The Sailor Moon Pocky Box : Reviews

Shades of Blue

Date Reviewed: March 19, 2006

Category: The Bland

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Layout & Design

Is the layout intuitive and easy to navigate? Is it compatible across all browsers and resolution? Is it aesthetically pleasing?

Viluy

Oh wow where to begin? Honestly, as nice as the site is laid out, I can't get over this actual layout. The thing that stops me dead in my tracks are the colors on the layout (someone pass me the shades!). Why you ask? Well ok I'm a lover of blue! Really I am! But those colors with that font just hurts my eyes. It doesn't work well at all. I realize the site is called Shades of Blue, but I really think that there are better combinations out there in both colors and fonts that could really be alot easier on the eyes. I like the idea, but it could use some work.

The width of the layout, is pretty bad as well. When viewing it in Mozilla or even Internet Explorer, I got a lot of space off to the right, alot of white space. That alone just looks tacky and sadly it tells me that the owner is working with something alot smaller and I, myself, run on a 1024x768. However it worked ok with a smaller resolution of about 800x600, but in my honest opinon the resolution could really be worked on. Making it bigger is really the better way to go, since most people don't have the screens set to 800x600.

On a more positive note: the layout, as a whole, is pretty simple. It's created in a frame set up and allows for rather easy navigation. There appears to be tabs running across the top, just under the websites banner, allowing access to the rest of the site and what it offers. It actually makes it really easy to move around, with everything clearly labled as to where you can find it. I find it very clever the way it was put together.

Just off the right side you find links to the owners' Affiliates, Sources, and Clique/Fanlistings. Everything is pretty nicely laid out in that sense. Nicely lined up and spaced out. Nothing appears to be bunched together thrown in there.

Over all, the site itself is ok. I'm not all that impressed with the colors, font and the resolution. However if the colors and font were to be fixed it might be a site I would venture back to, but at this time, I just don't see it happening. The shades of blue used and the font really bring it down and it takes away from the rest of the site. Only because you can't help but squint at the colors from the site, which makes it very blah for me.

Written Content

Is there lots of written information? Are all profiles, back story, and other textual content accurate? Does the site offer fanfiction or other miscellaneous written content?

Tellu

Oooh, I like how this site has sections for all the different "aspects" of Ami.... about her family, her fashion sense, her studies, and even how she feels about love. It's nice to see that this webmaster took the time to analyze the character and actually sit down to write something about her. Clearly, a lot of thought went into this. This is something a little different, which is great, but I'd like to see more of that boring, cliche information here. Call me old-fashioned, but I want to see some dollbox stats! Dollbox stats, item information, and attack information are all just as important to the character, and I think that those things should be included. Imagine you want to learn about Ami, and this is your only resource. It's nice to learn about her personality, but what if you want to know her birthday? Her favorite food? Her blood type?

Moving on... I also really like the fact that this webmaster includes information about all of Ami's actresses and seiyuu. I also like that information is given about each of the different versions of Sailor Moon, but I'd like to see more about the differences among them, and more about AMI in each of those versions.

Visual Content

What kind of visual content is offered? Is it efficiently organized and intuitively accessible? Are all visual media offered legally?

Tellu

Yup, you're getting a double-dose of Tellu today! I'm also reviewing the media on this site.

The image gallery is quite large, with tons of pictures of Ami from the anime, artbooks, PGSM, and Sera Myu. But where are pics from cards and other products, and from the manga? I'd like to see a few of those here. Overall, the images in this gallery aren't the greatest quality. The best are the screencaps from the first season and from Sera Myu. After that, things go downhill... the PGSM ones are often very blurry and grainy in most cases, and I've seen better versions of the artbook pics all over the 'net. Even though this section doesn't always have quality, at least it has quantity!

This page also includes a fanworks section, but I'll only comment on the fanart. I wish it wasn't linked to DeviantArt, because the DA website goes SO slow sometimes. Why not just place it directly on the page? It would be a lot easier, and I'd be a lot more likely to look at it! :)

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