Cels Forum

I really, really hate the thought that anyone would
deliberately separate a cel and its pencil sketch.  The
only thing worse would be separating a cel and its
background.  To me, douga-type pencils and backgrounds are
much, much more worthwhile when they are matched with their
corresponding cels.

However, once a separation has occurred, it's pretty
unlikely that the pieces will ever be reunited.  If
dealers end up with unmatched backgrounds or sketches, I
see no reason why they shouldn't sell them rather than
throwing them away or something.  I really suspect that
Taro isn't deliberately separating pencils.  For Sailor
Moon, in particular, the studio generally doesn't seem
to bother keeping cels and backgrounds together, so I
wouldn't be surprised if they just end up with piles of
unmatched pencil sketches.

Personally, I don't think I'd ever want to buy a douga.  It
would be too much like buying the shadow of a cel that got 
away.  Also, I don't want to give sellers an incentive to 
separate pencils that were not already lost.  I agree with 
you that there seems to be an increase in the number of 
small sellers who deliberately sell pencils separately.

--Atiya

Just a few random thoughts...I hope I haven't offended
anybody.