Admittedly I haven't seen this anime, but I'm guessing it's aimed towards young girls and not otaku.
That's just the thing. In the 80's you could have shojo manga/anime characters that hadn't been fetishied for otaku. Nowadays it's hard to find a series starring girls that don't have the compulsory and formulaic episodes for the kimono/maid outfit/towel at hot springs/whatever the current fetish is with the otaku.
See this view does not even remotely reflect reality. Let's take a look at last season and see if I find any show with female leads that isn't otaku pandering nonsense.
http://i.imgur.com/8MfH8Jk.jpg
Shows targeted specifically at girls:
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (shoujo manga adaptation)
Say, I Love You (shoujo manga adaptation)
Kamisama Kiss (shoujo manga adaptation)
Hiiro no Kakera (otome game adaptation)
Aikatsu (female oriented social game adaptation?)
Other shows with female leads that don't come across as otaku pandering at all:
Kyousogiga
Code: Breaker
From the New World
Psycho-Pass
So hard to find! That was only the majority of shows with female leads! There are shows like you describe, but they are a minority and easy to skip.