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Review for Purachina
I am not too fond of left alignment, especially for a fansite. It just doesn’t sit right. Most sites are either aligned to the right or at center, of which I am more accustom to. However, I really like the layout design. It isn’t every day that you encounter a layout designed quite beautifully using a manga scan. The colours are exceptionally bright and the combination is unusual, but the overall collaboration isn’t clashing as most people would expect.
Information
Site: Purachina
Type: Fan-Related
Owner: Monica
Reviewed By: Misao
Date Received: 07/12/06
Date Completed: 09/08/06
Preview
Presentation
The layout looks very unusual with the right alignment. The navigation area of the layout is on the right, but the text is aligned left. That is what throws the overall alignment off. I wonder how it might look with the text alignment reversed, flipping the navigation background and text horizontally. Not that it looks horrible. It looks perfectly fine; I am just a little uncomfortable with the whole alignment issue.
I don’t like the colour on the letter ‘w’ in welcome. The white looks really faint against the light grey coloured background. When staring at the screen at different angles, I can barely make out the ‘w’. Consider a light teal blue colour like the background colour in the layout header. Although the warning is ample, it serves a more effective purpose if it is included on the pages/sections that contain spoilers. Even though visitors are warned at the beginning of their visit, it doesn’t prepare them the moment they encounter a spoiler. At least a warning right before a spoiler gives the visitor time to decide before reading on.
Since you only include the most recent update on the main page, the correct heading for this section should be “The Latest Update” rather than updates. The update avatar looks funny floating around in terms of its location and the appearance. For starters, add either border="1" to the image source or apply a border to the avatar in Photoshop. Secondly, it looks like the work of a new web designer who uses Pagebuilder. It looks detached from the update. Instead of aligning the avatar and the date at the centre of a column by itself, incorporate them into the update entry so it appears as one, like this:
The coding of the website also requires some polishing. You have an external style sheet, where the background colour is already specified in body, why do you still specify the background colour in your normal body tag. It is redundant. There is an inconsistent use of id and class specifications. Did you know that you could specify absolute position and width of div layers under a common class in the style sheet? For example, div style="position:absolute; right: 0px; top: 299px; width: 212px; becomes:
div#nav {
position: absolute;
right: 0px;
top: 299px;
width: 212px;}
Moving a little further down the coding, a tr start-tag is missing before each row (classified as nav). Following immediately after is div id="nav", of which none has an end tag. None of the li are closed either. Why are the navigation links coded in tables? If the tables were deleted and replaced with div layers (which you already have), there is no significant change (if any) to how the navigation links looks. None of the paragraph tags in any of the HTML files have end tags. There is an end tag for center at the bottom of the page, when there isn’t even a start-tag anywhere above it. There is such a large overuse and combination of div layers and tables without proper knowledge and organization. Sure, the layout appears normal, but the HTML is a mess. Out of curiosity, I put your site through a HTML validation, and I came up with 42 errors. That’s quite a large number for coding as short as Purachina.
Your style sheet have the same errors and next to little organization. There is no grouping of similar elements, no set order in specifying attributes, and inconsistency in style of coding. Instead of specifying four different margin elements (for the 4 sides), simplify to margin: top right bottom left. The same goes for font and background elements. There is no need to specify a cursor default. If there is no cursor element, the cursor will automatically set at default. Again, this is redundant. There is also no need for #navlist in classifying list. Since the list is within the div layer ‘nav’, including all listing specifications in #nav li is sufficient. For a site that looks great externally, there are major internal flaws.
Content
Information
The information is informative. It gives a brief but clear overview of the series without giving away too much. The thumbnails are a good idea; makes the page look less word-y, and strengthens what is written on the page. However, the images are really small. I can’t make anything out of them besides a swirl of colour. I expect to see an image of the heroine, her guardian and one image in action. I also found a few grammatical errors.
- She meets new friends, conquers
againsther enemies, andevenfinds love in the most unexpectedofplaces. - While Cardcaptor Sakura may seem like a frilly, over-girly show, which it is,
butit is much more than that. - Only use but as a transition between two contrasting ideas or when making a counter-argument in the same sentence. - It has a lot of
clear depth(??) and the magical plot just adds to the intrigue. - I don’t understand this sentence no matter how I read it. - It’s an excellent anime
show andthat makes you want to shed tears and sighfromat the cuteness. - Anime means Japanese animation show.
Character pages are done fairly well. I like how there is more than a paragraph about each character, even though it only scratched at the surface. Visitors like to see more than the basic stats found on every other CCS website. The quote is a nice touch at the bottom of Sakura’s profile, even though I wasn’t certain if the quote is unique only to her, and none of the other pages have this feature. The occasional text link to an image is cute, but unnecessary. Since the site is based on the Japanese version of the anime, I suggest listing characters with their last name, as it is the Japanese way. Despite how well these pages are written, there are many misleading/wrong facts and errors. I am not going to point out your grammatical errors (as that would take up the next screen or two), but I can assure you there is at least one spelling and two grammatical errors on each page. Either copy and paste onto Microsoft Word to screen for common errors or have someone proof read it. The misleading facts are as follows:
Sakura: She is 10 years old at the beginning of the series.
Sakura: She is not a runner. She only participates in cheerleading.
Sakura: She isn’t a bit too perfect. She isn’t perfect at all. You’ve pointed out yourself that she is naive and gullible (not to mention, a klutz).
Syaoran: He and his family are from Hong Kong, not China.
Tomoyo: Her mother owns a toy company, not a shop. There is a difference between the two.
Meiling: She is the one who calls off the engagement.
Touya: There is no explanation as to why he has so many part-time jobs. Therefore, the explanation is untrue.
Touya: As a young child, he did not purposely tell Sakura about ghosts to scare her. He simply told her because he saw them.
Fujitaka: Technically not an error, but “Nadeshiko passed away 7 years ago” is rather ambiguous. 7 years ago as of when? Now? Use an active voice on dates. (eg.) Nadeshiko passed away when Sakura was only 3 years old.
Fujitaka: Nadeshiko did not have any magical powers. Touya received his powers also from his father.
Suppi: He’s not exactly your video game type of guy.
The episode list is organized rather well, however several program specials and the second movie is missing from the list. Also, do not align the special episodes in the centre. Keep the page looking consistent by also aligning the episode titles left. The page about the manga volumes is done exceptionally well, considering they were copied from Tokyopop.
CC vs. CCS contains a few basic differences, and that is about it. Included are the four most common-sense differences that doesn’t require further explanation. Point 1: Changing Rika to Rita does make a difference because Nelvana was hoping to make the names sound more English, at the same time, retaining similarity to the Japanese. Point 2: This is personal opinion, not fact. The voice cast for the English episodes are also professionals, as they all have experience acting for other cartoon shows. Point 3: You fail to point out that there are two American versions, Canadian and US. Point 4: This is a fact, but the ‘cheesey’ comment is a personal opinion. Point 5: The relationships between the characters were not entirely cut out, but rather modified.
The introduction to the Chants/Spells page is not accurate. “Mutter” means a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech, and I am quite certain the characters in the anime do not mutter the incantations. There aren’t any incantations from the third season. If I was new to the series, I would not know (by reading the page) when and what the incantations are used for. I highly suggest labelling the chants. Furthermore, Syaoran’s chant is not ‘one’ chant. Depending on which elemental power he is calling forth, his incantation will consist of the different chants that are listed, and they should be written in parenthesis for clarification.
“CLAMP is a very well known group of artists that create manga.” Manga is already in its singular and plural form. Is there a particular order in the list of manga titles? If it is listed by year of creation, state that it is. If not, sort the list in alphabetical order. It makes reading a lot easier. I like the individual artist profiles (even though two are still missing), but the profile image is different from the character profile images. They’re missing the name of the artist.
There is an error at the top of the characters seiyuu page. “They the final aspect which makes the…” I believe ‘the’ should have been ‘are’. The most important characters are covered in the chart, and some even have their own profile page, which is a bonus. That is something I haven’t seen on other CCS sites (even though I really don’t have much interest in the profile of the voice cast).
Relationships. I wouldn’t conclude Sakura and Syaoran as one of the more popular pairings on the Internet; Just one of the more popular pairings in this series. You have to be careful with how you phrase things or the sentence comes off with a completely different portrayal. I was a little disappointed in Sakura and Syaoran’s relationship description. I expect an explanation on how they progressed their relationship from enemies to lovers, not what they have in common. I’m sure the latter is quite obvious. There is an indent at the beginning of Sakura and Tomoyo’s relationship that I don’t think is intended. Again, Syaoran and Meilin are from Hong Kong, not China. Meilin declared the engagement when they were younger. Syaoran didn’t really have a choice but to agree. This little detail needs to be elaborated more carefully since it explains the foundation of their relationship.
