Yeah, absolutely. That's definitely the impression I've formed (although there are people who know a lot more about this stuff, of course).

I do tend to feel that there were just so many ideas in that group, and that they were really trying to do something different, express something. And that's something I really appreciate even when it doesn't quite work out. (Ikeda Riyoko is still my favourite though. Partly I think she actually got very close to what she was trying to say sometimes, and partly some of her characters might as well be custom-made to push all my buttons.)