the "Really Really Quick Tour" into separate sections so visitors could get a quick glimpse of what's in the gallery before starting to explore. (It really bothered me when this "Quick" tour went over 24 icons, as I really wanted people to be able to see the gallery, or at least a related wing of it, in a single glance.)

Probably the last update until after Lent so come on by and look around. The 2012 review is still up (because I didn't have time to renew it -- maybe after the Cel Contest!) so you can look through that if you haven't already.

[teggacat]

yay! a new post [its been so quiet today...] plus this post has updates!
even better!
great new additions, really like the new gegege no kitaro cels, they are downright fun,
[right up sensei's alley what with the folklore thing goin' on ]
but the new RM, just stunning, that surely was a steal!
Thanks for taking the time to share and brighten up my chilly gray afternoon!

[BuraddoRun]

Great updates, Sensei! Like Teggacat, I really like the Gegege no Kitaro cels. Actually, this is my 1st time visiting that section of your gallery, so now I know where your unique avatar comes from. I like this one of the 3 Oni particularly:

http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/in ... mID=361320

Something about cute-ish characters getting beaten up by burly oni or ogres or any brutish figures just makes me smile.

Regarding the filth-licker, I wish I had one at my job. I think it would do a better job cleaning our bathrooms than our janitorial company does.

[sensei]

Thanks, tegga and BR, for stopping by. It's a somewhat esoteric update, but if you're willing to look at some oddball stuff, it has its rewards.

great new additions, really like the new gegege no kitaro cels, they are downright fun

That was my impression: even without the episode context, they "connect" somehow with the eye. I couldn't help making up possible stories that went with these images. It's not easy to get access to the series, as it seems so esoterically Japanese that there's been no interest in even a minimal subbed release. But now yokai are becoming more popular -- witness huge attendance at cons where there are panels on them, and several blogsites discussing them, and now a splashy paperback book Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide (It's got Aka-name, Noppera-bo, Nurikabe, and a bunch more). I bet there would be a market for even a whimsical tour of the Japanese paranormal world.

but the new RM, just stunning, that surely was a steal!

Probably it didn't help the seller that Jun was on one layer and Shinku was shown from the back on another. But I knew what it was. I'd been watching for it for quite some time, in fact.

I really like the Gegege no Kitaro cels. Actually, this is my 1st time visiting that section of your gallery, so now I know where your unique avatar comes from.

I think that magical mochi ought to be just about ready to cast now...

Regarding the filth-licker, I wish I had one at my job. I think it would do a better job cleaning our bathrooms than our janitorial company does.!

I'm sure there was one resident in the men's bathroom in the building where I used to have my professor's office. I'd rarely seen such a gross john outside of a cash-only guaranteed-lowest-price-on-the-Interstate gas station. What's worse was that every 6 months or so the doorknob would come loose, and when you tried to get out, it would fall off in your hand. Fortunately, according to everything I've heard, Aka-name doesn't harm humans. Sensible, though: if it ate humans, then that would eventually lead to a shortage in the supply of filth.

[HigurashiArchives]

http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/in ... mID=361222

My favorite! Rozen Maiden was such a unique series!

[Kasi]

What a great sketch from Rozen Maiden, and a bargain. Congratulations!

[sensei]

Thank you, Kasi and HA. It was easy for bidders to overlook as the lead scan was just of Jun and the second one just of Shinku's back. For someone looking for head shots or action images of Suigintou, it didn't have much street appeal. But, as I say, I was watching for it and immediately knew what it was.

[sensei]

A very modest upgrade this time, all things I bought before Lent and waited until Easter to have shipped to me.

The most interesting is actually not anime art per se, but an intriguing set of anime-related kamishibai cards. This art form was a precursor to manga and anime and involved a mix of oral storytelling and a changing display of printed color pictures. During the 1930s and 40s, the stories featured characters inspired by Japanese folktales and Western serials and comic books. The narrator would set them up in a portable "theatre" in a marketplace, attract a crowd of children, and sell them candy, his main source of income. Once he had a well-sweetened audience, he'd unveil the first card and begin to tell a story based on it, impersonating all the characters' voices. As the story developed, he'd shuffle the card to the back, revealing a new card and a new situation.

