Just giving my answer in haiku form, as Raphael-sama demands. Welcome to the Tenshi ni Narumon section of my cel gallery, which within six months has surpassed my Sailor Moon section which I've been collecting for five years! (Not that I've only been collecting TnN for six months-- but I get ahead of myself.)

While I've been an otaku (in its nicest form ) for over half a decade now, I'd never really found an anime that I could go fan-girl rabid over. Sure, I had my favorites-- Sailor Moon in the beginning, and I always did enjoy the rather obscure Heroic Legend of Arslan, and of course there's always Evangelion (no worries about me becoming a crazy cel collector there ) but nothing that really clicked with me and sent me in a mad scavenger hunt through sites both electronic and brick & mortar for more information, for merchandise, for anything related to a series. Well, be careful what you wish for! And, y'know, this is all Raphael's fault!

Ha ha ha! *turns about and preens*

*eyetwitch*

My charm! My charisma! It dazzles!

*eyebrow still twitching* Your humility...

Hey, what are you two doing here? You're supposed to be working on the Tenshi ni Narumon shrine!

Ah, that's right! Come on, Raphael-sama. *begins dragging the still posing Raph off*

Hey, where are you dragging me off to, Mikael?

You know exactly where! The bedsite!

The what? *laughs* Your freudian slip is showing!

*turning a rather becoming shade of red* The website! The website! Oh, you know what I mean!

*smirking* I think you meant exactly what you said the first time.

*spluttering* I... what... you... oh, come on, we have a lot of work to do! *drags Raph off, exit stage left

Kinky!

Pssst, Ruka?

I know, I know! *skips off stage left, video camera in hand*

Umm, now, what was I talking about again? Ah, yes, how I first started collecting Tenshi ni Narumon! Around two years ago Tenshi ni Narumon cels started drifting into the cel dealers sites. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have much information on exactly what 'Tenshi ni Narumon' was beyond it being the new anime from the group that did Shamanic Princess. I'd taken quite a liking to the character designs, so I started nosing around the very ultra cheap TnN cels. (Yes! Cheap! Why didn't I get that $15 Raphael cel? Why? ) However, I'm rather picky with cels from series that I haven't watched and it seems that I was already under a certain hex, so I didn't manage to get any Tenshi cels for myself in the first couple of months. A friend and I both took a liking to a flashback cel of Natsumi standing in the grass (of course, we had no clue who the girl was at the time, but the way the cel was set-up with the grass rising up around her-- very pretty!) and I ended up buying the $12 (yes, $12 back then!) cel for her as a bribe-- err... present. And that was the only Tenshi ni Narumon cel I ever managed to buy for several years thereafter! Hexed, I tells ya!

So eventually Otakon rolls around and, lo and behold, Tenshi ni Narumon was one of their main features! (It was even being screened in the over-sized viewing room and everything!) So in order to find out exactly who the girl-in-the-grass was, we stopped in for an episode. Our reactions to the super-duper-uber-happy-sappy-can't-get-out-of-your-head theme song must have been a sight to behold! And it turned out that we saw episode 5, the revelation of Sara, which didn't have any Natsumi in it! Ah well. I think I was rather more taken by TnN at the start then my friend who declined any further viewings. (Until I started ranting and raving about it recently, so now I think I've piqued her interest again ) And even for myself, I had more of an "eh, it's okay, I'll catch further episodes maybe" reaction more then anything.

So what changed my mind then? Well, as I alluded to before, it was Raphael. His cels were beginning to filter down the cel food chain and-- moogle damn, but he has a cool character design!

*popping back up* Don't I just?

Come on, Raphael-sama! Oi! *gets exuberantly dragged off stage right*

Umm, yeah. I mean, if you're not gonna have black hair then dark red hair is the way to go. (Though I am also partial to blue-green! ) And the outfit! *drools profusely* I love that outfit! I'd cos-play as Raphael myself but the open chest design might cause some... erm... problems with my body type.

