A Satisfying Update (HP, TnN, CCS)

last modified: Friday, October 09, 2009 (10:29:27 AM CST)

I’m settling into my more restrained collecting lifestyle, as we adjust to new budgets and new routines. It was a surprise to realize that it’s now been more than a month since I bid on anything, and more of one to realize that I hadn’t really missed it. (I have my eye on a few things this week, though. . . .) I’ve considerably cut back on acquiring new art, as well as on the amount I’m willing to spend, while putting more time in on maintenance. (As the last blog mentioned, I’m midway in changing cel bags for my earlier acquisitions, along with other bits of deferred maintenance.)

And yet the update that I managed around the edges in the last weeks is a pleasantly satisfying one, one that feels more like a homecoming or family reunion instead of “got more stuff.” Next to (Cardcaptor) Sakura, perhaps my favorite anime character is (the eight-and-seven-eighths-tailed sly fox spirit bounty hunter) Sakura from Hyper Police. Even though I had many lively gengas of this character, I didn’t have many cels to match. This update moved toward changing this with two very dramatic new items:

Sakura enraged at poor Natsuki (she’s just offered her famished partner a handful of dry cat food nuggets!):
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289756

Sakura on assignment, all business as soon as she hears her collar stir down at the end of a long, dark alleyway:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289757

Getting the second of these was a special treat, as it comes from a cut immediately after one of my favorite sketch sets.

Tenshi ni Narumon also got some strong newcomers, among them a pretty cel of Natsumi in the pool, just after the featherbrained Noelle has made her learn something very interesting about herself:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289747

[I liked how the art paper I found worked out with this cel – it’s always something of an adventure to see what the cel “likes” behind it.]

Thanks to Rummy’s recent offers period, I was also able to pick up the A1 cel that goes with my Hitomi Kato shuuseis of a dramatic cut in Step 25 (Yuusuke climbing the wire to the Celestial Staircase):
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289746

This gives me four of the six key cels from this cut.

Also thanks to Rummy’s courtesy, I was able to reunite the early rough sketches and layouts of a scene of Mikael looking for Raphael (Step 20) with the final cel and production background:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289749

and add to it another full set-up from the same sequence, showing Mikael continuing his search on the shady side of a street:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289752

As these backgrounds stayed on the screen for an extra length of time, Studio Pierrot made sure they were top-notch, like the one of Mikael at the convenience store, which has been a favorite of mine for a while.

And I suppose every true Tennimon lover needs to own a shirtless Raphael, and I loved this sensuous cel of the one-winged angel snuggling in bed [But don’t miss the scar!]:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289748

Finally, CCS is the winner for three impressive new backgrounds. One is a
nightscape from Sakura’s Ep. 69 ordeal with creepy Eriol:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289754

I liked the Halloween feel of this image well enough to use a detail for my new gallery background.

But more impressive are my new backgrounds from Sakura’s visit to the past to meet Clow Reed. The studio used a distinctive “impressionist” watercolor style for all these backgrounds, which makes them immediately recognizable and especially lovely. I had a “Spring” and “Winter” background already, and this update completes the “circle of time” with [next entry, sorry]

A Satisfying Update (HP, TnN, CCS)

last modified: Friday, October 09, 2009 (10:08:09 AM CST)

“Summer”:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=289753

and (thanks to Rallihir’s willingness to strike a deal), “Fall”:
http://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=290438

One of the nicest parts: I remained within my stricter budget with all of these. So it looks as if I’ll wait longer, watch more closely, bid less, spend less. But if I can continue to have updates like this, with every new addition serving a purpose, I won’t mind the tighter purse strings.