Tokacchi is running to the next station alongside the Ressha to build his endurance. He stops to wave at the Ressha when Conductor and Ticket blow the whistle.

He notices a little boy in a baseball uniform sitting nearby and looking at him. He says he’s just waving to his friends on the train. The boy thinks Tokacchi’s a weirdo since he didn’t see any train.

Oh. Tokacchi says bye and continues running. But the little boy overhears two kids nearby talking about the awesome Resshas they just saw.

Over at the Castle, Baron Nero tells General Schwarz he’ll give him a brand new personal Kuliner to go and welcome the Emperor when he arrives, which is very soon.

Meanwhile, Madame Noa is busy continuing to prepare the wedding. She has to take care of Gritta’s wedding dress herself since someone sucks at gathering darkness. Baron Nero compliments the nice, bright piece of cloth Madame Noa has. But it doesn’t seem like a good fit for the emperor.

Madame Noa turns, not allowing Baron Nero to touch it, so he excuses himself.

“Talk while you can! Hmph.”

General Schwarz excuses himself too and Gritta is now even more anxious that time is running out for her to get with her Schwarz-sama instead of the Emperor.

Madame Noa summons Type Shadow (OK!) to take care of the shadow deficiency.

Tokacchi’s side starts to hurt, so he takes a seat and rests in front of an old steam engine. The little boy from earlier catches up and asks if he’s okay.

You were telling the truth about the train earlier, right? he asks.
Tokacchi realizes he wasn’t able to see the Resshas and wonders why that is.

The other ToQgers are playing games on the Ressha when the lights flicker. Conductor and Ticket come in to announce the Shadow Line has just arrived at the next station.

Right calls Tokacchi and now Tokacchi needs to hurry to the next station. The little boy offers his bike. Tokacchi thanks him, tells him his name and asks the boy’s. Hiroki, he says.

Tokacchi tells Hiro-kun to wait right there and he’ll be back with his bike.

Type Shadow and a group of Kuros are below the real train tracks when the Resshas arrive nearby. The ToQgers hop out. Type Shadow tells the Kuros to take care of the ToQgers while he takes care of the trains.

Type Shadow starts tapping on the typewriter keys on his body and types out the title “Sayonara, ToQ Ressha.” He sends the title toward the Resshas and they start moving on its own. Conductor has lost control of the train and the Resshas speed off into the sky.

OK! Type Shadow’s titles come true when he types them out. Right thinks that’s pretty cool. But not when Tokacchi arrives and Type Shadow types out his next title.

“Tokacchi Dies at Sunset”

Hiroki comes running and watches what’s happening.

Type Shadow laughs at Tokacchi’s death sentence. Right shoots at Type Shadow’s paper head and he decides to run off. Hikari says the only way to keep Tokacchi from dying is to defeat the kaijin. They decide to run after him and tell Tokacchi to be careful.

Hiroki approaches Tokacchi to check on him again and they go for a walk. Hiroki asks Tokacchi about the trains and the monsters. Tokacchi says he’s not yet strong enough to fight the monsters, as evidenced by how he screwed up just now. But it’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t lose his Imagination.

Imagination? Hiroki asks.
Tokacchi explains that like right now, he’s already imagining how he can win this fight and survive. Only people with imagination can see the trains… oops. Sorry.

But it is strange since all kids should have imagination. Hiroki says he recently realized imagination is worthless. He thinks about a recent baseball game where he struck out.

“Even if you believe in yourself, if it’s hopeless, it’s hopeless!”

Tokacchi thinks Hiroki’s failure prevents him from imagining things. He bends down to say something, but decides against it. He wanted to say something cool and inspiring, but he isn’t very good at it.

Instead, Tokacchi says he’ll just focus on taking on the Shadow kaijin. He starts training, shadow boxing as Hiroki watches this strange man.

The other ToQgers are searching the town, but there’s no sign of Type Shadow until they come to an alleyway. The Kuros have used some fresh darkness to heal Type Shadow’s wound.

Not it’s time for a new title, OK! But the ToQgers arrive and henshin.

What’ll you do if you can’t beat the kaijin, Hiroki asks. Tokacchi insists as long as they find the Shadow creep, he can beat him with this. He demonstrates his moves.

But it’s already 4:30. Tokacchi admits he’s scared, but he can’t focus on that. Instead, he’s focused on winning. Hiroki says some things are just hopeless, like with him in baseball. He believed in himself, but…

Tokacchi says it’s actually kinda different. He thinks their Imagination is different from a belief in yourself.

The others call Tokacchi and give him their location.

Before he leaves, Tokacchi tells Hiroki that Imagination isn’t a like saying a prayer or making a wish.

He hands Hiroki his sweaty towel and runs off.

The other ToQgers finish off a bunch of Kuros and they turn their attention to Type Shadow who is ready to type out some fresh titles. OK!

Tokacchi arrives. “You’re going down!”

The sun is already very low in the sky, but Tokacchi says he can see himself beating Type Shadow. He henshins and asks Right if he could help as he has a plan. They transfer Lines and both take on the kaijin.

Hikari, Kagura and Mio see Hiroki arrive nearby and they go to him.

Right and Tokacchi tag team Type Shadow, but the sun is just about to set. Right asks if Tokacchi’s plan will work. He does not answer. But Hiroki seems to recognize those moves.

Suddenly, Tokacchi collapses. They all run over to him as the title Type Shadow typed up earlier reappears. It’s sunset! OK!

But just as suddenly, Tokacchi gets up. The title has been revised: Tokacchi Dies at Sunset And Revives!

Tokacchi explains he was pressing the keys on Type Shadow’s body during the fight to add on to the title. His image training from earlier paid off.

Hiroki thinks about what Tokacchi said earlier. Imagination isn’t a wish or prayer. Back then, he had only hoped for the best. But he had to do his part too, whether it is believing in himself or imagining it will happen.

Tokacchi unleashes a Tokacchi Kick on Type Shadow to push him back and the ToQgers summon Renketsu Bazooka for a Calligraphy Rainbow Rush courtesy of Tokacchi.

A roll of paper attaches to Type Shadow and written on it is the title “The End of the Shadow Kaijin.” The brush knocks the ink stone up into the air and comes crashing back down onto Type Shadow’s head.

Type Shadow embiggens. OK!

Right goes to summon the Ressha, but they remember the Resshas are gone.

Conductor, Ticket and Wagon wake up from their stupor and realize they’re in space. Conductor contacts the ToQgers and Ticket says it’ll be difficult to come back right now.

Tokacchi suggests they summon Diesel-tachi to form Diesel-Oh. This time, Right hops into Tank Ressha with Hikari and Tokacchi mans Diesel Ressha by himself.

It’s already nighttime and the ToQgers and Type Shadow get to battle. Tokacchi uses his little trick again and types out the title: “They’re Back! ToQ Ressha!”

The Resshas are back on Earth and Right, Hikari, Mio and Kagura hop in to form ToQ-Oh. Tokacchi stays in Diesel-Oh.

Type Shadow types out another title: “ToQ-Oh’s Big Explosion!”
But Diesel-Oh protects ToQ-Oh with his “hard body.”

Tokacchi takes Diesel-Oh to knock Type Shadow right toward ToQ-Oh to get him into position for a Fumikiri-ken. With a Diesel-Oh Spin Kick and a Ressha Slash, they finish off Type Shadow for good.

The ToQgers are back on the Ressha. Tokacchi now works out inside the train. Mio thinks it’s better this way. Right says he’ll join in the work out after he eats.

Hikari and Kagura, meanwhile, see Hiroki outside at a baseball field waving to them.

Tokacchi hurries to the window. Hiroki-kun can see the Resshas now! Tokacchi happily waves back.

Hiroki’s palms are covered in blisters. When the Resshas pass, he gets back to home plate, picks up his bat and resumes practicing.

Episode Thoughts
Another great episode. I really loved it. A great Tokacchi focus ep. Loved that clever and awesome and cool way Tokacchi came up with to one-up Type Shadow and his title. Dies at sunset and revives. That’s so awesome in every way.

Definitely enjoyed that nighttime mecha battle. That was very badass, seeing ToQ-Oh and Diesel-Oh fighting side-by-side.

Type Shadow was neat, like Right said. Very cool. And I’m glad we’re seeing more of the Castle Crew.

I’ve been loving ToQger so much. And this episode was another example of what they do best. It was fun and cute, but there’s also that sense of sentimental nostalgia. Taking the usual Believe in yourself plot (and one that I think we’ve even seen before on a Sentai, using a baseball kid) and making it fresh by talking about wishing, praying, imagining and believing you can accomplish anything.

Loved all the henshins this episode. I love that white line. And I love when we get to see the henshin sequence play out, with the trains coming right at you, then circling their helmets. Looks so good.

So again, great episode. LOVE this season so far and I’m excited about the next one. Looks like things are going to really get going.

Madame Noa is upset Baron Nero has sent General Schwarz to pick up the Emperor of Darkness without even consulting her. Nero says he was able to collect enough darkness to open a line to the Emperor’s personal route.

But Gritta’s wedding dress isn’t even ready, Madame Noa says. They are not ready to welcome the Emperor. That won’t be necessary, Nero says. He will personally welcome the Emperor. “Are you trying to push us out?” Madame Noa asks.

“Interpret it any way you like. When the Emperor of Darkness appears, the world will be revolutionized. It will become a world full of darkness for the Shadow Line!”

The ToQgers are enjoying their breakfast when Ticket and Conductor announce the next stop is Star of Dreams Amusement Park. And since amusement parks are full of Imagination, they’ll be here for a while. Woohoo!

The ToQgers are very excited. Right says they will go on all the rides. Hikari braves his fear of heights when they go on the roller coaster and a parachute drop-thingy.

Then they hop on the carousel before enjoying ice cream cones.

After taking a spin in the spinning baskets, Kagura goes into a haunted house and has to imagine herself as Super Girl again to get through it. She gets a little too super inside.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man asks the bunny for a shiny, sparkling star balloon.

Baron Nero and an army of Kuros are waiting on the platform as General Schwarz’s Kuliner pulls into Castle Terminal. The Kuros salute and Baron Nero bows as the Kuliner door opens.

But instead of the Emperor walking out, it’s his personal guard, Lamp Shadow. Baron Nero tells him to get out of the way and looks for the Emperor, but Lamp Shadow says His Majesty disembarked halfway to Castle Terminal.

Baron Nero scolds Schwarz for not even knowing the Emperor disembarked, but Lamp Shadow says His Majesty had grown bored from the long trip. Nero is upset since this land is not yet ready with enough darkness. So he suggests they go look for him.

What a blunder, Madame Noa says. She decides she and Gritta should go look for the Emperor too so they can meet him first. Gritta can’t believe it. This is it, her time has run out!

The ToQgers have just finished their lunch. Except for Right, who has just ordered more food. The others tell him to call when he’s done eating.

They leave him alone and the man with the balloon stops in front of Right. “You seem to be enjoying your meal!” he says as he takes a seat next to him.

“You’re sparkling,” the guy says. Just like the balloon he’s holding. Just like this place, everyone here sparkles. He likes it, all this kirakira-ing.

I suppose, Right says. He asks if this is the guy’s first time at an amusement park. The guy replies that this is his first time for everything, like being in this very bright place. He’s been in a place so pitch black, people from bright places can’t even imagine it.

Oh, I don’t really understand, Right says, but the guy must have gone through a rough time. He offers him some chicken, but the guy says No, thank you and runs off.

Right turns his attention back to his food when he hears a commotion nearby. The guy is trying to make his way onto the carousel in front of all the kids in line. He has no clue about what a ticket is, nor does he care as he shoves the ticket-taker aside and walks up to the carousel.

Right hurries over and gives the ticket-taker one of his tickets, apologizing for his new friend.

The sparkly guy enjoys the carousel.

Right walks with the guy afterwards. He still holds his sparkly balloon.

“It’s no longer the age of darkness. It’s the age of light, don’t you think?”

Well, it’s true that the brightness is better than the dark, Right says. And he comments how the guy seems very bright himself.

“Really!? Do I sparkle?” he asks as he turns to look Right straight in the eye.

Right is taken aback. He sees the guy’s eyes turn pitch black and then feels a shiver down his spine.

The others come running toward Right, having been looking for him all this time since he didn’t call. They ask who his new friend is. Oh, Right never asked his name.

Right says his name and the guy is about to says his as well when suddenly, an announcement is made.

A train from the Shadow Line is about to arrive. Black lines appear and the announcer warns them to stay behind it.

‘They’re here already!?” the guy says to himself.

Baron Nero and General Schwarz disembark from one train and Madame Noa and Gritta disemberk from the other, both flanked by a dozen Kuros each.

They run toward the guy. He is the Emperor of Darkness!

The Kuros push the ToQgers aside.

What are you doing here, Schwarz asks them. He introduces Baron Nero and Madame Noa to them.

The Emperor says he was just in the middle of saying his name. He introduces himself. He is the Shadow Line’s Emperor of Darkness, Zett.

Conductor, Ticket and Wagon are watching from the Resshas. They are shocked.

Then, you’re not human? Right asks.
Appearances aren’t everything, the Emperor replies. Am I shining or not?

Gritta hides behind a lamppost, afraid of the Emperor.

Nero and Madame Noa tell the Emperor he should not waste his time on these ToQgers and that they’ll take care of them right now. Madame Noa uses her umbrella to send a flurry of shots at the ToQgers and they quickly henshin.

Emperor Zett is intrigued by the white line and the bright colored suits.

The ToQgers first face the Kuros and take care of them pretty easily.

But now it’s time to face the real Darkness.

Schwarz takes on Right.

Madame Noa takes on Hikari and Kagura and uses her umbrella as a shield and to unleash a barrage of explosions.

And Baron Nero takes on Tokacchi and Mio with some swordsmanship and his spinning hat while stepping on Mio’s neck.

Emperor Zett watches (bored?) as the ToQgers are completely overpowered. Baron Nero lets out a huge wave of darkness from his hat, forcing the ToQgers to de-henshin and fall to the ground.

This is your last stop, Baron Nero says. But Right replies that he can’t see their last stop yet. They will themselves to get up and Emperor Zett’s face brightens.

Madame Noa laughs and is about to use her umbrella to finish the ToQgers off for good until Emperor Zett asks to wait a second. He sends out a wave toward both the ToQgers (which forces them back to the ground) and the Shadow Line inner circle.

“What is the meaning of this!?”

Don’t you see it? Emperor Zett says. “They’re sparkling! Can’t you see that they’re shining?”

“Darkness is too old fashioned. This is now the sparkling age!”

Emperor Zett walks toward the ToQgers and looks at Right, “Isn’t that right?”

They both have a strange feeling. Emperor Zett takes a look at Right, then the others.

“You guys have been swallowed by the darkness once before!”

The ToQgers are shocked, but suddenly, Emperor Zett keels over, letting go of his glittery balloon. Schwarz stands in front of the ToQgers as Nero and Madame Noa jockey for position to tend to their Emperor. But Lamp Shadow swoops in and whisks Emperor Zett into their personal Kuliner.

Madame Noa, Baron Nero and General Schwarz do the same.

The Ressha arrive and Ticket tells them to hurry on, as they will chase the Shadow Line. The ToQgers henshin and hop aboard.

The three Shadow Line trains are speeding ahead when three Kuliners surround the Ressha. Baron Nero orders the Kuros to stop the ToQgers. The Kuliners transform into robo mode.

Diesel Ressha-tachi join the ToQgers. Right hops into Gramps Ressha to initiate Diesel-Oh while the others pilot ToQ-Oh.

They work together to fight off the three Kuliner robos.

Meanwhile, on the white/gray Shadow Line train, the Emperor comes to. Pitch black again. He asks Lamp Shadow how the ToQgers are doing and he shows the Emperor a live feed.

“These guys, even their robos sparkle! I wonder if they will endure…”
“What do you mean?”
“That sparkling!”

Emperor Zett tells Lamp Shadow to go back and play with the ToQgers a little bit.

The fight doesn’t look good, but Right says they can beat the Kuliners with one move, their combined attack.

“Do we have a combined attack?”

Right says he just thought of it now and he (literally) whispers the plan to the others. He used his Imagination! They try it.

They unleash a Double Ressha Super Combination to take care of all three Kuliners. But the bad news, the Emperor got away.

Two little boys see the Ressha at the train station and of course their mothers have no idea what they’re talking about.

The ToQgers are walking down the stairs to get to the platform. They think it’s very peculiar how the Emperor was so fascinated by the shiny, sparkly things seeing as he’s the Emperor of Darkness.

Across town, Lamp Shadow uses his lamp staff and sends a wave of darkness that hits Hikari, Tokacchi, Kagura and Mio. They find the Resshas are gone!

What are you talking about, Right says. They’re right here!
And they are. He even knocks on them.

No they’re not, Kagura insists. Hikari then asks if the Resshas were even there to begin with. They fall into a daze and Right tries to snap them out of it.

Emperor Zett watches from his throne, pleased.

Meanwhile…

Gritta is standing on a train platform by the water.

“I’m sorry, my dear mother,” she says. She doesn’t want to be the Emperor’s bride.

“Sayonara.”

Episode Thoughts
WOW. Well damn. I’ve been loving ToQger so much so far, but dude, this was an amazing episode.

I even found myself tearing up a few times. Like WTF? When Zett tells Right and the others that they’d been engulfed by the darkness before. Or when they come face to face with the Shadow Line bosses for the first time. Or Gritta with her little umbrella standing on that train platform saying goodbye to her mother.

Like, seriously. Those scenes hit me right in the gut.

The episode starts off with that typical amusement park episode set-up. The ToQgers, enjoying a day at the park. Giggling at Hikari’s fear of heights. Watching Right gobble up several orders of food.

Then BOOM. This strange, mysterious man arrives. A guy interested in a glittery balloon and the shining, shimmering splendidly bright world who ends up being the Emperor of Darkness. I thought that was a great set-up, even if was a little predictable as to who he was.

The in-fighting and politicking between the three Shadow Line bosses has been great to watch and even more so when it really takes a big step forward this episode.

That strange connection between Right and Dark Zett was both creepy and interesting at the same time. And that Emperor Zett can sense these five humans had previously been gobbled up by the darkness before sent chills down my spine. That’s the effect of having learned about their lives and really having grown to care about their predicament.

Visually, this episode was awesome too. I absolutely loved those shots of the trains pulling into the Castle Terminal and arriving at that huge platform with the long row of Kuros waiting and saluting. That and really any of the train scenes this season have been really stunning and very well done. Just like those Kuliners surrounding the Resshas on the tracks. These are some kick-ass scenes that I love.

