Anime-Beta TNG

The 2013 Cel Contest went very smoothly indeed, a good sign for the future. However, a few situations arose during the event that suggested that the rules (cut and pasted from the 2011 Contest with a few changes) needed to be tweaked in some places to make them clearer and fairer to all contestants. To keep the discussions focused, I will start a thread for each. These changes are intended to be uncontroversial, but if there is any concern, I'd be happy to start a poll for any one of these.

1. Eligibility status of reproduction cels. In a 2010 poll thread a plurality of Betarians voted that repros should be included in the contest, but only in a separate category of their own (similar to "Settei" and "Industry Art"). A previous thread showed sharp difference of opinion on whether repros or rilezu should be included in all categories. In the end, rilezu were included, and (in the 2010 contest) repros were given their own category.

Neither the 2011 nor the 2013 contest had a repro cel category. Thus confusion arose as to whether a repro cel was or was not considered eligible as a type of rilezu. The following rule change clarifies this issue, using the 2010 contest discussion as a guide to the thinking of the majority of Betarians on this issue. I also propose to make "Reproduction Cel" a standing <u>Optional</u> category, along with "Settei," and add the following rule after Eligibility #2:

3) Rilezu, or unique post-production cels, are eligible in any category, so long as they are studio-approved and one-of-a-kind. Reproduction cels, those sold by studios in a series of more than one identical images are eligible only in their own Optional category.

And, under the Category list, among the Optionals:

Reproduction - Made by studios in a series of identical cels. Reproduction cels are not allowed in any other category.

I think this is a potentially difficult category, as the probability of multiple contestants entering the same repro cel are rather high, since not many shows have repro cels. This could be a big headache for the organizers, as they'd have to contact people almost immediately if their entry was identical to someone else.

And I think we'd need to clarify what type of reproduction cels are allowed, since some are hand-painted, whereas others are printed.

I guess we have only a limited number of options when it comes to reproduction cels.

1) Completely exclude them - I would hate to see this since it seems against the spirit of the awards to deny entry for an entire category of cels.
2) Treat them the same way we treat rilezu - include them in all categories. In 2010 most members seemed to be against this option.
3) Give them their own category - as rei said, this has the potential to be problematic, though I think this will be minor. It should not be that difficult to be able to tell who entered a cel first. The panel members would have to double check to see what has already been entered before approval, but they already have to that for sequence-mates.

I tend to agree with sensei. Even though it may have problems, I feel that giving reproduction cels their own category is the fairest and most inclusive way to deal with the issue.

I agree with Sensei and Greymouser. Repros should have their own optional category and only be allowed to be entered in that category. If, in practice, we find that too many duplicates are entered, or that variety isn't there, then we can decide at that time whether to continue with that category.

I personally think Rilezu and Repros should have their own category and not be able to compete against production cels.