Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth arrived in 1988 as one of the theatrical features Toei Animation built around its enormously popular television saga, timed to keep the Bronze Saints in cinemas between broadcast arcs. These films served as showcases, giving animators room for grander set pieces than weekly television allowed, and they remain treasured today as artifacts of the franchise's late-eighties peak, when Saint Seiya's blend of mythology and youthful heroism was reshaping shonen animation both in Japan and, eventually, abroad.
This cell carries the name Phoebus Abel, a figure drawn from the film's Asgard-inflected roster of adversaries and allies who populate these theatrical outings. Collectors seek out named characters like this because they anchor a single frame to a specific identity within a vast ensemble, turning an anonymous strip of celluloid into a recognizable piece of the story. Whether drawn from a key animation sequence or a passing appearance, the cell stands as a physical trace of Abel's place in the film's mythology, a fragment preserved from the era when Saint Seiya's cinematic spinoffs were still hand painted frame by frame.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour positive release print of Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth (1988).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frame is obscured by the strip's curvature and shadow.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows strong, saturated reds, blues and whites consistent with an intact colour dye set.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines visible across the lower portion of the strip, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same held or near-identical frame rather than consecutive action frames, and the animated style matches the film on record.
Era check
Saturated Eastmancolor-style dye image on a clear base with standard 35mm four-perforation layout is consistent with a late-1980s Japanese theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063013
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
