I mean, I'm pretty desensitized to fanservice, not least because I've reached that stage of "meh, it's something to do" a couple times, plus all of the "Okay, that's half of the first episode and I'm done with this now" shows. Doesn't mean that it's not still creepy and annoying. Same deal as how "ordinary teen falls into cockpit, becomes ace pilot" is a painfully tired cliche, but it's tolerable if the series can stand on its own merits. S'like, I can tolerate fanservice to absurd degrees if there's something even mildly worthwhile underneath it -- I managed to read through Negima to the end, if that says anything (and don't get me fucking started on how creepy so much of that was, especially with the whole double-standard issue lurking in the wings; heh, I recall one particularly brave soul who did a rewrite of the series with everyone genderflipped, at least in part to make a point IIRC) -- but when it's literally just "Here's an underaged girl doing things with a bunch of discretion shots. Oh, right and something something plot credits bye."
a fantastic setting marred only by the stories that get told in it
Bauglir hit it on the head for me as well, I think. Just the premise alone with the kaleidosticks rebelling could have made for an interesting show, regardless of whether it was set in that corner of that 'verse, so it feels like the fact that it was (especially combined with the fanservice) means that pretty much the sole purpose was as wank material, both literally and metaphorically.