So, I just recently updated my gallery (last week of December, actually) and already I'm working on the next update. I've also run out of room in my current cel books, and the new cels are all mixed up with the old. So this list is mainly just for me to remember which cels to scan... but anyone reading this can think of it as a preview of coming attractions.

Lady Kyra from Yoroiden Samurai Troopers
Lafiel and Jinto in the Sufugnoff cave
Rah Xephon sketches
Sakura on the swing
Sakura sealing the Void
Tooya from Ayashi no Ceres

Man... I need to stay far, far away from eBay, YJ, and anywhere else that has cels for sale.

Major layout redesign. I've kept the basic tenets of the old layout, but the new one is more attractive, niftier, and easier to navigate. It's mainly designed for a resolution of 1024x768 or above, but ought to work on smaller monitors as well. Also, from now on, all new cels will be set apart by a thick border around the thumbnail. ^_^ Enjoy the new design!

Today I recieved two absolutely beautiful cels in the mail. Unfortunately, as my scanner is broken beyond all repair, they won't be scanned for a while. However, looking at them, and thinking about them, made me realize something- my absolute favorite cels are of romantic couples. If a cel contains two characters, and it gives some insight into their relationship, I will love and adore it even if that insight is simply that they HAVE a relationship.

Just looking over my CotS cels, the ones that I jumped at fastest, the ones that I worried about the least as I handed over my money- they feature Jinto and Lafiel together. The first gives a clue to their working relationship, where Lafiel is so clearly in charge. Then the end of Seikai where they pledge to remain friends, where Lafiel very nearly says something she may regret later, as Jinto launches into his beautiful and poignant monologue. The multiple cels of the cave scene, where Lafiel at last opens up to Jinto. The dream sequence, which stole my heart and my breath the first time I saw it, and refuses still to give them back. These are the cels that I consider to be watashi no ichiban taisetsuna seruga, my most precious cels. I adore them, and will most probably never let them leave my possession.

Let's see... what have others said about cel collecting? There's "the one addiction more expensive than crack. (Lizzard)" And "the world's most expensive overhead transparencies. (Rubberslug)" And a favorite-- "...you're holding your wallet upside down and wondering where all the money went...(Evilminion)" What do I have to say for it? Pretty much the same thing, really. So why do I collect?

Because I love it. I love my cels. I love looking at them. I love finding them in the shows when I watch them. I love staring at my Inu Yasha profile shot, wondering what he's thinking to make that face. I love remembering the exact dramatic flair of Trife's cloak just before my cel shows up in Crest of the Stars. I love seeing Umi's screaming face in nearly every episode of Rayearth's second season. There's no replacement for seeing your cel on the screen, and holding it up there side-by-side. "I own that. That's mine."

Cel collecting is incredibly fustrating. It's incredibly rewarding. It's fun. It drains your wallet. But the knowledge that you own a one-of-a-kind piece of art, that no one else owns... the thrill of figuring out why this layer looks like this, why that layer was necesary... the rush of catching a dealer's update and finding that exact cel from your wishlist... that, that is priceless.