Recap: Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger, Episode 32 – Hell’s Make Believe Train

At the Garage, BunBun is sewing some new outfits for the team. Mira is impressed at BunBun’s skill. And when she sees the orange cloth, she can’t help but smile as she thinks of Genba.

Speaking of, Sakito and Byundi are by Genba’s side as he wakes up after they bandage him up. Though Genba’s memory is a bit fuzzy, they remind him that he lost to Disrace. Badly.

But they suddenly hear a harmonica playing nearby. It is a familiar-looking railroad maintenance worker.

The worker heads over to help add bandages to Genba and introduces himself as Nijino Akira. Byundi apologizes for getting in his way, but Akira says he’s completed his maintenance work and was just about to leave.

Akira also adds that he is a ToQger, but they have no idea what that means.

Genba gets up and says he will go defeat Disrace. Sakito says Genba has no chance in his current state. But Genba tells him to mind his own business. Byundi tries to get in between them as they get heated. But Akira says he has a solution for this fight.

Meanwhile, the General3 are at a train yard thinking about their current predicaments. They decide to take their mind off of it by collecting some gassholin. Ittasha keys in the train tracks to bring about Senro Guruma.

Jou calls the others at the garage to alert them of the Kurumaju. Taiya, Shashiro and Mira hurry out and find Jou has become part of a human train, the General3 included. Once Senro Guruma flashes his railroad signal, people are pulled in and forced to become cars of the long train.

The Guruma flashes his light. Shashiro pushes Taiya out of the way, but he and Mira get linked up to the train. Taiya tries to go after them, but he now has to deal with Nejiretta.

Meanwhile, Akira teaches Genba and Sakito how to sumo based on what Conductor taught him. Sakito tries to convince Genba to return to the Boonbooms. Genba says he is different from them. But Sakito says that’s what makes things interesting.

Just like how he found a way to keep living because of Byundi, Genba should do the same. Genba bodyslams Sakito on the ground. He says he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get another chance to defeat Disrace. If he doesn’t do it now, then he’ll really have no other reason to live.

Ah, so you’re searching for your place to die? Akira asks. He explains that before he became a ToQger, he was an evil member of the Shadow Line. He thought all he had to do was to protect the rainbow and disappear into the shadows.

Sakito says he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Just then, Senro Guruma’s train comes chugging along and he flashes his signal light which gets Genba, Akira and Byundi linked up. Jou excitedly asks if Genba has decided to come back to them.

Sakito has fun with the chaos and he henshins. But Senro Guruma says that if the train stops, everyone will explode. Taiya arrives and says they shouldn’t stop them, but lay down their own train tracks instead.

Taiya and Sakito use Boonboom Driver Drive and Byunbyun Arrow Drive finishers to lay tracks in a circle to create a loop line. Akira says this is the power of imagination! He comments on how Taiya is the spitting image of Right.

And just then, ToQ-1gou, Right himself appears! Right greets Akira and then asks to borrow Taiya and Sakito’s shoulders. He places the Renketsu Bazooka on them and sends a Rainbow Rush finisher at the Kurujamju. Ticket-kun pops in and successfully decouple the people from each other.

Shashiro, Mira and Jou henshin and they all do a roll call together.

Right declares “Shuppatsu Shinkou” and they get to work on the Nejiretta.

Right does some Norikae Changes to yellow and then green. Shashiro is impressed how Right is able to draw upon the power of his fellow ToQgers to fight.

As battle continues, Genba watches from afar. Akira tells him that the Boonboomger are a great team. Who needs a place to die when you have friends, Akira says. “You will understand too one day.”

Genba asks what he means, but Akira smiles and walks away playing his harmonica.

Back to the battle, Right, Taiya and Sakito deliver a Bakuage Rainbow Drive finisher at the Guruma. Yaruka embiggens the Guruma and the Boonooms hop into Boonboomger Robo. Byundi, however, says he has motion sickness and doesn’t feel too good.

Right tells Sakito he can borrow something. Right calls on the Ressha and he whisks Sakito on. Ticket announces ToQ-Oh has arrived and welcomes everyone back on board. Jou and Mira are excited to see it!

Sakito does not know how to drive a train through. Right tries to show him. But the hesitation allows the Kurumaju to get some hits in.

