...I'd answer the top option even though I haven't seen any of those because I've seen other post 2000 anime and in fact, in many regards, I like them better than most earlier stuff. I certainly wouldn't regard the genre as having collectively jumped the shark.
My favourites are Hellgirl, Fruits Basket, Azumanga Daioh, and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (stylistically, to me, the last one is an epistemological mystery show: is Haruhi God, or Kyon, both, or neither? and exploring the proposition "As above, so below") Elfen Lied gets honourable mention as good trauma porn and a superb emotional roller coaster.
...is anime as tribalized as heavy metal?
My favourites are Hellgirl, Fruits Basket, Azumanga Daioh, and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (stylistically, to me, the last one is an epistemological mystery show: is Haruhi God, or Kyon, both, or neither? and exploring the proposition "As above, so below") Elfen Lied gets honourable mention as good trauma porn and a superb emotional roller coaster.