Close, very close
But no cigar just yet. I'm liking that you seem to be using less anime and more of...something else, this felt more like a hybrid style. But I really am starting to get sick of anime, anyone who's taken any sort of art class knows that these days anime is "the easy way out". Seriously, I'm not kidding, took me 2 days tops to actually master it, and it's not like I'm a super art prodigy, I'm pretty mediocre and /or crap at other styles.
The story seems interesting, I might be inclined to watch the rest of the series, but I'm gonna want to see something a little more western(or southern? Is there a southern art style indigenious to that hemisphere?) style, I can't relate very well to this triangular asian stuff, plus I don't like the typical "over exaggeration" when it comes to displaying emotions thats a staple to anime, like when the teal dude says "WHAT?!? Not more fighting..." And he flops his arms all over the place. A slight widening of the eyes and a vague depressed look afterwards would've done the trick, but I know firsthand how hard it is to animate subtle movements like that, which is probably why anime uses over-exaggeration.
But you've clearly got a lot of talent, you're kinetics were great, all the normal movement of the characters felt like they all carried the proper amount of weight, and the scottish/british accents were a refreshing break from the normal whiny, high pitched voices you usually get with the anime genre. In fact, I wish more non-anime animations and such would use that kind of voice acting, it sounds both silly and serious at the same time, it's great!
So keep up the good work, hopefully you can find some time away from any deadlines to refine your style, and come back with a real ass-kicker!
Yes, I must sound like some fancy-pants windbag art proffessor, I can assure you I'm not, I just hate the fact that anime is everywhere now and I can't escape it. It's like it's taking over American youth culture! And, even scarier, adult culture...
Oh and a word of advice, when you had Ominus give that evil smile after his welcoming to "Boy o' Steel' (I think it was after he said 8 stand before him) it felt kind of off... like, his mouth suddenly had melted shut and had split open on his right side. I'm being anal retentive, but whats art without trying to improve and perfect your creations?
8 and a 5, well earned, but come back with something different and better than all those narutards and DBZ fanboys next time, or it be the plank for ye!