Quote from citizen zero on 08/12/08 at 12:25:08:

 I think Царь Евреев is Russian cyrillic for Jewish King. I can still remember some cyrillic from elementary school.

Yeah, stylization can so often just mean stagnation.  I do have to wonder though, in the case of these illustrators, how much of the consistency is their own limitation and how much of it is the result of producers choosing works that stem from previous successes.  I mean, consistency is the crowning glory of an illustrator; at the same time it can strangle him.
 
Personally I like Amano's work.  I agree that there is a lot of similarity between his character designs, but I find his touch a lot more provocative.  He's a far superior mood maker than other people who have led art direction in the Final Fantasies.  I think FF6, for instance, would not feel the same without Amano's work.