I think Kyoryuger, like almost every Sentai, was serious when it needed to be, light when it wanted to be, nothing out or the ordinary. And it worked fine, not going overboard like say, Go-onger, as some people feared. It knew when to stop.
It's even clearer now that the "dark" statement was just a higher-up trying to use polite words to criticize a product on which he shared fault for the results.
I don't think Go-Busters is dark, edgy, grim, whathaveyou. I don't even think it was subdued (oh, the unending chicken joke, oh god stop, oh god).
I think it was just so deeply, painfully dull you could use it as a treatment for people with chronic insomnia.
Pretty much this. The Sentai with the unbearable chicken joke, one of the most cartoonish things i ever seen in Sentai, has "subtle" comedy. Yeah right, heh.
Go-Busters also tried to make comedy, notably with the Buddyroids, but the comedy didn't work, notably because Kobayashi isn't very skilled in writing comedy.
Couldn't agree anymore. I like Kobayashi and all, but her attempts of humor are almost physically painful. It was already bad with the Imagin's "gimmicks", but the Buddyroids took it to another level of unfunnyness.
Even in her better shows, like Timeranger or Shinkenger, the comedy felt really out of place, most of the time. And despite of Den-o, i always had the feeling she doesn't feel comfortable writing comedy for some reason.