The SoL genre today, by definition, pretty much just demands it to be a show about cute girls doing cute things and, as much as that phrase has been beaten to death, it's been accomplished countless times in numerous ways. There are many paths a studio can take with its writing such as making the show more of a comedy throughout, or adding supernatural elements into it, or making it more of a dramatic tone through its progression, or just throwing moe all over the place like K-On. Natsuiro happens to take just a few bits and pieces of each different possibility and puts it together. It's not terribly melodramatic nor is it that much of a drama in the first place. There's not much of a consistent attempt at setup and execution for jokes and humor, but it's not flat either. And of course the most glaring element in the show is the supernatural aspect, which gives the plot a little bit more of a drive to it than nothing happening.
It's true that the show is really nothing more than just a day-to-day life of a group of characters. The supernatural aspect of the show offers a fair plot device to provoke a bit more character dynamics and scenarios in the show. Rather than the girls running into problems themselves, or in some cases, instead of giving them a solution to a problem they're having, the 'wish-granting' rock offers them a sort of genie's wish granting by solving their problem in a way that doesn't actually help them. This in turn offers a chance for the characters to go through their own catharsis in each episode.
As for the show's presentation, the strongest point lies in its character designs, animation and the overall quality of the show. It's a colorful and vibrant color palette with great backgrounds, and a lot of chances for it to boast nice 'beauty' shots of the environment around the characters. There's a lot of attention to background characters in a few scenes, for example in a public setting where the characters would get a bit too loud and a background character who was texting began to give looks and offer a noise of annoyance, before turning back to text, and then looking again, rather than what most shows do is draw a simple generic character, turn their head once, and then just stare for the duration of the dialogue. Music overall is nothing too special or spectacular, but it does the job properly when the correct mood is needed.
Despite Natsuiro's effort to make a solid plot with good progression, the actual characters themselves fall somewhat flat in the end. For the duration of the show, there is a fair amount of growth in the characters, and most of the cast do have good personalities to them rather than just following their archetypes. A few episodes go back in time to give a bit more insight to the character's background and their tendencies/habits. But in the very long run, there is not much depth to the characters themselves. That could be blamed on the fact that they are very young, just being middle-schoolers in the show, so as real people they haven't exactly found themselves or formed their own personalities, but that isn't to say they're completely one-dimensional. It's just a short jump they needed to being solid characters.
Natsuiro is definitely not the cream of the crop when it comes to a show that tries to deviate from the more typical and common formula of a SoL show, but it has its good merits. It falls short in characters mostly due to the length of the show, but otherwise it tries its best and offers a warm and easy show to watch. It doesn't take itself too seriously, it has a strong beginning and a satisfying ending to it.
Animation: 8/10 - The visuals in the show are easily its strongest point.
Sound: 7/10
Story: 6/10 - There's not too spectacular of a scenario, but it's good enough to pilot the show in the right direction.
Character: 6/10 - The characters are the weakest part of the show, but it's not too gigantic of a flaw considering the fair amount of character dynamics offered in the show.
Value: 4/10 - Once again, the show doesn't stand too far out of the crow of SoL shows these days.
Enjoyment: 9/10 - It was an easy to enjoy show with a great mood and tone overall throughout.
