Another day at the office

Ashitaka's life hardly lacks for dramatic moments but this was a "had to have" cel for me as soon as I saw it. It's the only Mononoke cel I own with a true matching background (not a laser print), in this case because the background is painted onto the cel.

His expression is just great, especially his eyes, which somebody obviously spent a lot of time drawing and painting. I wonder, though, what that thing beside his ear is... it looks like one of those olive-on-a-stick things that anime characters are always eating. Did people in medieval Japan grow olives?
 

Added: 5/31/02 From: Mandarake Japan
 
Another day at the office