Finally got around to watching the episode. I liked it. Not the greatest opening to a Sentai but I thought it was good. Of course now to see if the next few episodes can keep my interest going.

But like, what would any of that have really added? It certainly doesn't give you more insight into the characters or the world or the story.

I agree that the premiere needed more room to breathe, but I'd prefer that breathing room was filled with character interactions or story developments or exploration of the world... not jokes about how easy/hard it is to henshin or exposition about minutia. You know?

It would show the red ranger isn't completely aware of the current situation. It could show that there is more mystique than we're aware of.
Much like the mysterious character picking up the 6th cube, you don't need to dedicate 100% of a scene just to fully set the stage.
It's the little things that help a series keep me invested.

For example, if the next episode begins with Sela smacking Tusk over the head and forcing him to accept Yamato's offer, then it could be asked "What was the point of the final scene of this episode?" since it could be resolved so quickly.
The point was the add a little to Tusk's character (Note: I'm not saying it will be resolved like that, I'm just using it as a hypothetical)

Regardless of how minor things seem, it could always come back later on. If Yamato had shown inexperience and confusion over the scenario, in addition to greater shock to everything he witnessed, then we could see it come around through the series.
As it is now, he was mildly startled, then became a wet blanket and proceeded to outclass his allies who were supposed guardians.

Comedy can be used to teach us about a character, but random action will tell us nothing.

I'm with Matrix here. Watching the characters learn about the world they're in and their new powers is definitely a form of character development, and it also helps with the world building. I brought up Zyuranger earlier for a reason - watching the characters struggle to obtain their weapons and figure out how to combine into DaiZyuJin made me connect to those things a little bit more. This (and other more recent series) just glossed over those. I mean, it makes sense for, say, Gokaiger or Ninninger, since they already start off knowing how to use their powers. But if you're going to have a main character discover new worlds and awaken new powers, at least show them figuring out the power. Superman's entire story is about him trying to cope with his powers. People figuring out their powers makes for great development. But no, they'd rather rush through that so they can..what? Have an extra filler episode of the team fighting a random monster and saving some random person?

I still think that the main mech should at LEAST be saved until episode two. It showing up in the first episode felt rushed here, it felt rushed in Ninninger, and it felt rushed in ToQger. Even if it's like Kyoryuger, where one of the mech parts shows up in episode one but they don't combine until episode two.

Now, I'm not saying that it was a bad first episode, or that it'll lead to a bad series. I still have high hopes for this series and think it'll be a lot of fun based on the first episode. I just think it could have been much better if they delved deeper into what was going on.

There is still the hope for a director's cut for the blu-ray of the first few eps which they did for Kyoryuger. All is not completely lost for folks who expect a tad more.

What would something as minor as the changes people are suggesting add though? In the grand scheme, it's still a relatively fast paced episode and these changes don't impact the course of events in any way.

Personally, I think the fast pace of the episode was an intentional thing. Yamato is definitely supposed to be the POV character for the audience and things were rushed through simply because there's no way he could understand them yet. At least in so far as everything leading up to the action, which I will admit, did one of the most annoying things Sentai can do early on by having its cast know the ins and outs of their powers from the first moment.

For all the work that went into making Zyuland, we really didn't see a lot of it in this episode. I think this show would have been served better by a Gingaman style premiere - essentially a two parter that takes its time. Episode two of that show ended at almost the exact point episode one here ends, with the characters being taken in.

For the record I enjoyed episode 1 for not stretching things out. ;)
Still got a whole year so no rush.

In Dairanger it was just Red who went from new guy to instant combat expert, the 4 others were already a team under the management of the mentor. But one can argue he was special to start with because of his origins. The 6th ranger was also a special case, it was more or less the sentient dagger guiding the boy.
As Dairanger universe follows a Yin-Yang balance of things, in some ways it was okay one side suddenly get himself a new champion given all that was happening on the Gorma's side.

Yeah, the part that bothered me most was how everyone knew how to Super Sentai so fast. The Zyumens, I can understand. Maybe they teach this stuff in school for them. The human? Unless the Eagle Zyuman told him "Here's how to use the Rubix Cube of Power", he really should be fumbling with that thing until he transforms or summons Pinhead.

This. Just because something is common within the series doesn't mean it shouldn't at least make sense.

I could have sworn that at least one other one had just joined the team at the same time. It's been a while though, and I only saw a couple of episodes, so I'm probably remembering wrong.