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In 1982, an ANIMAGE page showing a junior-high-schoolish Japanese fan in his room, with a cel of Shirou Sanada from "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" tacked to the wall above his desk, set my heart to thumping. Anime cels got out of the studio?! What could be better than having a production cel of a favorite character--something that actually helped bring that character to animated "life"?
That summer I had seen and loved the first five episodes of "Xabungle" at the 1982 Worldcon in Chicago...so when Ed Noonchester offered "Xabungle" production cels with backgrounds for sale in that winter's C/FO Newsletter, I hopped on the chance to get my very first anime cel! (It's of Jiron, Elchi and Chiru, for any fellow "Xabungle"-eers out there ;^) .) Now, more than (yikes!) 30 years later, it's still a thrill to be able to find and bring home production art of my anime favorites.
When I moved to Japan in August 2000 (after being an exchange student here in 1980), the couple hundred cels in my collection at that point stayed behind, in safekeeping. But since then, I've been fortunate to find some production art that I'd sought for years, of characters that have meant a lot to me along the fandom trail. So while I can't share most of my collection here 'cause it's in storage (can only point you to pages 224, 226 and 230 of the book ROBOTECH ART I; the "Cat's Eye," "Space Cobra," "Ashita No Joe 2" and "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" cels there are from early in my collection, where they remain today), I can show you some of the loot I've been lucky enough to land since coming to Japan.
My cels and drawings sometimes tend toward obscure--goes with the territory when you're an Old Anime Pfart!--but posting them here is a fun chance to write about them (and a great excuse to rewatch a few favorite series!). I hope someone else out there might enjoy seeing them, too.
News & Updates
| | | | 5/20/2014 | | Added a Joe genga to "Ashita no Joe" and a cel apiece to the "Giant Gorg" and "Saraba Yamato" sections. | | | | 11/4/2013 | | Today I added an "Ashita no Joe" genga and three "Juushin Liger" cels. | | | | 11/1/2013 | | Added a Joe genga to "Ashita no Joe" and a Gene cel to "Outlaw Star," and started a "Daitarn 3" section. | | | | 10/28/2013 | | Tonight I split out a separate "Juushin Liger: Opening Credits" section--now six cels strong! Also added an "Ashita no Joe 2" layout and a "Mellowlink" cel. | | |
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