Translation Help? :3

[Ichigos]

http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f132104089
http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h64440619

Are both of these photocopies or original drawings? I'm not sure what the description is saying. And does anyone know why one auction is cheaper than the other? Thanks~!

[JWR]

My Translation program does not shed any light on your questions.

Looks to my eye that they are copies not the "original" original. Lots of copies are out there of which some are "real" ones used during production but most are just a person making copies of their copy.

[theultimatebrucelee]

The cheaper one saids its copy from the original, but the other one I'm pretty sure is copy as well. think the reason the prices are different is only because different sellers set different prices. Also, they'd be ripping themselves off if they were to sell the originals at such large quantities all in one auction, it'd be hard to imagine those large feedback IDs would do such a thing.

[sensei]

Agree. Original character design drawings ("settei" or "settings") come up in very small quantities and often just the rough drafts and not the final versions copied by the studio for animators to use. I typically see them on Mandarake rather than on Anime-Beta, and they go for premium prices, unless the show is not considered collectable, in which case they are curiosities.

And yes, as said before, "studio use" copies (i.e., first generation photocopies, sometimes with annotations and rough drawings by the animator who used it) go for higher prices than second-generation copies like these.

Watch for "設定資料" [Google renders "setting data"] as a tip-off. You will also find bundles of photocopied rough drawings and genga that were also distributed to animators for reference. These too are all copies.

[sensei]

Here's a Mandarake auction for some rough settei drawings. As is customary, the auction specifies "handwritten" rather than "copy."

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/item ... 3460100084

For YHJ auctions, I found an older thread that talked about the same issue. Promethium advised: "if you're looking for an original piece look for the word "直筆" (Jikihitsu) - it literally means "directly penned" (handwritten), hence it's an original. Unless it says 直筆, always assume it's a photocopy or a reproduction." This comes up every so often, and so if you do a search off the Board Index page for "handwritten" you can find other common Japanese ways of indicating "autograph" rather than "copy."

Some translation engines want to render "genga" as "original." Properly "genga" = "key frame" in animation lingo, but it literally does mean "primal sketch." But not all "genga" are "jikihitsu," meaning that some batches sold on YHJ are photocopies or facsimiles of the actual key frames.

[cutiebunny]

The first character looks a bit different usually from what I see on YJ. Like the image shown below. The third through fifth character say "sign" in katakana.

For some odd reason, when you copy/paste the first character into Google, Japanese dictionary sites or anywhere else (including this site), it changes into this - 直

Not quite sure why it does this. I don't know enough kanji to be sure, but I think they mean the same thing.

Two characters to also avoid are these - 複製. It means "multiple copies".