Speaking of kick-ass, I loved the fights the ToQgers had, especially when they split up to fight Schwarz, Nero and Madame Noa. It’s always good to see the heroes get knocked around a peg, especially during this first meeting with the villains. It helps build up the excitement to when they eventually gain enough power and strength to defeat them.

Gritta though! I mean, how can you not feel sorry for her. Her running away though is both sad and hilarious. Sad, because yeah, you definitely feel for her situation. But hilarious because here’s this huge purple thing riding on a train with an umbrella. Can’t wait to see her next week.

Actually, I can’t wait to see everything this next episode. Of course. ToQger has already been so awesome, but now that we’re getting into the meat of the story, it’s going to get even more exciting.

Oh, and when Right saw that infinite darkness in the Emperor’s eyes, it immediately reminded me of another great show I enjoy, Grimm:

lol

Lamp Shadow has just broadcast his magnetic wave of darkness across the city. Conductor, Ticket and Wagon watch from the train, watching as Tokacchi, Mio, Hikari and Kagura can no longer see them. Not only that, but neither can the kids on the platform who say they should stop going to the amusement park, it’s so childish.

Conductor and Ticket see the station has now become Yaminokage or Shadow of Darkness Station. The train announces the station has come under the control of the Shadow Line. Conductor tells Right to hurry on board. Ticket says there is very little imagination here and the trains will be in danger if they stay.

But what about Tokacchi-tachi? Ticket says they can’t board if they can’t see the Ressha. Right turns around and they’re gone. Ticket says to hurry on board, but Right says to go on ahead as he will go search for Tokacchi and the others.

Right runs around the city and tries calling them, but the recording says the Rainbow Pass is not available. Lamp Shadow appears and says it’s no use trying to look for them. Right henshins, but Lamp Shadow asks Right to take a seat and allow him to explain.

Lamp Shadow introduces himself as the Emperor’s private guard. He says this is all part of the Emperor’s experiment. First, Lamp Shadow points out how Shadow kaijins exist to create darkness, but as his body shows, he exists to create light. Isn’t that funny? he asks.

“I don’t care,” Right replies. But Lamp Shadow says this is important. Zett may be the Emperor of Darkness, but this shows he is extremely interested in lights and sparkles. Which is why he has become very interested in what makes the ToQgers sparkle.

Lamp Shadow takes Right on a tour, showing him the others unwittingly cooperating with the experiment.

Tokacchi has a desk job in an office. Mio is a police officer.

Hikari is an engineering student researching Enetron. (Hey Go-Busters!) And Kagura is a model.

Lamp Shadow explains the other ToQgers and the residents of the city are under his hypnosis. So please cooperate with the experiment. He takes his leave.

Meanwhile at the Castle, Zett has installed a disco ball and strobe lights. It’s a party! Two Kuros applaud while everyone else is dumbfounded. Zett explains that the Shadow Line does not sparkle like this. He wants a shining darkness.

Baron Nero is confused, but Madame Noa jumps in and says unlike him, she is interested in much more than darkness. Just like her daughter, Gritta/Glitter! who was raised to shine. Her wedding dress absolutely sparkles.

Oooo! Zett wants to see. But Madame Noa says she still has to prepare it. Darn. Zett says it’s depressing to look at their dark eyes, so he will be going out for a bit.

Baron Nero reminds Zett that as much as he loves the light, his body will reject it. “Shut up!” Zett says and sends Baron Nero flying towards the wall before leaving.

Baron Nero can’t believe it. The Emperor would be invincible if he focused on the darkness. Madame Noa asks a favor of General Schwarz. Please find Gritta.

Gritta is sitting on the train, wondering what she can do to avoid marrying the Emperor.

Right visits Kagura. She knows who he is and all, but doesn’t know anything about a train. He shows her his Rainbow Pass, but she says she’s never seen it before. Though she does remember how much he loved passes.

Hikari doesn’t know what Right’s talking about either. You can’t ride a train with such a pass. Right pleads with him to remember soon because they need to defeat the Shadow kaijin.

Tokacchi laughs, Right always says fantastical things. But he does remember the passes Right gave everyone for the secret base. Oh yeah, Right remembers, that was also a pass.

Right goes to ask Mio about the Secret Base pass. She remembers they all decided on the rules. But “You can’t focus on being a child forever,” she says, “You need to grow up.”

“It’s no use,” Right says, “they’ve all changed.”

He remembers the pass to their Secret Base. He had it with him when he woke up on the Shadow Line train but doesn’t know what happened to it after or why he had it in the first place.

Suddenly, the Shadow Line is announced to be approaching. Right jumps out of the way as the train passes by. On the other side, Zett, the Emperor.

Ooo nice! Zett likes to see Right is still sparkling. He calls Lamp Shadow who charges toward Right who quickly henshins. Right’s friends are all out of it and he has to face Lamp Shadow. Zett wants to see how long Right can continue sparkling under these conditions. Will it disappear or will it last until he dies?

Right refuses to take part in any kind of experiment. He tries to fight back against Lamp Shadow’s attacks, then tries calling the others, but Lamp Shadow says it’s no use against his hypnosis.

That’s right, they don’t remember, Right thinks. But they did remember the pass from the Secret Base. And that they had rules.

Lamp Shadow takes advantage of Right stopping to think and delivers a blow that forces him to de-henshin. Lamp Shadow sends a power slash toward Right who falls to the ground, Rainbow Pass in hand.

He remembers the rules from the Secret Base pass.

Rule 1: The base is an absolute secret.

“I finally understand,” Right says. “They haven’t lost their passes. They’ve had them all this time.”

Right looks at his Rainbow Pass. It’s the Secret Base Pass!

Suddenly, the Secret Base Passes pop up in the others’ possession as they and Right turn their passes over to reveal their rules.

Rule #1: The base is an absolute secret.
Rule #2: When in a pinch, give the secret signal.
Rule #3, the final rule of the Secret Base…

Right sits up and says he knows his friends will show up. “We’ll defeat the Shadow Kaijin the way we always do, together!”

“I can see it.”

Zett does not understand and Lamp Shadow offers to finish Right off. He approaches Right and takes a swing, but…

The others arrive. They shoot at Lamp Shadow, saving Right. They’re back to normal!

They happily run toward Right and they remember when they first made those Secret Base Passes.

The final rule of the Secret Base: The five of us will always help each other out!

Their Secret Base Passes become their Rainbow Passes once again and they share a happy reunion. Lamp Shadow can’t believe they broke his hypnosis, but Zett loves seeing them sparkle!

The ToQgers henshin. Lamp Shadow summons Kuros and the ToQgers easily take care of them. They then transfer lines to take on Lamp Shadow.

“What the point of all this line changing?”
“To defeat you!”

Zett takes a seat while he watches. Changing lines, interesting.

Suddenly, Gritta tries sneaking up on Zett with a knife. She slowly walks toward him.

“You can’t do it if you shake like that,” Zett says. Gritta stops in her tracks. Schwarz-sama puts his hand on hers. “Your mother would be disappointed,” he tells her.

“So she is going to be my Queen?” Zett approaches. He likes what he sees. Despite being from the Shadow Line, her eyes actually shine. He grabs her arm, which makes her drop Schwarz’s handkerchief. Zett then kisses her on the cheek.

Schwarz picks the handkerchief up and looks up to Gritta who is trembling.

The ToQgers switch back and deliver a Rainbow Rush of Fire Prevention buckets to take care of Lamp Shadow before he embiggens.

The ToQgers summon the Resshas and Right tells Hikari and Tokacchi to take care of Gramps Ressha.

“The Imagination energy is at its peak!” Ticket proclaims. Conductor tells them to do whatever they come up with. “Sure!” Right says. He has an idea.

Right cancels linkup and Lamp Shadow thinks they are going for a pincer attack. No you don’t, he says as he jumps out of the way. But Right initiates combination of all the Resshas.

And they combine to form Chou ToQ-Oh.

Lamp Shadow doesn’t back down despite Chou ToQ-Oh’s immense size. But the ToQgers unleash a Chou ToQ-Oh Full Burst Finish and officially take care of Lamp Shadow.

Very nice.

The town’s name changes back to Yumenohoshi-yuenchimae. The kids can see the Ressha again. Things seem to be back to normal.

The ToQgers are happy to be back on board and back together. They are connected by their Rainbow Passes and they renew their resolve to take things one step at a time until they reach their hometown.

Wagon comes in with some delicious lunch.

Episode Thoughts
I love this episode. Those scenes when the ToQgers arrive to save Right, total MaGMCMs. The tears were streaming down my face. Loved it. I think they, or Kobayashi, has done very well establishing the ToQgers’ relationships, their friendship and their dilemma. That’s why scenes like that of Tokacchi-tachi running toward Right and switching between their grown-up and kid selves are so effective and affecting. It was awesome.

And also very fun to see what the ToQgers would do in normal jobs.

The other really affecting scene for me in this episode was Gritta attempting to kill Zett. That was definitely unexpected, but a great surprise. I mean, you really feel for Gritta. I don’t know if it’s because she seems so young and that she’s being forced into marriage. It kind of gets a little creepy. She’s a young teen, it seems like and here’s this grown “man” who likes her sparkling, shiny eyes and her mother who wants to marry her off so they can be in control.

So you can really empathize with her. And then that scene where Schwarz-same picks up his handkerchief, sees her trembling with fear and maybe realizing how she’s feeling. Damn. Really good stuff.

On the lighter side, that scene at the Castle with Baron Nero and Madame Noa reacting to the Emperor’s strange disco party, disco ball and spotlights was hilarious.

I loved that fight on the hill and at the park between the ToQgers and the Kuros. The background music during that battle and when they transfer lines was amazing.

In fact, all of the music they’ve used on ToQger has been so good. The music they used during the mecha battle was really powerful. It used the theme song in part of it.

Again, I loved all the train scenes. First, there was them attacking Lamp Shadow from the tracks above and below him. Then that overhead shot of the Resshas heading straight for each other before eventually separating into different tracks to combine.

I know people still think the mecha is ugly, but I really like them. Chou ToQ-Oh may seem a big clunky, but that hasn’t stopped Sentai before. At least here, it kinda makes sense.

Anyway, an excellent, emotional episode. I loved it. Darn you (and by that I mean YOU ARE AMAZING) Kobayashi for making me cry!

The ToQgers are in the middle of battling their 7th Kuliner robo using Chou ToQ-Oh. Right has them use a Chou ToQ-Oh Full Burst Finish.

But after they’ve defeated all the Kuliners, sparks start flying all over Chou ToQ-Oh. Conductor and Ticket say it’s not damaged, but they’ve been overusing it. Since it was an unplanned combination, it puts stress on all of the trains.

They will be reinforcing the Resshas, but just to be safe, they should only use Chou ToQ-Oh when they really need it.

But it’s not all bad news. They’ve detected faint signals from a Support Ressha at this station.

The ToQgers go out to look for it, but Right seems more interested in the local foods. Mio tells Right to take things seriously, but Tokacchi and Hikari call them over to a nearby plaza. A Shadow kaijin is ordering a bunch of Kuros to paint the whole town black.

The kaijin introduces himself as Loupe Shadow. The right side of his face is a huge magnifying glass. The ToQgers henshin and they fight off the Kuros.

Turning their attention back to Loupe Shadow, he uses his big lens to send a beam attack their way. Mio suggests they just break the lens, but Loupe Shadow decides to retreat. Before he leaves, he sends some hearts the ToQgers’ way.

They de-henshin and Right says they should go look for the Support Ressha again. Mio thinks they should look for Loupe Shadow instead. But Right tells her she can take care of that while he looks for the Support Ressha.

Right leaves, much to Mio’s annoyance. Hikari tells Kagura to stick with Right.

Over at the Castle, Zett is telling Gritta how much he loves her bright, sparkly eyes. Madame Noa is pleased the kids are getting along so well. Baron Nero scoffs at Madame Noa appearing to be so sure of herself. He believes creating more darkness is the way to go. General Schwarz walks in and tells Nero that sending waves of Kuliner Robos to attack the ToQgers seems to be working.

This a good opportunity to help the Emperor obtain the darkness he needs before he becomes entranced with some pointless distractions, Nero says.

Gritta sees Schwarz-sama through the curtains and remembers him returning his handkerchief to her after she dropped it.

“Lady Gritta, please take this once more. Please be patient and someday, your feelings will be returned.”

She is encouraged by his words and agrees to herself that she will do as he says for now. In the middle of her happiness, Zett comes to pull her away.

Meanwhile, Mio is still annoyed with Right. She thinks he’s probably off stuffing his face. Suddenly, they see the Kuros have returned to the plaza to resume painting.

They henshin and fight. After finishing them off, they wonder what Loupe Shadow would be trying to do by painting the town black. They then see two buildings covered in black paint.

Mio puts two and two together. She asks the boys if they remember burning black paper using the sun through a magnifying glass. Maybe that’s what Loupe Shadow will do to the city. They hurry to the outskirts of the city to find him.

Right talks to a little boy who points them to a strange thing in the park. It’s not a Ressha, but a huge fire extinguisher.

Right climbs on top of it. Kagura reminds him they should be looking for the Support Ressha, but Right says it’s okay. This looks like fun.

Mio calls Kagura and tells her about figuring out Loupe Shadow’s plan. Kagura tells Right they should go help the others, but Right says sorry, he can’t.

Right hops off the fire extinguisher and talks to Mio. “I’ve got something to finish up,” Right says, so until then, he’ll leave the Shadow to her.

Hikari and Tokacchi wonder what Right’s up to, but Mio has a flashback to when they were kids.

Right is looking at ants through a magnifying glass. Mio comments how it’s just like Right to focus only on one thing and not see anything else. Really? Right says Mio isn’t like that though, so if he ever does become like that…

Leave it up to me, Mio says, I’ll take care of things. Okay, Right replies, he’ll be counting on her.

Present day Mio understands.

Kagura tries to get Right to focus on finding the Support Ressha, but Right is busy fidgeting atop the fire extinguisher. He pulls the safety pin and a door opens.

Mio, Tokacchi and Hikari find Loupe Shadow. But they’re too late, he says. Loupe Shadow charges up and fires a beam toward the two black painted buildings downtown, setting them on fire.

Tokacchi and Hikari think they need they go back to the city, but Mio says it’s fine because she knows Right is there. Just as he trusted her with this, she will entrust the town to him. The guys understand and agree. The three of them henshin.

Right and Kagura are inside the fire extinguisher and find the cockpit as well as the replica Ressha. Right inserts it into his ToQ Changer and the cockpit lights up. They see the town’s on fire and Right mans the controls to turn the fire extinguisher into Extinguisher Ressha.

Ticket tries to explain that it is Fire Ressha, used for huge disasters. Right and Kagura hurry to the burning buildings and use the Ressha to put out the fires.

The others are happy Right has found the Support Ressha and they decide to switch lines to do their part and take on Loupe Shadow.

They use Scope Ressha to finish him off, but he quickly embiggens and now has even more firepower as a giant. Loupe Shadow sets the mountain’s forest on fire.

Conductor tells them to use Extinguisher Fire Ressha with Diesel-Oh.

“You’ll see something interesting!” It’s another interesting combination.

Mio is in Diesel Ressha, Hikari in Car Carrier Ressha and Tokacchi in Tank Ressha. They form Diesel-Oh and they initiate the attachment of Fire Ressha to both arms to officially form Diesel-Oh Fire.

They use the Fire Ressha arms to put out the forest fires. Right gets an idea.

Loupe Shadow uses his magnifying glass to enlarge a couple of rocks into huge boulders which he starts hurling at the ToQgers. Right then tells the other’s about the Finisher.

Right and Mio together initiate a Fire Splash and Loupe Shadow is done.

The ToQgers are back on the Ressha. Tokacchi, Hikari and Kagura congratulate Mio on a job well done this week. But Mio says it was thanks to Right. She had the wrong idea about him. She thought all he cared about was his stomach, but when she realized it wasn’t, she was motivated.

In walks Right with bags full of local foods.

Looks like Mio was wrong about being wrong. Or was she? Mio has a seat and enjoys some of the food Right has brought back.

Episode Thoughts
This wasn’t as big an episode as last week, but it was still good. It served to continue building the ToQger’s relationships. This time, Mio and Right. We may have seen Right be hungry and immature and Mio be the responsible class representative-type, but in this episode we see how much trust they have in each other. And I think that definitely is true of the other ToQgers too.

Of course, the main purpose of the episode was to introduce Fire Ressha, but it’s good that we continue to develop the ToQgers’ relationships and fill in their pasts.

We also got a small glimpse of the Shadow Line. Seeing Schwarz returning his handkerchief to Gritta was very interesting. What could he have meant?

Again, I love how they use the awesome soundtrack in the episode. Loupe Shadow’s design was amazing.

But eek. This scene will definitely not fly in the US:

Anyway, great episode.

Conductor and Ticket announce that they will be stopping at the next station, Kiraridai, for most of the day. The ToQgers are excited to have some pasta for lunch, but Hikari takes a pass as he wants to finish reading his interesting mystery novel.

As soon as the four ToQgers leave the station, however, Detective Toride Gonzaemon places them under arrest. They are handcuffed and taken to the cop cars, but they first demand to know what they are being arrested for.

Detective Toride explains there’s been a string of robberies in town and the four of them may or not be involved. He’s arresting them on a hunch. Conductor, Ticket and Wagon watch from the Ressha as the ToQgers get stuffed into the cars.

They are panicking when the door to the main car opens. A spotlight shines on Hikari as he turns to face them. “I’ve got to catch the true culprit and clear everyone’s names.”

Over at the Castle, Gritta is reiterating to herself that she will not be the Emperor’s wife and that her heart only belongs to Schwarz-sama. Schwarz-sama seems to have heard her.

Madame Noir is telling Zett that she is nothing like Baron Nero. In fact, she has Soujiki (Vacuum cleaner) Shadow out gathering shiny things to dress Gritta with right now.

At the police station, Right, Mio, Tokacchi and Kagura get thrown into a cell. Tokacchi and Kagura are freaking out, but Right is merely hungry.

Back at the Ressha, Hikari has changed into more (1980s) detective-appropriate attire. Conductor and Wagon see Detective Kendama off.

Ticket has no idea what’s going on.

Hikari makes his way around town, questioning people, interrogating people, rolling around on the ground, hiding behind lamp posts.

Conductor is very into the whole situation.

Suddenly, Hikari hears a crash and goes to find Soujiki Shadow robbing an appliance store. He henshins.

