Site of the Week -- Aug. 16, 1999
eon Genesis Evangelion is a complex and confusing anime series, even to fans who
have seen all of it. (Most in America probably haven't--the cinematic
series conclusions haven't been released on video in the U.S., though
"fansubs" are available.) The elliptical ending of the TV series
raised more questions than it answered, and even the films don't tie
things up particularly neatly.
Fortunately, there's a handy guide to the entire Evangelion
continuum available at Ikari Gendo's Ultimate Neon Genesis Evangelion FAQs Page,
where many of the series' most baffling
details are explained from the point of view of Ikari Gendo, one of
Evangelion's central characters. Spoilers abound as the author addresses the
movies, the TV series, the characters, and the antagonistic "Angels"
separately. The site cogently integrates information from a variety of sources to
explain confusing topics, including the Third Impact, the Sephiroth, the
movies' incestuous history, and director Hideaki Anno's troubled emotional
state throughout the project.
Like most of the many, many Evangelion sites out there, this one's crammed
with photos and links. Unlike its competitors, it doesn't have downloads,
screensavers, music files, or other toys; it's purely informational. But
the information is detailed, thoughtful, well-written, and generally
serious. (For a humorous look at Evangelion, "Gendo" offers a link to "my
idiot son's homepage," a silly, snide spoof by the same Web-author, in
which the series' often-whiny protagonist stumbles incoherently over his
own set of FAQs.) The pages are extremely long and the huge amount of
graphic material can make for lengthy download times, but to confused fans
who want more than the usual recycled character bios and episode summaries,
the wait is well worth it.
-- Tasha Robinson
Site of the Week -- Aug. 9, 1999
he ships of Star Trek soar like gods through the starry skies of the
universe, and the Daystrom Institute Technical Library details each one of
them with loving care.
For tech-loving Trekkers eager to pick apart their favorite space vessels, a visit to the site is better than getting 20 bars of gold-pressed
latinum.
The library's creators revel in technical details, computing the maximum
power output of a Galaxy-class starship, analyzing the size of the
Federation fleet, and trying to work out some of the science behind the
series. And they do it all while carefully using color-coded text to
delineate between backstage information, wild hunches and official Star Trek facts.
The sheer amount of information on this site can be overwhelming, but it is
nicely managed by one of the better Trek-inspired computer displays.
It's the kind of site fans can easily spend hours clicking through, only to
return again a week later for another night-long session.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- Aug. 2, 1999
he Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's entry for Earth is simply "mostly harmless." The humans at the Project Galactic Guide--presumably the ones still fascinated with digital watches--beg to differ. They've compiled hundreds of entries about living, dying and procreating on their backwater planet, and have posted them on the Web for all their world to see.
The guide seeks to emulate the far larger, loftier and (with its trademark "Don't Panic" message) friendlier Hitchhiker's series, a five-part trilogy written by Douglas Adams. Begun in 1991 as a Usenet effort, Project Galactic has grown to include a variety of online and offline guides that are available on a plethora of operating systems.
The Guide prides itself on putting humor first and facts second, an ideology reflected in its articles. Its editorial board has assembled (presumably between day-long lunches) entries that capture the nuances of Adams' humor while delivering valuable public service information on topics like "constructing an atom bomb." Its contributors are--without a doubt--a bunch of cool froods who know where their towels are.
-- Kenneth Newquist
