What kind of cel is this?

[JuniorMintKiss]

I recently won this from Y!J:

http://juniorscels.rubberslug.com/galle ... mID=360915

I would like to know if it is a production cel. It came with no matching sketch and no cel number. The tracing lines that separate the different colors of the feathers are on top of the cel. I believe it did have a sketch at one time; there is some paper adhered to some of the purple feathers. What interests me is why the lines are painted on top. Any thoughts?

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

I can't answer any of your questions and know nothing of the series, but I just had to comment that is an absolutely beautiful cel!

[JuniorMintKiss]

Haha! Your comment just made my day.

[ReiTheJelly]

What interests me is why the lines are painted on top. Any thoughts?

I've found that many high-quality cels have trace lines on the front. A lot of my Miyuki-chan in Wonderland cels are like this. Given that yours has no sequence numbers and is nicely centered, it might be a hanken.

[sensei]

I do know that it's normal for even recent cels to have some bits of tracing on the top. As the photocopied lines on the back fade, these lines on the front, which aren't affected, stand out more and more distinctly. And with Vampire Princess Miyu the studio from time to time hand-painted in individual hair strands on the front of the cel. So tracing or painting on the front is not in itself unusual.

It may have been more common in the 1970s, especially with complex markings like the feathers on this bird (which is indeed lovely and reminds me of Osamu Tezuka's phoenix). I have a cel from the 1973 series Microid S in which the spots on the character's butterfly wings are entirely outlined by tracing on the front. As the cel had a ugly set of paint blots (probably from the sequence-mate once stored on top of it) I had to work very carefully with a cotton swab to keep from scrubbing these off with the blots.

Most cels from before the 90s either come without sketches or with the sketch cemented to the rear of the cel. Actually, a well-preserved douga from this period would be more of a rarity than a well-preserved cel. So I'd guess the paper on the back of your cel is the remains of the douga that has been removed by a previous owner. It's also not unusual for cels to have been trimmed for sale: Toei was notorious for doing so, so the lack of a sequence number isn't necessarily a bad sign.

Any markings on the cel? Did the seller give any information? I'm willing to hazard "genuine" if for no reason than the relative obscurity of the series. Forging such a cel would be like forging a jen-you-wine Harry Zimstadter landscape painting and selling it on e-Bay.

[JuniorMintKiss]

Thanks Rei and sensei for your input. If it is a Hanken, I will keel over! But I looked up my auction history and this is what was translated:

Cel with background picture autograph Yattodetaman Time Bokan Series.

It is Jujaku cels.

Has been cut in both the cell, the background image with background picture autograph, but unfortunately, I think it is a very beautiful shades to look good, and cel design.

There is pain of aging, etc., the state, in the image Please judge.

I think things may decorate the frame level.

Gotta love Google translation. So from this I gather that the cel was cut?

Any markings on the cel?

None whatsoever.

[BuraddoRun]

Well, I played around in Google and Yahoo and found this:

http://www.animevice.com/yattodetaman/11-5974/

That looks like your "Jujaku" in the background there, and it is indeed from Time Bokan, more specifically Yattodetaman. My guess it's a mix between a phoenix and a peacock. According to Wikipedia, they are looking for the legendary firebird (phoenix). And "kujaku" is the Japanese word for peacock, so "jujaku" is not too far off from that. Plus the feathers do look like a peacock's don't they?

In any event, congratulations on your win! That is definitely a beautiful cel!

[sensei]

There is a fair amount of information on "Jujaku" aka "Cosmo-Pavone" [The Cosmic Peacock] on Italian-language sites devoted to the dub of this series shown in that country titled "Calendar Men." [That's to make it sound exotic, similar to the way that "La Cosa Nostra" sounds more exotic and sinister than "Our Thing."] A quick machine translate of the plot summary on Wikipedia Italy yields this:

Japan, 1981 . In a building run by Mr Arsenio Magret, live Beppe Tomorrow and Tina Yesterday. The two boys are also employees of Magret, who ekes out a living with his work as a private investigator. One day, a noise in the attic drew the boys: it is a big surprise when they find its cause was the appearance of a time machine, and the astonishment increases when the occupants of the car reveal their identity. The girl reveals to the stunned Beppe and Tina that she is the Princess Sunday, heir to the throne of the kingdom of Calendar, come from the year 2981 and destined to be his descendant, revealing their future marriage. In the future, in fact, after the death of King Calendar, the throne was usurped by the evil Monday, that by dint of plots has managed to get crowned king his brother, the Prince Saturday.

The matter is complicated by the fact that in order to legitimize the accession to the throne in the kingdom of Calendar you need to have beside you the Cosmopavone, the sacred animal of Calendar, which, however, does not want to become the pet of Saturday and runs through space and time, transformed into the mysterious and important in the history and mythology (for example, the lamp of Aladdin , the apple of Newton or Pandora's box ).

There's even a Facebook page for "Cosmo-Pavone"! (It has 602 "likes"!)

I'd say you have a prize in your cel. You can expect a time machine to appear in your attic shortly, with Beppe, Tina, and Princess Sunday inside.

[graymouser]

It is normal for older series (before mid-1980's in Japan) to have hand painted lines on top. I think it did vary a bit by country though. It was not until that time-frame that the machine to copy the lines became common. Until then, the only way to transfer the lines from the douga to the cel was to place the acetate on top of the douga and trace the lines in paint on top of the cel. Once it was dried, they would turn the acetate over and paint the backs. Obviously, this was very time consuming and expensive. That is why the copy lines replaced this process as soon as the machine was readily available.


I think that is part of what makes the cels from older series so special. The amount of work that went into making the cels is amazing. What is especially nice is that the lines will not fade as easily as with the copy machine era cels.

That cel is so beautiful. Congratulations on such a great find.

EDIT: Like sensei, I vote for legitimate. Hand painting the lines on top is very difficult compared to filling in the color on the back. Imagine how steady your hand would have to be to keep the lines a consistent size and still keep the lines smooth. I think there would be very few fan cel artists or forgers that would be able to do it well.

[JuniorMintKiss]

Gosh, who knew my cel would have its own FB page? Haha! But really, thanks to you all - it's been fun trying to pin point the origins of this cel. The show sounds very interesting (maybe I will have to start a Time Bokan section in my gallery?)

Thanks sensei, for doing all that research for me. I will be checking my attic periodically!

And graymouser, I think I will join you and the others and deem it legit. Should I just mark it as a plain, 'ol (not Hanken ) cel?

[graymouser]

I have no idea if it is a hanken or a normal cel. Both types of cels from that time frame would have hand painted lines. I suspect the only way to tell for sure would be to watch the show.

Either way, it is a beautiful cel.