Site News:
I hate being left in the dark, not knowing what's going on, if anything, behind the scenes can be kinda annoying. Therefore I've put together this list of work carried, and to be carried, out on the site in order to keep you - the visitor, informed of developments. I'm only one guy with very little free time so phuleese don't expect speedy results, though I will try my best to get things done as quick as is feasibly possible.
16/04/2010 - It pains me to have to write this final news entry, but as much as I want to I just can't find the time anymore to work on my old baby aka Guide To...
Facing facts, even if I did there's no way I could compete with other websites out there content volume wise. It's a sad fact that, for better or worse, web 2.0 dynamic content driven websites have overtaken those dedicated shrine-esque websites of days gone by.
That said, there is some cracking content in Guide To... which I have proudly crafted over the years. This content will remain online here so long as I continue to dabble online - just because I am no longer updating Guide To... doesn't mean it's going to disappear. I will, however, not be maintaining dead links etc... but I will continue to moderate the various Message Boards on occasion.
If you're new to Guide To... and love your Anime then you're in for a treat. Don't slate my HTML code though, it is what it is...that's just how we rolled back in the glorious days of cunning table design - none of this CSS crap. ;)
If you've enjoyed my work then be sure to follow me on my current project Absolute Terror.
It's been a great experience creating Guide To... I have met so many wonderful 'virtual' people and take some fond memories from this website's charter. Thank you to everyone who's supported Guide To... - I made it for you guys.
Later,
Liam Young.
24/12/2007 - It's finally got there. Absolute Terror is now out of its Beta testing phase and has moved into Alpha teritory. Hopefully this will mean I'll have some time to spend on Guide To... once more.
02/12/2007 - Absolute Terror is nearing its Alpha launch now - hopefully this Christmas. As such I should be returning once more to Guide To... to add a few updates in the near future.
04/04/2007 - Sorry for neglecting Guide To... a bit as of late. I am still beavering away though more so on Absolute Terror at the moment as I'm tyring to push its development. Rest assured I will return to Guide To... at some point. This site will hopefully always remain active so long as I'm around to progress it. ;)
25/02/2007 - Absolute Terror is now online and available for beta testing. Essentially the game is ready to play so feel free to sign up for an account today. It's still early days though so please do express all your views on the Absolute Terror Message Board as all your input will be very much appreciated as we continue to develop the game. To get started just follow the link at the bottom of the site. Enjoy.
20/02/2007 - Sorry for the slight delay, but we're so close now that we're counting down the days till launch date. Absolute Terror is due to be released for beta testing on the 25th of this month. Available units at this time will include EVA Units 00, 01 and Mass Production Model along with Angels Sachiel and Ramiel.
27/01/2007 - Almost there, a couple of more weeks and the game, Absolute Terror as it's now known, will be live and ready for beta testing. I'm not going to prattle on this time as is my usual style, instead I'm going to let the screenshots speak for themselves below:
05/01/2007 - We're making an NGE game!! Nope, I've not been lounging around doing nout...I've been tucked away in a dark room working on a web based game for the site. Although themed around Neon Genesis Evangelion, the game (name unconfirmed yet) will be designed such that it can easily be rebranded in case we're seen to be breaching copyright, hence it won't come and go overnight (although it may have to change).
Just to wet your appetite it's going to be a massively multiplayer online struggle between NERV, SELEE & the Angels for domination of Tokyo-3 and indeed all of Japan. It's 3D (ish - isometricish) and you'll be able to battle it out as an EVA pilot, UN troop type or even an Angel.
The game is currently in a playable state, however, we haven't made many playable unit types for it yet as the engine is still undergoing improvement and testing. A lot of work is also being spent on behind the scenes tools so that we can tweak units and edit the playable world without having to touch any code. It's all in ASP.Net and will be ready for beta testing in about a months time, by which point you'll be able to create your own unit and par-take in the battle. Yes it is free, and yes I'll knock up a Message Board for it so that you can all have your say in the games development. We do take all your comments on board here at Guide To... (unless they're rude and/or arrogant) so any feedback during the beta testing period will be appreciated. Watch this space...
