Sensei's 2017.04 Update: Harvest Time (mostly sketches)

[sensei]

Just in time for Lent, I've processed my Rinkya box, containing my winnings from last November and December, and a few goodies from early January. They included some Christmas presents to myself, including one not for my gallery, but for the wall in the room where it's kept:


The 2016 Cardcaptor Sakura calendar. It's been a long time since one of these appeared, but with the 15th anniversary of the series' original showing now in full swing, hard-bit Sakuroids are getting some nice new merchandise. (One of my flash drives is still attached to a vintage keychain showing Kero-chan and The Clow Book.)

And along with new merchandise, some nice CCS cels are appearing. With my tight retirement budget I have to be choosy, but I chose these:


CCS Movie 1: Madoushi under attack, a fine complete set-up, cel and matching original background. This set, happily came along with...


the matching autograph artboard, a fine piece of sketching that I suspect might be the work of senior animation director Kumiko Takahashi, whom I'm certain did some other fine complete shuuseis of the same character already in my gallery.

Also from the First Movie came a dramatic cel in which Sakura, trapped underwater and close to drowning (she's good at this, as Kero-chan might quip) suddenly


realizes the truth about Madoushi's unexpressed love for Clow Reed. That's a game-changing moment in the movie, and sets up a great tragic conclusion that always gets me emotional. I've had a cel from the same cut since my gallery opened in 2002, and this one complements it brilliantly: apparent defeat changing color into victory. (A painful one, but hard won nonetheless)

Speaking of Christmas present sequence-mates, my Secret Santa partner gifted me with


This intense image of the puppet Palme from Nakamura's A Tree of Palme. I've had one from later in this cut, but I love this one, a fine mix of inhuman determination mixed with a hint of the "real human boy" guilt and ambivalence he's starting to feel in this saga.

And thanks to some devilish good luck, I picked up another much coveted companion cel from


the Haibane Renmei OP, showing Reki and Hikari hurrying home. Yes, like my other cel of Reki and Hikari (from earlier in the OP) it's a post-production rilezu, with an equally post-production "clean up douga" rather than the original sketch. But these are so uncommon (supposedly only 25 were made, though I think 50 is probably more accurate) and the series so magnificent, that it's still a peak thrill to get such a fine link to its production.

Lots of sketchwork in this update, as usual, the big winner being Hyper Police. There are several new sets on display, including one (and probably two) from the episodes subcontracted to an up-and-coming Kyoto Animation (dir: Tatsuya Ishihara, animation dir: Kazumi Ikeda). But my favorites are this fine action sequence showing


the other Sakura (she with the fox ears, 8 7/8 magic tails, and the big bounty-hunter revolver) ready for serious action

and also (though its episode is yet to be identified) this every elegant


portrait of a very curious catgirl Natsuki.

Speaking of Kyoto Animation, I also picked up a smile-provoking Inuyasha sketch set showing


Shippo having a peppy fist fight with some tricksteer monkeys in Ep. 88, a tension-breaking filler episode (dir. Ishihara, animation dir. Kazumi's sister, Shouko Ikeda)

With Wolf's Rain sketches suddenly more available at more moderate prices, I managed to add to the singleton item I uploaded last time and set up a new gallery for this groundbreaking series. New this time are


A dramatic image of Kiba in human form barring a door, nicely complementing the earlier grab of one of Kiba in wolf form. Then there's another set showing


a fellow wolf on attack that I thought might be Kiba. But on obtaining the set, I found a note on one sketch placing it at Episode 25, cut 181. I haven't run it down to confirm this, but if accurate, that would put it in the middle of Darcia's big confrontation with Jaguara in her lair. And as one sketch labels the wolf as "Boss," I think this just might be one side of this wonderful, conflicted "big boss" of a villain. Visit this sketch, then stay long enough to watch an interesting reanimation that the fullness of this set allowed me to make.

Rozen Maiden not neglected: I added a new set to my new gallery devoted to Studio Deen's alternative telling, Zuruckspulen, showing


Kanaria dropping into the big Ep. 12 climax. That gave me the chance to add good images of this character, plus Suigintou and Suiseiseki in their revised character design.

Still, nothing in the new version packs anything like the impact of the earlier Nomad first season classic. So I've added a huge pan genga showing


Jun watching over an unconscious Shinku at the start of Episode 7, one where the reclusive teen learns to "man up" to protect the maiden who's seemingly taken over his life.

That was lovely enough, but the real deal was seeing an equally huge genga come up for sale, on my birthday no less, from the (apparent) conclusion of the classic closing episode of the first season, in which


Shinku bids Jun a fond farewell. (Yes, yes, she got word up in Dollhalla that they wanted to do a second season, so by the closing credits she's back. But it still doesn't detract from the power of this scene or the absolute gorgeousness of this huge genga.

No more stuff until May (at least) but meantime, enjoy!

[KinoLRB]

Congratulations on your fabulous update, Sensei!

When I logged onto rubberslug this morning, I got instantly excited when I saw the Haibane Renmei Rilezu thumbnail. I thought, Could it be...? Beautiful.

It's good to see Shippo (my favorite Inu character) getting some attention as well. The Rozen Maiden selections are gorgeous, as always.

[sensei]

Thanks, Kino RLB. Updates aren't the big social events that they used to be, but they still remain very satisfying on this end, especially when all the scans get scanned, all the dots get dotted, all the screen caps get embedded, and all the zillion little jobs are finished that have to get done in order to take what's in the box and make it available on the screen.

Yes, I wasn't at all expecting a Haibane Renmei rilezu to come up for auction, and happened to see it on one of my random checks. The other one remains the single item that I paid the most for (private deal with a collector), and so to add another one was a totally unexpected delight. I love the series, and so anything that gets me closer to its production, even a laser-printed copy background, makes all my Sensei-senses tingle.