They take their fight outside, but Soujiki Shadow throws his just acquired loot of microwaves, TVs and lamps at Hikari allowing him to get away.

Back at the station, Detective Toride is interrogating the ToQgers who have nothing to say. He then offers some katsudon in exchange for information and hungry Right immediately confesses to the crime.

The others are now afraid they’ll go to trial, be found guilty and be sentenced to prison.

Detective Toride declares this case closed, but they hear the sound of a kendama being played with.

In walks Hikari, the Kendama Detective. He tells Detective Toride that the culprit is still at large. He explains the clues he has found, describing Soujiki Shadow’s modus operandi.

Detective Toride thinks that is an absurd theory and now wants to place Hikari under arrest for being an annoyance.

But one of his men come in to say the bank has just been robbed of gold. They hurry out.

The ToQgers are released. They assume Emperor Zett is involved if the Shadow Kaijin is gathering shiny things. They want to hurry and catch up to him at the latest crime scene, but Hikari says they must wait for him at the next one instead. And he knows just where he’ll be.

Hikari changes out of his Sherlock Holmes costume and he and the others stake out a sushi shop, waiting for Soujiki Shadow to come out with a platter of “shiny sushi.”

Right wants to go after him right there, but Hikari says no. They decide to follow Soujiki Shadow to where he’s brought his loot, an abandoned warehouse.

The ToQgers henshin. But Soujiki Shadow sucks up all the barrels and crates in the warehouse and sends them flying toward the ToQgers, burying them. They emerge from the pile and Hikari asks Right to switch lines.

Hikari goes red and takes on Soujiki Shadow himself. Soujiki Shadow goes to suck up another crate, but Hikari stands in front of it and gets sucked in instead. He uses the Rail Slasher to get himself out of the vacuum bag which is now torn and can’t be used.

Hikari and Right switch back and they assemble the Renketsu Bazooka. Hikari delivers the Shiny Sushi Platter Rainbow Rush to finish Soujiki Shadow’s first life.

Right remembers something. He runs over to the loot and finds a Support Ressha. Soujiki Shadow embiggens and Right uses the Ressha to summon Police Ressha, the fastest Support Ressha, according to Ticket.

Right hops into Police Ressha and uses its gun to fire at Soujiki Shadow who summons a Kuliner Robo. The others hop into the Ressha to form ToQ-Oh and Right uses Police Ressha to attach as new hands to become ToQ-Oh Police.

They first use the gun and handcuffs to take care of the Kuiliner Robo. They turn their attention to Soujiki Shadow who tries to avoid their gunshots. But they manage to subdue him and use the handcuffs on him. Right and Hikari say he is under arrest and they use a Police Smash to finish him off for good.

Hikari calls in the location of the stolen goods and Detective Toride thinks maybe the Kendama Detective actually was a good detective.

The ToQgers are back on the Ressha enjoying the shiny sushi while Conductor enjoys a huge wine glass of oolong tea.

Episode Thoughts
It’s hard for me to not like a ToQger episode. Every episode so far has each been lots of fun in their own ways and the story continues to develop at a steady pace.

This episode was definitely fun, seemingly spoofing police procedurals and doing throwbacks and shout outs using Hikari as an 80s-style cop and Sherlock Holmes while Conductor did an awesome David Caruso/Horatio Cane impression. That whole sequence of Hikari changing his clothes, Conductor playing the waiting boss, Wagon saluting the young detective, Hikari gathering clues around town; it was so much fun.

And then of course the other ToQgers getting thrown in jail. And Right still focused on food even when locked up.

The introduction of Police Ressha again felt secondary to everything else in the episode. Especially since Right just so happened to have spotted it amongst the stolen shiny loot.

We’re back to only fleeting moments of the Shadow Line, but the scene we did get was pretty interesting. Schwarz-sama possibly hearing Gritta’s declaration of love and maybe thinking about using that info later on? Then there’s the continued jockeying of position between Madame Noir and Baron Nero. And of course Zett still wanting shiny things.

Overall, it was another great, fun ToQger episode.

Gritta is up late, thinking about her Schwarz-sama. Hammer Shadow approaches her and she tells him she can’t sleep as her heart is troubled. Hammer Shadow says that’s no good and he offers to find what’s in her heart and erase it, leaving her feeling refreshed.

He taps her twice with his hammer and out of her heart pops Schwarz-sama. Hammer Shadow is about to slam the Schwarz with his hammer, but Gritta stops him. She doesn’t want to get rid of it. Gritta swallows Schwarz whole before Zett appears.

Zetta has a request to ask of her. Schwarz watches from the shadows.

On the Ressha, the ToQgers are playing golf using the Rainbow Line’s most advanced Imagination-measuring instrument. Mio is up, but she misses the hole and Conductor and Ticket announce she has the lowest imagination level out of the five.

Right is 1st and he’s followed by Kagura, Tokacchi and Hikari.

The lights suddenly flicker as they are approaching a Shadow Line station, Nightmare Hill.

Hammer Shadow is downtown, tapping people and crushing their dreams of diamonds and mythical vases. Gritta is flanked by Kuros as she watches, having been tasked to lead this operation.

The ToQgers arrive and see what Hammer Shadow is doing. They henshin and fight off the just arrived Kuros.

Mio charges toward Hammer Shadow, not about to lose a hammer duel, but she suddenly remembers Ticket proclaiming that she has the lowest imagination level. Instead of seeing an image of her winning, she imagines herself losing. And that’s just what happens.

Hammer Shadow absolutely pummels Mio with his hammer and sends her flying onto the 2nd level of the mall, forcing her to de-henshin. Hammer Shadow heads up and taps her twice.

Out of Mio pops a large white shumai-looking fella. Apparently, his name is Mikey. And he will do the opposite of everything you tell him to, as Hammer Shadow finds out very painfully when Mikey bumps him and sends him flying off into the distance. Gritta and the Kuros chase after him.

The ToQgers go to see if Mio is okay, but Hikari seems to recognize this Mikey. He flashes back. He walks into the classroom as Mio, alone, takes something out of her bag which she scolds.

Right wants to thank Shumai-chan for helping and says he’s a good boy. Mikey says he is not a good boy and bumps Right to the ground before running off. Tokacchi and Kagura catch up to Mikey and tell him to behave, but he will not. He runs off again.

Mio, Right and Hikari arrive. Mio says he just wants to play and tells the others that she’ll take care of this. And that his name is not Shumai-chan, it’s Mikey.

Back at the Castle, Baron Nero says Lady Gritta had to struggle for such a small amount of darkness. Madame Noir counters that Gritta has helped reveal what is in ToQ-3’s heart. If they can destroy it, darkness can come from a ToQger. And it will be a sparkling kind of darkness that the Emperor favors.

Madame Noir tells Hammer Shadow to finish the job. Still in the shadowy hallway, Schwarz has an idea how to use Hammer Shadow’s power.

Back in town, Mikey comes to a crosswalk. The crossing guard lady tells him to obey the crossing signal, but of course Mikey does the opposite. He runs into the street just as a truck comes speeding toward him. Mio arrives just in time to knock him out of the way.

Mio scolds him. Mikey remembers who she is, which makes Mio happy. She hugs him.

Back on the Ressha, Hikari explains Mikey is a toy Mio used to play with, but only when they were not around. That’s why Hikari had his doubts about the imagination level test. There is no way her Imagination is that low. So Mio may have the ability to suppress her own Imagination.

That can’t be, Conductor says. The others realize, if Hammer Shadow gets rid of Mikey, the built-up energy inside Mio would explode. The ToQgers hurry out to look for her.

Mio and Mikey are at a train yard. She is happy to see her good friend again.

Mio puts her head on Mikey’s shoulder and remembers playing with him in the classroom while she was alone. Mikey’s always screwing around, but Mio says she knows he’s a good boy.

Hikari walks in. A startled Mio hides Mikey, but Hikari doesn’t mention it and instead just says they should go to the Secret Base now.

Back in the present, Hikari finds Mio. He tells Mio that he remembers Mikey being Mio’s good friend. So you did see, Mio asks. Hikari says it’s nothing to be embarrassed about and in fact is just proof of her high level of Imagination.

But that’s also why it’s dangerous for them now. They must hide until Hammer Shadow is defeated. But Oops! Mikey will not hide. He gets up to run away right in the direction of the just arrived Hammer Shadow and Kuros.

Right, Tokacchi and Kagura arrive to help. They promise to protect Mikey, since he means so much to Mio. Mio turns to Mikey and tells him to see just how much stronger she’s become.

Mio and Hikari henshin.

Mio tells Mikey to get to safety as the ToQgers fight off the Kuros.

Hammer Shadow then flips an entire train over and sends a huge blast toward them. Mikey peeks out from behind a nearby train and Hammer Shadow turns his attention back to the “weirdo.”

Mio gets up and hurries over. “I will protect Mikey!” she says.

Just as Hammer Shadow starts swinging his hammer, Mikey pushes Mio out of the way and says he will not be protected. He’ll be the one doing the protecting.

Hammer Shadow slams his hammer right on Mikey’s head. He falls to the ground.

Mio hurries over to her friend who dissolves into the air. Hammer Shadow now happily awaits the darkness to emanate from Mio.

But instead of darkness, a very bright light comes from her. It is the light of justice, Hikari says.

Mio charges toward Hammer Shadow and pummels him channeling all her rage through her hammer. She sends him flying and the ToQgers summon the Renketsu Bazooka. But suddenly, Schwarz pops in.

Schwarz says he cannot let them finish off Hammer Shadow as he has a good use of his power. He sends a blast toward them and whisks Hammer Shadow away.

Before the ToQgers can follow, two Kuliner Robos appear. Right, Tokacchi and Kagura hop into ToQ-Oh Police while Mio and Hikari hop into Diesel-Oh Fire.

Shield Ressha comes in to help deflect the Kuliners’ bullets, allowing the ToQgers to use a Police Smash and Fire Splash to finish them off.

Back on the Ressha, the others are wondering how they can cheer Mio up. But she says she’s fine now.

She fully remembers Mikey and is certain that once they return to their hometown, he will be there.

Episode Thoughts
I absolutely disagree with anyone who says ToQger is mediocre. If anything, it has been very full and fresh. And of course, heartwarming and nostalgic.

The story has been moving at a fine pace and completely in line with the premise of the season; the ToQgers on a journey home. This episode definitely reaffirmed that. And it also reaffirmed their childhood friendship.

It’s been great to also see the ToQgers having both shared and non-shared memories. Some memories that all of them can remember and other memories that were shared only with one or two others in the group.

Even if it all gets thrown out the window and this is all just a figment of their imagination, literally, getting to experience and slowly peel back the layers of the memories has really been a great and enjoyable viewing experience.

Mikey was an adorable little punk. And like they have been doing all season, we get to see another facet of Mio’s personality and character.

The fight scenes were amazing this episode. The first fight was a great use of switching lines. The second fight at the trainyard was awesome, especially Tokacchi and Hikari actually fighting IN the train. But best part had to be Mio’s hammering of Hammer Shadow. That was absolutely kick-ass the way Mio handled that hammer. So awesome.

Scwharz’s secret planning is very interesting and I definitely liked him pulling the Shadow kaijin off the field of battle and instead substituting the Kuliner Robos.

Gritta heading out to lead the mission was also very interesting. I think that’s going to set up the development of her character, whether that’s eventually becoming the big bad or who knows, shedding her Shadow Line body to become a ToQger.

Gritta swallowing Schwarz whole though. Wow!

Also another possible clue, it was an incredible bright light that emanated from Mio instead of some overwhelming darkness. Maybe the ToQgers have no darkness in them at all? Maybe it has something to do with what happened to them or they were always special to begin with.

Anything is possible with imagination, after all. And that’s why I am absolutely loving ToQger.

Schwarz has Hammer Shadow on his Kuliner. Hammer Shadow is very grateful to Schwarz, but all the General wanted was his ability to crush dreams. Schwarz ties Hammer Shadow up and says he will use him to make the Kuliner a world of dreams.

Meanwhile, the ToQgers are back on the Ressha which is still at the station. Wagon is taking their food orders when they are alerted to the approaching Shadow Line. The ToQgers quickly henshin.

On the other side of town, big sister Aoi is with her little brother Kakeru at the park. She watches the kids playing, thinking how nice it would be to be a kid again.

Suddenly, Schwarz’s Kuliner pulls into the park announcing itself as a dream train. The kids all run to it and Aoi suddenly cannot find her brother.

The ToQgers arrive and try to stop the kids from boarding, but they force their way on. Kuros come out of the train to try and stop the ToQgers, but as soon as the train is about to leave, they jump on.

Right, Mio and Hikari hop on first. But as Tokacchi and Kagura are about to jump in as well, Aoi jumps on Kagura’s back and they all fall into one of the Kuliner cars together.

It’s empty when they come to. Aoi thinks Tokacchi and Kagura were the ones who kidnapped her brother, but they introduce themselves and explain that they are on the Shadow Line.

Aoi doesn’t believe them and she runs into the other car to find her brother. But instead of another train car, they end up in a water park.

The children are enjoying themselves in the water, others are being served drinks while a group of Kuros hula dance.

Tokacchi puts his ear to the floor and they realize they are still on the train as they hear the train tracks below. The PA announces this is a special Shadow Line train that grants wishes today.

Aoi frantically continues searching for her brother and they head into the next car, which is a restaurant. Tokacchi and Kagura find Right, Mio and Hikari enjoying the food they had asked Wagon for earlier.

Tokacchi figures out that whatever you imagine will come true as soon as you board. Aoi runs into the next car and finds her little brother in an aviation museum playing with a toy airplane.

Schwarz walks in and decides to take care of these uninvited guests. He pushes Aoi towards Tokacchi and Kagura and opens the roof to eject the three non-kids out of the dream Kuliner.

The PA announces a special service today, so all the kids run to the lead car where Schwarz introduces them to Hammer Shadow who will now crush and destroy all their dreams.

Tokacchi, Kagura and Aoi are back at the park. Tokacchi and Kagura decide to summon Police Ressha to catch back up with the train. Aoi wants to come to help save her only brother. But Tokacchi says unfortunately, without Imagination, Aoi won’t be able to see Police Ressha and therefore can’t board.

Aoi thinks about not being able to see all the things her brother thinks up as he plays with his imagination. She has to take care of Kakeru, so she never has time to play with her own friends. Sometimes she even thinks dumb things like wishing he would just disappear. Maybe Kakeru being kidnapped is just the realization of her own imagination coming true.

That’s not true, Kagura says. Imagination is the power to dream, a fun power. Surely Aoi can remember what it was like to imagine as a kid.

“Nothing’s impossible with Imagination.”

Tokacchi summons Police Ressha as Aoi runs up to the top of the slide. She imagines herself boarding a plane just like her little brother did earlier. And she sees it, her and brother riding atop an airplane.

Police Ressha arrives and Aoi can see that too. She’s got her Imagination back. They hop on and catch up to the Kuliner.

Tokacchi pulls up next to it and Kagura and Aoi jump across the tracks to board. They hurry through the water park, the restaurant and the aviation museum again.

They hear kids crying and head to the lead car. Kagura pushes the button to open the doors and out of the car comes a huge, thick cloud of fresh darkness. Hammer Shadow is terrorizing the kids into creating more. Aoi hurries in to find her brother as Schwarz knocks Kagura out of the way after she realizes Hammer Shadow brought the kid’s fun dreams to life only to crush them to create this darkness.

Schwarz thinks it’s a wonderful darkness, but Kagura will not stand for it. She charges toward Schwarz who easily knocks her around and then forces her to de-henshin.

“Give up,” Schwarz tells her, “What can one little girl do?”

I’m not alone, Kagura says. “I can see it! The victorious image of everyone defeating you!”

She calls for Right, Mio and Hikari.

Kagura’s imagination is realized and an image of her hitting them on the head with a paper fan gets them to snap out of their hungry stupor. They manage to arrive just before Schwarz can slice Kagura’s head off.

Kagura henshins and while Right, Tokacchi and Mio take on Schwarz, she goes to save the kids from Hammer Shadow.

Tokacchi uses Police Ressha to handcuff the Kuliner and the others get the kids to safely disembark.

Now out of the Kuliner, the ToQgers get ready to use the Renketsu Bazooka on Hammer Shadow. Kagura asks Right if she can deliver the Final Strike this time, One Million Paper Fan Smacks.

Hammer Shadow embiggens.

Right summons the main Resshas and Kagura summons Diesel Ressha. Aoi and Kakeru run back to Kagura. Aoi asks if they will be okay against such a large opponent. Of course, just imagine us winning, Kagura says. Kakeru suggests to combine all the trains.

Good idea, Right says. The ToQgers decide to use Chou ToQ-Oh.

Hammer Shadow manages to block all of Chou ToQ-Oh’s cannon blasts, then knocks them around before getting ready to deliver his finisher.

Right asks the others for suggestions and Kagura says why not let themselves get hit by Hammer Shadow. Right understands.

Hammer Shadow delivers his Hammer Crush finisher and the Resshas all separate only to quickly linkup again while in the sky. They attack Hammer Shadow from above and once they’ve got him on his toes, they deliver a Chou ToQ-Oh Full Burst Finish.

Schwarz drives his Kuliner back to the castle. It’s okay, he says. He now has a huge stockpile of darkness.

Back on the Resshas, Wagon gives Hikari and Mio their food orders from earlier, but they aren’t in the mood to eat anymore. Tokacchi and Kagura will happily eat for them, but Right will never say no to food.

Meanwhile, Wagon hands Conductor-san a just arrived package. Could it be!? Conductor and Ticket hurry to their compartment to open it up.

Inside is a Build Ressha train and an Applichanger.

“The higher-ups must expect a lot out of us,” Ticket says.

“Shall we do it?” Conductor says. “Shall we?” Ticket replies.

They take the Ressha and Applichanger in their hand and mouth while the ToQgers listen on the other side of the door.

Episode Thoughts
Another great episode. The fact that the Shadow Line likes to victimize kids to create darkness is both creepy and really great (What!?). Luring kids into rape trains Kuliners and terrorizing them is so messed up. But it also adds another dimension to the ToQgers’ own story as well as the idea of Imagination being so important to the central theme of the season.

Using Aoi to highlight that point was done really well in this episode.

Schwarz’s secret plans are continuing to develop. I wonder what that bodes for his character.

I’ve been enjoying seeing the ToQgers getting paired up with different team members each week, showing that they are all comfortable with each other. This week it was Kagura and Tokacchi with Kagura getting a little more of the focus.

Her not being afraid to go toe-to-toe with Schwarz even if in a futile attempt was awesome. And it was very clever her using the dream train concept to imagine Right-tachi snapping out of their stupor to come help.

