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FRANCOIS EPIN ART & DESIGN CONSULTING

120 - The Samurai of the Eternal (鎧伝サムライトルーパー) Mukala Painted cell…
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Estimate €180 - €250
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Description
The Samurai of the Eternal (鎧伝サムライトルーパー) Mukala Painted celluloid sheet for the anime based on Hajime Yatate’s (矢立 肇) work. Executed in ink and gouache Produced by Sunrise 1988–1989, Japan H23 L26 cm The composition is a perfect visual chiasm: Mukala without armour, bare-chested, facing Seiji Date in full, white, enclosed Halo armour. Two bodies within the same frame, in two radically opposed states — one entirely exposed, the other entirely protected. This type of contrast in Sunrise’s output from 1988–1989 is never accidental: it encodes a specific narrative situation in which the question of power and vulnerability is posed head-on. In *The Samurai of Eternity*, the Masks of the Night lose their armour at the moment of their defeat or transition — the dark armour being linked to their allegiance to Talpa, its disappearance signifying either crushing defeat or liberation. Mukala, unarmoured and facing the armed Seiji, thus reveals something specific about the narrative situation: it has reached its limit, or gone beyond it. The exposed body is no longer protected by the symbol of its power. Seiji Date, for his part, in full white Halo armour — the brightest and most streamlined of the five armours — embodies in this shot everything that Mukala is no longer: covered, protected, on the side of the light. The chromatic and material contrast between the two characters — bare flesh against white metal — creates a visual tension that the animators at Sunrise have fully embraced. This cel captures one of the series’ most dramatically charged moments: the moment when the armour ceases to be a combat accessory and becomes an absolute moral symbol — the one who wears it is in the right; the one stripped of it is defeated or on the verge of defeat. Within the context of the ‘Knights, Armour and Samurai’ session, this piece illustrates the central thesis with particular clarity: in Japanese animation, armour is never merely a military object. It is a language. And its absence speaks as loudly as its presence.
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About the sale Knights, Armour and Samurai + Animation Art Selection
Auction location
Auction time 06/28/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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