Topic: On the other hand...

[Pfil]

To me a big part of the series charm is that, like Berserk, Castlevania is a work that takes cliche Western horror and fantasy ideas and gives them a fresh twist partly because the author(s) are coming from a different cultural perspective. When done well the anime style is just a more pronounced expression of the Eastern influences that help make the series special.

I completely agree with that.

From the image, 00 all the way! But I'm more of current decade style, right now.

90 is like Saber J and I like it (not for a CV game though).

Yes, it is! It reminded me instantly about SJtoX!
And you nailed it pretty good with the style I'd want, though the original topic was only to see fans reaction (my reaction would be like the Fry image when he says: "Shut up and take my money!").

[Ratty]

Ahh yes I somehow forgot about Legends. It's a pity we never got to see Sonia in 3D, and that her in-game graphics couldn't live up to her cutscene and manual/cover illustrations. I'd also like to add that I don't think the artwork in DoS and PoR are as bad as people say, or bad at all really. I do personally prefer Ayami Kojima's art and find it much more atmospheric as I suspect most here do.
But I don't think there's actually a lack of quality in the portrait/illustration art of DoS/PoR, comes down to taste etc. Of course the shift inbetween AoS and DoS is jarring and I think hurts the latter game since as one of the few direct sequels in the series* the sense of artistic continuity is more important than it normally would be.

*Depending of course on how you define "direct", I mean starring the same central characters within a short frame of time. And especially if the actual games themselves are made within a reasonably short time of each other like CV1/SQ CVA/BR RoB/SOTN