There is no cooler piece of anime memorabilia
than original production cels. Not only do they contain art from
the original productions, each is one of a kind and it's nice knowing that
the piece of unique art you own, is what millions of people all over the
world have watched on television or on the big screen. All the cels
pictured below are in the possession of either myself or my girlfriend.
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Sakura Kinomoto
Series: Card
Captor Sakura
Sequence #:
A-18 (Pan)
Date: 1998
Production:
Madhouse |
This
was the very first cel I purchased years ago which also makes it responsible
for me getting into the mess that is cel collecting and sales. It
was given as a gift to my now girlfriend for Christmas of 2003. The
background is unmatching however it is from near the same sequence / scene
as the cel. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Sakura Kinomoto
Series: Card
Captor Sakura
Sequence #:
B-14
Date: 1998
Production:
Madhouse |
Yet
another series that was heavily altered for US consumption and we all know
that no matter how pseudo juvenile the original content may have been,
when given the Pokemon treatment any anime series is bound to fail.
This is a vertically oversized pan cel (10.5" x 16") of Sakura summoning
and as with the Little Nemo AiS cel, was given as a gift to my girlfriend,
Christmas 2005. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Hayoto Kazami
Series: Future
GPX Cyber Formula
Sequence #:
B-8
Date: 1991
Production:
Sunrise / Nippon TV |
Cyber
Formula is a bit like Speed Racer except for the older set. There's
more politics, more drama, and the whole series is built to resemble Formula-1
more closely. I picked up this cel from Hong Kong for next to nothing
and its rich detail is quite impressive. Click here
to see the matching sketch. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Nemo, Icarus & Flip
Film: Little
Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
Cut #: H-25
Sequence #:
B-19 (Nemo + Icarus)
Sequence #:
A-69 (Flip)
Sequence #:
D-1 (Smoke effect)
Date: 1989
Production:
Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Little
Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland was a feature film loosely based on animation
legend Winsor McCay's "Little Nemo in Slumberland" comic strip first appearing
in 1905. Little Nemo: AiS had an extremely rocky production cycle
with the first pilot being released in 1984, the second in 1987, and the
finish film in 1989. Hayao Miyazaki was on the original creative
team however due to the troubled production he left at a rather early development
stage. Just as Robotech is a strange enigma of anime in America,
Little Nemo: AiS stands as an odd hiccup in the history of anime in Japan.
Similar to The Transformers, at its core Little Nemo: AiS was designed
for the American market with an all star voice ensemble such as Mickey
Rooney as Flip the Clown. I picked up this cel from a large cel dealer
specializing in non-mainstream cels and cel sales to other dealers.
It was given as a Christmas gift to my girlfriend in 2004. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Nemo & Icarus
Film: Little
Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
Sequence #:
A-40
Date: 1989
Production:
Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Another
cel of the title character and his furry companion from Little Nemo: Adventures
in Slumberland. Here Nemo converges with Icarus early in the film.
While the number of Little Nemo cels on the market spiked during the year
of this acquisition, there are nowhere near as many up for sale as there
were a few years ago. Still, with a little patience quality
cels from the film can still be found. This one was given as a Christmas
gift to my girlfriend in 2008. Click here
to see the matching sketch. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Umi Ryuuzaki & Fuu Hououji
Series: Magic
Knight Rayearth
Sequence #:
A-8 (Umi Ryuuzaki)
Sequence #:
B-5 (Fuu Hououji) (Key)
Date: 1994-1995
Production:
Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Undoubtedly
one of the more popular magical girl anime series of the 1990's, Magic
Knight Rayearth tells the story of three girls whisked away to a magical
world while on a school field trip. The three are destined to become
the Magic Knights and save the mystical world of Cephiro. While not
as popular as Pretty Soldier Sailormoon due to lack of television airing,
Rayearth managed to build a strong following in the United States on video
and quickly became a secondary series to those who enjoyed the adventures
of the sailor senshi. This cel was given to my girlfriend as a gift
for Christmas 2007. Click here
(Umi) and here (Fuu) to
see the matching sketches. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Ferio & Fuu Hououji
Series: Magic
Knight Rayearth
Sequence #:
A-1 (Ferio + Fuu) (End)
Sequence #:
B-2 (Ferio's mouth)
Date: 1994-1995
Production:
Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
The
second Magic Knight Rayearth cel I purchased presented itself as an amazing
opportunity to acquire an incredible piece of animation art. While
nice Rayearth cels are plentiful (due to the majority of the series containing
large images of the small primary cast) this one in particular rises as
a showpiece of the series' art design. It is a two layer cel with
everything on one sheet with the exception of Ferio's mouth, which is on
the other. This cel was given to my girlfriend as a birthday gift
in 2008. Click here (Ferio
+ Fuu) and here (Ferio's mouth)
to see the matching sketches. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Makoto Kino
Series: Pretty
Soldier Sailormoon R
Sequence #:
C-1
Original Air Date:
06/17/1993
Episode #:
56 - "Steal Mamoru's Kiss! Ann's Snow White Strategy"
Production:
TOEI / TV Asahi |
A
rather infamous scene in Sailormoon R is why this cel may seem familiar.
