I wrote a large post about it last night but didn't feel like posting it. Basic gist was, that art you miss is just not the marketplace art being made in the west right now anymore. That style of portraits you posted is niche, and most mass markets I think would even consider it ugly? Even besides that anime influences have so thoroughly been digested in the west you're seeing it everywhere now.
MtG have been pissy for awhile because its been pretty animeish for a minute now. I don't even want to call it animeish its just that everyone has seeen akira, gits, read lone wolf and cub now. This is just popular fantasy art now. Deal with it?
I still dunno how you look at this and go "yeah I miss bad airbrush art from 2002, it was better" though, taste aside =P:
