By: nemesis
An issue that is typically pressing in the Sailormoon web community is
the
closure of famous Sailormoon web sites. From Janelle's site to
Immora's,
many great, ground-breaking resources have closed, for one reason or
another. We, as fans, don't always look at their reasoning, for all we
can
say is, "Why? People love this site! Why are they leaving us?" Anger
felt on
the part of the fan seems common, at least as an initial reaction. I
remember this being a huge deal a couple of years ago, in the
community.
I am a fairly well-known webmaster, the creator of The Sailor Moon
Episode
Center (http://taryuu.com/smec). And I used to be the same way, angry
and
hurt at those webmasters who "got too busy", "lost interest", or "found
something better to work on". Until the tables were turned...
I first got into making Sailormoon websites 5 years ago, when my mother
discovered the plethora of SM sites by typing the word into a search
engine.
Immediately, my mind raced. Look at all this information, things I
never
knew about the show! They're called "senshi"? There are more than 5?
THERE
ARE MORE SEASONS? I researched and researched, and being the "expert" I
was
after a day of hunting, I decided to make a site. A simple thing, off
Geocities. No HTML, no design skills, no clue about other anime. At
all.
As time went on, my skills developed, and the site (the BSSMC, still at
http://geocities.com/senshinemesis) grew. More in-depth content, more
commentary, media, etc. I was so excited - this "anime" thing is
amazing!
Yet, as I designed and watched more SM, I learned about other anime.
Rayearth. Utena. Gundam Wing and lain. The list grew and grew, as did
the
website.
But out of love for the show that started it all, my sites just
continued to
expand. I would eventually make a shrine to Mercury and Neptune (now
closed)
and a web clique (also closed), when I got a domain. When I found out
that S
and SuperS were to be dubbed, I decided to take all my old episode
summaries
from the BSSMC and turn them into a full-fledged site, the Episode
Center.
And it took off, became a very popular site. I wrote summaries, every
single
day. Reviews, added media. Redesigned and redesigned.
But I watched more anime - Eva, Key, Gunnm, Love Hina, Kenshin,
Bebop...and
it hit me one day, like a strike of lighting.
There's more out there than this.
I made personal sites, a blog and a writing site, a layout archive. I
upped
my domain, started a little web design company (/design) with a friend.
Branched out into other anime-type sites and personal projects. I
closed but
one of my strictly-SM related sites, the Episode Center.
And why did I do it? Because...because I matured along with my anime.
Sailormoon is a show that deserves incredible merit for bringing people
into
anime, for empowering girls to follow their dreams and their hearts.
But I
got older. I watched more. I wanted more than writing commentary,
summaries.
I wanted creativity, challenge, I wanted to ENJOY things. And...I was
busy.
Life hit me.
No, the Episode Center is not closed, and never WILL be closed, as long
as
my domain survives. It will not be updated much - what's left to say? -
but
it will always remain, as a tribute to my love for the show that
started it
all. But no more...
In short, before you get angered at the next big site that goes down
(and it
will happen, one of these days), just think about what I've said. This
is
the cycle of the SM webmaster, and except for those rare few, will hit
them
all eventually.
May the love of Sailormoon stay with us forever ---
Comments on this article can be sent to: nemesis.
