Kaoru Hanayama :: Pixel Art Detail

Getting rid of the dithering and adding highlights seems to have worked well in your edit, i shall try that.

In your edit his expression seems to have become abit more neutral, im however not exactly sure why.

The lips will stay red as thats how the original manga was drawn, and quite frankly, i like it ;)
This tiny banner was the only color picture of him i could find with a google image search http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/3186/89604398fj9.png

I think the highlights on the ears dont really work all that well. It makes em to prominent. having them abit higher looks good tho. also like what you did to the... gold thingies on the glasses.

I'll see if i can improve this picture with an edit soon.

I like the colors you've used, but I don't think the dithering is necessary. It works better on the shirt where the colors are closer together. I think the face looks a bit flat, and the red lips seem very unnatural. I'd get rid of the red or desaturate it and darken the upper lip. I'd also add some highlights to his hair and his skin. I also think the ears need to be a bit higher up, slightly bigger and further out from the head.

Something more like this, perhaps? http://www.retinaleclipse.com/graveedit.gif