YYH Sprites Looking for Feedback

[Kilyle]

I gotta know, am I headed in the right direction with these?  I don't want to make a whole sheet only to find out there's a major design flaw.  So I ask for your comments.

General layout?  Colors?  Resemblance to original characters?  Anything else you can think of to comment on?

Note: I desire and can handle criticism--and I admire Simon Cowell.  But criticism and TACT are not mutually exclusive.  So don't be kind, but don't be rude, either.  

[Emerates]

They guys on the left look kinda like coneheads.

[Meiscool-2]

They look good. You should make the space between the arms and the body a little more noticable. The ones without the sleeves on the shirt I can clearly tell, but it's a little harder with the others.

[Kilyle]

Okay.  Are the arms a little better with Kurama (top middle), or does that still need fixing too?

"Coneheads"?  Huh?  I'm not sure what you mean.  The hair is taller on Kuwabara (bottom left) on purpose, because his head and hair naturally make a taller form than the other characters do.  Should I post a picture of what they're supposed to look like?

[Meiscool-2]

Originally posted by Kilyle
Okay.  Are the arms a little better with Kurama (top middle), or does that still need fixing too?

Like I said, I can tell the space, but not as well as I'd like to. Just darken it a little and it'll look better. I don't really notice a difference between Kurama and the others.

[Kilyle]

K, next question: The pics I'm working with show those white highlights in Hiei's hair, and green(ish) highlights in Yusuke's hair.  Should I maintain this, or are the highlights distracting?  Should I choose a different color (e.g. grey for Hiei, so the white isn't so strong of a contrast)?

Oh, and on Kurama's hair (both of his chars)...he has those strands hanging down in front of his ears, but they don't seem to show up well.  Any suggestions on how I could make them more apparent, without having them draw too much focus?  Should I increase the lighting, even though technically they're not supposed to be brighter than the rest of the hair?

Thanks for the feedback, btw!  This is going to help me.

[Kilyle]

Upgrade!

I wanted to increase their height a bit, which got me thinking about relative heights.  I know that Hiei is shorter than the rest, so I left him a pixel shorter.

I'm reasonably sure that Kuwabara is taller than Yusuke, and, after thinking about it, I think that Kurama is taller in fox form.  Perhaps he's taller than Yusuke normally (or Yusuke is just short?), but I don't think his height is much of an issue until he transforms, at which point he becomes lean and lanky.  So I raised Kuwabara and Kurama's fox form two pixels, and the rest of the cast just one.

Anyway, I also shaded them in more, which makes their arms stand out a bit beyond what they were.  I'm not sure I like the effect, but perhaps it'll work better.  Anyway, here is Cast of YYH, Take Two:

[Robotam]

Lookin' good.

[oooog]

Those look really nice.  Keep up the good work.

[PyroAlchemist]

very nice work with these. Keep it up =)

[Meiscool-2]

Yeah, I like the new height.

[Kilyle]

Does this look right?  I'm having trouble with the hair...won't seem to get unruly/strand-y.

(If anyone wants me to post a pic of the YYH cast, let me know.)

I'm wondering whether to change the length of the purple cloth...looks like it should be shorter, really.

[Kilyle]

Okay, here's my first stab at a forward walk animation.  I need feedback!  

[Bluhman]

Pretty good, but I think their skin is a tad bit dark.

[Kilyle]

You know, I think you're right.

I usually prefer a slightly dark skintone, but in these characters, it's completely inappropriate.  Thanks for the heads-up.

Anything else?  Can you 'port the walk animation into an animator on your own and give me feedback on its effectiveness, or should I repost it in RPGMaker2k3 charaset format?  (Me, I use GameMaker to check anims.)