Ryuu Knight - Sarutobi 1

Ryuu Knight - Sarutobi 1
Ryuu Knight - Sarutobi 1

(NFS)	My very first cel of Sarutobi. When I bought this one, I had no idea who the character was, only that he was from Ryuu Knight. As with Guitar, I liked the character design, and decided to look into the series from that. I finally managed to pick up fansubs of some of the early episodes, and it turned out I absolutely adored the show. And that cute little ninja turned out to be Sarutobi, the wonderfully cranky and sarcastic character who has become one of my favourite anime guys. ^-^
	Now, all of the characters in Ryuu Knight are a bit...slim. It's just the art style. However, Sarutobi really takes the cake. Or, rather, he doesn't take the cake, or any other food item.. ~.~;; (Pardon the horrible joke..) The poor lad's starved! How can he even walk around?! This is one of those cels that just makes you wonder about things like that.. From episode 12; after they've both been healed up, thanks to Izumi, Sarutobi and Bakuretsumaru prepare to get back into action.
	This one's from episode 2. Sarutobi has spotted the wanted criminal he's after, Dirias. (Yeah, not only is he a ninja, and the pilot of a giant robot, he's a bounty hunter, too. He's multi-talented.) And I swear, the mounts they ride in Ryuu Knight--called Gallops--look just like the birds from the old Atari game, Joust. I loved that game..
	My, what beady eyes you have, Grandma! Another adorable Sarutobi, looking as cranky as always. Or perhaps a bit more so. He's got some pretty crazy eyes, ne? He looks like he's just going to give up and snap...or else just have a heart attack and keel over. So young, and yet such a high blood pressure..
(NFS)	Awww.. Poor little Sarutobi's hurt. ;.; For whatever reason, I really like these two cels.. I guess it's that thing I have about seeing my favourite characters hurt or upset. ^_^;; It doesn't hurt that he looks quite adorable, either. And of course, I just love that airbrushed shadow. It somehow makes the cel so much better with that shadow.. From episode 43, Sarutobi just found out how the hotdog feels at a weenie-roast..
(NFS)	Second cel from the above scene; Sarutobi watches as Paffy comes to the rescue. ^_^ I couldn't decide between them, so I took them both. Greedy, I am. Talk like Yoda, I do. I think I like this one most, though, because he looks even more curled up. And again, I just adore that airbrushed shadow for reasons even I can't comprehend. This and the above cel were not only used in episode 43, but also in a recap of the scene for episode 46.
	A cute little profile shot of Sarutobi. His visor looks like it's lifted up a bit more than usual... I really like the shape of his face. Because he's in a mask, it seems the animators occasionally forget just what they're doing with his face, and his mouth is either too high or too low, so I like it when his face is actually looking like a face. ^_^;; He's got a really cute nose.
	Yay! I just love cels of people fighting, and Sarutobi's gettin' ready to get his li'l Ninja Groove on. (Don't ask me what that means. It's really late, I'm tired, and I've been working on writing HTML & cel descriptions for hours, now..) From episode 43, Sarutobi prepares to whoop some Jaryuuzoku hindquarters...
	Ok, recovering from that last description...here's another shot of Sarutobi getting ready to fight. Just a little bit farther down the sequence from the above one, episode 43 again; Sarutobi notices the innocent villagers the Jaryuuzoku is trying to use as cover. I love his eyes, here. Sarutobi's pretty good at that One Big Eye trick. Oh, well. Fight! Fight! Whoo! Mala likes violence!
	Sarutobi looking not only aggrevated, but a bit..condescending? From episode 47, after the big events have unfolded.. Sarutobi is angry, bitter, and entirely unsympathetic. That's the Sarutobi we love! What a fine sneer!