Tim's Rant #3: April 30, 2002 

Life After Namek

What in the world is going on with the web community these days?  It seems as if all the big name sites are just going to the drain.  The mega force known as Planet Namek finally came to its end, and the DBZ web took a huge blow.  Saiyanz Rage died right after Namek.  There went two of the strongest sites on the net.  So what do the fans have left to turn to for all their DBZ needs?  Not a whole lot.  In my opinion, there are only four or five big sites out there that really stand out of the ones remaining.  I am not knocking other websites, but these five just seem to draw the most attention and are sites I frequent daily.  

The first site is Ginga Giri Giri, which is a multimedia powerhouse with a comical staff.  These guys may have server issues now and again, and have recently threatened to shut down after a hacker incident, but I can pretty much guarantee they aren't going anywhere.  If you want some awesome music videos and just some random fun, this is the site to go to.

The second site to mention is a partner of this one, KyleHebert.com.  Now this isn't really a fansite, but actually the official website of DBZ voice actor Kyle Hebert, voice of teen Gohan and other characters.  I have never seen a site so devoted to its fans.  This site has a message board and a chat room that DBZ voice actors frequent and talk to the fans, plus daily updates about anything FUNimation and other big entertainment news.  There are also monthly contests for autographed DBZ memorabilia as well a place to record your own voice work to display your talent.  Very cool stuff.

I have to say Pojo is the third site of mention, just for the mere fact it was always considered number two to Namek before its demise.  Now we compete with them for the top spot on Supertop100.  This site recently decided to focus on the Collectible Card Game rather than information on DBZ, with daily card thoughts from IQ and company (who can also be seen on KyleHebert and Legacy).  Pojo does have a huge amount of content so they are still a good source for information on the show, but like I said, it focused more on the CCG than anything else.

Ultimate DBZ Info is the place to go if you want to see the difference between the original Japanese episodes and the English dub.  It has episode summaries and screenshots of things never seen before in the USA.  It also has lots of good content, like character bios and a complete attack list among a whole lot more.  The updates are done randomly so it may go a month before there is a content update, but if you can't find what you are looking for on any of the about sites, go here and check it out.

So what's the fifth big site on the net?  Not to sound cocky, but I strongly feel Legacy is bigger than it has ever been and deserves to be known as one of the best.

There are probably a lot of people that don't like this list of sites, but this is just how I feel.  There are so few stand out sites about DBZ on the net these days and I hope this isn't a pattern of things to come.