I wanted to know more about Raphael, and I was beginning to hear things about his relationship to Mikael as well , and hearing that Raph doesn't make an appearance until mid-season I managed to track down some Tenshi ni Narumon episodes on the 'Net. (which wasn't very easy, mind you ) And then I was caught. Even though the first mid-season episodes I watched cut-off before the end (Something that still plagues me. While I've managed to basically watch, hodge podge and sideways, the series in its entiriety; there are still some middle episodes whose endings I've yet to see! Argh! I am so ready for the TnN DVDs to come out!) It was crazy-- everyone was crazy!-- yet in a way, it all made a sort of crazy sense. Even when it whip-lashes between zany humor and drama, or when all previous (mis)conceptions get turned on their heads-- it makes sense-- sorta. And I don't usually enjoy humor-oriented anime-- slapstick and the like just usually isn't my cup of tea-- but nearly every episode of TnN can make me laugh. What can I say, we're on the same wavelength.

I'm very glad that my first exposure to Tenshi ni Narumon came after the major mid-series plot twist (and episode 5 seems to be regarded as the best of the early eps, as it goes) for while I enjoyed the earlier episodes when I went back to watch them, I probably would have run away screaming if they were my first introduction to the series. Tenshi ni Narumon has a sugary-sweet coating with Project's trademark creepy-dark undertones, but it takes awhile for the first shock of spice & everything nice to wear off a bit.

Unfortunately, by the time I had become a fangirl, heart and soul, the series had picked up just a tad few more other fans as well. And then the dreaded hex fully reared its ugly head-- nearly an entire year passed with me trying and failing to get any rapidly-rising TnN cel that had caught my eye. I was also being entirely too nit-picky at the time as well. (Passing up a cel from the Raphael & Mikael glomph scene just because Mikael wasn't in the cel as well? Oi!)

Finally when I fully realized how Tenshi ni Narumon had become my favorite anime, I took the metaphorical gloves off and basically (temporarily ) dropped collecting all other series. And that is when the prices of TnN cels skyrocketed through the roof! *sobs* Yes, everyone, I am the reason for all the $400 and $500 Raphael cels! And no, I'm not the one bidding on all of them (my pocket's ain't that deep! ) but nearly to the day that I decided to collect TnN cels exclusively the Raphael cels on Yahoo Japan tripled and quadrupled in price! (Okay, now admit it, which one of you put this jinx on me? I know you're out there! I can hear you breathing! Was it you, the one with the beady eyes?)

Anyway, despite this, and with some funds freed up, I managed to amass a few Tenshi ni Narumon cels that I'm rather proud of. As you can tell from my collection, Raphael and Mikael are my favorite characters (could you guess?), with Sara and Eros close behind. (I also have a soft spot for poor Yuusuke.) Actually, I like all the characters on this show, which is quite a phenomenon for me. Even Noelle! If Miaka is a lobotomized Usagi, then Noelle is a lobotomized Miaka! Yet-- she's so pure, so pure and strange. Can't confuse this one with a normal girl. I still think making Sara the female lead would have made the show perfect... but, ah well.

And if you're still reading this-- a bit masochistic, ne? Unfortunately, Photoshop decided to change preferences just as I began scanning my Narumon cels (yes, I have a computer that likes to randomly change font preferences to Zaph Dingbat and whatnot every so often just to keep my life interesting), so many of the scans here are off-color or mildly pixellated. I would appreciate it if you'd stop by my TnN wanted list and took a gander as I offer the remains of soul and various body organs in trade.

Note: Some cels may appear in multiple sections.

Most Wanted Tenshi ni Narumon Cels *ANY final scene between Raph & Mika, Ep. 26 *Episode 26 screengrab *Sad Raphael in rain, episode 23 *Sad Raph outside of apartment, end of ep. 20 *Naked Raph next to empty bedsheets, ep. 15 *Raph presents key to Mika, episode 14 *Mikael touching Raphael, end of episode 20 *Mikael with electric guitar *Naked Mikael in bath, episode 23 *Raph winking at Mika atop of tower, ep. 19 *Mika, Raph, & Noelle have breakfast, ep. 20 *Raph & Mika holding hands, end of ep. 15 *Any scene where Raphael & Mikael embrace *Naked Mikael running around room, episode 15 Full Want List