Sami new design [?]

[Rökkan]

Um, Kosheh's really right. Specially if you're trying to make these characters such a huge thing. You have to reflect on their designs, don't add things to them just because yes, or because you like it. You have to add things to them because it fits the character, and because it will reflect the way they are. In other words, stop thinking of anime characters and think of famous characters in general. As Kosheh said, there are things on those characters that make them recognizable, even without their clothing.
Mario for instance, was built on this.



They had to create the character using as few pixels as possible, but still make it easily to be recognizable. So they gave him a big nose, a big moustache, a hat, and that clothing.

You can easily see his clothing, hat, hair, eyes, mostache and nose, even with those few pixel blocks.

Let's take Sonic as another example.

He was designed with "attitude" in mind. He was designed to be something cool, full of attitude and rebel. I couldn't pick a picture of an early design of him, but I guess his final design still counts.
His spikes give him a punk look, and leaning them backwards like that makes him look something fast, ready to ignite. Pointy shoes also contribute to that feel. Triangular/pointy shapes usually gives that feel.
Rocket Knight Sparkster is a good example of that, have a look:





The first screen is of his first game. His sprite has a bulky and cute look, but on his second game, Sparkster's sprite was changed to something more slim in favor of triangular shapes and a much more 'ready to ignite' look, which is something that Sparkster aims to represent.

Summing it up, you have to do character design based on what the character represents. Is your character supposed to represent something youngful, like Klonoa? Use all of your character's data that sums up his essence (personality, what does he do, where does it live, what age does the story take place, etc) to create the feel that you want to give to other persons about your character, and add an unique feel to their expressions and clothing that will make them outstand other characters. A good thing to do is after creating your character design, ask people what do they think of it, how the character is by just looking at his design. Their facial expression feels kind of generic if you want my honest opinion, and I can't see Koki's appeal by looking at his design. Sami does look tomboy-ish and actually looks like having a halfway solid character design. I guess the only thing that she really really needs is the touch of uniqueness. Koki still looks very generic, and if you're basing his character design on what you wear, stop it. Just stop it. Let go of your connection with the character and let them raise as something different than you. Having your character be based on your own identity, is the first step for being a Mary Sue.