Kiyali by Amiko-Chan (ackiyali.lzh) [20 Mar 2004|11:54pm] Hm: I have to say the menu and interactivity of this set is very nice. The backgrounds are quite cute, as well. I like that it has a nice full woredrobe, and the style is constistant, the theme stays all the way through the set, and in each set she chose to group certain kinds of clothes/outfits together with one another. But some things kind of put me off, alot of the items look like they were copied, then modified to be something different, which would be okay if it were dramatic changes, but she seemed to just have recoloured them or drawn an extra line. It's not THAT big of a problem, but I'd like to see more original designs. Another thing is that the blink bothers me alot, instead of the higher lid, the black line on top of the eye, coming down during a blink, a whole new line that's the colour of the flesh comes down and covers the eye...Rick and I found that especially 'creepy'. There's some stray pixels on some items, which isn't that hard to look over, but still a bit of a pet peeve of mine. The anatomy isn't the best, but I can tell that Amiko-Chan TRIED, and that's what's important. Over all, I'd give this doll a- Vote: Maybe Rick: I must say, when I saw the "editor's award" next to this doll's name on Otakuworld, I was expecting something really exciting. Unfortunately, what I got was another run-of-the-mill "cute" doll. A nicely-polished and well-executed doll, but nonetheless, nothing particularly new or original. This doll, like so many others, is like a piece of candy- initially very flashy, with bright colors and the promise of a fun play experience- but after a few minutes, the initial charm wears off and you realize how superficial the product really is. And it's not that I dislike dolls solely because they are "cute"- if you came to my house and saw the amount of San-X products in my room, you'd know that I have no aversion to that which is cute. Anyway, onto the doll- items were drawn competently, with some better than others. The background animations were a lot of fun, the clothing groupings were well-thought out, and the menu, though a bit of an eyesore, was perfectly coded and very easy to follow. Perhaps my biggest complaint might be the hyphema-esque blinking- I was on the phone with Jack when I first opened this doll, and I visibly gasped upon noticing the eyes. Somewhat chilling. Vote: Maybe post comment

Aimee by Aniadka (ad_aimee.lzh) [20 Mar 2004|11:56pm] Hm: This set is very nice! The first time I opened it I was so happy to see a doll with it's own style and drawn well. The woredrobe is LARGE and creative, clothes we don't see in every other set. The shading style is unique and something you don't see in most sets. There's TONS AND TONS of shoes, something I love, and alot of mix and matchability. The detail is great, and the base is very nice. One little error I noticed, was that the crotch was kind of drawn...strange, like a line across the meeting of the two legs. Can be over-looked, since most the time there will be pants/skirts covering the crotch, though. This set, over all, is very nice, and looks like it took an achingly long time to create. I love it. Vote: Yes Rick: I really enjoyed this doll!! The artist clearly has their own original style, which is instantly evident in the way all the items are shaded. The colors and wardrobe bring to mind a springtime children's book- very very charming to play with! On thing that disappointed me was the lack of hairstyles or other options- but the wardrobe is so large that there is still a lot of customization in terms of the character's appearance. There were a lot of really unique costumes in this set, as well- particularly the riding costume and the raver/rollerskater outfit on the last set. I was really amazed by the amount of shoes- most artists (myself included) usually skimp on footwear, but this doll had an enormous amount! My main complaints would be a few of the minor anatomical errors on the base- besides the crotch, as Jack noted, her left hand is on backwards. I would have really loved a few different hairstyles or makeup options, but this is still a very well-rounded doll with a lot of replayability. Vote: Yes 1 comment|post comment

Bronwen by Maria Luna (bronwenm.lzh) [20 Mar 2004|11:57pm] Hm: I like the fact that this set is laid out like a paper doll. Playability is a little dampened by the fact that most the outfits stick together like a real paperdoll, but the fashion makes me keep reopening it and playing with it. The jagged highly-pixel-line style makes me think alot of Moni-chan, too, which I don't mind. The linework goes well with it. I also like the fact that the hair can be dragged onto the head, like a paper doll, and it has many different costumes from different periods of time. I also enjoy the little story the artist made up for the doll, it gives you an understanding of WHY all these costumes are together like this. But for some reason, a glaring problem to me, was the fact that some of the cels' outlines were lighter or much brigher than the actual fill colour. But I still really enjoy this doll. Vote: Yes Rick: The title screen, with the short character bio and the following note, was really nice and set up the theme of the doll. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of shading and detailing on the clothes- it looks like the artist had a lot of good clothing ideas, but didn't really illustrate them as carefully as they could have. The contrast between pale outlines and black outlines on the items also stood out a bit much- it didn't seem very consistent. The use of the MS Paint "airbrush" tool on a few items really turned me off as well. On the good side, there really were a lot of good clothing ideas in this doll, and the layout was very nice- I was just kind of disappointed by the jagged, flat artwork. Vote: Maybe post comment

Dora by Cherise (doraca.lzh) [20 Mar 2004|11:58pm] Hm: I'm glad that this artist tried. The readme was very imformative, though the background story of the doll seemed a little unreal and slapped together, I do like that the artist gave Dora a background. The clothes, are well-drawn, but I'm put off that they're all just cookie-cutters of one basic design. I'm glad she put the effort in to actually draw the original design well, though. But I just think, if this doll is a super model, shouldn't she have all these cool original designs by different designers? Also the lack of backs on some of the shoes (like the strappy high heel sandles) look quite awkward. The way the cels are set up together is nice, that way I can easily find my way around the set, but the lack of background put me off...I felt she would look nice with a little cat-walk in the back, or possibly on the red carpet of some fancy resturaunt with papparazzi taking photos. But it's a good start! Vote: No Rick: I don't really have much to say about this doll...the clothing items are all incredibly basic, with minimal detailing and a color that made it really hard to put together decent outfits. Some folds, buttons, or zippers on the items would have really helped, I think. The fact that by clicking on the base, the hair turned the back to yellow, confused me a bit. I don't have much to say that Jack hasn't already said- this artist does seem to have proficient art skills, but it wasn't really evident in this doll. I'd like to see them try to create a well-balanced wardrobe without cookie cutter items, and see them design more original fashion pieces (it would have especially fit the theme of the doll in this case). Vote: No post comment

Taiki Kou (Sailor Star Maker) by Feisty Angel (Koutaiki.lzh) [20 Mar 2004|11:59pm] Hm: What a cute little set! I love the base, the face on it is just too cute. The shading on the base and woredrobe is very nice, and I like the little backgrounds on each set. Though, this set is very much under 256 colors, and probably should've been converted accordingly, instead of made Enhanced Palette. I was also kind of dissapointed that the artist didn't give her more masculine clothes, because in the series (as far as I know, it's been ages since I've been a SM fan) the Star Makers were crossdressers. The clothes she has is fine, but a few more male outfits added in would've been nice. Another little problem is the tiara-thing for Lead Crow's costume tilts the oppisite way of the head, making it look strange...the artist could've flipped it horizontally in MSPaint and all would be well...but over all the set itself isn't bad at all, rather good, actually. Vote: Yes Rick: I opened this doll and instantly began playing with all the background elements- the computer, the light switch, the wardrobe drawers- I love attention to detail, and this doll has quite a bit. The art was very clean and detailed. I really liked the way the items were grouped by "theme" from set to set, this doll has such a large wardrobe, and the grouping by theme really kept it from becoming overwhelming. I don't know anything about the character, so I can't comment on how "accurate" it is, but you can definitely tell from the clothing designs that this is a Sailor Moon themed doll, which I suppose is good. My main complaint is with the pallette- but, Jack already covered that. Vote: Yes post comment

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