That was my "Christmas present" to myself, and the Shinku farewell genga was my Gollumesque "Birthday Present." But thanks for appreciating the Shippo sketches. They could be seen as insignificant in their SD representation of an arguably minor character. (Yeah, toss this bunch, no one's gonna want these with no Inuyasha or Sesshomaru in them!) But I too like his feisty spirit and even more the full-court way the Kyoto Animation folks worked up this sketch when a lesser concern would have alternated two images as a bank and called it good.

Lent's here: time for maintenance rather than browsing. Watch for an update sometime after hanami.

[earl]

I've never seen Haibane Renmei... but I looked it up after seeing your update and I've added it to the list of things I need to watch. Great update sensei!

[sensei]

It's well worth watching. However, keep in mind that it has an initially slow-moving plot. The creators want you to get to really know all the main characters, and so much of the first five episodes seems formless, just following the characters around their daily lives as Rakka gets to know them. But a trap falls in Episode 6, and we suddenly realize that we don't know as much as we thought we did. That resolves in Ep. 9, and then another trap falls, and we're soon in another psychologically dark crisis. So watch for the clues (artfully dropped without much notice) that point you to these narrative undercurrents, and also pay attention to the animation, which is often very surprisingly handled. I've never seen a "hand-held camera" effect used so convincingly in anime, before or after.

And even after seeing a good laser-printed copy of that OP background, I still don't know how they got that blurred-by-rapid-motion effect in the actual production footage. By zooming out from that painted background over and over? But how did they get it to loop? I sometimes think they used magic, which is why all the production materials had to be destroyed. (Or maybe they all went "poof" when the last episode wrapped.)

[ReiTheJelly]

Great update! I love the new CCS pieces and the new Rozen Maiden sketches

[sensei]

Thanks, Rei. It's nice having a real choice of Movie 1 cels after a long dry spell, and that art board is (in my eyes) even better than the cel. And while the Studio Deen Zuruckspulen art is now pretty plentiful, the earlier version is still my favorite, to watch and to collect.

[Jadeduo]

So to give this a proper woohoo! I finally got the time to sit down and look at your update Sensei, and it is lovely. My favorites of this update are the layout of Madoushi from the CCS Movie 1 I am particularly fond of the dramatic use of shading in the red pencil. While the cel is dramatic the sketch packs a much bigger punch.

Another favorite is all the Rozen Maiden Sketch art you have been adding, I've never seen the series before, but with the art you have put together I wouldn't mind checking it out one day. The details in all the dolls dresses are just lovely, and make me totes jealous.

And last but not least that you have been able to snag two pieces from Haibane Renmei is not just awesome it is impressive. I loved that series when I watched it back in the day and had been eagerly awaiting it's release because of the ties to Lain, as well as a rather obscure movie called Voices of a Distant Star which is one of those titles I dig out when I feel the need to indulge in a melancholy mood.

As always super impressive.

JD

[sensei]

Thanks, JD. I agree completely about the sketch, which has a depth and complexity that the cel doesn't quite capture. Interestingly, the sketch fully renders all the ruffles of Madoushi's skirt, but while the cel outlines them, it's only painted inside the rectangular frame. I cropped this out of the scan of the setup, but the completeness of the artboard really makes it the more impressive art work.

The Haibane rilezu are all post-production, including the douga. But it's still wonderful to have any link to the original art for this series. I didn't know about Voices from a Distant Star but I'll look it up. (So little time, so much good anime yet to watch ...)

Speaking of which, you should watch at least Season 1 of Rozen Maiden. That is a rarity: an anime that is a clear improvement in focus and plot coherence over the manga. (Asatte no Houkou is another...) The second season picks up details from the manga that were left out of the anime, not necessarily to the betterment of the series, and it ends in a splattery narrative mess.

Allegedly, the mangaka team, finding that they had a hit on their hands, brought it to an abrupt end to get out of the contract they'd signed with their publisher, planning to sell an alternative universe retelling to a publication that would pay them more. I'm bemused that this then led to Zuruckspulen, where the characters of the second season contact the characters in the retelling to enlist them to world-skip and bring the story to a more logical conclusion. Based on the first series of this, that full close still hasn't been figured out yet.

Well, so long as it leads to more nice art to collect, I won't complain....

[Gonzai]

Your Wolf's Rain sketches are amazing.

[sensei]

Thank you, Gonzai. I'm delighted to have some artwork for a series that I've admired from afar for over a decade. Do you know if the big set of the attacking wolf is Darcia (as I suspect)? I have only the first DVD set of the series, and the YouTube Ep. 25 appears to be abridged. In any case, I could not find this cut (apparently Ep. 25, cut 181) there. Maybe a deleted scene? (Or were the episodes renumbered between the animation and the release, as happened with Tenshi ni Narumon?)

[nowherekid85]

I do like the Shippo with his fists flying! I've never seen Wolf's Rain but I've heard it's really good, and those are some nice sketches from it!

[sensei]

Thank you, NWK85! I admit I got it because I've never seen any IY cut done by the KyoAni folks that wasn't elegant on some level. And I'm watching through Wolf's Rain which I recall got a huge response from the Cowboy Bebop fans when it came out, but somehow I let it pass me by. It's out of print in the US, but used copies of the sets are still pretty available.

[frozentime]

Absolutely love the Haibane Renmei!!! The CCS are also beautiful! Quite an update!

[sensei]

Thank you, Frozentime! There are several rilezu from this cut, but this is the one that I really wanted in my heart of hearts. (Arigatou, celga-no-kami!) And it's good news for us all that nice CCS cels are coming back onto the market, thanks to the current revival (and announced new CLAMP CCS manga series!)