How can you not enjoy hula dancing Kuros. And Chou ToQ-Oh is just all kinds of kick-ass awesome.

And finally, the teaser for ToQ-6 was good, especially before a two-week break. But Conductor and Ticket mentioning the “higher-ups.” OMG, WTF does that mean!?!?! What higher-ups!? Who!?

That’s so crazy. AND AWESOME. Very exciting.

An orange-dressed, hard-hatted man is playing a harmonica as it rains.

“I’ve completed my own requiem.”

Suddenly, the alarm sounds on the Ressha and Conductor alerts the ToQgers to the approaching Kuliner that slams into them. Hikari suggests they all go to their respective Resshas.

The ToQgers get knocked around the trains as the Kuliner continues bumping into them. Tokacchi sees the AppliChanger on the floor after the box falls, but Mio tells him to think about it later.

They quickly combine into ToQ-Oh, but Right suddenly senses Zett who seems to be reaching out from the Kuliner into ToQ-Oh. A wave of darkness pushes ToQ-Oh back and Right summons Gramps-tachi.

The ToQgers use both ToQ-Oh and Diesel-Oh to defeat the Kuliner. Does that mean the Emperor is also defeated, Tokacchi asks. But Right says he doesn’t think the Emperor was on board.

Indeed, Zett is on his throne at the castle.

Back on the Resshas, Conductor announces that they will be stopping for a little bit so the tracks can be inspected for any possible damage. Also, he and Ticket ask if anyone has seen a smartphone about.

Tokacchi hands Conductor the AppliChanger and he and Ticket tell them it is a new henshin device for the sixth ToQger.

Wagon thinks she is the sixth ToQger, but Conductor says that’s crazy. Besides, someone’s already been chosen. He turns a spotlight, literally, on himself. But they suddenly hear a harmonica.

They all peek out the window and see the orange-dressed, hard-hatted man walking down the train tracks in the rain, playing his harmonica. They assume he is the sixth ToQger and think he seems very cool, walking down like that with the rain apparently only pouring down on him.

He’s just a railway worker, Ticket says. Conductor adds that he’s just here to inspect for possible damage from the battle. Right still thinks he could be the 6th ToQger. But Conductor and Ticket insist no. To be honest, Conductor and Ticket tell them that this man used to be a Shadow.

Over at the Castle, Baron Nero is very excited to see the Emperor is finally trying to crush the Rainbow Line like a true Emperor of Darkness. Madame Noir knocks him out of the way to ask to take Zett’s measurements for his wedding clothes. Nero and Noir start arguing until Zett sends a wave that knocks them to the floor.

“You idiots really don’t get it!” Zett tells Nero that he’s only interested in shiny things and tells Noir that her shiny sparkle is fake and that the only kira-kira in this Castle is Glitter’s eyes.

Baron Nero speaks up. But why? He is a part of the darkness like they are. When did he become so obsessed with shiny things?

“When indeed? Maybe I saw the truth when in the darkness.”

Glitter wonders what is wrong and thinks he seems lonely while Schwarz wonders just exactly what the Emperor wants. But as long as the Emperor is preoccupied with shiny things, Schwarz can do what he wants.

A Kuro comes and whispers something to him. Schwarz can’t believe that “he” is still alive!

The orange railway worker tightens and checks the bolts on the train tracks as Conductor tells the ToQgers what he knows. He doesn’t remember when, but he knows that this former Shadow had a change of heart and was given permission to work on the Rainbow Line as he wants to atone for his sins.

The ToQgers ask why he’d have a change of heart, but Ticket says “Who knows? I’ve never talked to him. It’s not like he can board the Resshas.”

Besides, they shouldn’t trust a former enemy so easily. Hikari agrees. But Right doesn’t. If this guy is no longer a Shadow, then he is no longer their enemy.

The worker finishes his inspection and waves the Resshas off. But when he turns to walk back to the warehouse, there’s Right, happily waving to him.

Right chases after the worker who hides. He thinks he’s lost Right, but then there he is with a pair of orange sodas. “What do you want from me?” he asks.

Right says he just wanted to thank him for taking care of the train tracks for them. The worker hands the soda back to Right and says he isn’t someone the ToQgers should be thanking.

“Stay out of my business.”

Just then, Schwarz walks in.

“Zaram, long time no see.”
“I’ve given up that name,” Zaram says.

Schwarz says he’s surprised to find Zaram on the Rainbow Line after leaving the Shadow Line. Why!?

“You wouldn’t understand if I told you,” he replies.

Schwarz charges forward and Right quickly henshins. But Zaram tells him to stay out of it. Right will not.

Schwarz knocks Zaram over and takes on Right whom he says has improved. But Zaram runs over and as he engages with Schwarz, he turns into his Shadow form.

“Using this form was the last thing I wanted.”

The rain turns into a torrential downpour for a few seconds, long enough for Zaram to whisk Right away.

He bandages Right’s arm and begins to explain. He’s long given up being a Shadow, yet this power of controlling the rain stays with him.

“With this power, do you know what kind of atrocities I’ve committed!?”

Right is shocked, “By atrocities, you don’t mean people were…”

“Rainy weather… cancellation. Picnics, amusement parks, sports competitions; all those events were cancelled because of rain. And darkness poured out of the people. All because of this wretched power.”

Having expected something more bleak, Right tries to comfort Zaram, but he says he knows the weight of his sins.

One day, he saw a rainbow in the sky. It was the first time he thought something was beautiful and that’s when he decided never to create darkness to cover it up again. That’s why he’s left the Shadow Line.

But even then, he must still atone for his sins. “I will quietly fade away protecting the rainbow. I’ve been looking for that place to die all this time.”

“You’re overreacting,” Right says.

The others are off the Ressha and looking for Right, but they instead come face to face with Schwarz. Schwarz asks where they are hiding Zaram and of course the ToQgers have no idea what he’s talking about.

Tokacchi calls Conductor to report and he knows what to do. Wagon’s selfie time is interrupted when Conductor and Ticket enter the main car.

“It’s finally time for us to fight too!”

Conductor has the AppliChanger and Ticket has the Build Ressha. They swipe…

and…

They henshin… or, just Ticket henshins. He’s ready to go and he pulls Conductor along, but Conductor doesn’t want to leave the Ressha unarmed and unsuited.

Wagon decides to call Right.

Right gets ready to run off, but Zaram says this is his fight. “This is where I die.”

Wait, Right says, “You can’t protect the rainbow if that happens. Why not fight with us! Together.”

Schwarz is tossing the other ToQgers around when they suddenly hear the harmonica. Zaram walks towards them, rain pouring down on him.

He flashes back to Right’s pep talk. Right knows Zaram can see in his mind exactly what he wants to do. That’s why Right thinks Zaram is perfect to work with them as the 6th ToQger.

Zaram has the AppliChanger and the Build Ressha. Right arrives and tells the others that starting today, Zaram is their new comrade.

Zaram takes the AppliChanger and Ressha and henshins into ToQ-6.

Wagon watches on her Rainbow Pass. Ticket is sad since he knows they could’ve done it, but Conductor says, “Nah, we should be more self-aware.”

So you have truly left the Shadow, Schwarz says.
“Yes, I will disappear protecting the rainbow. This is truly the place where I will die!”

They fight. Schwarz reminds him of the time they shared the same vision of using trains to conquer the world instead of darkness. “Have you forgotten?”

“Yes I have,” Zaram says as he tosses aside his weapon and goes hand-to-hand combat. But Ticket alerts him, “You have a weapon! Use it already!”

Zaram picks up his Yudo Breaker and uses a Drill Ressha to deliver a final blow to Schwarz as the others watch. HUGE explosion and both Zaram and Schwarz are still in-tact.

“Zaram.. that train…” Schwarz hops onto his Kuliner.

“I have no regrets,” Zaram says as he collapses. The other ToQgers run over to him as he now finds himself in a white place.

“Is this… Heaven? No of course not, it must be hell.”

But actually, he’s still in this world as he’s pinching Tokacchi’s cheek.

Zaram gets up and hands Right the AppliChanger and Build Ressha back. He motions to tip his hard hat, but it’s gone. Kagura hands it over.

“I will have to live in shame.”

Right calls over to him, but Hikari says ignore him for now because he needs to explain himself.

Episode Thoughts
It was a pretty good introduction to our new ToQger. Zaram (not yet Akira) definitely adds a lot of story possibility.

The season is centered around the ToQger’s friendship and bond, so having this outsider now be part of the team definitely adds another element to the team dynamic. As does the fact that he’s a former Shadow.

It’ll also be interesting to see just how far his and Schwarz’s plan and maybe friendship went back before he tasted the rainbow. But most interesting maybe his intense guilt for raining on everyone’s parade, like literally. He never killed anyone, like Right may have assumed, but that he is so upset over causing sports cancellations and inside recess is both hilarious and very sad.

Zett’s fascination with shiny things also continues to be very intriguing. Just what turned him on to the light. Could it be as simple as Zaram tasting the rainbow or is there something bigger, something that involves Right perhaps?

Seeing Ticket henshin was awesome. I’d love to see Conductor, Ticket and Wagon all become official ToQgers in the future. Or at the very least, see them fighting and in battle as well.

I still don’t get the hate for ToQger that people seem to have. Or even the indifference. This season has moved at a great pace and I think even has moved faster than Gaim did in their first 17 episodes. We’ve been learning more and more about everyone, both our heroes and the villains, and of course, things have been very fun along the way.

Ticket is happy Zaram, an ex-Shadow, won’t be ToQ-6. But Conductor thinks they should let him be the sixth member as he appears to be very strong.

The ToQgers watch them arguing. Right asks why one person would have two opinions and Ticket immediately says they’re not just one person. “He’s just talking to himself,” Hikari says.

“That’s rather harsh…”

But nonetheless, Hikari agrees with Ticket. How can they trust a former Shadow who could return at any time? Right says the rain stopping is a sign that he’s truly changed, plus, he’s renounced his Shadow name and is now nameless.

He may be eccentric, but he’s not a traitor, Right says.
But he did betray the Shadow Line, Hikari counters. Right doesn’t understand why Hikari is so doubtful. Hikari says Right is too trusting.

Mio tries to get both of them to stop arguing when the lights suddenly flicker to announce their arrival at a Shadow Line Station, Henzutsuu or “strange headache.”

Over at the Castle, Schwarz thinks about Zaram using the Drill Ressha Kuliner. But he is interrupted by Zett. While Schwarz says he will take care of the traitorous Zaram himself, Zett has a warning for him. He knows Schwarz is gathering quite a bit of darkness, but Schwarz better be careful not to act without permission.

Back in Henzutsuu, notZaram sees Ring Shadow happily torturing the townspeople by saying their names which results in them receiving a painful shock using the ring that is on each of their heads.

notZaram approaches, commenting on Ring Shadow’s cruel taste in torture when the ToQgers arrive to see the former Shadow and current Shadow seemingly associating with each other.

“I knew it,” Hikari says.

Ring Shadow sends a fireball their way and the ToQgers quickly henshin.

Kuros pop in to take them on while Ring Shadow attempts to attach rings to their heads as well. notZaram gives them a heads up and tries to stop Ring Shadow himself, but he ends up with a ring on his own head.

Ring Shadow tries to use Zaram’s name to zap him, but notZaram feels nothing, since he’s given up his Shadow name. Right thinks that’s a wonderful display of Zaram’s strong Imagination and proves he’s no longer a Shadow.

Just then, Zett arrives on his personal Kuliner, wanting to see Zaram’s shiny change of heart himself. Right steps in front of notZaram, but Zett sends one of his energy waves Right’s way, forcing him to de-henshin and Ring Shadow to attach a ring to his head.

Zett walks over to notZaram and asks if it really is possible for a Shadow to shine so bright so easily after renouncing the Darkness. Zett forces Zaram to turn into his Shadow form and the rain comes pouring down once again.

“You must not shine that brightly if you returned so easily,” Zett remarks. Ring Shadow tests it out and as soon as he says Zaram’s name, notZaram gets zapped. “You’re still a Shadow!”

Right refuses to believe that. But Zett decides to take Right with him until Zaram returns to the dark fold.

The other ToQgers talk with notZaram under a bridge. Hikari says Right trusted him, yet Zaram returned to being a Shadow so easily. Mio says there’s no use in attacking Zaram right now, but Hikari says he’s not attacking. In fact, he’s happy Zaram reverted back so easily since he hoped it would mean Right would stop being so trusting.

Instead, it only strengthened Right’s convictions. Right will continue trusting Zaram until he kills him. That’s why Hikari has given up on that. While Hikari won’t be able to completely trust Zaram, he’ll stop suspecting Zaram will betray them.

The others are happy for Hikari coming around and notZaram understands. He will save Right… and it’ll be the perfect place for him to die.

Eh!?

Back on Zett’s Kuliner, Ring Shadow toys with Right by repeatedly saying his name. But Zett just wants to simply talk to him. He wants to know why Right is so sure Zaram is no longer a Shadow. But Right wants to know why Zett is so obsessed with shiny things.

“I want to know too,” Zett replies. When he was in the darkness, he saw the same shining, shimmering splendidness that he currently sees in Right’s eyes. He has been obsessed ever since.

Then stop creating darkness! Right says. “Without darkness, how can we survive!?” Zett replies as he sends Right and the two Kuros holding him dropping down to the floor.

Ring Shadow continues to torture Right.

Back on the Ressha, the ToQgers are trying to think of ways to save Right and notZaram. Ticket thinks maybe they have to become ToQ-6 after all. Wagon offers to henshin herself.

But Hikari’s got a better idea.

Zett is lounging while he, Ring Shadow and Right wait for Zaram who appears, playing his harmonica and soaked by the rain.

notZaram tells Zett to let Right go and remove his ring before they can talk. But Zett wants notZaram to talk first.

Right yells for Zett to stop and Ring Shadow tells Right to stop. But oh, Right is no longer affected by hearing his name.

“It’s no use,” Right says. “Did you know I had amnesia? You jogged my memory with all that name-calling. My real name… isn’t Right!”

Fine, I’ll just give you a new ring, Ring Shadow says. He takes the ring off Right’s head, but before Zett can even warn the Shadow of his mistake, Right breaks free form the Kuros’ hold.

“I lied. My name is Right!” He explains he was just able to numb the pain after being tortured so much.

But Zaram still has his ring. Ring Shadow repeats Zaram’s name until the other ToQgers arrive. Hikari tells him to stop, “His name isn’t Zaram.”

The four ToQgers have the Renketsu Bazooka and aim right at notZaram. They fire.

But it isn’t an attack on Zaram. Instead, a rainbow appears in the sky. Tokacchi explains since Zaram is no longer a Shadow, he needs a new name. Which is why they’ve thought one up for him: Nijino Akira.

Akira looks up at the rainbow and his new name. Right smiles at his creative friends.

Zett looks up at the rainbow himself and understands. He tries to reach out to the light, but a flash and he collapses again.

“Why won’t the light accept me?”

Zett hops on his Kuliner and leaves the ToQgers to Ring Shadow.

Hikari hands Akira the AppliChanger and the Build Ressha and both he and Right henshin together.

The ToQgers are now six. While the five ToQgers take on Kuros, Akira tosses his weapon aside and charges toward Ring Shadow.

With Conductor and Wagon watching the fight on a Rainbow Pass, Ticket reminds Akira he’s got a weapon he can use.

Akira runs to grab it and can now fight a little easier against Ring Shadow. He inserts Drill Ressha/Kuliner into his Yudo Breaker to finish off Ring Shadow’s first life.

As Ring Shadow embiggens, the other ToQgers tell Akira they’ll take it form here. They hop into ToQ-Oh.

But Ring Shadow knocks their Fumikiriken out of the way and attacks. They need a new attack of their own and Akira tosses them the Drill Kuliner, now Ressha for them to use.

Akira summons Drill Ressha and it comes barreling out of the ground right up into Ring Shadow’s butt, spinning him around and tossing him to the ground.

Drill Ressha attaches to ToQ-Oh and they unleash a Drill Tornado finisher to get rid of Ring Shadow for good.

The ToQgers thank Akira for his help and the townspeople’s rings finally disappear and they are now free to call each other by name.

Akira sees his AppliChanger officially bear his new name. The others approach him and Right asks if he likes it.

Yes, Akira says, “it will look great on my grave.”

Mio says he can board the Resshas now with the AppliChanger, but Akira says his job is to protect the rainbow, which means protecting the Rainbow Line tracks, unknown to others.

Akira leaves, playing his harmonica. Interesting fellow, they think. But Right says the six of them will be just fine. He can see it.

Episode Thoughts
A nice little wrap up to last week’s introduction of Zaram, now Akira. He’s officially a ToQger, but still the lone wolf which will be an interesting dynamic to explore moving forward. I would definitely like to see him stay off the Ressha for a while. But it does pose an interesting question. Are there other Rainbow Line maintenance workers? And if not, that would mean Akira would definitely have to remain off the Resshas and concentrate on the tracks.

Again, that’s a very interesting dynamic to explore and different from the usual sixth Ranger getting makeovers and going shopping with the core five. (Yeah, I’m looking at you Super Megaforce.)

It kind of reminds me a little of Shinkenger I guess. We saw Genta out with his sushi cart most of the time. Or maybe a little like Gosei Knight wandering around. (And no, not rapping with little kids at the library or giving African kids Christmas presents.)

With the continuing myhtology, oh man, I actually thought Right was serious when he said Right wasn’t his real name. That would’ve been a huge clue and even if he was just trying to outsmart Ring Shadow, I think it is still a huge possibility that the names we know the ToQgers by right now aren’t their actual names, or these personalities we have grown to love aren’t really them in the first place.

The show’s kind of moved away from that element of the story, while still filling in those memories along the way. I definitely hope we get to see more about the ToQger’s past and get some big shockers very soon.

The slow peeling off of the layers of the Shadow Line has been at just the right pace and I expect things to really pick up in the next couple of eps as we reach the halfway point in the season.

Akira is on the tracks when he hears the Rainbow Line grant him use of his own Ressha. He walks into a tunnel where he finds the huge Build Ressha.

Ticket is still annoyed that Akira is ToQ-6, but he and Conductor tell the others about the new Ressha. Unfortunately, they’ve lost contact with him. Ticket says Akira boarded the train and ran, but Right doesn’t believe that.

He tries calling Akira who decides to wrap his AppliChanger with a towel and tape it to the inside of his hard hat so as not to be bothered while he tries to figure out how to work this wild stallion of a Ressha.