27/11/2006 - I received a great little email from a long standing fan of the site, going by the name of Graeme, who has recently helped a friend start up an Anime forum at http://sparky702.proboards58.com/index.cgi. The forum's currently in its "fledgling" stage according to Graeme, however, the guys are clearly putting in the effort so I said I'd give them a quick mention on the site. If you get the chance then I'm sure the guys would appreciate a visit from yourselves to get things rocking along.
31/10/2006 - At long last Guide To... is proud to add EVA-R to its list of affiliates. I've long been a follower of this particular site and I'm glad it's still kicking around going from strength to strength over the many years its been gracing the net. The guys have recently revamped their site too so I thoroughly recommend checking it out if you get a chance.
20/10/2006 - Gawd, I'd forgotten how long Blue Gender actually is. ;) Not to worry, I'm halfway through the series and it's all coming back to me and so I've drafted up a couple more character profiles for Alicia Whistle and Seno Miyago, however, these are only preliminary and hence are subject to change.
15/10/2006 - Oh dear, the Blue Gender guide is stagnating something rotten. Those character profiles still remain unfinished (cough...un...started). To try and turn things around I've started re-watching the series so that I can accurately put together some character profiles for the guide. First up is Yuji Kaido and Marlene Angel.
04/10/2006 - It's about time I gave the overall site design a bit of an update. Whilst I don't want to radically change the existing design since it seems, in my opinion at least, to have a certain timeless quality about it...I do, however, want to reassure visitors that the site isn't growing stale. So to kick things off I've decided to start randomising some of the graphics on the site's home page. Whilst I've been doing this for a number of years now within the site's various guides, I've clearly overlooked the home page for reasons unknown. Anyway, say hello to Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop. She now takes center stage with Guide To... 's veteran eye candy Anime babe Yuri from Dirty Pair Flash.
16/09/2006 - Having recently borrowed a copy of Paranoia Agent from a colleague of mine at work I felt that I had to draw attention to such a brilliant mini series and so you'll now find it gracing the recommended viewing section of this site - enjoy.
22/07/2006 - As promised I have setup and configured multiple new Message Boards for the site. The original Message Board has now been renamed to the "Guide To... Neon Genesis Evangelion Message Board" and in addition Message Boards for Blue Gender, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Noir and general chat have been created.
11/07/2006 - Sorry for the lack of recent updates. Between buying and moving into a new house, and getting involved in a 3 car high speed car crash, life's been getting in the way of my online antics. Anyway now I'm back, and have just implemented a change in web host (for various long winded and boring reasons). Hopefully the move will be seamless. Next on the agenda is the addition of more Message Boards to the site since the current one has become heavily dominated by NGE speak. The plan will be to have multiple Message Boards i.e. one for each guide. Watch this space.
28/03/2006 - Added a new affiliate today; The Anime Crisis Center - well worth a look!! Thanks for affiliating Lynk.
26/03/2006 - I haven't touched the recommended viewing section in a while so decided to flesh that section out a bit more what with the release of several superb new Anime titles over the last few months. I hope you all enjoy the recommendations.
25/02/2006 - Okay, I'm done now with the Message Board. It's now where I wanted it to be for 2006, so come the not too distant future Guide To... should start to see a few more updates of its own.
14/01/2006 - To kick off 2006 and a drought of updates, I've decided to upgrade the Message Board. As such I'm currently re-writing the code for the Message Board...I shall call it version 3.1 since it was previously version 3! :) I've re-written the code for 35 of the files that make up the Message Board so far and should finish off the remainder over the next 2 weeks or so. It may not look that different as I'm primarily focusing on performance and user-friendliness, however, you should see some new functionality springing up as the days pass by. It's been 2 years since I last worked on the Message Board so it needs a little help if it's to make it through 2006.
24/09/2005 - Massive updates today. I had the entire day to myself and Guide To... was the only thing on my agenda. To start off with I've updated many of the site's graphics and have created a notes section for each guide detailing a bit of history on the development of the guide in question, as well as its state i.e. completed or pending more work etc... I have also created a new section titled recommended viewing. Enjoy.
20/09/2005 - Apologies for the long drought of updates. To try and kick things back into gear I've just created a nostalgia section for the site for those who enjoy a bit of a reminisce.
16/07/2005 - I'm grounded at home today with a blistered foot. This is what happens when you get a verruca and the good doctor sprays it with liquid nitrogen to freeze the ###### out...but on a positive note I've therefore had the time to write more profiles for the Noir guide's characters section.
13/07/2005 - Wrote up a character profile for Mireille Bouquet which can be found in the Noir guide. Also amended the site's affiliate listings in light of some broken sites. As a result I am currently on the lookout for alternative sites to affiliate with.
07/07/2005 - Only a small update this time round to keep things ticking over. Sourced some images for the Noir guide's character profiles section. At least now you all know what the main characters actually look like.
04/06/2005 - Got a bit of free time today so I churned out a proper introduction for the Noir guide and have made a start on its character profiles section.
06/04/2005 - It is done! Synopsis for episode 26 of Noir is now completed.
04/04/2005 - Just this minute finished and uploaded the penultimate episode synopsis for Noir...I just can't keep my eyes open any longer to write the last - must sleep... Until next time. ;)
29/03/2005 - Not long to go now, episode 24 of Noir has now been synopsised with only 2 more to go!!
26/03/2005 - What with the Easter break 'n all I've had the necessary time to conjure up a further two episode synopsis for Noir; episodes 22 & 23. Enjoy...
13/03/2005 - It's been one of those rare mornings today where I've actually managed to find a bit of free time for myself so here's another episode synopsis for those of you reading up on Noir. Episode 21 is now available.
11/03/2005 - I have just written and posted episode 20 of Noir...appologies for the long delay.
07/01/2005 - Episode 19 of Noir is now etched in the Noir synopsis section - rock on!
05/01/2005 - Happy New Year all...here's another synopsis for Noir to kick off the year. Episode 18...hopefully 19 - 26 won't be too far behind. On another note the Guide To... Message Board has rocketed in popularity over winter, thanks to all those contributing their thoughts to the arena...it's turning into quite a decent resource now thanks to you lot!! Ta! They never said it would work - what do they know. ;)
09/11/2004 - Another day, another synopsis; episode 17 of Noir. Quite a long one this time round as the Corsican blonde bombshell uncovers some startling revelations concerning her past and Kirika's fate.
24/10/2004 - Episode 16 of Noir has now been synopsised - another made up word of mine. ;)
13/10/2004 - Synopsis for episode 15 of Noir is now a thing of reality...sorry for the delay, they're coming...slowly.
03/10/2004 - I know I've not done anything in a while, but there's a good reason. I've recently got a new job and I've also had some massive freelance projects to finish off for clients in the evenings too, so as you can imagine I've had no free time at all lately. Things are starting to return to normal now so much so that I've started pottering on the site again. I then realised just how much I have left to do...eeeeeek. Anyway, I have just gone through the site and altered it slightly to try and help with search engine optimization. I have also tried to spread the word a bit more about the Message Board since users of the board have been requesting more chatter.
28/08/2004 - Huge thanks to Hector Molloy who has started writing for the site. Hector has kicked of proceedings by writing a massive in-depth synopsis for Neon Genesis Evangelion Death and Rebirth. If you fancy a bit of a read then you'll find his synopsis in the NGE section.
15/08/2004 - Blimey it's been a while. Sorry people but life's been all over the place lately and the site has stagnated as a result. In an attempt to try and turn things around episode 14 of Noir is now online.
27/06/2004 - I'm on a role...episode 13 of Noir is now gracing the site with its presence. This time round the socially challenged Kirika manages to somehow snare herself a boyfriend.
26/06/2004 - Episode 12 of Noir is now online if you fancy a bit of a read. This one sees both Mireille and Kirika take a back seat for a change as Chloe steals the show for this particular outing.
21/06/2004 - Get ready for the weirdest episode of Noir yet. Episode 11 is now online...enjoy.
05/06/2004 - Life is pretty manic right now, hence the slow turnover of episode synopsis for Noir. None the less, episodes 9 and 10 are now online.
17/05/2004 - Another episode synopsis bites the dust as episode 8 of Noir makes its way into the Guide To... pages.
10/05/2004 - You lot are lucky I'm still single and can afford to while my evenings away writing this stuff. Et voila...episodes 6 and 7 of Noir are now available for public execution.
06/05/2004 - More episode synopsis are now gracing the Noir guide. On tonights menu we have episodes 4 and 5. Sorry for the delay people, regrettably this is the first opportunity in quite some time that I've had the time to write more content for the site.
