Dream Pencil Boards
My latest hobby (or perhaps I should say the latest facet of my anime hobby) is collecting anime-related shitajiki. So, what is a "shi-ta-ji-ki"? Quoting from the "Information" page of the late, lamented Shitajiki Online:
A shitajiki, also commonly known as a pencil board, writing tablet, or underlay, is a thin 7" x 10" piece of pvc [sic] plastic that features an image on one or both sides. It is made for school students to place under there [sic] paper to prevent ink or markings to transfer to the next piece of paper and to give them a hard surface to write on. Though a lot of them do not end up with this fate, they end up being collected by the many Shitajiki collectors.
There are a few deserving shows that aren't well-represented in my collection. Unfortunately, I can't buy shitajiki that nobody makes ... The only solution is to make fakes of what I'd like to see and put the images on my website in the faint hope that someone in a position to do something about it will see them and actually have them made. (Hey, I can dream ...)
Here are the pencil boards that I'd happily buy if someone were to licence and make them, presented in the order that I came up with the ideas. The format of this list is the same as at Shitajiki Online's old "Dream Shitijaki" page, without the "Creator" entry (since I created them all).
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Series/Character: Shirow 2002 Calendar heroic
Items Used: Scans from calendar
Why?: Because there simply aren't enough Shirow shitajiki out there, and it's an interesting picture.
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- Series/Character: Nene of Bubblegum Crisis (original)
- Items Used: Scans from Bubblegum Crisis OAV 8 soundtrack CD back cover
- Why?: It's so cute!
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- Series/Character: Cowboy Bebop
- Items Used: Scan from Cowboy Bebop: The Jazz Messingers artbook, logo from Sunrise website
- Why?: The current Cowboy Bebop shitijaki are either static shots of the characters, or focus on Spike. This ignores the dynamic ensemble nature of jazz, which (thanks to Yohko Kanno's masterful soundtrack) is an important part of Cowboy Bebop. This dream shitijaki shows the entire group in more than just a set of pinups.
- Note: This is an oversized board, similar to some Sailor Moon boards - if you feel that you must bring it down to 7"×10", cut off the end with Spike. ^_^
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Series/Character: Princess Nine
Items Used: Screen captures, logo scan
Why?: Because I haven't been able to find any Princess Nine shitijaki at all, anywhere, and the series deserves more publicity. Besides, it's a couple of pictures of cute girls - what more reason do you need?
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Series/Character: Noir
Items Used: downloaded image (believed to be official, presumably from an artbook)
Why?: Let's face it - the only real Noir pencil board is boring. This image is less static than the official one, while still making obvious that the two main characters use firearms ...
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Series/Character: Nadesico / Gekiganger-3
Items Used: Scans from Newtype 100% artbook #32
Why?: There are plenty of Nadesico pencil boards out there, but (as far as I know) none of them highlight the show within the show, Gekiganger-3.
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Last update: 23 October 2002