The ToQgers stop near where the last signal of Build Ressha was detected. They wonder why Akira isn’t answering his AppliChanger. Tokacchi suggests that maybe it’s hard for him to fit in, especially since the five of them are childhood friends. Akira might not want to butt in.

Tokacchi has a quick memory flash of him alone in a classroom.

He thinks they should encourage Akira to be friends with them. They split up to look for him.

Over at the Castle, Zett is reaching for the shiny again. Baron Nero thinks there’s definitely something wrong with the Emperor, but if he will remain obsessed with shiny things, then it’s up to Nero to gather darkness himself. Madame Noir, meanwhile, reaffirms her resolve to stick this out until the wedding.

Gritta finds Schwarz-sama in the tunnels under the Castle. He says he wanted to act in secret, but the Emperor knew everything all along. That’s okay, Gritta says. She wants to help him. Her closeness to him is good for two things. First, she’s no longer afraid of him. And second, she can use her position to help Schwarz-sama.

Tokacchi finds and calls the others. But he tells them to let him talk to Akira himself first.

Tokacchi thinks it’d be better if it’s just him first. He applauds at Akira finishes his harmonica song, but Akira is nonresponsive.

Tokacchi tries ease any worries Akira may have about joining a close-knit group. Communication is important for them to all understand each other. It’ll be a good first step toward them becoming friends.

Akira says he doesn’t understand any of this “friend” stuff Tokacchi keeps talking about.

Tokacchi follows Akira into the tunnel and is amazed by the new Ressha. He follows Akira inside as he starts ripping apart the cab of the train saying he needs to “break it in” and modify some things. Tokacchi thinks they should talk about these improvements first.

Meanwhile, a Kuliner is fast approaching the Resshas and the ToQgers quickly head to their respective Resshas to brace for possible impact. Conductor calls Tokachi.

The Kuliner goes robo and fires at the Resshas. Right is about to initiate combining when a fence suddenly appears ahead of them on the tracks courtesy of Fence Shadow who watches from a nearby cliff.

Right doesn’t think he can stop the trains in time before hitting the fence, but Conductor switches tracks and they avoid it.

Fence Shadow appreciates Lady Gritta’s suggestion to trap the Resshas with his fences, but Tokacchi and Akira show up in front of him. He summons Kuros and Tokacchi henshins.

Akira has to dig for his AppliChanger out of his hard hat, but henshins as well.

Fence Shadow turns his attention back to the Resshas and forces them to stop using a thorned, barbwired spike fence. Akira summons Drill Ressha, but the Kuliner robo takes control of it. Having been a former Shadow Kuliner, the Ressha attaches and the Kuliner robo uses it to start burying the Resshas.

Tokacchi tries to go help his friends, but Fence Shadow traps him in a fence and sends blasts his way, forcing him to de-hensin. Akira says they must retreat, but Tokacchi will not leave his friends.

He slides down the side of the steep cliff, but the Kuros chase after him and slash at his calf. Akira comes to help him and manages to take him away from Fence Shadow’s attack.

The Kuliner robo continues burying the Resshas and the ToQgers reunite in the main car.

The ToQgers try to summon the Support Ressha, but there is no connection under all that dirt. The power then goes out.

Tokacchi finds he can’t reach them on their Express Passes so he decides to go himself, but Akira stops him. He needs to treat his wound first.

“You want me to give up? You don’t know how important they all are to me.”

Tokacchi suddenly remembers. Flashback to the classroom. Tokacchi is sitting along reading his book.

Right pops up in front of him. Calling him “transfer student,” Right asks how much yakiniku he’s eaten before. “Are you talking nonsense again?” Mio asks as she, Kagura and Hikari approach them.

“Don’t call him ‘transfer student,’ he has a name,” Mio says. But it’s a complicated name, Right says. Hikari asks transfer student what they called him at his last school and he answers “Tokacchi.”

Cute, Kagura says. And Right says he’ll remember that. That’s when they immediately welcomed him as their friend,

“The five of us are going to return to that town, riding those trains.”

Tokacchi wills himself to stand on his injured leg and Akira catches him as he stumbles.

“That’s the first thing you’ve said that I understood,” Akira says. He then suggests Tokacchi help him with Build Ressha.

They hop in and he instructs Tokacchi on which cable to pull. Build Ressha exits the tunnel.

Back on the Resshas, the ToQgers, Conductor, Ticket and Wagon are starting to sweat and are having trouble breathing. Right knows that Tokacchi and Akira will save them.

Fence Shadow thinks everyone will be dead soon, but he turns to see Build Ressha arriving. The Kuliner robo can’t hold it back and Akira manages to force it to stick the Drill Ressha into the side of the mountain, unable to pull it out.

Akira and Tokacchi use Build Ressha to dig the others out and pull them to safety.

Right comes to and wakes the others up. They head to the door to get some oxygen into their lungs and they hop down to reunite with Tokacchi.

Fence Shadow tries to take his anger out on the ToQgers, but Akira blocks his shots allowing the others to henshin.

They decide to switch lines and they take care of the newly arrived Kuros.

Right suggests he and Akira switch, but it doesn’t work. Ticket says 6 doesn’t need to transfer.

Fence Shadow tries to trap Right and Akira, but Akira holds the fence down and he and Right send the Shadow flying. The ToQgers summon the Renketsu Bazooka and Tokacchi sets up a rockslide finisher.

Fence Shadow embiggens and Akira asks Tokacchi to help him in Build Ressha. Right and Kagura want to come too, and Mio and Hikari join them.

Build Ressha’s cab is a little crowded, but they make it work. Akira initiates combination to allow Build Ressha to transform into Build Dai-Oh.

Akira and Tokacchi tag-team the cable controls to finish off the Kuliner robo, allowing Akira to reclaim the Drill Ressha. It attaches and they now have Build Dai-Oh Drill.

Hikari and Tokacchi try some cables and they break out of Fence Shadow’s trap before Akira tells them all to grab a cable to help deliver a Shovel Drill Double Crash finisher.

Kagura pulls Akira along saying Conductor promised him a nice bento. But Akira says he needs to finish working on the train.

Right pops up in front of Akira’s face and asks how much bento he’s ever eaten. Mio says Right is talking nonsense again.

Tokacchi flashes back again, remembering that first moment as friends. He thinks maybe that’s the way to go. Talking casually to Akira might have been better instead of forcing a friendship, thus not allowing Akira to understand his feelings.

But Akira approaches Tokacchi. “The rainbow that I protect unknown to others shall include the rail back to your hometown.”

With this, Tokacchi realizes they can always communicate as long as they show their true feelings.

The ToQgers all happily head to the Resshas for lunch.

Episode Thoughts
It was a pretty exciting episode and a nice little debut for Build Ressha. They’ve really worked the “old train” concept well, having each inactive Ressha actually need to be “awakened” or worked on before being ready to run again, unlike usual new mecha that is all pretty and shiny as soon as they get it. It definitely fits in with the rustic, hometown, railroad feel.

Another excellent Shadow kaijin design. And loved that entire sequence in the Castle too. We got a little check-in with each of the Shadow Line leaders which was also great, reaffirming each of their personal goals.

Best part though was getting back to those flashbacks, filling in the ToQger’s memories. So last episode, we got a little tease with Right saying “Right” wasn’t his name, but then it is. Or not. As we saw with Tokacchi not being Tokacchi’s real name. Sure, it’s a nickname, but it could just as well be a hint at what’s to come. Tokacchi’s little flashback and learning more about the group dynamics and how they came to be friends is awesome.

Tokacchi’s last solo focus episode had him be pretty kickass, so it was great to see him be just as badass in this episode too. More of that with the clumsy Tokacchi moments sprinkled in, please.

Other fun things to note. Tokacchi losing the rails off his helmet while Kagura gets dragged by the Kuros was hilarious. Then there’s panicked Conductor and Wagon. And shockedAkira at Right popping up in front of his face.

Lots of fun stuff and an exciting episode.

Ticket-kun is upset Akira is making modifications to what is supposed to be a shiny, brand new Ressha. Conductor likes it, but Ticket wants to give Akira a piece of his mind.

The others wonder what they can do to have all of them get along better, so Wagon suggests they need to make Akira smile more. Maybe make him laugh.

Meanwhile at the Castle, Gritta has summoned Jack in the Box® Shadow and orders him to go wreak some dark havoc. He turns to leave, but snaps his finger first. A flower pops out of Schwarz’s mouth.

Gritta can’t help but be kilig by the sight and she giggles. But she suddenly goes flying thanks to a bouncy spring. This is Jack in the Box® Shadow’s power, inflicting the world with the hell that is laughter.

Schwarz helps Gritta up while Zett watches from around the corner. He laughs too, saying he will keep up with the farce for now. Especially since it appears Gritta is indeed growing shining, shimmering, splendid.

Wagon is welcoming Akira onto the Resshas. He walks into the main car and sees…

Akira is not impressed. Nor amused.

The ToQgers say they just wanted to make him smile, but Akira says he has no right to smile. He will only smile when he’s successfully protected the rainbow… and dies.

They suddenly get the warning of a Shadow Line station up ahead, Oowarai or Great Laughter.

They disembark, but don’t see anything particularly Shadowy.

Nearby, Jack in the Box® Shadow snaps his fingers again and the ToQgers are surprised when they see a man get his suit blown right off his body, leaving him only in underwear and a fedora.

The ToQgers, except Akira, laugh and they get sent flying into the air.

Jack in the Box® Shadow shows himself and Akira recognizes him. Akira explains how Jack in the Box® Shadow uses laughter to blow people away to keep them from being happy. But it’s okay since Jack in the Box® Shadow isn’t funny.

Jack in the Box® Shadow takes offense and summons Kuros.

The ToQgers all henshin and they charge toward the Kuros. But Jack in the Box® Shadow snaps his finger again.

Right grabs a Kuros’ hat off its head to reveal an afro. Right stops himself from laughing, but Jack in the Box® Shadow snaps his fingers again before charging toward the ToQgers.

Behind Jack in the Box® Shadow appear two sumo wrestlers, first walking about, then sitting down to eat.

Suddenly, the sumo wrestlers lock horns then start doing the cha-cha and body waves.

The ToQgers can’t help but laugh at the strange sight, so they get blown away again. Akira, still stone faced, goes after Jack in the Box® Shadow who decides to retreat.

Back at the Resshas, the ToQgers are trying to figure out how to keep from laughing so easily. Right is particularly frustrated and upset.

Conductor and Ticket, however, have a training plan that should give the ToQgers the best defense against Jack in the Box® Shadow.

Across town, Akira comes across a crying little girl with a box while he’s looking for something he’s dropped. He approaches her and looks into the box. It’s a…

Back on the Resshas, Wagon walks into the main car and is surprised to find…

The ToQgers are doing crunches for the first part of their Special Training, Core Strength.

Next is practicing their pratfalls. Ticket and Conductor want them to be serious about being silly.

Part 3 of their training is their Exclamations. They use punching bags to practice their interjections.

For part 4, it’s time for them to apply their training in the real world.

Hikari, Right and Kagura are acting out an elevator/Ressha skit much to the disinterest of the children.

Tokacchi and Mio, meanwhile, are acting out a comedy duo sketch that the grandpas and grandmas don’t really care for.

Conductor and Ticket watch the ToQgers back on the Resshas delivering their final killer joke.

Conductor and Ticket think they are absolutely ready.

Downtown, Jack in the Box® Shadow continues to send people flying when the ToQgers arrive. They tell him they won't be laughing anymore and that he will be the one that gets blown away by his own laughter.

Jack in the Box® Shadow snaps his fingers and a comedian pops in to deliver a Madagascar joke. The ToQgers stop themselves from laughing and the Shadow says, fine, it's their turn.

The ToQgers henshin, but instead of the usual pose, they try something else.

But Jack in the Box® Shadow says the original one was funnier. Hikari’s had enough of this foolishness, but they suddenly hear a familiar tune.

They turn to see Akira walking in playing the recorder. He finishes with the wrong note, then says his line: “This is the place where I die.”

Everyone, the ToQgers, Jack in the Box® Shadow and even the Kuros burst out in laughter and all of them go flying. The ToQgers are frustrated that it was Akira, of all people, that caused them to break.

Akira doesn’t really understand what’s wrong, but he does know it’s time for him to henshin. He charges towards the Kuros, including one with pigtails.

The others snap out of their comedic rut and decide to fight normally, but Right is still upset over the failure of their plan. He takes a seat on the steps and when Kagura goes to check on him, he hands her his Ressha.

Right is announced to have “depressed to White” and he sulks alone until the pigtailed Kuro, also depressed, takes a seat next to him.

Kagura transfers to Red, but then trips over a dead Kuro. The Ressha falls out of her ToQ Changer and Hikari picks it up to transfer. He tosses it to Mio who also transfers and finally Tokacchi gets it.

Tokacchi returns it to Right’s ToQ Changer and he regains his color and takes out the pigtailed Kuro next to him.

Akira finishes off Jack in the Box® Shadow’s first life and naturally, he embiggens. Akira jumps into Build Ressha and Right decides he feels like hopping into Gramps Ressha today.

Mio tells Right not to be so down about their gag not working, but Tokacchi adds that Right is not used to losing or being not-“right” all the time.

Right pilots Diesel-Oh while the other four hop into ToQ-Oh and Akira initiates Build Dai-Oh. But Akira suddenly starts cracking up.

The others try to snap him out of it, but they still manage to work together to finish off two Kuliners and eventually Jack in the Box® Shadow.

Akira reveals the reason he cannot stop laughing… a cat has been tickling him in the cockpit. He relates his meeting with the little girl earlier. Her mother told her she had to get rid of the cat, so Akira took it to care for.

The ToQgers watch Akira happily playing with the cat. But the little girl comes running up and says her mom has allowed her to keep it now. Akira’s smile quickly disappears as he hands the cat back to her.

The little girl thanks Akira for taking care of her cat and she also has something for him. She hands him his harmonica which she’s found.

The little girl leaves and Akira collapses on the floor, crying.

Then he stands and turns to the ToQgers, stoic and serious once again. He tells them he’ll head back to work and he walks away playing his harmonica.

Back at the Castle, Madame Noir is happily examining Gritta’s wedding dress and excited that it will finally happen. Baron Nero watches and wonders why Noir is so focused on the wedding.

Episode Thoughts
An insane episode. Cross dressing, nearly naked men, depressed Right. It was crazy!

But of course lots of fun. Especially Akira’s whiplash of emotions at the end there. Who would’ve thought he’d have a very soft spot for cats. It’ll be interesting too to see Akira recognizing his former Shadow Line comrades in the future. That’s a nice little fresh dynamic.

Another fresh dynamic happened this episode too. Right being all depressed that he was actually wrong for once. I definitely enjoyed that since it really was starting to get tiresome having Right basically be an all-knowing deus ex machina most of the time. Also, colorless Sentai!

I hope they go to the countryside soon. I thought we’d be seeing more of non-Tokyo locations. =(

This was the first time Conductor and Ticket left the Resshas! I want to see them and Wagon out in the battle in the future.

But maybe the biggest story development this episode was that little tease at the end. The wedding is fast approaching and looks like things get crazier, in a dramatic sense, next week. Can’t wait!

Wagon has happily prepared some treats for everyone to celebrate the arrival of Summer. They excitedly think about vacation, pools, barbeque, fireworks… festivals.

“Festivals” triggers a blurry memory for Mio. Kagura notices her in thought, but Mio doesn’t let on what she’s remembered.

Over at the Castle, Gritta has just told her mother that she does not want to marry the Emperor. But Madame Noire says it’s okay and not to worry. She takes her aside to tell her what this wedding is really about for them.

Gritta immediately goes to Schwarz-sama to tell him to leave the Shadow Line. She says thanks to him telling her to be patient and by giving her his handkerchief, she’s grown stronger. But she absolutely refuses to get married.

She says they need to hurry because the wedding her mother has planned is “truly terrifying.” She begs Schwarz to run away with her, but he asks for all the specific details first.

They leave to somewhere more private, but Baron Nero had just heard their conversation.

It’s nighttime. On the Resshas, Mio has been thinking about that blurry memory since this afternoon. She feels it is an important memory, one that includes her and Kagura running somewhere.

Kagura is getting ready for bed and sees Mio looking out the window. She asks if Mio’s having trouble sleeping. Mio stops herself from telling Kagura anything so as not to worry her.

Kagura asks if she’s okay and Mio says she’s fine. They head into the main car and Mio tries to lighten the mood even though Kagura definitely knows something is off.

Suddenly the lights flicker and Conductor announces a Kuliner is approaching in the opposite direction. But the Kuliner merely leaves something on the outside of the train.

The guys and Wagon meet Kagura and Mio in the main car as Conductor and Ticket come in to show them the invitation to the Emperor’s wedding addressed to the ToQgers.

Wagon collapses to the floor. The Emperor was a bachelor all this time! “Yeah, you missed your chance,” Conductor says.

Next morning, the ToQgers go to the area drawn in the invitation. The exact location isn’t given and it doesn’t even say who the Emperor is marrying.

Kagura notices Mio is tired and asks if she had trouble sleeping last night. Mio says she’s fine, but Kagura is not convinced.

Meanwhile, Gritta watches from the bushes with Shabon Shadow. The plan is to have him switch Gritta and one of the ToQgers.

Shabon Shadow slides out and the ToQgers henshin. But Shabon Shadow shoots some suds towards Right and Tokacchi and they switch bodies and dehenshin.

Before the ToQgers can comprehend what’s happening, Shabon Shadow shoots another round of suds. This time it’s Hikari and Tokacchi (out of Right’s body) who switch.

Kagura goes to get things straight:

Tokacchi is in Hikari’s body.

Right is in Tokacchi’s body.

And Hikari is in Right’s body.

But now Shabon Shadow makes the biggest swap. He shoots suds at Mio and then at Gritta. They switch. Gritta is ecstatic. She goes to happily look at her reflection in the water. Mio shoves her out of the way to see her own reflection as Gritta.

Mio drops the Schwarz handkerchief and Gritta picks it up before gleefully running away.

The others run toward Mio, but Madame Noire arrives with an army of Kuros. She shoots the ToQgers away and approaches MioasGritta, saying she will not have her daughter run away.

Mio tries to explain she is not who Noire thinks she is, but she ends up trying to run. Akira arrives and is confused about Shadow Line comrades fighting against each other. Madame Noire shoots at Akira, but he henshins and fights.

Kagura hurries over to MioasGritta and they finally run away. Madame Noire shoots at Akira again, allowing her and the Kuros to make their escape.