The girls are having an argument over who will play Snow White in an upcoming
performance starring Mamoru. When it came time for Makoto to say
why she thinks she would be ideal for the part, she states the reason she
should be cast is because she has the largest breasts. This was reworked
into her saying she has the most "talent" in the English dub.
While the artwork in Sailormoon
R was rather inconsistent during the first half of the season, this is
a beautiful oversized key cel. An extra strip of acetate with the
registration holes and sequence number was taped to the bottom by the studio
due to the cel being an oversized pan, as Makoto slides into the scene
camera left. The cel is from late in the scene, Makoto overlapping
Rei and getting a final few words in about her bust size. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation. This cel
was picked up for a bargain price on eBay during June 2010. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Diamon "Dieheart"
Series: Pretty
Soldier Sailormoon S
Sequence #:
A-3
Original Air Date:
05/07/1994
Episode #:
95 - "Leave it up to Moon to Aid in Love"
Production:
TOEI / TV Asahi |
This
was the first animation cel I ever purchased for myself years ago.
It was part of a large sell off of Monster Of The Day (MOTD) cels from
all five Sailormoon series. It's from the love contest episode of
Sailormoon S and is from Dieheart's death sequence at the end of the episode.
Sailormoon S was always my favorite Sailormoon series and Dieheart one
of my favorite Diamons, with her unique design of her hat and clothing
made of overlapping hearts. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation. Click
here
to see the matching sketch. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Makoto Kino
Series: Pretty
Soldier Sailormoon S
Sequence #:
B-5
Original Air Date:
05/14/1994
Episode #:
96 - "The Cruel Uranus? Makoto in a Pinch"
Production:
TOEI / TV Asahi |
From
the Sailormoon S episode in which Makoto gets her Pure Heart Crystal extracted
by the Death Busters. This frame is from early on in the episode,
just after Makoto shoves Usagi clear of Haruka's speeding motorbike.
Upon noticing that the rider was Haruka, Makoto goes into a daze.
This cel is from just before she snaps out of it. As with many TOEI
cels of this era, the background for this cel is unmatching but I like
it much more than the original. Additionally the cel is stuck to
the background. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation. As with
many cels, this one was given to my girlfriend as a gift for Christmas
of 2006. Click here
to see the matching sketch. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Rei Hino
Series: Pretty
Soldier Sailormoon S
Sequence #:
A-15 (Key)
Original Air Date:
06/18/1994
Episode #:
99 - "A Man's kindness! Yuichiro Heart Broken by Rei?"
Production:
TOEI / TV Asahi |
From
a small lot purchase of Sailormoon cels comes this cel from my all time
favorite episode. This is the episode in which Yuichiro incorrectly
assumes that Rei is dating Haruka and that he is no match for "that other
guy." This frame features Rei on Haruka's motorbike, holding onto
her as they zoom away. Rei's hair is tied back with a ribbon Yuichiro
gave her to keep her hair out of the ceremonial fire when she is chanting.
Of course the highlight of the episode is the battle against my favorite
MOTD, Todeen, the possessed city train. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation. I wanted
this cel so much I purchased a grouping of a few cels to get this one alone.
Click here to see the matching
sketch. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Tiger's Eye & Makoto Kino
Series: Pretty
Soldier Sailormoon SuperS
Sequence #:
Unknown
Original Air Date:
09/02/1995
Episode #:
147 - "A Destined Partner? Makoto's Pure Heart"
Production:
TOEI / TV Asahi |
Although
I've never been a big fan of the SuperS season of Sailormoon, the episode
this cel is from has always stood out. It's of course from the episode
in which Makoto is targeted by the Amazon Trio, specifically Tiger's Eye.
It's most well known for the gown that Makoto wears to a school dance,
with a large rose on the front. She waits all night for a second
dance with a disguised Tiger's Eye, only to have her heart broken once
he reveals his true identity.
