The total silliness and the often completely deadpan seriousness of the sentai series' drama and delivery is a big part of the character designs, I think they could be considered 'good' much because the simplicity in these colored full-body suits is perfect for the stylish posing the characters do, it creates striking silhouettes. Had the characters' purpose been to stand and sit around and talk, or to emote facially, these character designs would've been absolutely horrible, of course. But in the context of super sentai, they work awesomely. They've got fantastic radiance.
Live-action characters can indeed be character design!
Although to feel like intense characters and not just good actors, I feel that extreme characterization with face, hair, clothes, is necessary. Or, well, that's what makes it feel like a 'CHARACTER' to me!
oomph
very detailed characters that are yet so simplified they count as delightful graphical art in itself. You like them and they feel interesting even if you don't really follow a story about it. I don't know what the friggin magic is, behind this, but this is magical character to me. Mmmhh.
I get the exact same feeling from this, but less.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/20/FLCLcharas.jpg/400px-FLCLcharas.jpgwhich is totally ok, cause it's still glorious, plus, there is actually a complete narrative about these characters. Mmm. So good. Uwah.
Was gonna post a picture of Kim Pine from scott pilgrim, one of the most successful character designs from that comic (maybe I'm just in nerd love though?) but there are NO good pictures on the internet that I can find. I find bad fanart after bad fanart and yeah.
I'm not gonna post pictures of Kim Pine with a swelled-up stomach (WHAT) drawn by a 12yearolddeviant so you'll just have to remember/imagine that she's good