The tradition largely died off in the 1950s due to the popularity of television, but there are still performers in the tradition, and efforts to preserve its unique qualities continue. This set, which adapted the first episodes of the 1973 Toei series Microid S, seems to have been part of an early 70s effort to revive the tradition by tying it into currently popular animes. In any case, it's a lively set of images, and the scripts on the backs of the cards (nicely translated by KuroiTsubasa4) give a good introduction to this underappreciated classic series, based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka.

Other than that there are two nice CCS cels. One is from Episode 1 showing Sakura releasing her bird-headed staff for the first time. That matches a layout set that I got earlier, and I enjoy reuniting sketch and cel art like this.

The other is actually the first cel I've bought (in nearly 13 years collection) of Sakura's fushigi teacher Kaho Mizuki.

From A Tree of Palme, there's a quiet but significant pan cel of the warrior Shatta during his first appearance.

And three small additions to my Syrius no Densetsu/Sea Prince and Fire Child gallery, including my first of the sea prince himself.

Not the splashiest update, but worth a visit, especially the interesting "paper drama" gallery. Stock up on candy before you start through!

[Quacker]

The Kamishibai do sound very intriguing; when I get some spare over the next day or two I will definitely check them.

I have had the opportunity though to view your other new additions, which are all quite spectacular.
The two new Cardcaptor Sakura cels are certainly impressive in their own unique ways. The 'Episode 1' cel of Sakura is visually striking, with its action-orientated setting and the sheer determination/concentration shown on Sakura's face adds to the scene. Whilst at the other end of the spectrum, the second cel through the usage of paler colours & blue-hues, provides a more subtle, almost peaceful aesthetic.

The 'Tree of Palme' pan cel of Shatta is also very beautiful, with many features & details that leap out, drawing in your attention; those red eyes, his hat & the decoration adorning Shatta's sword scabbard.

[Gonzai]

Love the twins from Ouran!! What a great find!! O_O
My granddaughters would be over the moon if they saw that. ^_^
Nice update!

[sensei]

The Kamishibai do sound very intriguing; when I get some spare over the next day or two I will definitely check them.

It's not original art, though from a book I've gotten, these boards actually were drawn and colored by artists, then heavily shellacked so they would stand up in multiple performances. A good artist could do ten boards a night. During the Depression, it gave them enough to live on. I did a search for "kamishibai" on Yahoo Japan, and they do come up for auction fairly often, though now the vintage ones are serious collectors' items and go for Miyazaki prices.

These were printed up by Epoch Co. Ltd. (later an eminent producer of console-based computer games) but can't be common. I've yet to see another set show up on auction, and a Google image search for Epoch + Microid S turned up nothing of interest. If nothing else, it's a painless way to learn about the series, which continues to have its nostalgic fanbase in Italy (where it aired as "Microsuperman" in the 1980s.)

The two new Cardcaptor Sakura cels are certainly impressive in their own unique ways.

The supply of good CCS cels certainly has gotten thinner lately ... but Madhouse did such a great job that it's still worth lurking for.

The 'Tree of Palme' pan cel of Shatta is also very beautiful.

And that's another source of great cels. I hope a few more great ones pop up this year.

Love the twins from Ouran!! What a great find!!

That went up in January: it was a chance find when I saw the seller put up some KKJ sketches. I happened to check to see what else the seller happened to have up FA and ... I'm hoping more roughs and layouts will pop up this year.

Thanks for stopping by. It's not the largesse of five years ago, but money is tighter for me too. Still, interesting things continue to happen.

