Recap: Ressha Sentai ToQger vs. Kamen Rider Gaim Spring Break Crossover Special

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Kagura is using crayons to draw of a picture of what she can remember from their town, with their huge secret base tree right in the middle.

Conductor comes in and the PA announces that they are arriving at the next station… Zawame City. This station has not been taken over by the Shadow Line, so the ToQgers decide to go explore what looks to be a pretty idyllic city.

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They marvel at the insane-looking Yggdrasill Tower and see pictures of some beautiful cakes from a place called Charmant. They hear some dance music nearby and go to watch a group giving the people a free performance.

It’s Mai and the girls of Gaim. But suddenly, a bunch of kaijin and their leader come running towards them. Mai tries to hurry the people, including the ToQgers to safety. But Right flashes his ToQ Changer and says they’ll be fine. Mai does not understand.

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Kota comes running in, locking in his orange Lockseed.

He and the ToQgers henshin. But they are confused by each other. Flying trains and orange heads!?

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Who are you!?

The kaijin general wants to know the same thing. He introduces himself as Mogura-Roid, a member of the Badan Underground Empire and announces that he will not allow anyone to interfere with their plans. He decides to summon some backup by digging into the ground, but the hole he digs turns into a zipper that opens a Crack allowing for an advanced Inves to jump through.

The Inves attacks Mogura-Roid and Kota and the ToQgers decide to join in the fight as well. They take on the foot soldiers while Kota fights the Lion Inves. They end up jumping through the Crack and Right follows.

Mitchi, already henshined, joins Mai as they watch these strange colorful people fighting these non-Inves things. They’re confused.

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So Tokatti and Kagura decide to switch Lines, as do Hikari and Mio.

Mogura-Roid turns his attention to Mai, but Mitchi saves her as the ToQgers finish off the foot soldiers. Mogura-Roid, annoyed by these weird people, decides to scram and digs himself a hole to escape through.

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Everyone de-henshins and they try to explain to each other who they are and what’s going on.

Meanwhile, Right runs through Helheim trying to catch up to Kota and the monster, but he gets sidetracked by the delicious looking fruits. He de-henshins and is about to pick a fruit off the tree when a shot knocks his hand away.

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“I wouldn’t touch that fruit if I were you,” Kota says as he also de-henshins. They introduce themselves.

Mitchi and Mai have taken the ToQgers to Drupers for some treats. Kagura enjoys her delicious parfait while the others try to piece together what’s going on. Mitchi says he has no idea about Badan, but if they can open Cracks, they have to be dealt with.

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Kagura finishes her parfait and asks Mai if they can go to this Charmant place. They have better parfaits than here, right? Mai confirms. But isn’t Kagura worried about… We should go then, Mio says.

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The girls get up to leave and ask Tokatti to take care of the bill. Bando is very sad.

Kota and Right exit through the Crack which zips back up. Right calls after Kota and asks what he’s going to do now. Find and defeat the kaijin of course.

Right is very happy to hear that. He wants to come with.

Right takes Kota to the train station. Kota marvels at the awesome train the ToQgers ride around on. Right says he knew Kota would be able to see it and explains only people with imagination can.

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They head to the turnstile, but Right remembers Kota can’t enter the train without a Rainbow Pass. Suddenly, a familiar trenchcoated/hat-wearing man with glasses pops up. With his own puppet.

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It appears more worlds have collided, Narutaki says and he introduces himself as an ally to all Riders. He hands Kota an Orange Rainbow Pass. Right can’t believe he would have one.

The puppet asks them to give his regards to Ticket-kun before he and Narutaki disappear.

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Conductor and Ticket are surprised to see this new person on board. Right explains Kota was given a pass by Narutaki. You know him?

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Conductor and Ticket turn around. Ticket can’t believe Narutaki would cause problems like this. But Conductor says since Kota has a pass, he is a valued passenger. They turn back and welcome Kota on board.

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Is this ventriloquism thing some kind of new trend, Kota asks.
Not at all, Conductor says. Ticket adds they have another idiot in their midst. They leave.

Kota notices Kagura’s drawing on the table and Right explains that it’s supposed to be their city. But none of them are sure since they are missing their memories. They only remember playing together when they were young.

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Kota apologizes for bringing up a touchy subject, but Right says it’s okay since he’s sure they’ll remember eventually as long as they continue riding along in this train.

Kota understands that they have their own difficult journey as well.

Tokatti and Hikari arrive back at the train. Meanwhile, the girls are at the mall on their way to Charmant.

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Kagura is distracted by some very kawaii clothes. Isn’t she a little too happy-go-lucky considering their situation, Mai asks. Mio says Kagura might seem that way, but it’s also because she’s always hopeful they will return to their hometown.

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Right suggests they help Kota fight and Tokatti thinks that’s a great idea. Together, they can beat anybody. No! Kota says. The fighting in this city doesn’t involve them. Hikari agrees.

But Kota goes on to explain the impending Helheim invasion. No one else in the city knows, but even if they did, there would be no way to escape. He doesn’t want them getting involved, especially since they have their own problems to worry about.

Kota disembarks.

I understand what he means, Hikari says. How would you feel if Kota offered to help us fight off the Shadow Line? He also has his own problems to take care of.

Mitchi is at Yggdrasill reporting to Niisan about Badan. Across town, Mogura is digging up another hole for his comrades, but instead opens up another Crack and allows the Lion Inves back into the city.

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Mio calls the boys to tell them about the monster returning. Conductor and Ticket come in to tell them they will be departing soon. There are no Shadows here, so they have no reason to stay and fight. Plus, they have other things to worry abou… No, Right says, he’s going. He can worry about all the other stuff later.

Right runs out and Tokatti and Hikari follow.

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He really is an idiot, Ticket says. But Conductor says this is also a part of his IMAGINAAATION!

“You just had to say it like that, didn’t you?”

Mio and Kagura are hurrying people to safety. Mio sees the Inves about to attack a little girl and runs to save her. The Inves is about to lay into Mio when Right arrives and lands a kick right to the chest.

The ToQgers henshin and take on the Inves.

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Mai watches from behind a tree when a few regular ol’ Inves pop up. Kota comes running, but gets stopped by another Inves. Right fights the Inves off of Mai.

Kota breaks free of the Inves and runs over. But why, he asks.

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Right apologizes, but says while he doesn’t know what’s completely going on in the city, he does know it is in danger. Their train can’t just pass through without them doing anything to help.

Right rejoins the others to fight off the Inves. Kota is grateful for their help as well as making him realize what’s important now. He’ll worry about everything else later.

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Kota henshins and takes care of the regular Inves while the ToQgers use their Scope Resshas to try and finish off the Lion Inves.

But the Lion Inves sees the Helheim fruit and chomps into one causing him to embiggen.

Kota finishes off the Inves and is surprised by the too-large monster. Mogura agrees.

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Eh!?!

Kota tries to fight off Mogura and his soldiers. What is your goal, Kota asks. Mogura explains that his mission is to bring Badan kaijin to the surface, that way Zawame can fall to the Badan Empire.

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The ToQgers hop into ToQ-Oh and summon both Car Carrier and Tank Resshas to form ToQ-Oh Car Carrier Tank.

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Takatora is in his office and gets a call about a giant robot fighting off a giant monster. Are you serious? That’s impossible.

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Takatora thinks everyone’s losing it.

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The ToQgers unleash their Final Stike, a Car Carrier Tank Shot, and finish off the embiggened Lion Inves.

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Down below, Kota is still facing off against Mogura who manages to escape again.

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Mai gushes over the ToQger’s big robo. Right and Kota are off nearby. Right apologizes for them jumping in earlier, but Kota says he probably would’ve done the same thing.

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But he does have a favor to ask of Right though. He takes his Rainbow Pass out from his pocket.

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The ToQgers welcome Mai onboard the Ressha. She thinks it’d be fun for her, Kota and Mitchi to ride along too. But suddenly, the doors close and the Ressha leaves the station. Kota watches from the platform.

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Mai is worried, but Right says no need to worry about that now. Wagon comes in and Right suggests Mai enjoy some delicious lunch. Kagura is very excited and she sits with Mai to start eating.

Tokatti, Mio and Hikari know something’s up and they want Right to spit it out.

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Meanwhile, Mitchi is fighting Mogura and the foot soldiers. Mogura is annoyed by these tangerines and grapes spoiling his plans.

The tangerine comes running in and joins the grape in fighting. The banana appears and is intrigued by this new monster, so he henshins and joins too.

The three fruits take on Mogura who ends up escaping, again.

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Kota and Mitchi take Kaito back to the Garage to explain what’s going on. Kota asks if Kaito will join them in the fight, but Kaito says he will not work with him. He’s got other enemies to deal with. Doesn’t Kota have the same?

Kaito goes to leave and Mitchi asks Kota where Mai is. Kota says Mai is with Right-tachi.

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Kota flashes back to asking Right to whisk Mai away from this city. To get her safely away from the danger until he can take care of it.

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Kaito stops at the door. Mitchi takes a seat. Do you really think this is for the best?

Back on the Ressha, Mai is still enjoying her yummy lunch while Right is telling the others, including Wagon about Kota’s request.

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He must really care for Mai, Mio says. Tokatti gets emotional. He thinks it must be love! Not necessarily, but for now, they’ll need to keep things happy and lively so she can enjoy her time on the train. But they also need to make sure not to tell Mai that this was Kota’s idea.

Wagon gets up from the group and walks back over to Mai.

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It must be hard for this Mai girl to have her city be in so much trouble that Kota would send her away to avoid the danger. It gets Wagon right in the heart.

Mai gets up and leaves the car.

Wouldn’t Mai want to get off at the next station, Tokatti asks. It’s okay, Right says, since they don’t even know when they’ll arrive at the next station.

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The PA announces that the train is arriving in Eastern Zawame. They turn to see Wagon waving bye out the window.

They ask Wagon where Mai is. She doesn’t know a Mai. But the girl that was sitting here just got off.

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Mai is walking along when she runs into the Badan foot soldiers. Right comes running and Mogura appears. He wants Right to tell the fruits that if they want to see this girl safe, they cannot interfere with his plans.

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Mitchi hurries to the Garage where Right is with Kota. Right apologizes for letting this happen.

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Mitchi is not happy. He takes Right by the collar, but Kota tells him to stop. It’s not Right’s fault. He shouldn’t have let Mai go with them in the first place.

Mitchi’s got the look and is ready to go save his love from Badan. He will find them.

Mogura has Mai in an abandoned office building. He tries to open up a hole again and this time, it works. He calls his brother.

Mitchi gets Niisan’s help in locating Mai. They’ve found a concentration of Cracks which Mitchi thinks could be the place. Takatora offers to send some Kurokages, but Mitchi says no, he wants to go himself to check on something.

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Kota, Right and Mitchi are outside the building. Right is ready to charge in, but Mitchi says they need a better plan. Kaito joins them. He’s bored, so he wants to lend a hand.

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Mitchi has him and Kaito wear banners like Kota’s in Kachidoki Arms and they pretend to fight outside the building. Mogura comes out to see what all the commotion is and decides to take care of them both while they’re infighting. But this was all part of the plan. While Mitchi and Kaito take care of Mogura, Kota and Right sneak inside.

Good luck Mr. Banana! Right calls out.

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Kota and Right quietly make their way upstairs, but are met by… Mogura.

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Turns out the guy fighting outside is his twin brother. Mogura 1 says Mai will be fine as long as they mind their own business. But Kota and Right can’t let that happen. The Combat-Roids surround Right and Kota.

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Right asks Kota to imagine what he’s about to do. Kota takes a second and says okay. They both close their eyes and see themselves winning.

They knock out all the Combat-Roiads and Right henshins to occupy Mogura while Kota unties Mai.

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Mai and Kota apologize to each other. I grew up in this city too, Mai says, I wouldn’t be happy to abandon it and be the only one saved. This is our city!

Right kicks Mogura out the window and the twin brothers are reunited. Right and Kota run downstairs and Kota henshins.

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Mitchi and Kaito take care of the newly arrive Combat-Roids while Right and Kota take on the two Moguras. They get knocked down, but the Ressha comes speeding along and knocks the Moguras out of the way.

The other ToQgers arrive and they split the Moguras with Kota.

The ToQgers and Mogura are out in an abandoned field. They flash Mogura out of the ground when suddenly, they are hit with a huge blast wave.

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An evil looking black Rider appears. He introduces himself as Kamen Rider Fifteen and proceeds to knock the ToQgers around.

But suddenly, Kamen Rider 1, Kamen Rider 2 and Kamen Rider V3 appear. The ToQgers leave Kamen Rider 15 to them as they go to take care of Mogura.

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They summon their bazooka and deliver a fitting Whack-a-Mole Rainbow Rush.

The OG Riders force Kamen Rider 15 back into a dark purple Crack. Right asks why don’t they go help Kota-tachi. But Kamen Rider 1 says they do not work with Heisei Riders.

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Meanwhile, Kota is taking on the other Mogura. He goes Kachidoki Arms and finishes him off with the Hinawadaidaimusouzan attack using the Hinawadaidai-DJ-ju and his Musou Saber.

Mogura says Badan’s operations have only just begun.

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Kota, Mitchi and Mai see the ToQgers off. They thank each other for their help and hospitality.

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It must be nice to protect your own city, Right tells Kota.
Kota says he’s glad he met Right. It must be nice having friends to work with.

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The others call Right to board. Right and Kota shake hands and the Ressha departs Zawame City.

On the Ressha, Kagura is sad they didn’t get to enjoy the local Zawame delicacies, especially Charmant. The others say she did enjoy plenty local treats.

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But Wagon comes in with some Zawame treats for them to enjoy on the train.

Tokatti knocks Right of the way, but Right smiles as he sees Kagura’s drawing again.

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Kota and Mai are on a bridge. Kota looks out at the railroad tracks below and smiles.

Later, Kamen Rider 15 is standing on a rooftop and says soon, his ambition of taking over the world will be fulfilled.

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Episode Thoughts
This was so much fun. I loved it. I guess it helps that I love both ToQger and Gaim, but this is just awesome.

The ToQger’s traveling definitely lent itself well to having a Sentai-Kamen Rider crossover. And while the recent vs. movies and the Super Hero Taisens have been mixed bags, this one-hour special hit all the right notes. It managed to perfectly blend and balance the different, and sometimes contrasting elements of the two shows into one satisfying hour. And it all made sense! Even most of the recent Sentai team-ups have been standard (and bland) interdimensional romps with the Go-Busters vs. Go-Busters movie being the only one that broke free of that typical formula.

They did try to split the special in half, with the first half being more ToQger-like (in its regular 7:30 slot) even ending the half hour with the mecha battle while the second half was more Gaim-like. Actually, I think Conductor, Ticket and Kaito didn’t appear outside of their regular timeslots. It helps to distinguish the two halves I guess, even though it still all perfectly flowed across the 8am mark.

At the same time though, as crazily dark as Gaim has gotten, it still has plenty of lighthearted moments. And as charmingly bright ToQger can be, it still has that emotional and almost morbid “Are they dead?” undercurrent.

The special fit fine in each show’s continuity. And we did get a little bit of fresh developments in both stories. For ToQger, Kagura’s drawing could be seen as a small clue. They say she only drew the tree so big because it seemed that way when they were kids. But who knows if their big Goseiger tree really was or is that huge and towering over their hometown?

For Gaim though, my shipper heart totally jumped a few times. I definitely noticed Kaito and Mitchi’s show of concern for Mai. And it was more than just the typical concern for a close friend, which is what Kota seemed to show. Couple Kaito and Mitchi’s reactions with Tokatti’s “It must be love!” comment, I saw it as furthering the future romance angle I want to see, but I know will never happen.

Mogura-Roid was hilarious. Both of them. I hate when the villains are likeable goofs. I hate when they have to get blown up. =(s

I still haven’t finished Decade, so I can’t fully hop on the Narutaki train. I’ve only seen him in the first Super Hero Taisen, but if I had seen Decade, it probably would’ve been a lot more fun seeing the mysterious Narutaki popping up again.

The scene promoting the Rider Wars movie was obviously shoehorned in and it definitely felt like it. It was unnecessary, but of course, you know why it existed.

I forget that not everyone watches both Sentai and Kamen Rider. That was me a few years ago too. So this special could’ve been the first introduction to either ToQger or Gaim. I could honestly not say whether this would’ve been a good first taste since I’m so familiar with both already. I think the special highlighted both series and their stories well with a little more focus on Gaim maybe since it was set in Zawame and we saw Inves, but no Shadow Line.

I guess that was also a hope of Toei that some Kamen Rider fans would get a taste of ToQger and come back for more next week at 7:30. Which is a good strategy and I hope it works.

I thought the special had a very film-like quality. It might not have gotten a movie-sized budget, but visually, it looked like it did. The ToQgers especially debuted some fresh and pretty new graphics and CGI that I know would usually be reserved for a movie debut or even just being used in the movies and not the series.

Overall, I thought it was great fun. I wouldn’t mind more crossovers if they were like this and actually made good story sense instead of just being either fanwanks or nonsensical toy commercials.

13 thoughts on “Recap: Ressha Sentai ToQger vs. Kamen Rider Gaim Spring Break Crossover Special

  1. I can speak as someone following Gaim (man do I love me some Gaim) but not ToQger. I thought it was definitely a fun little special, much more comedy like than Gaim usually gets as they even had some jokes with Takatora who is usually above the silly comic relief bits of the show. I know a little about ToQger so I was expecting the train themes and a bit of goofiness, and I can say that the special was interesting enough to encourage me to check it out so it succeeded on that front.

  2. In this Hikari and Kagura were standing close together and I think that banana guy and Mitchy has a crush on Mai because they looked pissed when Kota said that he sent her on the train

      1. But I think I will watch Karmin rider I only watched two episodes this and when different Karmin riders meat the shikenger

        1. Yeah, the Shinkenger crossover was my first exposure to Kamen Rider. Then I started to watch the series and I really enjoyed it. Now I’m a big fan and it’s been great having both Sentai and Kamen Rider to watch every week. =D

      2. I’ve been Kamen Rider Den-O and I find amazing my favourite episodes are episode 23 and 24 oh and I like the episode where the kamen rider decade meets them

  3. I also found it funny when Mitchy’s brother didn’t see the ToQ-Oh even though it was right behind him lol

      1. In the movie when their was a evil rider Giam and at the end in the credits Mitchy’s brother and two unknown people a dude and woman had lockseeds

  4. I wonder what would happen if Hikari also met Kaito? because he met Kota Mai and Micchy(who I hate). So it would be hilarious two serious guys trying to figure out who’s more serious. Just wait if Ankh comes back. (Even though he won’t but just imagine it.)(I’m not forcing you Dryedmangoez)

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