Do these shows with laser-targeted demographics actually please anyone at all? I don't understand how something so worthless and awful could appeal to anybody ever.
Neonivek didn't outright say it's "worthless and awful". This is Neonivek remember. Most of his complaints are about what it didn't have rather than what it did: comparing it to some non-existent show that theoretically could have been better. You could do that for any show on Earth.
I wouldn't say it has "laser targeted demographics" either. You can't really make that call without watching it. Neonivek said:
I don't regret it, it actually has some good ideas and characterization in there. I'd even kind of call it a good anime but you have to watch it knowing full well that this is meant to be a Teen-child fantasy land. You watch it with your inner child front and center so to speak, like you were watching Fineas and Ferb.
So it's a good show (even according to Neonivek) if you don't take it too seriously. Which I kind of find hard to believe you COULD do after the first episode. It's basically a world of catpeople vs dogpeople wars with padded swords and jumping castles where the "wars" heavily resemble tv shows like Wipeout. It's meant to be silly and childish. That's the appeal.
People from Earth are considered to be superhuman by the residents of this world, no matter how mundane they are. That in itself is really silly, and is in fact an inversion of the normal trope where the "outworlder" (e.g. Superman) is always superior to people from Earth. Complaining that it never gets deeper into analysis of the tropes it contains isn't really a valid complaint. Why derail it's own set up? Trying to tack some analysis level onto a fun show would just make it ... not the same fun show you're watching. Ok, so a show derails and deconstructs it's own concept. Then what? The last two episodes of NGE maybe?
It's targeted at anyone who likes cute stuff, comedy, fantasy and action. Which is a hella big demographic. The best description is to say it's like Zero no Tsukaima, but without the sadomasochistic violence and perverted main character tropes. So I'd say this has more potential for cross-appeal than Familiar of Zero did, enough for this anime to be greenlit for a third season starting in 2015.