Did a bunch of pixelation tests and I think this is the best setup so far.

assets/enemies.json

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
       {"_type": "EnemyConfig", "ai_script": "Enemy::actions", "ai_start_name": "Enemy::initial_state", "ai_goal_name": "Enemy::final_state"},
       {"_type": "Personality", "hearing_distance": 5, "tough": true},
       {"_type": "Sprite", "name": "axe_ranger", "width": 256, "height": 256, "scale": 1.0},
-      {"_type": "Animation", "easing": 3, "ease_rate": 0.5,  "scale": 0.1, "simple": false, "frames": 2, "speed": 0.6, "stationary": false},
+      {"_type": "Animation", "easing": 3, "ease_rate": 0.5,  "scale": 0.1, "simple": true, "frames": 1, "speed": 0.6, "stationary": false},
       {"_type": "Sound", "attack": "Sword_Hit_2", "death": "Ranger_1"}
     ]
   },