03/03/2004 - Have finished synopsis for episodes 2 and 3 of Noir, and have completed some more graphical work for the guide, all of which is now online. Last but not least, I have added a 'Purchase Online' section to all of the guides so that you can easily buy online any of the Anime titles covered in this site.
29/02/2004 - I've just written the episode 1 synopsis for Noir and am making a start on the guide's introduction. In addition I've got some of the graphical work done...it's all been uploaded and is ready for public consumption.
27/02/2004 - Massive update this time round! Though you probably can't see it. Basically I've re-written ALL of the site's code!!! It was taking me far to long to make updates so I decided to re-wite all of the site's code to make updates far easier. As such, I am now starting on a guide to Noir! Watch this space... Oh, and I've made a very small start on the Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 gallery.
04/12/2004 - Right...I'm back to work on Guide To... since I've left it stagnating for the best part of 2003. Now that the Message Board is standing on its own two feet I will have a lot more time available to dedicate to the cause. I'm currently updating minor bits and pieces throughout the site, though next in line will be that ever annoying Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Mecha section, along with all those other error 404 pages I've yet to create.
25/12/2003 - Happy Christmas everyone! Yes, the Message Board was supposed to be launched today, however, some unforeseen hosting issues have delayed the launch. Hopefully the Message Board will be back up, and launched, very early in the New Year. Sincere apologies to those who have emailed me since attempting to signup for their own Message Boards, please do try again in the new year.
13/12/2003 - Right...the Message Board is finally completed. General release has been set for the 25/12/2003. So with the Message Board out of the way for the time being, I've therefore set about updating the Mecha section of the Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 guide.
02/10/2003 - Nope...I've not gone into hiding. Am still working hard on the Message Board. I'm hoping to allow people to signup for their own free copy with the option of donating a petite chunk of change towards the project for enabling advanced features such as skinning. I'm hoping for a Christmas launch date so watch this space. In the meantime the guides have taken a back seat, but rest assured in the new year I shall be caining the existing ones to total completion and possibly introducing a guide to Noir. Oh, I brought a domain name too...www.guide-to.net, appropriate n'est ce pas?
07/09/2003 - I've been working real hard on optimising the Message Board lately to try and get as much speed out of it as pos. There are some login issues at the moment in that you get kicked out on occasion. It's not critical but I am on the case looking into that one. Also I'm trying to sort out a better server, one dedicated to the cause...this is a case of time and money though so that may take a while.
28/08/2003 - All done!! The Blue Gender synopsis is finally complete...I'm nackered, I'm going to bed...enjoy! The End... ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.............
27/08/2003 - I'm slacking again! Have managed to write up 2 synopsis for episodes 23 and 24 of Blue Gender...still another 2 episodes to go but I'm nearly there. Perhaps I'll finish those off tomorrow night before the weekend comes round and the drinking begins. The goal still remains to finish off the existing 4 guides in this site before I get started on any more. Also I've made some massive changes to the Message Board, it's a little ropey still but given time I'll have it running sweet as.
03/08/2003 - I'm back from a short surfing holiday in Devorn and as promised I've started laying into those character profiles. I've just completed a large batch of Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 profiles and have already uploaded them. Next I will be writing an introduction for Blue Gender and hopefully some character profiles as well. In addition the final volume, volume 8, of Blue Gender should be arriving on my doorstep early next week so...expect to see the final round of synopsis some time soon.
Weird...looks like my holiday has given me a much needed boost of will power. Just wrote the introduction for Blue Gender and am in the process of uploading it as I type this.
10/07/2003 - Finished synopsis for volume 7 of Blue Gender. Now that that's out of the way I can get back to coding more functionality into the Message Board. In addition, next on my shopping list are some Blue Gender and Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 character profiles which are long overdue!
09/07/2003 - The Message Board is finally up and running. I'm still developing it but it's currently in a pretty decent usable state. Rest assured though it will be undergoing some massive improvements over the next month. I'm also writing up synopsis for volume 7 of Blue Gender, I've got a couple done already and am hoping to get two more episodes written up within the next few days.
23/06/2003 - No I haven't been sitting on my lazy ass for the last month and a bit, in fact I've been hard at work coding a new Message Board for the site. I'm hoping for a launch this weekend but we'll see. But anyway, when it does make it onto the net you can expect a massive improvement over its predecessor. Emoticons, avatars, directory tree blah blah woof woof, basically the works - watch this space.
