>>190757724The major issue was that KyoAni bought a bunch of absolute noname LN properties, to adapt themselves so that they could hold onto the licensing rights for the merchandise rather than be basically a rental service for publishers to promote material they didn't own.
This was seen as an incredibly greedy move and once the first shows coming out of their stash of private-owned IPs came in, things like KnK, people saw the difference and called it out as horseshit that KyoAni would sacrifice adapting better material just for money. That and the fujo pandering angle factoring into things definitely did their image in. Regardless they still had some generally KyoAni-feeling shows in between these like Amagi and Maid Dragon.
Hibike, I don't know, feels more like the newer type of KyoAni where things are super serious and melancholy. VEG is that feeling on steroids. I think of peak KyoAni as things like K-on and feel that, if modern KyoAni were to make that exact same adaptation, it'd be a lot more somber and tryhard on the animation, filters, lighting etc and elicit a completely different feel than it did then. But who is to say any of that matters when they still at least existed and were generally at the top of the craft still after all these years.