How do I know (from reading the page) that “it’s quite clear that [Touya and Yukito] love each other?” There are no examples or explanations to prove that they love each other. If you’re going to make conclusions like that, make sure you have evidence to back up your point. What intimate contact? Take into consideration that other people’s definition of intimate may be different from yours so explain. To-ya is how you pronounce Touya’s name (it’s actually toy-ya) and Yuki is simply a shorten version of Yukito. They’re not exactly “cute” nicknames made for each other. There is one important fact regarding Yamazaki and Chiharu that you have failed to mention; Chiharu is the only one who can detect Yamazaki’s lies/stories. Chiharu’s name is also spelt wrong at the bottom of the page.
Media
The terms of usage are not quite clear. What do you mean by direct linking? What do fans need to do to avoid direct linking? Instructions on how to save the images or mp3s are helpful, especially to those who are new to the Internet. If I take images from your gallery, am I required to link back? It is a wise idea to include your email address on this page. It is pointless to link a general contact page (which opens in a new window) when all you wanted to do is let visitors know your email address. Unless this contact page has a contact form, it is useless. I like the galleries, although whether the images are of top quality is debatable. For instances, the third image in anime gallery and the fourteenth image in manga gallery, are not considered top quality. Based on the colour, the clarity and resolution, this image is classified in medium. As well, there is a slight problem with alignment in both galleries.
There is a grammatical error in Clow Cards gallery. The images are “sorted in alphabetical order”, of which, they aren’t. The last card should be The Wood, not The Move. There is a similar wording error in screen captures gallery. May not and cannot have two different meanings. In the context of the page, the correct use is “cannot”. What is slow expanding? Do you mean it will take a longer time for the images to load? The first set of images on each page is aligned inconsistently with the rest of the page.
How will you hold the visitor responsible if all your sites go down as a result of direct linking? This sentence is perceived as a threat. Refrain from threatening your visitors as it deters people from your site and produces a hostile attitude. Place the download link in a location where it is more visible such as, after the comments on the song.
Title: Catch You Catch Me
Position: 1st season opening
Comments: This song is catchy, cute and light. It suits the mood of the show perfectly and makes your day seem suddenly brighter.
Download
Also, instead of linking the lyrics directly from this page (from each song, actually), create a separate page for the lyrics, and include this as a section underneath ‘Media’. It is easier for fans to access the lyrics if required. Plus, there is no point in embedding a section within a section, when you have a navigation column to the right on every page. The comments are personal opinions rather than a description of the song. They don’t have a purpose. “Another catchy swing song. It’s not as “fluffy” as the first opening, but definitely makes you want to dance and sway.” Seriously, that tells me nothing about the song, and I don’t understand what you mean by “fluffy” anyway. Is there a reason for this section when all the links are broken?
I like your icons. They’re really cute, especially the last one featuring Tomoyo. I don’t quite understand the phrase pasted on the first Syaoran icon. “I am… waiting for the sun on top of the horizon” is rather gay, and doesn’t relate to the image at all. It would be nice of you to provide the resolution size of the icons.
Miscellaneous
A great method to distinguish link from text is to bold the link. Therefore, bold the title of the fanfictions so I know what to click. Are any of these fanfictions written by you? I don’t think so, considering I don’t see an author by the name of Monica. In that case, do not mislead visitors in thinking that some of these may be written by you (the page intro). Did you have permission from these authors to post their fanfics on your site? I sure hope you do since you stress over permission in the ‘Media’ section. Since all the fanfics are linked to fanfiction.net (an example of forwarding links that a fansite should never do), the fanfics are not reviewed.
Lots of CCS fan sites have a page or a section dedicated to Tsubasa. I personally don’t see the purpose of a page unless you plan to incorporate Tsubasa into the site (info, characters, image, etc.). So in your case, this is a site about Cardcaptor Sakura, not Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles.
- However, both the manga and anime was incomplete
d. - Misuse of verb - Determined to finish his late father’s goal in excavating a mysterious site. - Spelling error
- She notices an enormous symbol embalmed onto the ground, and touches it. - Spelling errors and sentence fragment
- The wings immediately dissociate and the feathers scatter before disappearing. - Spelling error
- After paying a price of sacrificing Sakura’s memories of him. - Spelling error
This page has major problems besides the errors pointed above. Why do you keep making conclusions and opinion statements in summaries? “There’s a chance [Sakura and Syaoran] could be much more.” How do you know? Not once at the beginning of the anime, did a narrator come out and say “and there is a chance they could be more.” You’re trying to describe the characters, not analyze them and what they could be. Sakura’s wings are not her heart, it is her soul and the feathers are her memories. Therefore, without the wings, Sakura will sleep eternally (and possibly die). In order to save Sakura, Syaoran gives up his most important thing, Sakura’s memories of him. She will forget Syaoran, even if he manages to collect all of her feathers. There are seven paragraphs on this page, and even with another ten paragraphs, you fail to explain what the series is about. Visitors (like myself) may not know what Tsubasa is so you need to explain the entire plot by answering the following five questions: who, what, where, when, why.
