I'm quoting one of the FE:A makers on this, but the reason the feet are minimal is due to the fact they didn't know how much space they would have left on the 3DS cartridge with everything they were doing. So they cut into the size of the game by not implementing the animation of ankles and feet (because no one has any special feet animations besides the Animals). In the end there was still enough space left, but by then they didn't bother changing it anymore. :')
I thought the feet were weird at first, but now I find it rather cute.
What I miss in Awakening is the "Rescue" option. |D How many time I didn't curse because I couldn't save weaker units. I used to use this sweeping strategy all the time when training weaker units in the GBA games. Attack from a distance, rescue with Cavalier/Pegasus Knight and get him/her out of harm's way, repeat.
oh i didnt know that :O i miss the "rescue" option too though. its equilavent "pair up" still leaves weak units on the field. in fact the strong unit hides XD