The Mystery Pic
I found this image at An Eternal Moonlight, and now that I go back and check, it's also floating around the archives at Sailormoon.org. I was wondering where it originated from. It certainly looks like it was drawn by Naoko Takeuchi; but then again, I don't remember it from *any* of the artbooks or manga from the Stars cycle. I'm fairly sure that it's not from the Infinity artbook either, but I could be wrong.
So, does anybody care to ID the mystery pic for me?
We found a clue! Akaiko has confirmed that the mystery pic is indeed NOT from the Infinity artbook. In reality, it is a colored version of the pic below. Akaiko says that she has seen this version of the mystery pic at Star Healer's World, a cute but long-dormant shrine to Yaten.
I also found this grainy image in an ebay auction. It's supposed to be a set of Stars stickers, both illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi.
Of course, that doesn't solve the first mystery, and further opens up the door to a second mystery - why did whoever edited the first pic leave poor Maker out of the picture?!
Finally, Star Lover informed me via email, "The original picture was done by Naoko, and it is a 'Gift-For-All' image that was printed on a shirt or lunchbox (I forget which). I know this because the original image is done in a special style (If you have the Sailor Stars Graphic novel #1, open it to the first page, that pic is a Gift-for-all pic), and I saw it in a display at a con a few years back." The "Gift-for-all" probably refers to furoku, extra goodies that are bundled up with issues of Japanese manga anthologies, such as Nakayoshi, the magazine in which the Sailor Moon manga was published.
I figured that the original image was drawn by Naoko. And I do know that there are at least two or three gorgeous Sailor Moon manga illustrations floating around out there, that Naoko has drawn but never published in any artbooks. For example, there's a pencilboard illustration that she did of the children from the Parallel Moon short story that has been sighted occassionally online....
By the way, I HAVE seen a version of the mystery pic which includes Maker done in color, which is probably the original version (and not either of the edited pics seen above). But I could just kill myself for not bookmarking the site or saving the pic right away... It's lost to me now. ><
So, a further challenge to you all: Can anybody find an original version of the mystery pic, or a version which includes Maker done in color?