Shashiro and BunBun quickly unscrew the train tracks, dropping the Kurumaju back to the ground. Sakito yanks the train wheel off and installs his handle instead. Senro Guruma shoots at ToQ-Oh, but Sakito is able to gain control and delivers a ToQ-Oh Punch and Kick at the Kurumaju.

Right says he understands what Bakuage means now.

The Boonbooms get the Kurumaju right where they want him. Right asks the Boonbooms to picture their finisher in their mind.

The Boonbooms Imagine it and deliver a Bakuage Imagination Boonboom Finish to take care of the Kurumaju for good!

Sakito turns to Right, but he is gone from the cockpit. Taiya thanks the ToQgers for their help.

Right is on a rooftop watching Boonboomger Robo and ToQ-Oh under a rainbow. He dehenshins and says he can see the Boonbooms dreams coming true in the future.

Episode Thoughts

OMG!!!! I can’t believe I was spoiled by Twitter again! And by the official Boonboom account too! Huhuhuhu lol

Because had I not already seen Shison Jun’s face in several official tweets, I would have literally jumped up and screamed at that final scene. I would’ve been a blubbering mess. I honestly did not expect that. Especially with Shison Jun being quite busy these days. Obviously, as awesome as it would’ve been to see him as Right in person with the Boonbooms, at the very least he was able to fit in a couple of hours to film that one minute scene on the roof and get in the booth to record some lines.

Nonetheless, it was such an amazing moment to an excellent, nostalgic and fun episode. ToQger and Boonboomger are definitely cut from the same cloth. (Speaking of cloth! New outfits next week care of Bunbun! Hehe) Really though, both seasons have very similar vibes and tone. Very different stories obviously. But just that perfect balance of light and dark, comedy and drama; both seasons have it. ToQger perfected that match-up of pure, innocent fun and legitimately emotional drama.

Boonboomger has done the same. Certainly not on a Yasuko Kobayashi-level of ambition. But the Boonbooms have definitely had some sincere, emotionally affecting drama so far alongside its enjoyable fun.

But my goodness. ToQger is tied as my favorite Sentai season of all time. (Though it can inch ahead of Go-Busters from time to time.) So I was already excited for this episode. And it was everything I could’ve hoped for except for not being treated to all the train children appearing together one more time. (Conductor and Wagon included of course!)

I legit teared up every time those familiar instrumentals from ToQger started playing. And then of course the theme song. I just lost it. Just an emotional, warm and fuzzy feeling I had. So nostalgic. I miss the wonderful train children so much. And this was really a very nice treat to celebrate the ten (!!!!) years since their airing.

Not only did we get some fun fan service-y stuff, but the way the show was able to use Akira and a major part of ToQger‘s central themes to nudge Genba’s story forward was just perfect. Obviously his story was moving toward him realizing the traditional Toei toku plot of acknowledging you’re stronger together. But to have Akira and the whole colorful energy of the ToQgers deliver him closer to that dream goal (as Right assured us is on the horizon), just so good.

Loved the moment Genba, Akira and Byundi get renketsu’d to the others and Jou excitedly thinks Genba has come back to them. It was a cute moment. Excited for the team to be back together very soon!

Perhaps it’s just because I’m a huge fan of ToQger and have become a big fan of Boonboomger. But I dunno, I love this episode so much.

And to think, Sakito gets to keep his access to ToQ-Oh too! So the ToQger spirit will continue through this season! Love it! (If not allow for the other train children to make an appearance too! Though if it was challenging to get Jun Shison, it would be even more so for Ryusei Yokohama!)

Also fun was Ticket-kun’s little shoutout to Gavv and Gotchard. lol And really, just seeing Ticket, period, is always fun, period

Man, what else is there to say. I just loved everything about this episode. And watching this episode right after having to suffer through the Cal Golden Bears getting robbed by the ACC in their loss to the University of Miami this evening, it just cheered me up so much. Lol

Ugh. So good! I’m still tearing up as I write this lol Love live ToQger! And full speed ahead for Boonboomger!

Also, in this article about Shison Jun’s return, they mention that director Shojiro Nakazawa, producer Takaaki Utsunomiya & THE Yasuko Koyabashi herself recorded commentary for the first two eps of ToQger in celebration of the 10th anniversary to be made available soon on TTFC! OMG! I hope some kind souls out there make it available for those of us who are Japanese language-challenged. lol And also those of us outside of Japan who can’t access TTFC to begin with lol

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