Up till now, Goten shrines are categorized into three generations (to me anyway). First are the ones in the beginning, basically pre Y2K stage when there were no Goten shrines. They were the first, and have influenced others to like Goten and make shrines dedicated to him. You know what I'm talking about, Goten Archives and The Goten Gallery. The second generation basically is the shrines that picked up afterwards. After the 1st generation slowed down, new sites of Goten popped out, though not as popular at first. Basically, these are shrines created around 2000-2001 (which isn't much I might add). Third is the surprising generation since I have never saw it coming. These are the youngest shines being created around late 2001-2002. We may never know what 2003 brings, maybe when FUNi finishes dubbed Dragonball Z, there may be new Goten shrines. Though they are not in demand as they used to, people still visit them. People know who Goten is these days and the spread of DBZ has gotten across. Goten shrines are still needed, and hopefully all of us will flourish.

First Generation:
The Goten Archives, also known as the father of all Goten shrines since this was the first (known) Goten shrine on the net. Actually... there could have been a Goten shrine made in something like 1995 that no one knows about, but this is the first known and popular one. The site itself was pretty small and had a simple layout but tons of screen caps, which is always a plus. Though its scattered around the net these days, but now we know where some of them originated from ^_~ Unfortunately, Rob (the webmaster) never really did update, can't blame him though, he was somewhat older then most of us and goes through this thing we call "life". His site suddenly died for no reason and without warning. I still don't know why to this day or even what he is currently doing. But it was he who helped give birth to many Goten shrines, and he gave a big impact on the non-existing Goten community back then. We commend you!

The second known Goten shrine, The Goten Gallery, sprung up and tried to do what Goten Archives couldn’t. Back then I remembered how the Morgan (the webmistress) would comment how Goten Archives would never update and she tried her hand in it. Her site became popular and had more sections and updates then the Goten Archives. Though personally I liked Archives better, this was an interesting shrine. Later on, her sited fused with the SSFEmpire (I think that’s how it’s spelt) but though the layout got much better, the shrine shrunk. Then there were no more updates and slowly the site faded from memory. It was at the time of 2001 when websites had trouble staying online due to lack of funds from ads. SSFE went down and so did The Goten Gallery. I miss the old shrine though. Thus ends the first gen of Goten Shrines.

Second Generation:
Lots of younger webmasters/webmistress started up their own Goten Shrines, hoping that then can also do what the other shrines couldn’t and hopefully be famous in the Dragonball community. Goten shrines were incredibly rare and thus starting the next generation. Due to the fact I don’t know when most of these sites are created, I won’t go by dates of creation from here on.

Kawaii Factor, the former name of Chibi N’ Kawaii, this was some small shrine that I think didn’t do much for the community. I probably could have done better back then, but then again I was just a newbie ^_^ Impact wise, this shrine has pretty much done nothing, I think I’m the first of the 2nd generation though, so that’s a plus. I was also heavily influenced by both Goten Archives and The Goten Gallery which helped me into designing the website today. Though I’m sure you’re not here to listen to myself rant about my own site, I’ll go on.

Dragonball Angels was already a large site when first created. Though personally I still liked the 1st gen sites back then, it is the site I’ve seen grew the most. I think it was in an interview, which Lisa (the webmistress) stated that she wanted to show she can make a better shrine then Goten Archives was, and she in fact did. Following years the site have incredibly improved and was known as everyone’s “favorite Goten shrine” ^_^ This alone drew enough attention in for people to know, “Hey! Goten shrines really do exist!” And was even listed in the links section of the larger Dragonball sites =) Impact wise, she helped the Goten community get noticed and that’s probably one of the most important thing ever. Where would we be without her? Ok... I better move on because I feel like I’m kissing her ass ^___^;;

I must admit at first I didn’t really know anything about Goten Galore. I think I’ve actually visited it in the late 99s by accident and saw broken links and left. Without remembering the name, the site once again appeared on the Dragonball Angels message board (where I frequently spend time posting) and I revisited. It’s a big shrine with lots of multimedia and a handful of contents. And for now I still think it’s the most updated Goten shrine (with still not that much content ^____^;; J/K!!) Personally, this site have done a lot in the way of impacts, she gave help give birth to the 3rd generation of Goten shrines. Also this shrine has grew quite a bit since I visited from 2000, good work Ellana (who is the webmistress if you haven’t guess)!

