"Wow, it grew back!"
This guy is a Japanese cameraman who's nickname is Rocky. He's a photojournalist who travels around the world to various hot-spots to get pictures. He's amazed to see a Japanese pilot at Area 88. In this scene from OVA1, he's buying some film from McCoy. His bag was left in the sun and all his film was ruined. Isn't that . . . convenient?

This is such a cool cel! It's from a flashback sequence in the first OVA where we get to see how Shin and Ryoko met for the first time. In this cel, she mistakenly assumed he was a porter and wanted him to load her luggage. He's just bending down to pick it up.

This isn't the world's greatest cel, but it's my first cel of the ultimate *sshole in the series, Kanzaki. This would be the person responsible for making Shin's life a living hell. And actually, this is from the scene during a flashback when he was tricking Shin into signing the contract that got him stuck at Area 88!

I am a HUGE Area 88 fan! After a long time, I finally have a few cels. This is McCoy, the old man supplies the pilots of Area 88 with everything from fighter jets to cup ramen, for a price. In this scene from the first OVA, he's offering Shin some cheap weapons.

Well, I finally got a decent cel of Shin! Considering he's the main character and all, I guess it's about time. In this scene, Shin is trying to sneak out in the middle of the night. Careful! From the first OVA.

This is so cool! I saw this cel with a set of several on ebay, and immediately thought to myself, "you know, that looks like Shin from Area 88". It was nagging at me, so I had to check it out. I pulled out the LDs, and found it! It's from a flashback scene in the Act II, "The Requirements of Wolves" where we see how Shin and Kanzaki first met as children in an orphanage in Japan.

Until I went to do screencaps, I didn't even realize how important a scene this cel was from!! This cel is from OVA 2. Shin and Mick just shot bombs off a YAL jet that Ryoko was on, piloted by Kanzaki. Notice who she's sitting next to? That's right! Saki!! And in this particular scene, Shin is looking sadly at the jet, finally bidding "farewell" to his former life while Ryoko thinks about Shin. The manga story that this was adapted from was somewhat different, but I like both. In fact, in the manga, this was one of my favorite parts. Ah! The frustrating irony! If she had just mentioned Shin's name even once when Saki was in earshot, think how different things might have been!

The cels from the third OVA are a little bigger than my other cels. This is a lovely cel of Taeko, Ryoko's personal assistant and best friend. Yes, her clothes scream 1979!, but she's such a cool character, especially in the manga, that I was thrilled to get this cel! In this scene she was talking to Ryoko about how to handle Kanzaki.

Finally!! I've finally got a cel of Saki Vashutal! He's my favorite character in Area 88. He's the prince of Asran, fighting against his own father and brother for his beliefs. He's a tragic figure, and a cool guy. Although he has his eyes closed in this cel, I still like it better than almost any scene in the anime! Because this is one of the few happy moments, and the only scene where he ever laughs out loud. Saki is one of the most serious characters in the series - at most he sometimes smiles a little, but here he was literally laughing! He was amused because all the tough-guy pilots were all taking off to accompany Shin as he left Area 88 (OVA 3). They're just a bunch of sentimental guys after all! This cel will NEVER be for sale. It's one of my great treasures!! Incidentally, this cel is number A33. If you were to just connect the lines, it would say A88! Isn't that cool!?!

This is a very interesting drawing. It was attached to the drawing of Shin as a child, but it doesn't look like it's from Area 88. At any rate, I don't remember this scene. It does, however, look a LOT like Shintani's style, so I'm wondering where it came from. Here's something interesting. Check out this self portrait of Shintani himself, and compare it to the heavy guy sitting on the right.