Kagura and Mio are still running while Kagura updates Right and others about where they are. Right tells Kagura to take care of Mio, especially since she can’t board the trains in this state.

Mio grows weak and tired. Kagura realizes she’s been out in the sun too long so she brings her to some shade.

Back at the Resshas, Wagon has drawn some cute pictures of the guys for them to wear on their heads so they can keep track of who’s who.

Akira says they’ll get switched back as long as they defeat Shabon Shadow. He tells them about Madame Noire’s daughter, Gritta, being the Emperor’s bride to be.

Gritta as Mio savors the great light she’s been able to enjoy in this non-Shadow body. She is excited to be able to go anywhere with Schwarz-sama in this body. Gritta hurries over to meet Schwarz at their meeting place.

Back at the Castle, someone is telling Zett they know where Gritta is. And that person is…

Kagura’s brought Mio into the park under some trees and tells her to wait a sec while she gets her some water. Mio sees her body running by and goes to follow.

Mio stops Gritta in her tracks and asks for her body back. Gritta says no, she needs “this thing.” That’s pretty selfish of you, Mio says. But Gritta says she can’t give it back, she doesn’t want to get married.

Mio says she should just say so, but Gritta says that won’t do any good, that’s why she’s running.

More running jogs Mio’s memory again. But suddenly both Mio and Gritta grow weak.

Across town, Shabon Shadow laughs that he didn’t mention to Gritta that staying swapped too long will force the body to reject the soul, causing them to die.

The guys arrive, hearing Shabon Shadow’s explanation of the consequences. Hikari as Right says they’ll have to defeat the Shadow at least, before they die. Akira tells the others to leave it to him since dying is his job.

“Akira-kun, mind not making everything about yourself?”

Right as Tokacchi says they’re used to switching lines, so fighting in another body will be a piece of cake. They henshin and take turns sending big blows toward Shabon Shadow.

Meanwhile, Mio and Gritta are starting to feel the bodies rejecting them when Baron Nero appears, demanding to know what she is scheming by marrying the Emperor.

Mio as Gritta tries to explain she is not Gritta, but Madame Noire arrives to stop Baron Nero from doing anything dumb. GrittaasMio tires to run, but Kagura arrives to stop her. Madame Noire hears Mio, Kagura and Gritta and finally realizes what’s happened.

Baron Nero says fine, he’ll just kill both Mio and Gritta. But Madame Noire says she will not allow it.

“ToQgers, I’ll help you this one time. Take Gritta and run!”

Mio, Kagura and Gritta run as Madame Noire and Baron Nero prepare to battle.

The guys outsmart Shabon Shadow and finish off his unbiggened life. And with that, the guys are back in their own bodies.

Meanwhile, Gritta and Mio switch back as well. Kagura and Mio are happy, but Gritta is disappointed. Still, she says she’s made it this far, she can’t turn back now.

Gritta grabs the handkerchief from Mio and runs. Mio tries to go after her, but she is too weak.

The guys hop into Diesel-Oh and Build-dai-Oh to try and fight off embiggened Shabon Shadow’s bubbles.

Right calls Kagura to ask if they can come help. Kagura asks Mio if she’s okay and Mio says yeah, she’s fine.

Kagura knocks Mio on the head. “All you do is say you’re fine,” Kagura says.

Kagura tells Mio that she’s noticed her acting strangely since yesterday. She wanted to help, but all Mio has said is “I’m fine.” That makes Kagura uncomfortable.

Mio realizes she only kept her problems to herself to keep Kagura from worrying, but she ended up worrying her even more. She did want to talk to her and maybe they can later, but right now her body is really weak. And she would like to ask Kagura for help.

Kagura turns and smiles. Sure, of course she’ll help.

She grabs Mio’s hand and they go running.

BUT THAT’S IT!!! Mio remembers!

Shabon Shadow has the guys covered in suds, but Kagura and Mio arrive in Police and Fire Ressha to help them out.

They attach Fire and Police Resshas to Diesel-Oh and they with Akira finish Shabon Shadow off.

Mio wonders what’s happened to Gritta.

Gritta is up on a rooftop, the place she’s supposed to meet Schwarz at. She is excited, but suddenly that excitement goes out the window when a Kuliner arrives and out pops Zett instead.

Episode Thoughts
OMG.

Okay, I think this may be ToQger’s best episode yet. It has everything that’s made the season so good, so far.

First of all, What has Mio remembered!? This might be their biggest clue yet and her saying that not all memories they might have are all happy is very interesting. I definitely want more of that.

The politicking and secret meetings and secret agendas really, finally came to a head and definitely set up the big wedding. I see big things happening with the Shadow Line.

But dude, we were so cheated out of what was likely an amazing battle between Madame Noire and Baron Nero.

ZOMG though at Schwarz absolutely using Gritta and probably ripping out her heart, stomping on it then putting it back before pulling it out and smashing it to little pieces. That was shocking.

And that fade to black ending with creepy creeper Zett. Chilling.

Riria was so good as both Mio and Gritta this episode. And just like how it was awesome seeing Suzuki Katsuhiro giving Nick a human face with human expressions on Go-Busters, it was great to put a human face on Gritta as well. And Riria really did a great job.

Body switching episodes are always fun. And this episode was no different.

And for the little things. I really like the detail of having Gritta always with an umbrella. I didn’t realize it was because, duh, they can’t stay out in the light too long. Zett too the other week when they were waiting for Akira.

I also loved seeing the Resshas running on the tracks at night. And it was great to see the reminder that yes, the ToQgers live on the Resshas. They eat and sleep on them.

Overall, this was maybe the best ToQger episode yet. Emotional, funny, dramatic, action-packed. I can’t wait for the next episodes. I know Kobayashi’s gearing up for that midseason punch.

Riria was great as both Mio and Gritta this episode. And just like HIROMUACTOR was great giving a face to Nick, it was great giving a human face to Gritta.

The Castle is buzzing with activity as preparations for the wedding ceremony are in full swing. Madame Noire is happy to not only have Gritta back, but that the Emperor himself had gone to fetch her. “This wedding will change everything.”

Gritta flashes back to that moment on the rooftop. Zett again marvels at Gritta’s sparkling glow. That’s why he wants her… bad. Gritta goes to run, but Zett says Schwarz is not coming, just so she knows.

Gritta merely thinks it’s because the Emperor has found out their eloping plan. She now fears what the Emperor may do to Schwarz if she ran away by herself.

That’s why she has decided to just go through with the wedding.

Meanwhile, Baron Nero is trying to convince the Emperor to stop the wedding as Madame Noire is planning something evil. “Is that why you targeted Gritta?” Yes, Nero says and Zett sends him flying across the room.

On the Resshas, Mio tells the guys about what she’s remembered. They might be able to figure out where their hometown is.

She reminds them about their talking about summer and how Hikari’s mention of festivals triggered her blurry memory of one, possibly their town’s festival. And yesterday, Kagura adds, she remembers them running somewhere that festival night.

Mio says she felt excited, but also anxious. Hikari thinks they were going to their secret base.

That’s when Right remembers. They were going to go to their secret base so they could watch the stars by themselves. It was an annual star festival, they all remember.

The ToQgers are excited and Wagon, Conductor and Ticket are happy they may finally have their biggest clue yet.

Meanwhile back at the Castle, the wedding ceremony is about to begin. “The moment has come,” Madame Noire thinks to herself. Baron Nero, on the other hand, puts his trust in the Emperor and is sure he can handle himself against whatever Noire and Gritta are planning.

Gritta and Zett walk to meet each other in the middle of the room. Gritta thinks to herself, she may become a different person after this, but as long as Schwarz-sama is safe, her heart will always be with him.

Schwarz walks to his Kuliner. He is sorry to have used Gritta, but while he is born of darkness, he is more attracted to power. His great ambition is to conquer the world under military control. That is his reason for being as a soldier.

Zett takes Gritta’s hand, but she suddenly grabs his wrist. He recoils, but his wedding cape suddenly traps him. Madame Noire laughs.

“Your time is up Your Majesty! My daughter has my power to devour the power of her betrothed.”

Baron Nero can’t believe it, but Gritta zaps him with her eyes.

She then starts shining, intensely bright. Zett marvels at the beautiful white light, but suddenly, Gritta sprouts huge wings which engulf Zett allowing her to SWALLOW HIM WHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And with that, Gritta has taken the Emperor’s power. She is now the Empress of Darkness and the Shadow Line belongs to them.

Gritta closes her eyes. “Schwarz-sama.”

General Schwarz sets off from Castle Terminal, now free to command his army without Emperor Zett. His target: The Rainbow Line.

Madame Noire tells Gritta her Majesty to rest so she can get acclimated to her new powers. They close the curtains to the throne and the Kuros start cleaning up. Baron Nero picks up Zett’s necklace and vows to avenge his death.

At the next station, Right and Tokacchi have collected a stack of pamphlets about festivals around the country. They divide the stack and each search through.

Hikari asks Mio if she remembers why she said she felt anxious that night. She only remembers that not everything that night was fun. But it’s okay. Right says there’s no point in worrying about it before they even remember.’

Suddenly, Ticket announces a Kuliner approaching. The ToQgers hurry outside where they run into Schwarz.

Akira joins them and they all henshin.

Back at the caste, Gritta awakens. Her eyes are now red.

The ToQgers fight off Kuros while Akira takes on Schwarz. But Schwarz looks up at the train station. The Resshas!

Conductor and Ticket watch the fighting. Conductor thinks it’s strange there’s no Shadow kaijin. Ticket says he has a bad feeling about it.

And sure enough, Kuros blast the turnstile away and force their way onto the trains, taking Conductor, Ticket and Wagon hostage. Conductor calls the ToQgers. Akira holds off Schwarz while they try to make their way back to the Resshas, but suddenly, a Shadow Line train approaches.

It’s Madame Noire and she introduces the new Empress of Darkness. She tells them Zett is gone.

Mio steps forward saying she thought Gritta had run away. The Empress also steps forward, but instead of the usual childlike voice, now speaks a confident matured voice.

“Why would I run away?”

Empress Gritta zaps the ToQgers away with her eyes, then turns to Schwarz. What’s he doing lollygagging about. Finish the ToQgers already!

No problem, Schwarz says. He tells the ToQgers they will battle with trains. And Schwarz will be using their trains. He boards the Resshas and orders Conductor to transfer control to him. He holds his sword to their necks and Conductor and Ticket have no choice.

Schwarz initiates ToQ-Oh as Akira summons Build Dai-Oh and the others summon Diesel Ressha-tachi.

Schwarz uses ToQ-Oh to absolutely pummel the ToQgers. But they continue to push forward even as Schwarz deflects all their attacks.

On the ground, Empress Gritta says she would like to go too. She asks for a train and the Emperor’s white Kuliner transforms into a robo.

Gritta tells Schwarz that she merely wants to fight. Right tells Akira for a full attack, but Gritta’s Kuliner suffers not even a scratch. She walks towards them and Right summons Police Ressha. But still nothing. Gritta presses forward and Akira tries attacking.

Gritta merely knocks Build Dai-Oh down. Right pushes Diesel-Oh toward Gritta’s Kuliner robo as she readies a huge attack. Schwarz has Akira and Build Dai-Oh at sword-point while Gritta can deliver a punishing point-black shot at the others.

Gritta delivers a Darkness Fall and Diesel-Oh goes flying. The ToQgers themselves also get thrown from their cockpits and into a cloud of darkness.

But in that moment, they flashback to that night of the festival. In front of their secret base. They remember everything; the moment darkness suddenly engulfs their town around them.

Diesel-Oh falls onto a building as Gritta preps another Darkness Fall. The ToQgers muster up power to get both Diesel-Oh and Build Dai-Oh to stand, but they only end up absorbing Gritta’s HUGE attack.

Episode Thoughts
OMG yes. Amazing episode.

Okay. First of all Gritta swallowing Zett whole. I guess we got foreshadowing of that when she ate up the headSchwarz in the episode a few weeks ago. But seeing her, in a wedding dress, with huge angel wings absolutely engulf Zett and eat him up was so uncomfortable and shocking and awesome. Damn. Really.

We all knew Madame Noire’s set her sights on the throne and that Gritta marrying the Emperor would be a way for her to get into power, but I definitely did not see this coming. Like Baron Nero said, it was a tragic and sudden end for the Emperor. And while Zett was all creepy fun, I hope we don’t ever see him alive again. It’s better, storywise to have Gritta really in charge and have everything (Noire vs Schwarz vs Nero vs Whoever) just build off of this big event. At least for me.

The hyped up wedding definitely delivered though.

Seeing the ToQgers finally get their biggest clue yet to not only their hometown, but what could have possibly happened to them was awesome. Again with all that emotional stuff that just gets me. Whenever those kids appear and run to each other and smile; I feel that. Kobayashi, you!!!

So the Darkness likely engulfed their town, but I definitely hope there’s more to it than that. And I definitely hope we are still building up to a big Kobayashi midseason climax.

The ToQgers wake up in their now badly damaged Diesel, Tank and Car Carrier Resshas. Akira tells them he’ll try to do some quick fixes to them as soon as he gets Diesel-Oh up and running.

Baron Nero is mourning his Emperor’s demise. Madame Noire calls him to pay his respects to the Empress who has just arrived. But Nero bravely approaches Gritta, saying he will never serve her. Gritta zaps him and Madame Noire laughs.

Gritta looks at herself in the mirror, questioning who she really is.

The ToQgers leave the Resshas and they hear music. It is coming from a nearby festival for Sakuma Shrine. The sights, sounds and smells trigger fresh memories for the ToQgers.

They remember preparing lanterns and showing them to their family members. This is the first time they’ve missed their families as this is the first time they’ve even remembered them.

Akira calls the ToQgers and says he’s almost done, but to be on the lookout for Schwarz nearby.

Right tells Akira they’ll buy him some time. They then remember how they would write their hopes and dreams onto the lanterns they had made, as was custom for their town’s festival. Zett’s words about them having been swallowed by darkness before now echo in their minds.

But no matter how scary or upsetting the memory of that night may be, Right says they should remember all of it, no matter what. It’ll be okay, Right says.

“No matter what happens, we won’t be alone.”

They turn their attention to stopping Schwarz and to keep this town’s festival safe. The quicker they can do that, the faster they can get to looking for their town.

The ToQgers run through the nearby forest, attracting the Kuros and eventually Schwarz. But something doesn’t seem right. Schwarz realizes it’s not the five ToQgers fighting his Kuros. It is actually only Right who has been transferring lines this whole time.

That allows the other four ToQgers to find the Resshas and they jump out of the bushes to take care of the Kuros guarding them.

While Right keeps Schwarz busy, the other four head into the Resshas to save Conductor, Ticket and Wagon. But…

Turns out, they actually have things under control.

Schwarz gets the upper hand against Right, but a white line appears to signal the approaching Resshas. Mio and Tokacchi reach out of the speeding train to grab Right.

Schwarz quickly summons his Kuliner and gets into robo mode.

Akira arrives with the other Resshas and they go Cho ToQ-Oh and Build Dai-Oh.

Schwarz charges against his two opponents and just then, Gritta’s drops his handkerchief.

Madame Noire picks it up and says this is definitely not find for an Emperor, so she hands it to a Kuro to toss into the trash. But Gritta stops them, not completely sure why. Then, she remembers just who gave her that handkerchief, and sensing the bad omen, rushes out of the Castle.

But Schwarz is having an easy time knocking the ToQgers around. He turns to Akira.

“We could have ruled the world together if you had stayed with the Shadow Line.”
“I care less about that than I do my own life!”
“Then just die then!”

Just then, Gritta arrives in her Kuliner and goes robo. She wastes no time in sending a huge Darkness Fall toward them and they again go flying, the Resshas separating and the ToQgers getting hurled out of them.

They suddenly stop and they are faced again with the memories of their town being engulfed by darkness. But now, they also remember something else.

Young Right tells his friends it’ll be okay.

“There’s nothing to fear when we’re together.”

Just as the ToQgers grab each other’s hands in unity, the Resshas begin to link-up.

They face the memory of their town head-on and this time, they see clearly what they’ve been trying to remember all this time, the name of their town:

Subarugahama.

The sight of their town’s name produces a rainbow of color to surround the ToQgers. Cho ToQ-Oh has just finished re-combining.

But Akira looks up and sees the rainbow surrounding the ToQgers. The ToQgers reach out and they grab Akira’s hands just as Cho ToQ-Oh combines with Diesel Ressha.

The resulting combination shines brightly and Gritta suddenly feels a surge of energy through her body. A vision of Zett reaching for the light. “What was that?”

“IMAGINATION!!!!!!” Conductor happily yells. He, Ticket and Wagon celebrate.

It’s Cho Cho ToQ-Oh! Ticket proclaims.
But Akira says no. It’s Cho Cho ToQ Dai-Oh!

Schwarz does not care and he charges toward the now more powerful opponent. The ToQgers block Schwarz’s attacks. Gritta revs up another Darkness Fall, but the ToQgers stop her too.

The ToQgers prepare an Imagination Express finisher toward Schwarz, but Gritta throws her robo and herself in front of the incoming attack.

Gritta’s pre-Zett soul returns to the surface as she absorbs the ToQger’s punishing finisher.

Both Gritta and Schwarz are thrown from their robos. He limps toward Gritta who he finds lying near the river.

She opens her eyes and expresses her relief that he is okay.

But why, Schwarz says. He only used her.
Gritta says she only cares about helping him. She was her mother’s puppet, but she was able to make her own decisions whenever it was about Schwarz-sama. Just being close to him and talking with him made her happy.

The ToQgers arrive and watch the scene.

“Even in the future…,” Gritta starts to say as she struggles to hand Schwarz his handkerchief.

Suddenly, a hand breaks out of Gritta’s body and attacks Schwarz. She pleads with Schwarz to get away as something starts breaking free of her body.

The ToQgers watch in horror as an intense, huge energy bursts out of Gritta’s body. She screams in agony as her body explodes and out of it pops…

ZETT!?!?!?!

“I finally got Gritta’s sparkle.”

Schwarz realizes this was Zett’s plan all along. Yes, Zett admits. He wants a shining darkness.

He pulls out a sword and slashes at Schwarz. “Hey General. Your eyes sparkled a little just now.” Zett sends Schwarz into the river.

Zett transforms back into his human form and tells the ToQgers that the first sparkling he ever saw was likely them. And it will be their shining shimmering splendid sparkle he will be taking next.

He summons his Kuliner and hops on, the train causing Gritta’ wedding dress and Schwarz’s handkerchief to go flying into the air.

Later that evening, the ToQgers return to the festival.