[sensei]

Sensei's Upgrade 2013.03 (May Madness) is not as splashy as it would have been five years ago, due to a much tightened retirement budget, which is thankfully balanced by a much reduced supply of "wishlist" items. Still, there are some nice surprises.

The highlight, for most people, will be the Rozen Maiden sketches. While gengas have been appearing from the critical Ep. 12 for some time, the more interesting roughs have been shyer to appear. The new items include a wonderful rough of Shinku rising into the air during the final battle with Suigintou, plus two suitably malicious sketches of the vile villainess herself from earlier in the episode. I'm also fond of a rough from the previous episode showing Sui, Sou, and Nori dauntlessly bushwhacking into Jun's diseased dream world.

But my newer interest in "Golden Age" anime also got gratified. There is a new gallery for my first cels from the all-too-brief Unico franchise. Tezuka's classic manga is now available in an excellent English edition (from Platinum Manga), which got me interested in the anime versions of these stories. And, speaking of Osamu Tezuka, my Microid S gallery is now much enlarged with new cels of the bold dragonfly warrior Yanma, the engagingly mischievous beetle kid Mamezo, and (a real surprise) some mimeographed sheets of studio storyboards. (Anyone remember mimeographs or how they worked?)

Finally, thanks to the recent uncovery of a batch of cels from one of my favorite obscure series, the Condition Green OVA, I have some splashy new cels, including my favorite imaginary girlfriend, Bad Girl, one of the commandos who unwisely thinks he's got the stuff to take her, and a real scarce item, the infandous Paula Prairie

Enjoy!

[Keropi]

I do like the Rozen Maiden sketches. I've been wondering for awhile what the next Rozen Maiden series is going to be about. I guess the character designs might be a bit simpler than the earlier series.

I've always liked the length of commentary that you add with your artwork. I've never had very many comments with mine. Even when I was adding short comments a long time ago, I still had difficulty coming up with things to say about them. Since I usually never rewatch anime anymore that made it more difficult because I was always trying to remember things from memory.

[sensei]

Thanks, Keropi. I've been really lucky with getting good art from Episode 12, which is that rare thing, an anime adaptation that was stronger than the manga plot, which (evidently) dithered to a weak close due to a dispute between the mangakas and their publisher. It will be interesting to see how the alternative retelling they did later adapts as anime.

Thanks too for your reaction to my comments. I guess I usually have an "edge" to my descriptions, similar to my "anime under the radar" panels at AnimeNext. "Here's a totally obscure anime that nobody over here knows anything about. Even I don't know much. But isn't this image a knockout?" If I collected Naruto, Black Butler, Trigun, etc., probably I wouldn't need to comment much. I've heard curators say as much: "If you don't know who this is and what scene it's from, then what are you doing visiting my gallery?"

But my teaching background leads me to try to take a more forgiving attitude to ignorance. "Gee, thanks for dropping into this page. Now to really appreciate this image, one thing you gotta know is ..." With really obscure series like Microid S, though, it's challenging to find something to say. "Uh, this is Yamna flying somewhere and, uhhhhhhhhh...." Though the premise (miniature-sized superheroes with the powers of insects) continues to bemuse me.

[Quacker]

Wow Sensei! That is certainly an impressive haul!

The Condition Green OVA Cels are very...........out there & psychedelic in their execution? Your new "Bad Girl" Liza cel would not look out of place in an '80s rock video; yet there are minute details that all contribute to make it a visually striking piece: the (wicked-looking) eyes, the detail of her hair, the shadows & depth in the jewellery. The cel of Eddie in the midst of being dominated is also action-packed.

The Microid S gallery always makes for a fascinating read and the latest Cels of Yanma & Mamezo continue this trend. Those 'Original' Storyboards would have made for an exciting find though?

But of course my favourites from this batch are the Rozen Maiden rough sketches. For me, the set depicting Shinku rising up to strike down her foe just pips the portrait of the menacing Suigintou. The Shinku set is simply stunning + knowing that there is little doubt it was drawn by Ishii-san is an added bonus.