I hope you have a Happy New Year too!

Besides that...
Well...
I love your signature.

The small sprite got better. Yay.
The style probably looks better via flat shading, to conform with the small sprite. Of course, in matters of style, many things are controversial, so whatever floats your boat. Haha.
His clothes are too thick. Man. That samurai is suffocating in there. Make the scarf less symmetric, add a tail to it, like in the sprite... and his shoulders seem... well... very off. That sprite is much more anatomically correct. Try using it to help better some very strange things you have in the portrait.