And a more general post...
I like the look of the game, even though a lot of the art is unusual it is new, and that's good. When you see stuff like KOF2K where most of the stuff is recycled, you start to worry. Some observations:
What are you doing Joe Higashi??? <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0"> Let's see those hands, now!
Angel's outfit... whoa... it took a second before I realized that those middle body sections were skin.
Andy Bogard, wow. <IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">
My girl Leona... much improved... but I better buy her a few burgers to fill her out. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
That's rice, Kensou, right?
Heidern, very German.
K9999, look at the pic, why didn't they just call him Tetsuo? He needs an entrance sound bite... when he starts a match, you hear (chorus) "DA! DA!"
Mei Li, good thing we have a cute-looking girl character once again. Athena lost her cuteness after '98 and Yuri is anything but after beasting everyone in KOF2K and the CVS series. Leona and King are too badass to be cute, of course, and Hinako is fighting a losing battle trying to reconcile cuteness and sumo. Mai and Mary have progressed far beyond cute, and Angel may join them. Damn I didn't know Foxy was a chick, thought it was a feminine man like Beni, when she hugs Kula in the KOF2K win animation... oh never mind.
Backgrounds, it's hard to evaluate until you see them in action. How many are there? I count US, France, river, snow, dark room, and western.