I have no idea which episode this is from without rewatching the whole series, but it's a really nice cel of Manmaru and Tanutaro! I had been searching for cels from Ninpen Manmaru since I first saw the series in late 1997. I had actually just about given up, having never seen one for sale. Then, without warning these two amazing backgrounded cels appeard on the "P" site, and I was in shock! After all this time, I finally had Manmaru cels within my grasp! The time between putting in the request and waiting to find out whether I would be able to buy them was one of the most stressful cel-collecting experiences I've had in a long time.

From the first half of episode 5, "Mezase! Esthe de Deshiiri". Ranko wanted to become more beautiful in order to win Shirosa's heart and get him to make her his student. The kids fell into some kind of underground thermal mud thing, and they were trying to find a way out. They just ran into a bunch of spiders. It's hard to see the background in this scene because there are some computer-generated pink cloud effects, but I'm pretty sure it's a matching background. I'm really happy that I was able to get a cel with Tsunejiro in it, too. I don't really have any interest in Ranko, so I don't really care that she's mostly hidden.

This is the cutest cel EVER!!! I can't believe I was able to get more Manmaru cels. It's been a good year. :D

This cel of the three main characters even has Nennen, Manmaru's "pet", a piece of living clay. Both this cel and the cel above are from episode 25 part A, "Scoop! Nenga-sama Kaigen!!"

The layout drawing came with the second cel, and it includes the foreground showing Nenga! How cool!!