Back in 2012, I found a weird trick to actually find old forum threads about anime

I was looking for a specific debate about the ending of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' that I remembered reading years before. The old forum search was broken, and Google just showed new stuff. On a whim, I typed 'site:forumname.com "unit 01" before:2010' into Google, using the 'before' date filter. It pulled up a thread from 2008 I thought was gone forever. The trick was using Google's own tools to search inside the dead forum. Has anyone else found a good way to dig up those lost discussions?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_margaret6d ago

Totally get that. I've had to do the same thing for old gaming forum drama. Another thing that works is putting the exact thread title in quotes, even if you only remember part of it. Google really locks onto those specific phrases. Sometimes you can also find a cached version if you click the little arrow next to the result. What was the big debate about in that Eva thread anyway?

spencer_chen66d ago

Oh man, the Eva thread? It was this HUGE fight about whether the ending was hopeful or the most depressing thing ever. I used to be on team "it's all a bummer," but someone broke down how the congratulations scene is about Shinji finally choosing to connect with others, even if it's painful. That totally flipped it for me.

charlie_allen6d ago

Remember trying that quote trick for a lost thread on if Deckard was a replicant. Typing "Deckard human or replicant arguments" got me nowhere, but putting "Deckard is definitely a replicant fight me" in quotes, like you said @the_margaret, pulled up the exact forum meltdown. People were citing random blade runner art books and out of context interviews with Ridley Scott. It got so heated over a movie that gives you zero answers.