Meanwhile the true role of the kid is interesting. While his power is not at the heart of the action it promises interesting revelations about what is actually going on. But even better is that he does have a personality and interacts in an interesting way with the rest of the cast. But here's the real problem. The reason the personalities are strong is because there's precious little time to do anything with them.
Likewise stories are simplistic affairs.
This is made worse by the agressive and excessive over-use of transformation and attack sequences. Heck, even things like giving orders have their own excessively long sequences. An effect magnified if you watch several episodes in a row. The design work is also, intentionally, screwy. Each transform and mecha seems to be designed to be a toy or other piece of merchandise.