@IronStylus A Slight Change in Direction for New Ahri Splash?

EDIT Looks like the PBE splash is really improved over the old splash that they had proposed. Super news!

Third time trying to post this, the first two times I got the 404 error, and I've had to re-type everything. Incredibly annoying. Anyways, TL;DR at the bottom!

So, the new splash Riot has provided is quite polarizing! My main goal with this is to bring more exposure to Mikan Box's post and edits to the new splash art provided by Riot. Hopefully this will gain traction and at least get some responses going. All of Mikan's edits can be found in the link, and I will briefly comment on what I like in the picture over the provided Riot splash.

For me Mikan's edit is spot on how I felt that the original splash should have been. With Ahri being that of a temptress seducing men and stealing their soul's once she's satisfied you would have thought that she would look inviting but still have that devious air about her. The original splash seemed to point towards a more timeless, ageless face alluding to Ahri's very long life, but failed to capture her darker motives. Where the splash that Riot provides fails is that it does away with even her ageless features, instead giving her the look of an 18 year old girl by softening up all of her defining features. Her eyes in the new splash are large and bright, lips big and puffy, whiskers barely visible, and her fox ears have all but disappeared; shrunken and decidedly void of anything that would really call attention to them. Mikan's edit gives back her large ears, narrows the lips slightly by giving her a slight smirk, and narrows her eyes and darkens the bright gold to more of a smoldering yellow. Of course she also darkens her whiskers and makes them stand out more. With the changes she looks older, and far more alluring in the dangerous sense.

Mikan also fixes the issue with the Riot splash Ahri's left hand being incredibly small despite having larger arms and shoulders. Another minor thing is that Ahri, according to the New Dawn cinematic, has long pointed nails, which the Riot splash is decidedly void of, so Mikan fixed that as well. Also he/she (don't know...) fixed the fact that Ahri's hand looked disfigured and malformed... almost gross if you look closely at it. There is the slight change to the bust, which I agree with, because at the angle you're looking from it would make sense for the breasts area to have a more slightly upturned look to them.

The final place where I'll comment on is the lighting change Mikan made to the fore and backgrounds. While some didn't quite agree with it, I do like the changes because it helps with Ahri's interaction within the environment. If she has a bright glowing ball then it is going to cast light all over the place, which softens the edges pretty much everywhere else. My issue with the Riot splash is that the leaves and branches are too sharp and clearly defined, the eye has a natural tendency to look at such things, which distracts the viewer from looking Ahri. By adding the lighting glow to everywhere around Ahri it creates a natural funnel for which to channel the viewer's gaze to one of the least busy but clearly defined areas on the artwork, which is her face. With all of the blues and whites and reds the dark burnished gold of her eyes really catches you and reels you in.

For me and a few others Mikan Box's edit really catches the proper thematic's of Ahri's design and amplifies them in a way that flatters her character. Mikan also fixes some nasty little issues (such as her deformed hands) and gives the artwork a more polished appearance while not detracting from the design direction that the new splash was supposed to follow by focusing more on Ahri herself and not her tails. Give this edit a look IronStylus and let us know what you think! Check out Mikan's post and upvote it to give it some exposure!

TL;DR: There are a lot of people that do not like the new splash art because it takes away some of the key elements that help define Ahri as a champion. The new splash art changes her eyes and lips, (softening them up and making them more resemble a cute and cuddly girl rather than a soul-stealing temptress) as well as toning down her whisker marks while downplaying her ears. All of these differences can been to conflict with her character model, as you can see these details when you zoom in and examine her character model. While many do believe that the splash Riot has provided does go in the right direction by making Ahri herself more of the focus of the artwork versus just showcasing her tails... the differences in key features really detracts. So I'm trying to help bring this post I found some more exposure, because I feel that this could build the bridge between the two camps as a great compromise.