Kamekameha, Marissa's shrine to Goten started in the late 2000s, just enough so that she’s still consider part of the 2nd generation. I’ve always thought that there was a somewhat a charm to this site, maybe since it seems more personalized then the others at the time. I’m still quite impressed that such a young mistress could make such a shrine. Her site was influenced by the great Lisa-sama (you know, that Dragonball Angels girl person type thingy). Though by 2001 she apparently stopped updating due to the fact of the evil Geocities who won’t let her log in ^^;; She’s currently reviving her new site at tripod and I’m really looking forward to it.

Goten’s World... eeps, I’ll try not to say harsh things about this site. Unfortunately, I hope the webmaster could forgive me since I can’t do anything but bash on this site, so I’ll make it brief. The shrine was really small (though still larger then mine x.x) and had little information. What was so disliked about this shrine was the fact that he stole so many of Lisa’s adoptions and claimed it for himself. It was enough that Lisa herself declared everyone to send chain mail to the poor boy. What was also pretty bad was the way he put down Kamekameha about it being a poor site (though I thought it was much better then Goten’s World anyway). The site suddenly died and I have no idea what happened. Oh well... some of us may never know...

There were some other smaller Goten shrines here as well, but they were too small (and somewhat unnoticed) to be even noticed. Plus, I forgot some of those sites, gomen! I decided not to write a section on the remaining 2nd generation Goten shrines.

Third Generation:
The third generation, which is the newest generation basically, popped up and tried to out best the other shrines, I think. Okay... I'm getting really bad at this... I should just move on...

Goten's Sacred Chamber... this site has caused quite a stir in the community. Though first off it seems like a large shrine with a lot of sections (though not most pertaining to Goten), it takes a closer look to see what was special about it. Indeed, if you have seen the other Goten shrines, you start seeing familiar content. Yep, his site has stolen content. From what I have heard, this site has first started out working with Goten Galore's webmistress but then he stole most of Lisa's adoptions. Things got haywire and well... there was a lot of anger =P Especially, unlike Goten's World, it was a popular site. For some odd reason (still unknown to us), the site has suddenly stopped updating due to the fact he Phil (the webmaster) got kicked off of Tripod. So, he restarted again (without any stolen content) and his shrine is back up, now looking better then ever. Hah! So people do change!

Heaven-Sent Innocence, the site created by both Kaz and RC, the first Goten shrines partner site ^_^ I don't know why, but I really like this shrine =P This site was also influenced under Ellana of Goten Galore as well. It's a huge site with much to read and do. It shows that the newer Goten shrines can be great as well. It's still relatively new and there is not much I can say about it, but I hope it gets better.

Another shrine that I don't know much about is Hazel of Goten's Temple. Wah, I'm sorry, I don't know anything about this site. But I'm pretty sure it classifies under the 3rd generation shrines though. How did it impact the community, she added another site to the list ^^ Okay, that was corny, but I can't really think of anything, sorry!

In Conclusion...
And there you've been through the history of Goten shrines, according to me! As you can see through the evolution of the shrines, well, actually, you don't see anything ^_^ I thought all the shrines that have risen and fell were all interesting to an extent. I still wish there were more though, there's still barely and Goten shrines and the fact you'll make one makes you cool on my list. Unless you do something stupid, but hopefully you'll change. Well, this concludes this little essay, and I hope it was somewhat informative to you. Good day!

Note: If I left off anything important (which happens... I mean... I'm typing this at 11:00 at night), please let me know ^^ though this essay was mostly opinionated, I don't want to leave anything out =P Thank you

Written on August 25, 2002