S+S Shrine is not a section; it is a completely different site. It shouldn’t even be listed underneath this section. Move it to a general links page or on the webmistress page.
Site
I am happy to see a credits page, although I’m sure you visited more than two sites to obtain images, and you didn’t zap up those lyrics and mp3s with a snap of a finger. Do a google search with the keyword ‘Notepad’. The first result is the official website to Notepad.
About: Purachina originated from the very first site I ever created, which was dedicated to the first anime show I ever got obsessed with. - There is an overuse of the words ‘first’ and ‘eve’ in this sentence.
About: I wrote all there were to write about Cardcaptor Sakura, but there weren’t a whole lot I could add to the site. - When joining two sentences together with conflicting ideas, use the transitional words ‘but, even though, and although.’
About: It was a pity the information had gone to waste. - The old site is closed, therefore the verb needs to be placed in past tense.
About: I began to redesign Purachina. - This is your second time designing Purachina.
I always enjoy reading about the webmistress/master of the site, and I enjoy reading yours. Like every other page in your site, there are several errors on this page. In the second paragraph, you “usually combine [your] love of the two”, which two? You’re a “bonafide procrasinator”, what is it? By the way, both words are spelt wrong.
Behind the name is a fairly short page, and falls under the category ‘about site’. I think the two can be combined as one. The correct pronunciation of Purachina in Japanese is pu-la-chi-na, all of which are short vowels. What you have is the English pronunciation.
I like Purachina link ware buttons. However, there isn’t a large selection to choose from. Why don’t you make a banner and button out of the current layout? If you do not want fans to direct link your link ware graphics, include instructions on how to save the images and upload to their server. One of the things that most CCS sites don’t have is a link out. Purachina doesn’t have one either, but it is a bonus if one is added, as you are not the only CCS fan site on the web and neither do you have everything CCS-related on the site.
Final Statement
This is a pretty site to look at. That’s about all I can do. Purachina surely isn’t my first choice if I wanted to visit a CCS fan site. I didn’t learn or see any thing that other sites don’t already have. The content is lacking in terms of depth and misleading information, and the context is hard to understand with numerous grammatical and spelling errors. If I had to classify the site, it would easily be listed as a “newbie” despite the pretty layout. I am sure you can do better. Just make sure you know the anime series well enough before starting a website dedicated to the anime.
3 Comments to “Purachina”
nelchee Says:
October 21st, 2006 at 7:31 pm“I am not too fond of left alignment” - it’s *right* aligned.
starry Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 12:56 amQuoting: “Sakura’s wings are not her heart, it is her soul and the feathers are her memories.” This statement varies with what the subtitles show you in the differently dubbed versions (by different companies) of TRC that one watches. Also, in TRC, Yukito told Syaoran in Episode One that the wings are her heart. (specifically, the word he used was kokoro) Kokoro means Heart in Japanese, if I’m not wrong.
Misao Says:
November 7th, 2006 at 6:49 pmNelchee - Thanks for the pointer. I didn’t even realize the mistake I made.
Starry - There’s a few anime groups who are dubbing TRC, and I am sure there are variances between them such as the style of the translation and wording of the subtitles.
‘Kokoro’ (こころ) in Japanese have three meanings: heart, spirit, mind. Considering that Sakura is still alive (her heart is still beating) and in consideration of the context, it is safe to assume that ‘kokoro’ is means Sakura’s spirit or soul. And of course, typically the spirit or soul carry the person’s memories.
Collecting the feathers is not just restoring life to Sakura - as in bringing back from the dead - but storing life in terms of giving back her memories, feelings, senses, making her a real person again (IE. rather than sleeping). It is in this sense that I refer Sakura’s wings as her soul and the feathers as her memories.
After 2000 Anime does the most accurate job of translation (comparable to a few others). But then again, my Japanese is not as proficient so this could very well be a personal preference.
I hope my explanation is helpful. Please let me know if further clarifications is required (because I confuse myself sometimes X_x).