Kawaii Crush.com

As much as I hate to admit it, my very first post is going to be about a website, not a doll/merchandise piece. But on the upside, I do consider merchandise websites to be a pretty big deal when it comes to merchandise series. After all, if you're new to something and want to learn more, where is the first place you would check? (Besides Wikipedia)

Because of this, I look for many things whenever I browse them:

• Information - is it detailed enough to tell me what I needed to know/find?
• Pictures - are they easy to see? Are they put in decent spots?
• Easy To Understand - information that any age would understand
• Fun Activities - games, webisodes, print outs.
• Content Exclusives - things you wouldn't find on other websites
• Updating - is it up to date? Could you reference this the moment something new comes out?

So think of this as a review of the website. I will bust it down piece by piece to go over everything on this bulleted list. At the bottom of the entry you can find a link to the website, and for each section I will give a rating and explain why.

Kawaii = Cuteness
Crush = Interest
Kawaii Crush = Cute Interest

When you go onto the website a pop-up appears to explain just what Kawaii Crush is. This is a new feature that wasn't exactly present previously, so I am happy to see it now. After all, not everyone is going to know what kawaii is. 

After closing that tab, you will be given three options on how to travel around the website. You can click on something in the big window, click the big pink arrows, or just click a pink tab at the top of the page. In order, these tabs are:

• Fun & Games
• Webisodes
• Products
• Characters
• Grown Ups
• Contact Us

 Now, here is where I'll begin to bust this website down and go over every part and rate them. First up, Information and Understanding!

Kawaii Crush.com has it's fair share of information. As I have said earlier, I am very happy an information has recently been put up to explain where the series name comes from. It also features a very detailed merchandise page that consists of a bulleted list to detail both the toys features and a list of what items comes with the toy. There is also multiple pictures to show just what you would be getting with the toy.

The website is very easy to follow for anyone of all ages and avoids cluttering everything into one space, making for a distracting and "busy" website. As I have listed previously, there are many tabs worth checking out while you visit, and so far nothing has been put up that one couldn't view just yet. Which means no pesky teasing features to wait for!

 However the website, like everything else is not perfect. It does have some downsides that may bother some people.

One of the biggest glaring problems is that while there has been sixteen characters introduced, only the main four have been given profiles.

Now don't get me wrong, the profiles aren't that bad. But it would be nice to see information on all of the characters too. However, by going to the merchandise page, one can find a single sentence or two that describes a character.

On one hand, this allows one to make up their own personalities for the characters. But on the other hand, some people like to know about the character before they pick one.

Another (very minor) issue I have come across is that some of the information is repetitive. On Katie Cat Meow Meow's profile one sentence says "I heart cats! They inspire my purrrfect fashion style!". On the merchandise page in order to describe her, it says "I heart cats so much that it even inspires my purrr-fect fashion sense!"

On one hand, this could be forgiven since some people may not view both pages. But I would rather see more "in depth" information somewhere.

And so, in terms of Easy understanding and information, I give it...

3 out of 5 hearts

Pros:

• Great merchandise details
• An easy to follow explanation about "Kawaii Crush"
• Website is very easy to figure out
• A nice website for any age to view
• Multiple things to check out

Cons:

• Some repetitive details
• Out of sixteen characters, only four of them have any type of profile. 

 In terms of Pictures, I don't really have to go into details. My ratings should say enough:

5 out of 5

 The final point I will be going over is Content Exclusives and Activities!

 The real meat of any website/merchandise page. The one thing that instantly draws the eyes of many and being relatively new, it is a little lacking in any games to play. But it does feature a few things and adds more all the time. For now, this is:

• Downloads: Coloring pages, the theme song, name labels
• Create your own Kawaii Character
• Make a Kawaii Name

 In terms of downloads, it is a little on the skimpy side. The theme song is the song featured at the end of each webisode, which is nice of you enjoy it.

However, while you get a single sheet of eight labels, they're all the same. This could be a pro and con. On one hand, nobody has to fight over who uses which one. But on another hand, some people may prefer a batch of mixed label designs.

Meanwhile, on the coloring page, there is three alternate choices to print out. They are very cute, but oddly there is one minor little error...

These two images are switched. As in, if you click the first picture then you will get the one next to it, and likewise. Again this is a little error, and it doesn't really ruin the quality of anything. But it could be confusing if you don't happen to notice it.

Next we will cover the two games provided on the website. The first one allows you to make your own Kawaii Crush. It like everything else has it's pros and cons, which we will cover after I go over the game.

The game is very easy to understand. You start by selecting which character you would like to use, then pick out colors for the Skin, hair, hat, eyes, shoes, and dress. Then you can choose a background and some stickers for your picture. When you're all done, you can choose to start over, download the picture, or print it out.

I made a Kawaii me... but picture them with red hair

Pro: 

• It's very simple and easy
• It surprisingly can provide fun for quite some time.
• Many options

Cons:

• Besides changing the colors, the characters have no customizable features
• Only four characters can be picked
• There isn't any red coloring options

The final game on the website (for now) is the Kawaii Crush Name Picker!

Another very easy and fun little activity. Since I have last touched it (about a week or two ago) it has updated to label the "branch" options.

You start by putting in your first name. After that you are instructed to pick one of the five options, then you must pick which of the two options attached to it you would prefer. Such as:

• Food - Sweet or Salty
• Fashion - Clothing or Accessories
• Music - Sing or Playing
• Animals - Little or Big
• Sports - Indoor or Outdoor

My Kawaii Crush Name

Pros:

•  Many options
• VERY easy to understand

Cons:

•  The time it MAY take to find a name you like
• Some names tend to make no sense

 And so, for the fun activities portion of the website I have decided to give it...

4 out of 5

Like the rest of the website all of it is very easy to understand and can provide some fun for a little while. It updates/upgrades pretty often so you can expect to come back after a while to find some new things. But for a creative person who enjoys unique options, it can be a little boring after a while. Which unfortunately keeps it from being perfect.

And so, if I was to give the entire website a rating I would have to give it a...

It's a very good and easy website with loads of cuteness and a decent amount of fun to be had. But it also has it's improvements and some fine-tuning yet. As it is fairly new still it may be too soon to judge it, but that also means it does have a chance to improve over time. As such, instead of modifying this post I will probably make a new one for new features and just review my previous ratings if anything has changed.


Because of the length I have decided to cover the webisodes portion in another blog entry. So as promised, here is a link to the website:

http://www.kawaiicrush.com/

Until next time, stay Kawaii!