Should there be a Tezuka Wiki?

[Dr. Jerk]

Let's face it, as great as Tezuka was, his works and himself are still considered to be rather obscure to many, even his most famous works can be considered 'obscure' today. But he isn't without his fans, and we obviously have thousands of fans around, especially in Europe and Japan. But even then, he can still be considered 'obscure'. And with obscurity, means less knowledge on things. And while we certainly have good sites such as the official TezukaOsamu.net and TiE, and while they cover a great deal, they certainly don't cover everything or cover things with a lot of detail that get right down to it. It's unlikely that the official website will receive more updates to their database, and with TiE's lack of activity here, seems to be the case for TiE as well.

Then one day while I was browsing a combination between Bulbapedia (which is in my humble opinion, one of the best independent wikis around) and the not-so-great-Wikia, I wondered if there was an independent Tezuka Wiki.

As it turns out there isn't, which isn't a surprise at all. Not even Wikia has a wiki devoted to Osamu Tezuka. We have some for Atom, Leo and Black Jack yes, but not Tezuka's works and himself as an entirety. Also, that 'wiki', as it calls it, on the Japanese TezukaOsamu.net does not count, I do not consider it to be a 'true wiki'.

So after some more thinking about this matter, I wondered if perhaps people could benefit from a Tezuka Wiki. Unlike fansites, wikis can be easily be constantly kept up to date, not to mention that with many editors, you can gather a fortune of knowledge on a single given thing. This of course makes it more prone to vandalism, which is a given for any wiki, but these can be controlled.

I'm not exactly suggesting that we have to make a Tezuka Wiki, I'm just raising a possible what if. We're getting to a point where even the biggest of fansites won't be able to keep up with everything as much as we'd like it, and official websites also cannot, and so I cannot help but wonder if a Tezuka Wiki would be beneficial some day.

I'm also not suggesting that I want to make one, there's no way I could commit to something like that even though it would be nice. I'm just more or less wondering. I think a similar idea was pitched before, now that I think about it.

So, thoughts?

[Xenops]

Making an entire new Wiki site would be a lot of work, but I certainly think that updating the Tezuka works on the official wikipedia.org site is quite obtainable. We can do that ourselves. Pitching information here and there about obscure works that we know about.

[Dr. Jerk]

[F-Man]

wikipedia.org is too general to allow articles about all aspects of Tezuka... I think that not only would a wiki be great, but it is also needed. The web is going more and more toward being user generated, and for information sites, it is now a must. This would benefit greatly to Tezuka info on the web and might just be what we need to revive the English fan base...

Of course you already know this, Dr. Jerk, but you have my support. I hope we can have the wiki as a subsection on this website in the future - we already know what server to use to host the content without being troublesome for putrocca - but ultimately that would be her choice and we could always have it on another domain.

[Xenops]

[grapeofdeath]

[Dr. Jerk]

Generally, most wikis do not get a lot of traffic, which is especially true if the subject happens to be something that isn't very well known, popular, or wide-spread. All of which, unfortunately, fits Tezuka's works and the fandom, especially overseas.

But one of the possible reasons for this is because of the lack of Tezuka knowledge, something I hope the wiki will be able to help with. We have recently been working on a set of guidelines and sample articles on a non-public mock-up wiki to serve as an example for when actually proposing the wiki idea, and already it notes a couple of things that even some veteran Tezuka fans would not know about, and we hope to expand on these.

Know this, no wiki can become great in over a day. Even what I personally consider to be the greatest wiki of all time, Bulbapedia, did not became what it is today in just a couple of days. Even this simple mock-up wiki has been taking months out of my time.

As for more contributors, yes we do hope to get more of them. In fact, if the actual wiki ever goes public, I will be making it my business to advertise it and point it out on other Tezuka websites or blog.

If you want to expand more on Tezuka's works on wikipedia, go ahead. It'll however only cover generalized information, whereas with a Tezuka Wiki, we hope to cover everything.

[Jeffbert]

If wikis are inherently such that anyone can edit them, I think this is a waste of time. One ought to submit work to Ada or even me, if you want to web-publish it.

The idea of many editors may seem attractive, but those whose information is wrong will still write it anyway.

[Dr. Jerk]

[grapeofdeath]

[Dr. Jerk]

Everything can mean, well, everything. Of course it might not be able to cover everything right away, which is natural since wikis take time to grow. In the midst of the planning stages though, some of the main things to be covered we thought was,

- Every manga, anime, movie, OVA, TV Special and possibly later on Tezuka's novels would get an article.
- Every manga chapter and every episode gets its own dedicated article.
- All characters, from major to even the most minor of cast, will get to have their own articles, detailing each and every appearance they have made.
- The characters that were created solely to be mascots will also get articles.
- The video games based on Tezuka's works, albeit few, will also get their own articles.
- Songs gets their own articles, complete with lyrics added.
- Any person involved with Tezuka's works in any form get their own article. This can include well-known people such as Urasawa, to even simple voice actors.
- Companies involved with Tezuka's works also get their own article.
- Specific Tezuka merchandise lines and exhibits may also have their own article.
- Articles for the various manga volumes and editions was also an idea, but I don't think those will be incorporated at the start.
- Anything else that doesn't fit in the above categories, such as the Star System article, Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award article, so on.

And indeed, several wiki policies shall also be created. They are, in my humble opinion, what makes or breaks a wiki and that many unsuccessful wikis happened to have to lacked them. But guidelines and policies for a Tezuka Wiki will most certainly be created. Some examples include the Manual of Style, and Code of Conduct, for instance. Even then, we also planned to keep a close eye on things whenever possible.

And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I never did suggested that the wiki should replace anything, not at all. Rather it is merely to serve as another place should one wish to find more knowledge on Tezuka's works.

Yes I am aware that all wikis can be ruined with misinformation, but it is still very easily manageable and should not really be a reason for me to give this up.

Let me tell you one more thing Jeff. You actually really did hurt me by saying that, not because of your reasons which I understand, but maybe because of the way you worded it. And to me, something is only a waste of time if said thing is given up on. I have been working on this, almost completely on my own, for a couple of months now. (I forgot when I started) And have came too far for me to just stop right now. I really do not need the extra stress.

I am determined to, for the very least, finished the planning and the mock-up wiki (used to serve as an example of some articles). Even should an actual wiki not exist, I still want to do a good job and finish this one thing.

...That said, if anything else is truly interested and would like to help, send me a PM... it's easier that way.

[grapeofdeath]

[Dr. Jerk]

[Jeffbert]

[Jeffbert]