What a cool post!
Hmm... I wonder if the visual style of an era is as much a reflection of the style of the individual artists who were the major players at that time?
I can say that the use of color is most likely related to the limited palette available in cel painting used at the time. (Or gouache or markers for manga.) Cels tended to need highly saturated colors to keep the finished artwork from fading out under the camera.
Digital coloring has opened up the whole spectrum to the modern colorist, so it makes sense to see such a dramatic change.
UnseenKingdom
joined
Hello! We are the sister duo behind the indie game studio Unseen Kingdom. Our premier title "Artisan: Going Home Again" is out on Desura.com and available at our site - November 1st. I'll try to get a demo up here tonight for you guys to try out, ok? Hope you have fun!