Jams, thanks for the info I never heard of Sukeban.
My cog is clearly a rush-job but it should be recognisable enough with some squarer line-work, tweaking size and colours etc.
It shouldn't take priority over the text though.
Wanyo, always provide as much information about what you are doing at the start.
Some of us have low-level psychic ability but its often not reliable and requires more time and energy
Photoshop problem sounds painful.
As unpleasant as it may be, try uninstall the whole thing and install a newer version?
My CS5 runs solid with occasional Wacom driver crash that fixes itself after a few seconds anyway so no big disrutions.
Good to hear you want more happening in the background.
The contrasting themes makes for a great idea.
I hope they've given you enough time to develop this further.
My advice:Forget about jaggies and focus on composition first.
Don't get into detail on anything in particular at this stage.
Sketch everything roughly on separate layers so you can move it all around.
Make pointers and notes about what is what if its too rough to see.
Rough out a few scenes and develop the best one/s.
Things like flowers, rainbows sunshine etc. help create initial happy feeling. Warmer colours and higher saturation makes the viewer see these first which is probably where you want to start this. You can tweak this later so it doesn't take priority over the main character.
You could add some more disturbing images in the background for contrasting themes.
Using tools such as less contrast and saturation to lower their visual priorty, the eye will naturally read these things AFTER the foreground items. This adds a dimension that keeps the viewer entertained for much longer and you don't need to stress about visual clutter.
Think of ideas to make the background interesting. For example you have permission to have my avatar eating something he probably just found in the trash can haha
Cute kids doing something naughty.
Barely visible sign for an adult book store in the background.
These kind of images seem to fit the idea for me but obviously you need to clear these ideas with the band.
A brick wall in mid-ground covered with old posters is classic arcade fighting game stuff, a cheap and easy way out to add some additional references, messages or shout-outs.
Look at this image by Fool for example, there's alot going on so you can look at it for ages:
For the main character as jams said, increase the length of the skirt as it just looks weird being neither short nor long right now.
Look at references and use key identifiers such as the red neck ties to make her recognisable.
Bringing her forward you should be able to squeeze a little pentagram on there if you want. Perhaps you could draw the lines across the entire mask rather than a small one on her forehead.
I got bored so made this example though obviously you can improve it, curve the lines around the forms of the mask, add a mouth grill or whatever:
