Recap: Ressha Sentai ToQger, Station (Episode) 4 – Be Careful Not to Lose Anything

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A little boy sees the Rainbow Line pulling into the Shounan Shinagawa Station. Wagon is at the door and blows a kiss to him as well as his father. But she’s sad the father doesn’t see her. Conductor and Ticket remind her that only those with Imagination can see her and the Rainbow Line. Adults don’t have that.

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Mio comes into the main car and tells the others that they have a three hour layover. She invites them to come exercise with her, especially Tokatti who she suggests should come and build his muscles. But Tokatti says he’s going to the library since for them, their Imagination is more important.

He suggests Mio should work out her Imagination instead of her muscles.

Kagura comes in and says she’ll go shopping since Wagon told her they can use their Rainbow Passes at any store with touch registers. Tokatti perks up. So as long as they have the Rainbow Pass, they can have anything?

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Fantastic!!! WOOHOO!

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The ToQgers head out of the station.

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Right is enjoying all-you-can-eat barbeque. Kagura’s buying a new pair of earrings. Hikari buys an orange soda. And Mio is out for a run.

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Tokatti, meanwhile, is on a shopping spree. He stocks up on books, electronics and clothes.

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He heads back to the train and Wagon is wowed by his haul. Why not, he says, since everything is free as long as he has the Rainbow Pass. But everything is not free, Wagon says. They have to pay everything back later.

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WHAT!?
Tokatti quickly collects his purchases and goes to return them.

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Gritta watches her Schwartz-sama talking to himself, wishing the Kuliner trains, while great, had more than one type, like the ToQgers’ trains. If only he could have a good look at the Rainbow Line. Gritta decides to find a way to secretly help him.

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The ToQgers return to the station and swipe their passes to board the train. But Tokatti finds his Pass is missing. He freaks out and thinks he left it at one of the stores during his rush to return everything he bought.

Conductor and Ticket say they can’t let him back on the train and they can’t issue another Pass. Wagon pops out and tells them the next station, Painful River, seems to have been engulfed by the Shadow Line.

They need to hurry then. Conductor tells Tokatti to make his way on foot. Right and Tokatti try to remove the ticket gate, but Mio suggests she stay with Tokatti and help him get to the next station by bus or taxi using her Rainbow Pass.

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Stove Shadow is already attacking the locals of Painful River, inflicting pain hoping to create some darkness. Right, Kagura and Hikari arrive and henshin with Tokatti and Mio able to arrive right after by taxi. They henshin too.

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They do their roll call and Stove Shadow says there’s nothing tokkyu (express) about the two stragglers. But no matter, the ToQ train is complete. They fight off the Kuros as Stove Shadow hops back on the Shadow Line train to move on to the next station.

Right calls the Rainbow Line and he, Kagura and Hikari board. They tell Tokatti and Mio they’ll relay the exact location when they find out.

With the taxi having left, Tokatti and Mio decide to head in the general direction of the Shadow Line train moving down river.

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They hop on a bus and watch a nice grandpa and grandma enjoying an orange.

Back at the Castle Terminal, Schwartz sees a letter fly in with an opportunity to observe the Rainbow Line trains. He decides to take it and Gritta is happy to help him, even in secret.

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Stove Shadow is at the dam and prepares to set buildings and the mountain on fire to cause pain. But Right ends up catching the two burning pieces of coal before they can hit their targets.

Kagura calls Tokatti and Mio with their location. Mio looks it up using the Map app on her Rainbow Pass and Tokatti says the fastest way is through the mountain. Mio catches up as Tokatti runs ahead.

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I know you’re worried I can’t do this, Tokatti says, but I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I couldn’t. He tells Mio that he’s been thinking about it for a while, how he thinks he’s the most useless one on the team. He’s not as good a fighter as her or Right. He loves studying, but Hikari is still smarter than him. And Kagura seems like a dainty girl, but can be strong when she’s in a pinch.

He, on the other hand… is useless!!!

Tokatti falls to the ground, hands over his head. It’s okay, Mio says, they should just push forward. Tokatti apologizes and pops back up.

Actually, Mio says she’s always thought Tokatti was manly and reliable. Something must have happened to make her think that way.
Really? When? Where?

Well, Mio reminds him that they have amnesia, so she doesn’t really remember.

Oh.

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Conductor and Ticket are watching Right, Kagura and Hikari on the screen get tossed around by Stove Shadow. In the main car, Wagon is mopping up when she sees Tokatti’s Pass under the stove.

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Tokatti finally starts to grow tired and gets frustrated with himself again. But Mio says she also has worries. Sometimes she wonders if she has less Imagination than the rest of them. She doesn’t think she’d be able to imagine anything without Right. She’s not even sure why she was chosen to be a ToQger. That’s why when Tokatti suggested she work out her Imagination, it hurt, it hit a soft spot.

But you back everyone up, even me, Tokatti says. The ToQgers would be nothing without her.

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Thanks, Mio says. They smile, but suddenly, Mio slips and falls off the side of the cliff. Tokatti catches her hand and holds on to her.

FLASHBACK!

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A young Tokatti grabs a young Mio before she falls from the Tower of Heaven tree.

They remember.

Mio safely back on solid ground, she tells Tokatti that was the moment she thought he was reliable. Tokatti vaguely remembers that moment too, but why were they in that situation. It’s alright, Mio says, they’ll remember eventually.

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She stands and helps Tokatti up. Let’s do our best since we both have our complexes. Sure, Tokatti says.

They hear a train whistle. It’s the Rainbow Line. Wagon opens the door and tosses Tokatti his Rainbow Pass. He then remembers it must have bounced out when he fell in the train.

Stove Shadow still has the upper hand against the three ToQgers. Right is telling himself the burning heaps of coal don’t hurt.

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Right must be biting his tongue pretty bad through, Hikari thinks. And it appears he has. Right says he’s fine and can even punch himself.

Oh really, Stove Shadow replies. He decides to try it out and unleashes a shower of burning coal onto himself to try. Ouch, it hurts!

Oh really?

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Just then, the Rainbow Line pulls in and drops off Tokatti and Mio. They henshin.

Oh, it’s the non-express guys again, Stove Shadow jokes. But Tokatti and Mio say they won’t be the slow trains this time. Let’s go at full speed they say as they decide to transfer and switch lines.

As Tokatti and Mio get started on Stove Shadow, Right, Kagura and Hikari also transfer; Right to Pink, Kagura to Green and Hikari to Red.

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Right and Hikari run to help Tokatti and Mio, but Kagura lags behind, struggling to even hold up Hikari’s weapon again. She falls.

Stove Shadow is about to take a swipe at her, but Tokatti blocks. Mio fires, Stove Shadow ducks, but Tokatti hits it right back at him.

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The ToQgers transfer back to their original colors and form the bazooka to deliver the Rainbow Rush. Tokatti’s finisher idea is a rubber band flick. It hurts and Stove Shadow blows up only to quickly embiggen.

The ToQgers summon their Resshas and combine into ToQ-Oh.

Schwartz watches and says this really was a good opportunity. He launches two Kuliners which morph into big robos with Kuros at the controls to help Stove Shadow.

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The ToQgers take a beating with the Kuliner Robos holding them still as Stove Shadow attacks. Ticket pops up in front of Right to gives him a new train to summon the Shield Ressha.

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Please try to avoid damaging the trains any further, Ticket says before he pops back down the train chimney in front of Right. Right is too late to catch Ticket and tries to peep down the pipe to see Conductor. But Hikari says they have more important things to tend to.

They summon the Shield Ressha which pops up but then heads straight at ToQ-Oh. It knocks ToQ-Oh over and out of the grip of the Kuliner Robos. They manage to grab their sword back and Shield Ressha links up.

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Now with a shield, the ToQgers manage to fight off the Kuliner Robos and then use a Signal Shield Beam before finishing Stove Shadow off with a Fumikiriken Ressha Slash.

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But suddenly, General Schwartz bursts out of a mountain in his Shadow Line train. He thanks them for showing him their trains. He vows to make those trains his one day.

He introduces himself and says someday, they will fight. He tosses them a rose before speeding away.

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Back on track and in the train, the ToQgers are cleaning the main car. They must work to repay the money they spent using their Rainbow Passes.

Tokatti is on a ladder cleaning up high, but when he shows the others he’s wearing his Pass around his neck, he falls and lands right on top of Mio.

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Oh, sorry, Tokatti says as he gets off Mio. But Wagon is giddy. She saw a kiss. Mio screams and slaps Tokatti.

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Episode Thoughts
I am definitely loving ToQger.

I enjoy the emotional whiplash they seem to like doing.

For example: You’re laughing at Tokatti’s shopping spree one moment then taking in a sweet little moment between grandma and grandpa. You’re chuckling at Conductor and Ticket’s absurd close-ups, then you get punched in the gut seeing Young Tokatti save Young Mio from falling from the Tower of Heaven tree and from dying. (MaGMCM!) You’ve got Kagura dragging Hikari’s weapon along and Tokatti’s rubber finisher and then you’re in awe of Schwartz-sama’s grand entrance. Then you finish it all off giggling at Wagon being getting all horned up at seeing Tokatti on top of Mio and Mio eventually slapping him.

That’s not some simple, half-assed storytelling. That’s a pretty insane balancing act. And from what I’ve watched of Kobayashi Yasuko’s work (Shinkenger, Go-Busters, OOO), I know she has no problem being serious and fun at the same time. It takes a lot of effort to keep up the running gags while still furthering the (still very dark) story and fleash out the characters, which I think she and the show have done fine with so far.

Tokatti’s complex may be deja vu from Kyoryuger and Nobu, but it and Mio’s own insecurities works in a few ways. It established that connection between Tokatti and Mio while also filling in another piece of the memories just like last week with Kagura and Right. But it also gives the ToQgers flaws without needing chickens, diabetes or getting too hot. They’re not perfect ghosts, they are ghosts with insecurities and that helps keep their characters both full and grounded.

Poor Hikari though. Right and Kagura, Tokatti and Mio. I don’t know if they’ll have another female ToQger. (Is the upcoming Orange one a guy? Maybe a 7th, female ToQger?) Who’ll he end up with? Wagon?

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Another week and another great use of fresh locations. Loved that scene on the cliff and them running to that countryside bus stop. And that bus ride itself was very nice. Seeing the grandparents was very sweet and indeed, like Mio say, very relaxing considering what’s happening around them.

And man do I want a Rainbow Pass/smartphone. It looks awesome.

Toei and Bandai seem to have learned from their missteps with Go-Busters. It’s fine to do a darker, more serious story as long as you have plenty of toys to sell. And it looks like they’ll be plenty of toys to sell form ToQger Whether it’s toys or Kobayashi’s intriguing writing, I’m definitely buying it all.

Oh, and the train feature during the credits is fun too.

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4 thoughts on “Recap: Ressha Sentai ToQger, Station (Episode) 4 – Be Careful Not to Lose Anything

  1. No no no Right only treats Kagura like he is her big brother. I ship Hikari and Kagura. I also ship Tokatti and Mio

    1. Definitely! After episode 7 I am definitely shipping Hikari and Kagura. Have you watched episode 7 yet? Hehe. And I ship Mio and Tokatti too. I ship Right with food hehe

      1. Well in episode 2 Tokatti and Mio said that he loves eating but it’s still funny being shipped with food

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