Cels of her in this dress
are hard to find since the design was only used in this episode.
So whenever a cel from this episode comes up for sale all the Mako-chan
fanatics come out. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation.
Also an interesting cel as
in there is no sequence number and the registration holes are at the bottom.
The scene does match a frame in the episode and the image takes up the
entire cel. It's honestly a pretty complex shot in the series that
would require larger art for short pans. Line fading is consistent
with cels from this age and spot in the series. More than likely
the sheet was flipped over to maximize space so a thin strip with registration
holes was taped on the top. I've come across this before where that
top strip became lost over the years and with it the sequence number. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Film: Robot
Carnival
Short: Star
Light Angel
Sequence #:
B-16
Date: 1987
Production:
Studio A.P.P.P. |
Robot
Carnival could be considered an anime version of Disney's Fantasia - featuring
robots that is. The masters of Japanese animation at the time pulled
their talents together to create a series of short films with one common
element: robots. Robot Carnival has always been one of my all time
favorite works of anime and Star Light Angel has always been my favorite
short of the anthology. Set at a robot themed amusement park, a young
girl is left heartbroken after finding out her lover is also dating her
friend. In tears she finds her way onto a virtual reality ride where
her sadness causes the ride to create a robotic representation of how she
saw her former boyfriend - as a horrible monster. One of the park's
robot performers follows her in and attempts to save her from the danger
her grief conceived. This cel features the main character, looking
down at the robot performer as he falls away after being struck from behind
by the robotic monster. Click here
to see this frame as it appears in the original animation. In something
of a odd twist, this cel was given to me for Christmas by my girlfriend
in 2007. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Kei Katsuragi & Mome
Series: Super
Dimension Century Orguss
Sequence #:
A-10
Date: 1983
Episode #:
5 - "Lovers"
Production: Studio
Nue / T.M.S. |
Orguss
was the second of the unrelated "Super Dimension" series released in the
early 1980's, Southern Cross and the insanely popular and influential Macross
being the other two. Since Orguss never had an audience outside of
Japan finding anything to do with the original series is somewhat difficult.
As with my first Orguss cel purchase, I simply can't pass a cel of Mome.
This cel is especially desirable in that it features the main character,
Kei, as well. This is from early in the series, shortly after Mome
is purchased for Kei. At this point Kei still has trouble thinking
of Mome as a machine, seeing instead the little girl that she resembles.
I purchased this cel on eBay from my favorite cel dealer out of Hong Kong.
Mome and Kei stand as two
of my favorite anime characters and they go hand in hand. Mome is
a loyal counterpart to both Kei's ship the Orguss and Kei himself, referring
to him as "Mister Kei" - a compromise agreed upon after Kei refused to
have her refer to him as "Master." Kei on the other hand dismisses
Mome as a bit of a nuisance but also always as a friend to hang around
with. Kei stands up for her when others treat her as a replaceable
machine and almost sees Mome as a daughter-like attachment.
In the previous episode a
fight breaks out and Kei has no choice but to defend himself, however due
to the battle the Chiram military will now have a presence in the area.
Due to this the Emaan, a band of gypsies that deal in high technology,
turn over all their wares as an apology to the group of villagers that
will now be bothered. The scene in the cel is from near the beginning
of episode five, when Kei and Mome bow to the villagers along with the
Emaan. Click here to see
this frame as it appears in the original animation. |
CEL
INFORMATION...
Featuring:
Mome
Series: Super
Dimension Century Orguss
Sequence #:
B-20
Date: 1983
Episode #:
34 - "Battlefield"
Production: Studio
Nue / T.M.S. |
Without
any doubt this has always been my favorite animation cel that I own.
Having always loved Super Dimension Century Orguss, the chance to pick
up a piece of production art from the series is something I would never
pass up. This goes even more so for a cel featuring my favorite character
from the series. This cel is of the robotic girl, Mome, who befriends
the lead character Kei early on in the series. The image in the cel
is from just before Mome's "death" in the second to last episode.
To save Kei's love interest, Mome plugs a beam cannon into her power supply,
knowing it will drain her un-rechargable battery and cause her death.
This moment of self-sacrifice shocks Kei, who never realized how much Mome
had meant to him. It was the second cel that I ever purchased for
myself and ran me a little over $30.00 from an eBay seller in California.
Sadly the seller left their account long ago but if they happen to be reading
this, thank you for an amazing opportunity! |
|
