The Question

 

Somebody wiser than me (probably wiser than me) once said that all good things come to an end. Well, to me, Spirit Detective was a good thing, and holding true to that quote, it's now time that I close it. I began Spirit Detective roughly two years ago after falling in love with the series when I first saw it on Adult Swim way back when. Myself and former co-webmaster Wendall began with humble beginnings. We worked all of that summer on it, and were ready to open by the end. Our first layout was no great shakes, but thanks to my longtime friend Ben we were able to open with a nice and simple layout on a free server space provided by SSJ4Kain (of the long gone Dragonball site SSJ4 Kain's Homepage). Of course, within a few months we went down, but we still had that fire. We reopened roughly three to five months later, with and awesome new layout, a domain name, and a revitilized staff featuring longtime Dragonball webby (and demi-god of Dragonball sites) Castor-Troy of Ginga Giri Giri (who originally had his videos hosted on our server, and donated content in exchange). Also joining the staff was layout designer Izlude, and another famous Dragonball web personality, Jon Allen (who to this day still lurks around the comments, with his endless get rich quick schemes, just waiting for the masses to fall victim). We were off to a good restart. Our content grew, our commitment grew, and our visitors grew. We went from a few hundred a day, to a few thousand a day (unique) within the course of a couple months. We continued on this prosperous path as Jake, Mandrew, and Wolfwood would all join on the staff and contribute their bit here and there. We continued to grow larger and become more well known as YYH became even more popular. We got a new layout (roughly the same as the one we have now, with subtle differences here and there including color scheme) and a vibrant message board (somewhere around spring 2003). The sky was the limit, but then, the ever unpopular server problems came about. We went through about four different servers, until finally setlling on our current host, Smoovenet (who has been amazing the whole time we've been up, with the exception of some media server problems). We were finally up for good, and finally had a layout we were all happy with (the current one). We grew and got bigger than ever. Around this time Wolfwood would leave the staff, and Bruno would join. Of course, Bruno would then leave, but he was able to contribute a good bit while he was around. Co-Founder of the site, Wendall, would now leave the site in order to pursue his own aspirations in an all encompassing anime site (Shonen Anime, excellent source for all things anime). It was sad to see him go, but we went on. Chatroom was booming, Forums were (and still are) jumping, and things were going great. We opened up the short lived TCG site with Reason leading that project, but Reason would dissapear and the site would go down. The site continued on and Cleo (winner of our first and final music video contest) became a staff member. The members of the site, however, began to fast lose interest in YYH and anime in general (especially myself). The site stayed up, but the updates were becoming scarcer and scarcer. Eventually updates would come in less time than once every two weeks, even though the visitors never stopped supporting us. Which leads us to where we are today.

I had an amazing time with Spirit Detective, and will never regret any of the time I spent working on the site. From the beginning to now, I have enjoyed my work and time on Spirit Detective more than I have on any other site. I will miss the site and the dream that it was (and the reality that it became) but will always remember it. I'd like to thank everyone who made this site possible, you all know who you are (now would be the most appropriate time to mention the names XZ and Brundel Fly). If you ever helped out in anyway, I thank you. I especially would like to thank the visitors, for without you, we would have never come this far (this includes ALL you crazy people in the comments ;-) ). I did not want to end the site until the series had finished being released, but it would be unfair to the visitors and to everyone else to keep the site open any longer. Closing now is the best thing to do, and the most agreed upon by the staff. When it becomes a burden to do something you love, you know it's time to stop.

I could continue on for at least 20,000 more words, but like always, I seem to have rambled long enough. If you're even still reading this, I appreciate it. It's been really fun being a big part of this community, and being able to contribute all that we did. It's an experience I won't forget, and I hope you don't either. This will probably be the very last you see of me on the anime web, but if I ever make any sort of comeback, or ever help out a friend with a site, be sure to drop me a line and say hey. For those of you who have been around with me since the beginning (The old SaiyanZ Power days), drop me an email. In fact, anyone drop me an email, and let me hear your thoughts, suggestions, anything you want. Just send the email to JSwoozy@gmail.com and I'll be sure to read and respond to all email that you send.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and thanks for everything. All of you have played a very influential role in me for the past 2 years (even if you only visited once) and I thank you for that. So, I suppose with that, it's time that I bid you one final farewell. Take care everyone.

P.S. MESSAGE BOARD GOERS DONT FRET! THE MESSAGE BOARDS WILL STAY OPEN FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN KEEP THEM OPEN! FORUM.SPIRITDETECTIVE.COM!!! If you would like to discuss our closing, or anything else you want there, feel free to sign up and join!

CastorTroy

 

Well, this is the 2nd time I am doing this and probably not the last....

It all started when I was still crazy over Yu Yu Hakusho. FUNimation was just barely releasing the Dark Tournament on dvd and I was comtemplating starting a YYH related site. At first it began with TheQuestion offering to host my music videos on his server, so to repay the favor, I wrote some content for his Spirit Detective site. I ended up writing enough content to earn my place as a member of the site. A short time after closing my DBZ site, I was finally ready to come back to the web.

I had an absolute great time working on Spirit Detective. I was finally no longer the main leader but I was glad to help out Question and the rest of the staff. One of the greatest joys from working on the site was finally meeting Question and Wendall at Akon 14 in person. Shortly after that I got to meet Justin Cook, the voice of Yusuke and even the japanese people who were in charge of YYH's production at Anime Expo 2003. Just recently I got to meet Chuck Huber, the voice of Hiei at Anime Expo 2004. Things like that were what truly made working on the site worth it and I owe it all to Question and the hard working staff of Spirit Detective for all the great times.

Sadly my passion of anime, especially YYH was dying out due to personal reasons and it was already beginning to become difficult to make any type of update on the site. So the rest of the staff and I made the painful decision to close the site.

I would like to thank and congratulate my fellow staff members for all the good times we had on SD. Jake for getting us our interviews and getting the role of the "grey demon" on the show itself. Jon Allen for his funny sounds, get rich quick schemes, and finally landing a job as a professional actor. Bruno, Mandrew, Wolfwood, and Reason for their helpful info. Brundelfly and XZ for their web help. Cleo for winning our first music video contest and landing a staff position because of it. Then mostly to Question and Wendall for starting this site and being great guys at Akon 14. I hope our paths cross again in the near future.

As for me, this marks my absolute final anime related website. I'll still be making amvs but not alot of them anymore. Like the rest of the staff, it's time for me to move on in life. You can always drop me a line at vegetainsane@hotmail.com

I'll never forget the story of a brash young man who died saving a child's life only to come back to make a difference in the lives of those around him and the fate of the entire living world.

Thank you for reading all of this and for visiting the site even though we barely updated it in the last few months. Best of luck to you all and remember to watch the finale of the series! It ends in a way you will never believe, yet you will be satisfied :)

Jake

 

Well, what can I say? This day was inevitable, just as with many other great anime sites in the past, it is time to say goodbye to SpiritDetective.com

Through everything this website has gone through, I'm proud to have been a part of it. Yu Yu Hakusho is an outstanding anime series, and I am so proud of the great job Justin Cook did with the dub. Thank you for all the support you've provided me throughout the years, my friend. And Castor, thanks a million for letting me borrow the series boxset (which I still have yet to give back to you, sorry). Question, thank you for giving us the chance to let this site roll on. And everyone else, staff and visitors, thank you for sticking with us. Forever Fornever!

~Jake Sorkin