They’ve finally remembered, the star festival of Subarugahama.

They feel more contemplative than excited. Kagura is especially solemn,but Right pops up with some cotton candy and corn to lighten the mood.

“It’ll be okay as long as we’re together!”

Episode Thoughts
AMAZING. Absolutely loved this episode. The rush of different emotions through this episode was insane.

The emotional scenes of the ToQgers’ memories becoming more clear to that absolutely shocking and heartbreaking scene of Zett blowing up Gritta’s damn body. OMG. Like, seriously. What was that!? Poor Gritta.

That whole sequence, from the formation of Cho Cho ToQ Dai-Oh to Gritta throwing herself in the path of the new Imagination Express to Zett blowing her up was unbelievable. And again, all enhanced by the excellent soundtrack. The music is flawless this season. So perfect.

But sh*t, seriously. Zett bursting out of a screaming Gritta right as she is telling Schwarz how much he means to her with her dying breaths was one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen. Damn.

This whole time, Gritta has been a very sympathetic character with the combination of her being her mother’s puppet, getting forced into a marriage with a strange guy addicted to light, having a childlike personality and experiencing unrequited love. I think we all knew she was going to sacrifice herself for her Schwarz-sama. But I don’t think anyone saw Zett breaking free of her body coming at all. That was probably one of the most disturbing and heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen. I hope she’s still alive somewhere, just as Schwarz is of course alive. Maybe she can break out of Zett’s body in the future.

And then of course the fun scenes with Wagon, Conductor and Ticket. And those rainbow scenes before Cho-Cho-ToQ-Dai-Oh’s first combination. So magical, right? Gritta’s Darkness Fall is truly terrifying though.

We’re definitely in the next arc of the season as the ToQgers have their biggest clue yet as to where their hometown is. But we still don’t know what actually happened to it and why the ToQgers found themselves on the Ressha.

I’ve loved the un-henshined fights lately. We haven’t really gotten a lot of big ones until these last two episodes. And they were definitely kick-ass awesome.
It’s also going to be interesting to see Madame Noire come face to face with Zett too. The Shadow Line dynamics has definitely been one of the season’s strong points.

But the ToQgers long journey home is still the main draw and this episode again reaffirmed just how affecting their story has been. Many people say Kobayashi is burned out, but she knows exactly what she’s doing. And she’s still telling great stories.

Wagon rolls her cart into the main car and asks the ToQgers if they’re interested in some bento or candy. But they are intensely focused on looking through books and maps for Subarugahama.

Hanging out with Akira as he inspects the Resshas, Conductor and Ticket know the ToQgers are in for a shock when they realize the reason they can’t find their town anywhere is because of its fate after being swallowed by darkness.

Conductor and Ticket confirm to the ToQgers that their town is as good as gone and the fact that they can’t find it on any map is proof of that. Mio says this never happened with the other towns they’ve passed through after being infiltrated by the Shadow Line.

Ticket says that’s only because the Shadow Kaijin were still creating darkness. Once the humans stop producing darkness, the town is completely swallowed by the darkness and becomes part of the Shadow Line with no means to reach it.

But they do, Akira says. He has a way to get them on the Shadow Line. Conductor and Ticket think it is too dangerous for them to go in just yet, but the ToQgers insist.

Akira says they must find a junction point, a switch the Shadow use to get to the surface or to trespass onto the Rainbow Line. They appear irregularly, so they need a Shadow Line train to find one.

Luckily, they have a Shadow Line train; Drill Ressha.

Meanwhile, Zett has returned to the Castle. Baron Nero happily welcomes him and wishes him good tidings of darkness and light. Zett is amused by Nero’s change of opinion. Nero says he realized how gobbling up all the sparkling shining brightness will actually help them flood the land with darkness.

Madame Noire agrees. She glides in.

Zett approaches her and says he compliments her having the cajones to even show her face to him. She admits she lost, but she at least wants to thank him.

Madame Noire bows, but quickly pulls out a knife and tries to stab Zett right in the gut. He blocks it and grabs her wrist.

“What a fancy way of showing thanks.”
“Indeed. It’s filled with the loss of my dreams and daughter.”

“You’re the one who gave me Gritta,” Zett says, stroking the white feathers on his shoulder pad. He transforms into his Shadow form and grabs the knife from Noire, shoving her to the ground.

“Her sparkle existed for my sake,” Zett adds. “Actually, it still does.”

Madame Noire is taken aback.

“Why don’t I make you my next queen? Maybe you might be able to eat me up?”

Baron Nero gloats. Looks like you’ll have to choose between bowing down or dying.

Madame Noire kneels and apologizes, “I will never defy you again.”
“I hope so,” Zett says as he tosses the knife to the floor and he and Nero walk away.

Akira’s found a junction. He pulls a lever and a Shadow Line track appears which should lead them to a Shadow town.

He warns them to look out for an overseer and the ToQgers go full speed ahead into the Shadow Line.

The arrival of a Rainbow Line train entering the Shadow Line is announced at the Castle. Baron Nero cannot believe this and he storms out to take care of them. Zett calmly lounges on his throne.

“He’s always so loud.”

He turns to the mirror, “I wonder how your general is doing?” Gritta appears over his reflection.

The ToQgers arrive in the Shadow Town, which seems normal at first until they find the people frozen in time.

That’s when they spot the overseer for this town, Keeper Rook.

The ToQgers henshin and do their roll call, but they suddenly de-henshin as they’re doing their final pose. Keeper Rook explains that with the town fully engulfed in the Shadow Line, Rainbow Line energy does not last long here.

Keeper Rook fires at them, but while Right, Tokacchi, Mio and Hikari jump out of the way, Kagura absorbs the brunt of the blast and gets thrown against a wall. Mio, Tokacchi and Hikari go whisk Kagura away while Right distracts Keeper Rook.

Keeper Rook orders the Kuros to find them.

Baron Nero finds Akira waiting at the junction. You’re too late, Akira says, the ToQgers are already in the Shadow Town. Nero says that’s okay since they can’t fight there anyway. What he really wants to take care of is Akira and his betrayal.

Akira henshins, promising to protect this spot until the ToQgers return.

The ToQgers hide under an overpass as Mio wraps up Kagura’s wound. Kagura apologizes for them having to fuss over her when they too are hurt, but they say it’s fine.

They are just sad that they didn’t know their limitations in coming to the Shadow Town. Hikari estimates they can only henshin for 30 seconds.

“Why did we waste our time posing!?”

Right says they must fight the overseer and defeat him for this town to return to normal. He tells Kagura to stay here, but she protests.

Kagura insists on coming with. Their own town is probably like this. Their family must be suffering as well, so she can’t just sit around and do nothing here. Okay, Right says. They’ll fight together and stay positive.

Hikari has a plan. The ToQgers rush the Kuros and fight their way through. Hikari proposes one of them uses all five of their Resshas to transfer so they can have five 30-second time allotments.

They run to find Keeper Rook. Hikari and Kagura stop and fight a group of Kuros after they toss Tokacchi and Mio their Resshas.

Right, Tokacchi and Mio continue on and Tokacchi and Mio stay with the next group of Kuros to be the badasses while Right parkours his way through a building.

Keeper Rook sees Right running towards him and sends a blast his way, but Right dodges it and henshins.

He henshins to Green then transfers to Pink, Yellow, Blue and finally Red after being able to get the upper hand on Keeper Rook. Right summons the Renketsu Bazooka and delivers a Shogi Rainbow Rush.

Keeper Rook’s first life is gone and the town is freed from the Shadow Line. Akira and Baron Nero see the city emerge from behind the shadows.

As Keeper Rook embiggens, the ToQgers reunite and pick Akira up.

Conductor is happy and relieved the ToQgers are back safe and they jump into Cho ToQ-Oh and Build Dai-Oh.

But Keeper Rook sticks his spear into the ground and Kuros come flying out of it, allowing him to embiggen even more.

The ToQgers decide to go Cho Cho ToQ-Dai-Oh and destroy the spear, forcing Keeper Rook to shrink back to regular embiggened size. The ToQgers deliver an Imagination Express and finish Keeper Rook off for good.

The townspeople are unfrozen and the town returns to normal. This gives the ToQgers hope that they can save their own town as well.

They resolve to continue traveling through more Shadow Towns to free them and hopefully find the junction that will lead to Subarugahama.

Episode Thoughts

It was a solid episode with a lot of details and groundwork being laid for the future.

First, it suggests that no matter how deep in the darkness a town may be in, especially Subarugahama, they will be able to fight and free it.

Also, having Shadow Towns be wiped off maps and basically the face of the Earth is a creative way to keep the ToQgers’ search for their town going, even if they know their town’s name. It was creative, but it still made sense in the story. Akira showing them the junctions and all that also helped with world building.

Over at Castle Terminal, even after the huge events of the last few episodes, it looks like not much has actually changed when it comes to the power struggle within the top ranks of the Shadow Line. Only now, it will be a little more quietly done and even more behind the curtain scheming. We know Schwarz will pop up sooner or later. But it was nice to see that there is still a chance for Gritta to return. That maybe she actually is inside of Zett or even literally just in the feathers on his shirt. I see Madame Noire’s next objective would be to find a way to revive her daughter while simultaneously trying to get rid of Zett again.

Wagon was awesome, as always. But I liked Conductor and Ticket being overly cautious with the ToQgers and their going onto the Shadow Line. It gives me hope that there’s still secrets left to be found out, especially with Conductor and Ticket. (I hope!)

It was great to see Kagura’s imagination get fired up again. And also great to see Right realize that not everything is going to go his way, no matter how much he sees it in his mind.

Again for me, the fact that the ToQgers were actually childhood friends and how we get to see bits and pieces of memories that reaffirm their friendship almost every episode instantly makes me connect with them. I think they’ve done a good job too of also reaffirming their roles in the group.

So, overall, a good solid episode and I think definitely a needed breather from the events of the last few.

While the ladies are cleaning the Resshas, the guys have been out training and have just returned, now exhausted. Mio sees Tokacchi has fallen asleep and Right explains that he was working extra hard for what turned out to be “secret” training. Hikari says they need the extra training since they had a lot of trouble in the Shadow Town.

Kagura wants to grow stronger as well. The ToQgers’ determination excites Wagon. She says gaining more experience will help them take intense strides toward becoming adults.

Mio notices Tokacchi has a cut on his cheek, so she puts a bandage on it.

Conductor and Ticket come hurrying in to announce a Shadow kaijin is at the next station. Tokacchi falls off the seat and notices the bandage now on his face.

They hurry to the next station and disembark at Otogi (Fairy Tale) Station, which they notice is not a very Shadow-y name.

They head downtown and find interesting cosplayers dressed as Momotaro, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. But they seem very disinterested for having dressed up so elaborately. Turns out this is Zett’s doing. He and Baron Nero appear.

Zett says he’s just trying out the little bit of light he’s already acquired. He calls in Pin Spot Shadow and asks why none of these creations have a single spark of light. But that’s impossible, Pin Spot Shadow says, he’s brought the humans’ stories to life. They are the embodiment of human imagination.

Pin Spot Shadow sees a little boy with a picture book and aims his spotlight toward him. Tokacchi tries to knock the boy out of the way, but the beam hits him. And out of his book pops Richard Brown in new clothes the Naked Emperor.

What do you think? Pin Spot Shadow asks. “You’re fired!”
Zett blasts Pin Spot Shadow and Baron Nero apologizes. They should proceed with creating more darkness instead. Zett tells him to do whatever he wants.

He starts to leave, but Right calls out and asks; “What did you mean when you said we were the first sparkles you saw? When did you see us?”

“I said probably. It’s just a possibility, so don’t worry about it.”

Zett leaves and Baron Nero orders Pin Spot Shadow to destroy the fairy tale characters which in turn destroys the stories that fuel human imagination. That would create plenty of darkness.

The ToQgers henshin. They try to get the characters to run for it, but they are absolutely uninterested in escaping. The ToQgers have to drag them.

Akira arrives to take on Nero and Pin Spot Shadow, allowing the ToQgers to run with the characters. Right takes Momotaro, Mio and Kagura take Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood and Hikari takes Naked Emperor. Tokacchi looks for his own character to protect, but mistakenly grabs the hand of a Kuro.

The Kuro aims his gun right at Tokacchi’s head, but another dressed up character appears to save him.

The hero grabs Tokacchi’s hand and they run for it.

Baron Nero and Pin Spot Shadow leave Akira and chase after the others.

Momotaro is tired of walking, so he bribes Right into letting him hop on his back for a couple of dumplings.

Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, meanwhile, want to go shopping for cute clothes. Kagura and Mio then decide to dress up as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, respectively, to lure the Kuros away.

Akira finds a hiding place for Hikari stuff Naked Emperor into.

Meanwhile, Tokacchi: “Thanks for saving me. You’re Ryu Knight, aren’t you? You’re definitely Ryu Knight.”

Mio and Kagura find Tokacchi and they wonder what story is this hero from. Tokacchi tells them he is actually a hero he had drawn when he was a kid. He was strong, cool and reliable.

Ah, Mio says, those are also kinds of stories people come up with. Tokacchi thinks Pin Spot Shadow must have hit him too, so Ryu Knight must have come out of his memories.

Ryu Knight hears Nero and his men arriving. Nero and Pin Spot Shadow are shocked when Mio and Kagura remove their disguises.

“Our specialty is transferring, after all.”

Tokacchi, Mio and Kagura henshin and call the others. Ryu Knight joins in to fight off the Kuros while Mio and Kagura switch lines to take on Pin Spot.

Tokacchi fights Baron Nero, but is completely overpowered. Nero has Tokacchi at swordpoint, but Ryu Knight once again comes to his rescue.

He tells Tokacchi to calm down and not to panic and make unnecessary movements. Otherwise, he can’t access his true potential.

Baron Nero calls them trash. Tokacchi grabs Ryu Knight and they run, avoiding Nero’s attacks.

By true potential, do you mean things I should be able to do? Tokacchi asks.
Yes, Ryu Knight answers. But I haven’t had enough practice, Tokacchi says.

“Haven’t you practiced enough?”

Tokacchi remembers the cut on his face just as Right, Hikari and Akira arrive. Akira wants them to leave this place for him to die.

Tokacchi asks Right and Hikari if they can try to do what they had been practicing. They say it is too dangerous, especially since Tokacchi hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet.

But Tokacchi says they need it. And he can see it; the image of him succeeding.

Baron Nero waits. Tokacchi tells himself not to panic. He fires at Nero then Right and Hikari launch off his shoulders to attack. That gives Tokacchi an opening to go flying in between Right and Hikari who give him an extra boost straight toward Nero.

He did it! Nero can’t believe it. “Perhaps, I’ve underestimated you. Very well, I will retreat for now.”

Nero leaves. Ryu Knight nods his approval and the ToQgers come together to summon the Renketsu Bazooka to deliver a Fairy Tale Collection Rainbow Rush.

Momotaro, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and the Naked Emperor each take their turn deliver a blow to finish off Pin Spot Shadow’s first life.

All four fairy tale characters are back to their fairy tale personalities and back in their respective books.

Ryu Knight starts to disappear, but Tokacchi calls out to him.

“I won because you told me what I was doing wrong. Thank you Ryu Knight. I mean, Oniichan.”

Ryu Knight turns into a human, Tokacchi’s older brother. The memory returns to Tokacchi’s heart.

Pin Spot Shadow embiggens and they hop into ToQ-Oh and Build Dai-Oh. Pin Spot’s beams are stronger than either of Shield Ressha or Build Dai-Oh’s shoulders, so Hikari summons Tank Ressha.

But Akira steps in front of ToQ-Oh and Tank Ressha attaches to Build Dai-Oh instead to form Build Dai-Oh Tank.

Hey! The ToQgers then decide to attach Build Ressha armaments to form ToQ-Oh Build for themselves.

But Akira uses Tank Ressha well and knocks Pin Spot Shadow to the ground. He leaves the rest to them. Hey!!!

It’s okay though. They use a Bucket Break to finish off Pin Spot Shadow for good.

Back at the Castle, Baron Nero apologizes for this blunder. But Zett says it is no blunder. The ToQgers are merely shining brighter. And win or lose, it still benefits Zett. Eventually…

Madame Noire looks up from her sewing to see Gritta’s reflection appear on the mirror next to Zett.

Meanwhile, Schwarz emerges from the river and is emboldened when he finds his Kuliner still intact.

Later that night, Wagon has prepared some fireworks for them to enjoy.

Mio approaches Tokacchi who is standing by the river. “You modeled Ryu Knight after your brother, didn’t you?”

“Ryu-niichan. Unlike me, he was good as studying, sports and everything. I’ve always looked up to him.”

Tokacchi flashes back to his brother peeking into his room and noticing the drawing of Ryu Knight on the wall. “You’re going to have to grow out of that sooner or later.”

“Maybe I still haven’t,” Tokacchi laughs to Mio. Maybe, Mio says, but “wasn’t it you who figured out your shortcomings? That’s why the image of your brother told you. You won using your own power.”

They smile.

Tokacchi takes this opportunity to thank Mio for the bandage.

“Mio… How do I put this? You’re always so… kind and…”

But before Tokacchi can finish what he was saying, Akira fires a HUGE firework into the sky. Right and Wagon want more, but Kagura is freaked out. Mio and Hikari try to tell Akira it’s too dangerous.

Tokacchi smiles at what he was about to tell Mio. He adjusts his glasses just as Akira fires another HUGE firework causing him to knock his glasses off and onto the ground.

Episodes Thoughts

Oh, haaaay. The Tokacchi-Mio ship is still floating on! It was a nice and unexpected little tease at romance. I hope Kobayashi actually follows through with it since she’s not one to focus on romantic angles in the Sentais she has written (and I’ve watched).

So, we’ll see. But this was a great episode. Now that the ToQgers have remembered the name of their town and that it was swallowed in darkness, the next set of memories they will be regaining will be of their families, as signaled by this episode with Tokacchi remembering his brother, his hero.

We saw a little of each of the ToQgers’ families in their initial memories of the festival, but like we saw in this episode, we will get to learn more about each of the ToQgers’ most important people in their lives. I absolutely love that. I’ve expressed how much I love that nostalgic feel the season has, what with good ol’ trains, talk of hometowns and childhood memories. Now we’re getting into more emotional and deep looks into the ToQgers’ pasts. We get to see who are these people, whether they are parents, grandparents or siblings, who have helped shape who they are today.

