Wow I love this so much 

 Probably my favorite peice of art on here. So emotional.

so awesome, wee bit difficult to read, but amazing especially with such a small palette, a well deserved 1st ;)

Terrific art.

 Death in combat is honorable :C

 instant fave

it's perfect =)

 I like the colours 

Beautiful work Adarias. The only small problem I can spot is that it's difficult to read because of the horse, but apart from that it's great.

Killer pixel art here, professional job!

 sweeet

Congratulations for the first place! great composition and very evocative, hope to see you in the next challenge XD

Total winner. 

 I want to say that it's slightly hard to read, but every detail is so beautiful. I love his posture, the fog, and the fact that you wrote a back story. Complete with haiku! Truly a premium package deal.

 Fantastic!  

 winner! :)

is that a haibun description?

I hoped for someone to pull this off! Made my PJ visit!

Beautiful! I agree with the sentiments that it looks a little unclear on the x1 view, but on x2 you can appreciate it fully.

Oh, Adarias, I love you so.

Edit: Goddammit you post here so seldomly yet there's no link for other media sweetness. Haven't you got another gallery with your stuff or something? (:

Lurvlay!

Dig the text as well :)

I think you can edit the piece until the submission time is over.

looks good! 

I adjusted the preview to make it more clear what the piece was going to be - I hope this is ok by challenge rules?  If not I can revert to original upload.

an agitated/rearing horse didn't fit the square :P

Love the piece but its kind of difficult to read the piece unless its in 2x. Otherwise it looks great :3

This is probably an artistic choice but why doesn't the horse give a fuck while his master is dying in an arrow rain? Not to mention he doesn't get a hit.

Btw extremely beautiful use of the crappy palette. This will win if something even more extreme doesn't come up.

very cool Adarias,you get podium.  

ekobor - I tried to draw a bit on japanese printing techniques, which are highly geared towards abstraction...it would perhaps have been better to do something that didn't go back to figurative work :D

Hrunting - if there's anything here that a person might find to their benefit, I'd hardly wish I'd kept it to myself :P.  I'm not here to win, I'm here because I enjoy art!

Hrunting; All members can see the Hall of Fame to might use great techniques, otherwise this great piece of Adarias is really a inspiration.

 I hadn't looked at the new contest nor your title yet when I clicked this, so I didn't recognize it immediately. The preview seemed mechanically abstract and the palette seemed pleasant.

I think you did well, looking at the requirements for the contest, but I prefer my original abstract view ^^;;

Great Entry, very quick, i love the fog effect, and the historical detail. Also I´m agree with you; the palette is a color restriction, but not a design restriction.

Great idea and nicely done.  The use of the other palette in the preview is a nice touch.

Wow!  Very quick...And such detail!  This is a very good start.  Strategically, though, it would have been better to keep it secret longer.  Others might use your techniques against you.

You got in early with a great start. Very nicely done.

Oh I think it was clear why the palettes were chosen, and as I've said before "restrictions" is a misnomer because itimplies that people aren't allowed to pixel anything ever unless it conforms to pixeljoint challenge prompts.  The only "true" limitations on pixel samurai are imgination and color gamut!

I'm tempted to try something that still shows those things off, since i do believe them to be the most important part of the Samurai visual identity, but probably not in time for the challenge.  This too should have gotten more attention but I was also working a regular shift around it, and I miss all kinds of challenges because I just don't find the time to finish them - so submitting now saves this from the junk bin!

Lovely design but...the colours seem neglectful of samurai armor, outfit, and pageantry :P

BTW, I do appreciate your challenge critique. I'm not entirely in agreement though, as the palettes were not intended to staunchly emulate reality, instead it was more about interesting and distinct palettes with a good value range. Anyway, like cure said, we'll try and keep your thoughts in mind if/when we run a similar challenge in the future.

A wonderful entry. Top notch in every way.

Very Sneeekay

well he isn't currently mounted... so i think this loophole has been successfully exploited :P

good work on the armor texture