15/05/2003 - Finished synopsis for volume 6 of Blue Gender, so if you've been following the action it's online sitting in the Blue Gender guide waiting for you to go check it out. This one's got some real plot revelations in it so I hope it's been worth the wait.
13/04/2003 - Finished the synopsis for The End Of Evangelion...was a bitch to write that one since I had no desire to write an essay on the thing. Trying to condense it into a readable synopsis wasn't easy. There are some errors in the Evangelion guide that need to be corrected which were brought to light whilst writing the synopsis so I shall work on correcting them sometime soon. After that the Blue Gender guide will be worked on.
24/03/2003 - Have just written synopsis for volume 5 of Blue Gender - go check it out, and have purchased The End Of Evangelion at long last. This particular synopsis may take a little longer to write though as it's a bit of a mind screw, so please don't expect to see it uploaded for at least another 2 weeks.
08/03/2003 - Have finally got hold of volume 4 of Blue Gender and as such have just written 3 more episode synopsis for the series. In addition I've added a couple more graphics to the Blue Gender section so that it looks a little more completed. This particular section is coming along very slowly largely because of the lack of decent imagery available on the Net.
04/01/2003 - Well it's 2003 at last, so I had to change the site version graphic thingy...also updated a couple of graphics here and there, mainly to get rid of compression on some of them. But!!!...Have finally started on the BGC Mecha section at long bloody last! Found a guy by the name of John Brown who's now in the process of writing some mecha read-outs for the site since I haven't the time these days.
17/11/2002 - Have just finished coding a brand spanking new Message Board for the site, coded entirely in ASP. I've been looking for a decent message board now for ages though haven't had much luck in finding a half decent one so I've developed one myself. The Message Board's now up so go check it out and sign yourself up with a user account. Thanks to Steve Woodrough at work for the database tips! Also, expect to see several more Blue Gender synopsis coming this way very soon.
04/11/2002 - Corrected numerous spelling errors brought to my attention by a Dave Kirby, thanks for that Dave...much appreciated, plus it's inspired me to get my act together and actually do some more work on this site. Watch this space.
29/08/2002 - Synopsis for Blue Gender are finally making their way into the site, the things take me ages to write though so please don't expect instant results. In addition I've only just thrown together the skeleton for the Blue Gender section therefore most of the links currently don't work.
16/08/2002 - I recently brought volumes 1 and 2 of Blue Gender. Since the series has the potential to be a truly great one, I've since started putting together a guide for Blue Gender. I am still working on all areas of the site, though my progress is slow as these days, please be patient. I'm aware that certain links are broken, that's cos I haven't had time to compose the material yet. If there are any writers out there capable of producing synopsis etc... on par or better than what I'm capable of then feel free to get in touch. I need all the help I can get, course you'll receive full credit for any work you produce. Also phuleeeeeese stop asking me questions that I've covered in the site, though I love responding to emails, I hate regurgitating what's already been said in the site. Just read through the site before quizing me as I spend most of my time responding to email these days - not good.
28/07/2002 - Oh my god...I'm letting this site rust, nuff said. I've had little time to do anything with the site lately, though I've just got back into the groove so hopefully you can expect some updates soon(ish). To kick off proceedings I'm working on randomising the graphics that appear in each guide cos as it stands the site's starting to look a little samey. In addition I've been getting phenominal feedback from you lot which I'm taking on-board.
15/05/2002 - Have been real slack about updating the site lately, truth is though I just don't have the time these days. Still, I've finally transfered all the content across to the new site design. It's been noted that the site's contact form is a little dodgy so I'm currently sorting that out. Also I'm looking at the possibility of a chat room of some description. Not all of the site's links are completed yet, and sure enough some of the site does look jury rigged, though I am working on all this.
01/04/2002 - Redesigned part of the new site design so that it can be updated with minimal fuss. Overhauled the site's guestbook and created an affiliate area. Commenced work on transferring the contents of Guide to Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 to the new site. Completion of this task is expected to take 2 weeks maximum.
12/02/2002 - Finalised the new site design. Commenced work on transferring the contents of Guide to Neon Genesis Evangelion to the new site. Completion of this task is expected to take 2 weeks.
Last updated: 24/12/2007