Welcome to Part Two of Hubby Birthday Gifting (which we could also realistically call Jet Wolf Shows Off). Part One is here. Part Two features my beloved motherfucking CELS.
I have two to share with you right now, with a third on the way. I’ll scan and post the third after it arrives and include it with a big cel roundup post (as I have others I’ve gotten and hadn’t shown yet).
As mentioned, Hubby went out of his way to make this A Very Rei And Usagi Birthday, because these are things that make me happy. The cels continue that theme.
The first speaks more to my “Yes any Rei and/or Rei and Usagi cel is welcome here”, but I do really enjoy that it’s a moment I now own. I give you Rei being stared down by Ninja Usagi from Episode 136 “Protect Mamoru! Jealousy of Usagi the Ninja”, also known as “one of the only episodes in SuperS I enjoyed”.
With accompanying episode frame:
Normally I’d go with a scan of the cel, but as usual, the reds don’t scan properly and there’s so much red in this one (it even took out Rei’s flushed cheeks) that it looks weird as a result.
And because they’re always fun, here’s the reverse “how the sausage is made” shot:
The two layers are stuck together unfortunately (I’m sure Rei is especially excited about that). In the actual cap as shown, Usagi would be lower and more to the right as she’s sliding into shot. Still, I’I love that I have the one single frame where Rei has her eyes closed, as if she just can’t deal with what’s before her. And really, who among us can blame her for that.
And then the second. which was the “main” cel from Hubby. I am so completely in love with it.
And the cap:
Wistful Rei with attentive Usagi looking on, from Episode 90 “Premonition of World’s End Mysterious New Warriors!”. This is the scene where Rei’s giving her endless list of things she’s going to do when she grows up. You know, while nursing in her heart and in her mind her repeating vision of the world ending and her friends dying and her helpless to do anything about it whatsoever, yet still she’s keeping it all to herself because she doesn’t want to upset and worry Usagi, who will later hear these exact words echo in her ears when she’s forced to watch Rei being killed in front of her and FUCK THIS EPISODE IN THE EAR OH MY GOD
I love this episode in general (one of my favourites), and I love this scene specifically. It’s such a beautifully still moment between Rei and Usagi, of a kind that we see only now and again, making them all the more precious. Definitely a cel going in the framing queue.
The Rei and Usagi layers are stuck together, with the background stuck to Usagi. It’s not the original background, but a colour print or photocopy. I love though that someone at some point in the ownership line for this cel cared enough to pair it with the matching background, making me think my wall won’t be the first it’s hung on.
The cel is also interesting because Usagi actually has a couple of mistakes that didn’t make it into the final version. As you can see from my scan, the middle “piece” of her odagno aren’t coloured. Or, more accurate, they’re coloured white (as if they were left clear, we’d see the background through them). It’s just those pieces, and I’m at a bit of a loss for what happened there. I’ve never see the yellows fade, and why would it only be there and not in all of Usagi’s hair? My best guess is that it was a painting error. There’s a similar error on her bow and brooch, though it’s harder to see with the scan because of what it does to reds. The brooch should be pink, though, and is instead a kind of maroon:
Neither of these appear that way in the episode though. I feel confident that these are genuine production cels, so what I suspect may have happened is that a quick corrective layer was placed on top when the scene was filmed.
GUY THOUGH DO YOU SEE MY CELS
DO YOU SEE THEM
I rearranged almost my entire portfolio to accommodate these new additions, as their order is VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS. Please enjoy this new spread.
I assure you that I am.
I’d been eyeing that Ninja!Sagi cel on eBay! I recently browsed for cels again and noticed the listing was gone. I’M GLAD IT WENT TO A GOOD HOME. :D