Anyway, I didn't really like the style of the opening sequence to SP. The animation designs were simplified, almost to the point of not recognizing the characters, the music was very peppy and at great odds with the dark tone of the series, and over all the OP seemed inappropriate. However, the part I really liked in it was when the nude and entangled Sarah appeared within the waters. (Hey, Sarah should have been more prominent in the OP! The series revolves more around her then it did Lena. Ah Sarah, poor Sarah, my favorite SP character.) A cel from this sequence was my number one wanted cel for Shamanic Princess which, considering how much I liked the OAVs, placed it on my dream list by default.

For years I looked in vain through the small Shamanic Princess sections of the cel dealers for a cel from this sequence, not really expecting that I'd ever manage to pick one up. (As far as dream cels go, I had this one labelled as "maybe a snowball's chance in hell". Perhaps there is hope for an end of the R movie cel of Endy-poo!) So you can imagine my shock when during one of Taro's midnight updates what should I stumble across but this cel?

I remember the events vividly. Taro had updated with 5 new Shamanic Princess cels and even though I was at the computer during the update, by the time I arrived at the site one of the cels was already gone. There was another cel from the sequence where evil Kagetsu is seducing Tiara, a cel of Tiara with her hair half-down as she confronts the Throne of Yord at the end of OAV 4, a really nice close-up of Tiara, and this cel. (On a side note, all of the SP cels were gone within half an hour! ) I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw this beauty and, of course, I wasn't logged in at the time; so I was having nine fits as I returned to the Taro main page, logged in, and raced back to the Shamanic Princess section all-consumed with gnawing fear that someone would snatch the cel from beneath my nose. But it seems it was meant to be, for the cel was still there when I returned!

I... umm... didn't actually look at the price tag the first time I beheld the cel but I did glance at it as I was purchasing it. It was around $110. *laughs maniacally* I would have paid upto 10x that amount (I wouldn't have been happy about it, but I would've shelled out ) On a lark, I decided to pick up a cheapy Shin Tenchi Muyo cel of Tenchi from the opening sequence at the same time. ('In for a penny, in for a pound,' the saying goes.) So these were the first OP cels to join my collection. Taro's shipping is pretty fast considering the cels come all the way from Japan but I feared I'd develop a permanent twitch before this cel arrived! (The only time I've been as antsy is with my huggy cel of Raphael & Mikael.) But finally it arrived!

The set-up includes the A-4 layer which is Sarah & the tendrils(and she actually does have a mouth, but the light pink of her lips didn't show up in the scan) and the D-4 layer which is the tiny lil white bubbles. I'm supposing that the B & C layers are the floating leaves and water ripples respectively. (Anyone have any idea where I might be able to pick them up? ) The background is non-matching, something that I thought looked appropriate and included during the scan.

The colors in the scan are actually pretty good for once.