[C+C] KoF style pixel portraits

[kullenberg]

So this is a commission I got from the job section on this forum. 

I got reference pictures for the faces and the rest is pretty much from imagination (and a few awkward shots taken in front of my bathroom mirror a reference) with The King of Fighters 2000 portraits as a style guide. Obviously I made the faces a little more realistic to get the likeness while also beefing them up a notch. I stole the colors of the gi from the KoF art and imitated the style of the folds etc. I wasn't trying to get a perfect match to the style, just something similar.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out overall although as always there are tons of things I could have done better. I feel like I need a fresh pair of eyes now though, so any crit would be super useful. The commission is finished, so I'm not going to make any major revisions but I'm willing to make a few tweaks if it can help me learn something new and take it to the next level.

edit: I decided to split the portraits into separate images for ease of viewing

[kullenberg]

Shameless self bump! Also added the C+C tag.

[Curly]

Those really look like KoF portraits. Nice job!

[MysteryMeat]

Looking at the references there myself, I think you might not be channeling quite enough anime into it.

These look better than the kind of fighters portraits, though, for that exact reason.
So I wouldn't worry terribly over it.

The shading MIGHT be a bit closer to binary on the original portrait style too, but I can't tell for sure.

[kullenberg]

Those really look like KoF portraits. Nice job!

Thanks

Looking at the references there myself, I think you might not be channeling quite enough anime into it.

These look better than the kind of fighters portraits, though, for that exact reason.
So I wouldn't worry terribly over it.

The shading MIGHT be a bit closer to binary on the original portrait style too, but I can't tell for sure.

Yep, that was intentional. My intention wasn't necessarily to make the style as close to KoF as possible but rather using it as a starting point/inspiration. What do you mean by the shading being closer to binary? 

[RedSuinit]

These portraits look really good. Well done.

[MAVW]

Very well done! just a really specific critique, the right cheek of the first guy, it gets steep out of nowhere.

[MysteryMeat]

by closer to binary i sorta mean that the 'blocks' of shade have kind of a harder edge than they do in your pictures. like a sort of midground between cell and standard shading, i guess?

[kullenberg]

by closer to binary i sorta mean that the 'blocks' of shade have kind of a harder edge than they do in your pictures. like a sort of midground between cell and standard shading, i guess?

Good observation. I suppose I have emphasized the midtones a bit more compared to the KoF 2000 portraits.