If you recall the Broly reboot from 2018, one of the single best animation showcases Toei Animation ever produced, one of the supervisors ignored Shintani’s designs and used Nakatsuru inspired ones, and it was the best looking part of the movie, outside of the Naotoshi Shida cut (who also ignored the design sheets.)

The older style is perfectly compatible with complex animation. The reason it didn’t happen back in the day is because studios just didn’t prioritize it back then except for movies. Contrary to what nerds say, the anime industry has gotten a lot better in the past 30 years.

Once I’m at my computer I’ll post a follow-up with links and/or screenshots.