Some people may say that is boring or will find petty things to criticize about the season, but Kobayashi’s story pulls everything together. From the designs to the structure to the layout of the season so far. (Whatever, Saban Brands, focus on your own “pre-schoolish” seasons before commenting on something that actually does everything you’re doing 10x better.),

Like many a ToQger episode, this one started out like a silly filler ep only to end on an emotional and important high. It reminds me of the very best Supernatural episodes, many of them the meta/spoof episodes that end up being crucial to the overall mythology.

Here, every single episode so far has contributed clues, big and small, as to who or what the ToQgers are, their hometown and the effects of the Shadow Line on them and said town.

So I definitely can’t wait to see the next couple of episodes focusing on the others just as nicely as this episode did for Tokacchi’s character.

As for the rest of the episode, Akira was hilarious. Never has a suicidal hero been so funny and amusing. (lol) And again, the music was used excellently all episode. I absolutely love the ToQger soundtrack.

The ToQgers think it is odd that they’ve encountered Kuros, but no Shadow Kaijin at a regular station. Conductor and Ticket call them back to the Resshas to tell them the trains are acting weird, as if they’re actually at a Shadow Line station.

The ToQgers decide to take a look around town, but Akira will not be joining them. He’s got somewhere to be.

Over at the Castle, Zett is listening to Baron Nero as he explains his plan with Coin Shadow.

As the ToQgers enjoy the nice town, they realize Kagura is not with them. She’s gotten herself lost, but stumbles upon Akira excitedly hurrying somewhere. Kagura follows and they end up in front of a bathhouse.

Kagura says Akira can use the showers on the Resshas, but Akira says he loves bathhouses.

Suddenly, they hear a loan shark hounding the owner of the bathhouse to pay off his debts by tomorrow or else. Kagura stops Akira from henshining to take care of the douchebag. The loan shark just laughs as he walks past them and tells them debts must be paid or there will be consequences.

Kagura approaches the owner of the bathhouse to ask what’s happening. The owner explains that fewer and fewer youths had been coming in, so when the guy appeared with some ideas to bring in customers, he jumped at the chance.

But both ideas ended up as disasters. First, a misunderstanding over an idea to have people compete to get in the bathhouse and not putting iris leaves and petals in the bath. Then, having the bathhouse turned into a supermarket instead of just a full service Super Bath.

The owner needing to put the bathhouse back to its original state just added more to his debt. And that’s why he’s in a pinch. As long as that contract exists, his hands are tied.

The others finally find Kagura and the owner offers they all take a bath on the house. Especially since this is the bathhouse’s last day.

Tokacchi and Hikari are not that excited for a dip in the baths. But Akira slaps their towels off their naked bodies and begins reciting the Rules of the Bathhouse.

Rule #1: Don’t be embarrassed!

Right is a little more excited and hurries to jump in, but Akira stops him. Rule #2: You must clean your body first before jumping in.

The guys are now in the bath. It’s a little too hot for Tokacchi, but Rule #17, no putting cold water in the hot water!

Suddenly, they hear Mio and Kagura enjoying the bath next door. They listen as the girls have fun together.

Fresh from their relaxing (or not) baths, Akira gives them Rule #219: Enjoy a coffee milk with their hands on their hips.

The girls come out of the changing rooms and Akira thanks the owner for a nice time. The owner says it’s nice to end it all with happy customers, but Akira says this bathhouse cannot close. He’s never been in such a nice bathhouse before. Kagura agrees.

Akira suggests they forcibly take the contract, but Kagura says they should properly pay back the loan. She has an idea!

The ToQgers henshin and go about the town promoting Hironoyu Bathhouse. Akira is the most enthusiastic.

The ToQgers even do a little show, complete with transfers to entertain the possible customers. That evening, the bathhouse is full of excited people.

But when they count up the day’s earnings, they only have a bucket full of 10 yen coins. Turns out, Akira had written on the fliers that baths would be 10 yen as a promotion.

The owner thanks them for all their effort anyway, but Kagura and Akira will not give up.

Next morning, they work together with Build Ressha to pull the bathhouse right off of its foundation to transfer it to a vacant lot nearby. The others try to calm Kagura down and explain how things are not that simple.

But suddenly, they see what Akira describes as a Mass of Darkness. This is a place where negative human thoughts naturally gather. You could call it a reverse power spot. (Places to get good energy.)

Akira now understands. It is this Mass of Darkness that has been keeping customers away. And likely what the Shadow Line is after.

Indeed, says the loan shark. He thanks them for removing the bathhouse for him and asks the ToQgers to leave.

Akira says the contract the owner signed is invalid. What good is a contract between a human and a non-human. Akira demands this person reveal his true identity.

Turns out it is Coin Shadow. This is not just for a station, but for a brand new Shadow terminal.

The ToQgers henshin. Kagura takes over Right’s “Shuppatsu shinkou!” and Akira speeds past them to take on Coin Shadow.

Coin Shadow knocks Akira around and the others hurry over to help only to get hit with a coin barrage. Akira charges toward Coin Shadow. Kagura shoots at the kaijin, then takes Right’s Ressha to allow her to transfer to Red.

Kagura knocks Coin Shadow to the ground and Akira uses Drill Ressha to finish off Coin Shadow’s first life by knocking him into the hole in the ground.

But Coin Shadow absorbs the entire Mass of Darkness as he embiggens. Akira looks at Build Ressha which still has the bathhouse dangling in the air. He asks Right if he can use Diesel-tachi.

The ToQgers form ToQ-Oh and Diesel-Oh. But Coin Shadow is too powerful for them.

They decide to combine to use Cho ToQ-Oh’s cannon. Coin Shadow feels dizzy and Akira explains like hot water, the Mass of Darkness has all gone to his head.

Kagura has an idea, she summons Fire Ressha and after telling a riddle, uses Fire Ressha’s water and fire to create a hot bath to defeat Coin Shadow once and for all.

Akira returns the bathhouse back to its place. The owner runs out and thanks them for all their help. But Kagura and Akira have a request. They would like another bath before everyone else.

Episode Thoughts

This was definitely a filler episode, but boy what an enjoyable filler episode it was!

It was absolute fun. The idea of Akira loving bathhouses is hilarious and kinda creepy at the same time. (lol) But Kagura teaming up with Akira made the whole fight to save it very sweet and again very much in line with ToQger’s overall sentimental and nostalgic vibe.

ToQger has done a great job of pairing the ToQgers off with each other and they did it again here with Akira and Kagura who were great.

Another excellently designed kaijin. And plenty of gratuitous skin. You will definitely not see that on Power Rangers. lol

Kagura mimicking The “Alright! Alright!!”s of Drill Ressha was adorable and Right feeling down whenever Kagura stole his thunder was hilarious.

Overall a great, fun episode of ToQger.

The ToQgers enter the main car to start their day, but Wagon hurries and says they’ve got a problem. Right looks intensely angry. And not only that, but he doesn’t want any breakfast!

The shocked ToQgers look over to a stoic Right sitting in the booth. But before they can find out what’s wrong, Akira calls to tell them he’s found another junction into a Shadow Town.

Before they go, Conductor would like to give them something. Ticket says it is a new item that might help them fight in a Shadow Town: Hyper Ressha.

It amplifies a ToQger’s power, but Conductor doesn’t know how. Ticket says it requires great power, so their usual Imagination won’t work.

Conductor leaves Hyper Ressha to Right since he has the greatest Imagination. Right takes it and they go meet Akira.

Still in a seemingly pissy mood, Right drive Drill Ressha and the ToQgers head into the Shadow Town.

Just as the ToQgers’ arrival on the Shadow Line is announced at Castle Terminal, Baron Nero and Madame Noir are shocked to also see the arrival of Marchioness Mork who walks into the room.

Nero and Noir explain that Mork is the eldest member of the Shadow Line and that they had left her in charge of the Shadow Towns.

Mork approaches the throne and calls out Zett. The curtain pulls back, they stare at each other for a little bit before Mork suddenly takes a swing at Zett.

Zett avoids all of Mork’s attacks before he grabs her sceptre and asks if she is satisfied with the results of her sudden test of his strength.

Marchioness Mork says it makes her very proud, as the one who raised him, to see his darkness is still as deep and exquisite as always. She hugs him so hard they fall to the floor. But Mork adds that she still disappointed by his weakness.

Over in the Shadow Town, the ToQgers find that the townspeople are again frozen. They walk through until they are spotted by the Overseer of the town, Keeper Bishop.

Bishop sends a spinning blade the ToQgers’ way before Right decides to henshin and fight back. The others remind Right that he can’t stay henshined too long without transferring. But Right remembers; he pulls out Hyper Ressha and inserts it into his ToQger changer, but nothing happens.

Instead, Right de-henshins and Bishop knocks Right back towards the others.

Hikari decides to henshin and fight off Bishop as the others tend to Right who Mio finds has a fever. Hikari’s ToQ Changer announces the impending de-henshin, but Tokacchi tosses his Ressha over so Hikari can transfer.

Back at the Junction, Akira has a bad feeling and decides to go after the ToQgers in the Shadow Town. Hikari has already transferred to Yellow and now Pink.

Bishop sends Hikari flying towards the others and he de-henshins. But before Bishop can deliver a final blow, Akira arrives and whisks them away.

Akira takes Right onto his back and they run.

Kagura trips and Tokacchi helps her up, but they look up to find the others are gone. Mio stops to look back and finds Kagura and Tokacchi are no longer there.

She tells Hikari who turns to Akira to wait up a moment, only to find Akira and Right are also gone. He turns back to see Mio is nowhere to be found.

Akira takes Right to a park and realizes what’s happening. This town plays with your sense of direction. Just now, he had been running in a straight line, but they’ve ended up here. That the townspeople were unable to reach their destinations or reunite with their loved ones may have been what generated the darkness.

The ToQgers are unable to call each other. And Right blames himself for not being able to use Hyper Ressha properly. Akira tells Right he will gather the others while he stays here to figure out how to use Hyper Ressha.

Akira starts to play his harmonica.

The others hear the familiar tune and realize they must use their ears to find each other again.

Bishop sees Akira and attacks. Bishop sends his blade spinning toward Akira who reverts to his Shadow form to stop it with his arm.

“You leave me no choice,” Akira says. He continues playing the harmonica as he and Bishop continue to fight.

Right is still trying to find the right image to help him use Hyper Ressha as the others have finally reunited.

Tokacchi goes to henshin and transfer this time, but suddenly, a Shadow Line train is announced as arriving. Akira gets Tokacchi away from the bath of the dropping black line as they see Zett and are introduced to Marchioness Mork for the first time.

Even Akira is shocked to see her appear in person. Mork tells Bishop to continue what he was doing. He charges and Tokacchi quickly henshins.

What did you want to show me? Akira asks.
“You weakness, your Majesty.”

Right walks the abandoned streets and stumbles upon a little girl and her younger brother who are also frozen. He sees them holding pieces of chalk and drawing on the wall of the building. The pictures are of the kids in a train going to see their Papa and Mama. Right realizes they were trying to reunite with their parents as well and sees the big sister have her little brother’s hand in hers as they draw.

Right knows they were trying to cheer themselves up by imagining that they would see their parents again. That’s it. Right remembers Ticket’s words and realizes maybe it’s not about imagining himself being stronger or winning. Maybe it’s more about a bigger, greater and wider imagination, one that is more free and more fun.

“You guys are going to make it home,” Right tells the kids. He takes Hyper Ressha and it glows.

Bishop has just forced Tokacchi to de-henshin, but Right has finally arrived. He apologizes to the others and says he’s fine now.

He takes Hyper Ressha and inserts it into his ToQ Changer. First henshining into ToQ-1, a gold Ressha appears and attaches to Right as he becomes:

Hyper ToQ-1.

An intense light shines from Right and his new power completely overwhelms Bishop. Zett approaches and asks how Right was able to acquire a new sparkle so easily.

Right says it’s thanks to the hard work of his friends and the people of this town. Zett says that is too easy and he wants that sparkle right now.

Zett tranforms to his Shadow body and emits a huge cloud of darkness. Right’s Hyper power, on the other hand, releases an intensely bright light. The light and the darkness push back against each other before Right and Zett go hand-to-hand combat, neither more powerful than the other.

Right vows not to be defeated by Zett and suddenly, the Daikaiten (railway turntable) Cannon appears. Right sets Hyper Ressha on the tracks and fires “the last train for the day.”

Seeing Zett’s impending demise, Marchioness Mork orders Bishop to step in front of the Emperor and absorb the finishing attack.

Zett reverts to his human form, giving Right an indignant stare. This is what I wanted you to see, Mork tells him. She and Zett hop on their train to leave.

Bishop embiggens as the town has emerged from the Shadow Line.

The ToQgers hop into ToQ-Oh and Build Dai-Oh. But Bishop is much too powerful. Right decides they should go Cho-Cho ToQ-Dai-Oh.

They are able to deliver an Imagination Express to finish Bishop off for good.

The townspeople are unfrozen and the two siblings who inspired Right have reunited with their parents.

Back on the Resshas, Tokacchi, Mio, Hikari and Kagura are now sick. Wagon tends to them and Right apologizes to them for having caught his cold.

Tokacchi asks Right for juice, Mio asks for a cushion, Hikari wants fresh porridge and Kagura wants candy. So many requests, Wagon says. But an also sick Conductor says the others worked hard today helping give Right time to master the Hyper Ressha.

A sick Ticket says it’s time for Right to take care of the others for a change.

Episode Thoughts

It was another great episode and a nice introduction to Hyper Ressha and Right’s power-up.

It was great to see them heading back into another Shadow Town. It was interesting to see the townspeople here were frozen as well. That adds to the possibility that the ToQgers’ own town is frozen in time too. Them running through the pretty much abandoned ghost town was very creepy and a nice emotion to have whenever they are in a Shadow Town.

Nothing like kids getting separated from their parents to get the tearducts to start leaking. But not only that, the kids were still positive and hopeful before they ended up frozen! MaGMCM right there, no question. It was great that it was the little kids too that helped Right realize what he was doing wrong with Hyper Ressha.

Speaking of Right, it was actually nice and refreshing to see seriousRight for a change instead of the perpetually hungry and know-it-all Right we’re used to seeing. Even if it was only fever-induced.

Right and Zett’s fight was amazing. It was our first look at them facing off too. Can’t wait to see the eventual big battle between Zett and the ToQgers. And knowing what they’ve established, that they will always have each other’s backs and everything, I fully expect it will not end up being a Right vs Zett only match and that the others will be full involved in any possible final battle. (I hope!)

Marchioness Mork is an interesting new character. It is not clear if she is of higher rank than Nero or Noir. At the same time, Nero and Noir were more surprised than intimidated by Mork. So it should be interesting to see their relationship and dynamics explored more in the next episodes.

I liked the black line hitting Akira when Mork and Zett’s train arrived. It reminded us that the black line works just like the white line in that you better not get in its way or you’re going to get a very painful zap from a falling line.

I definitely hope the others can use Hyper Ressha as well and that it isn’t only a Red power-up. I’d assume that Hyper Ressha will follow the transfer rules and that if a ToQger has mustered up the right amount of Imagination, they’d be able to use Hyper Ressha as well. Kind of like Shinkenger.

Overall, another great episode. I definitely enjoyed it.

Mio’s made everyone some of her special omelette sandwiches for lunch. Tokacchi is especially excited. But he sees Hikari pick at his, not wanting to eat any vegetables, even the ones Mio’s put in with the omelettes. Mio encourages him to at least eat those.

Appearing to be a little miffed by Hikari’s seeming unappreciation of Mio’s care, Tokacchi stands, turns and says.

“Hikari doesn’t like vegetables, yet 6-gou is green…”

The others pause. “That’s true,” Kagura and Right agree. Ticket and Mio don’t understand what Tokacchi’s getting at while Conductor says he hates cucumbers himself. Hikari just looks at Tokacchi who then realizes he might have hurt Hikari’s feelings.

Over at the Castle, Marchioness Mork announces that she will be moving in to fix the disorganization of the Shadow Line commanders as well as take care of the Emperor’s well being.

Mork approaches Madame Noire. “Do you know why you remain, despite you and your daughter’s treason?!”
“Because of His Majesty’s benevolence of course.”
“Then why don’t you go gather some darkness!”

Madame Noire leaves and Mork turns her attention to Baron Nero. She asks why he hasn’t taken care of Zalam and Schwarz yet. Nero admits Zalam has been very difficult, but Schwarz is no longer a threat. Still, Marchioness Mork orders him to take care of them, regardless.

Madame Noire overlooks a plaza by the water in new town. She can’t believe Marchioness Mork has inserted herself at the Castle and is now treating her like a mere monster of the week. But she subdues her frustration for now and gets to some darkness making.

She takes a feather from her hat and blows some darkness into it, causing it to replicate and attach themselves to various people’s heads in the plaza. The now-feathered humans start to get violent and proceed to attack everyone and every poor monobloc around them.

Madame Noire laughs as Akira arrives, playing his harmonica.

Akira henshins and Madame Noire summons a group of Kuros. Seeing the rampaging feathered people, Akira calls the others to hurry over.

As Akira faces off with Madame Noire, a crying little girl is about to get a monobloc chair smashed over her head, but Right arrives just in time to save her.

Right protects the little girl as Hikari and Tokacchi pull the feathered maniac off of them. Right tells the little girl to run and Akira tells the others to get the feathers out of the people’s head to break the hypnosis.

More Kuros arrive and Mio decides to go straight for Madame Noire. She asks Noire why she is still serving the Emperor after what he did to her daughter. Kagura joins Mio and Noire says that is none of their business.

Noire shoots at and easily sends the girls flying. Akira and Right take Noire on, but she leaps and sends a fresh round of feathers toward them. Right tries to get out of the way as Akira slashes at the feathers. But one feather instead attaches itself to the back of Right’s helmet.

Oops. Akira apologies, but Right starts to rampage. He charges straight toward the others and attacks each one of them, especially poor Kagura. Hikari gets up and goes to slash at Right’s back as he proceeds to beat Tokacchi. But Hikari hesitates and pauses.

Right kicks him out of the way and Madame Noire laughs at the ToQgers fighting one of their own.

Kagura says this is no use, they can’t possibly fight Right. But one person can. Akira charges toward Right and goes all out, feeling guilty for putting Right in this predicament. Akira doesn’t hold back and the others are worried Akira will go too far.

They break up the fight and whisk Akira away, leaving Right with Madame Noire.

Akira continues to blame himself and vows to make things right. This will be his place to die. He runs off.

They hear screaming and remember that there are still other feathered people running amok, so they decide to split up. Mio takes Kagura, leaving Tokacchi with Hikari instead. Tokacchi still wonders if Hikari is mad about this morning.

The ToQgers take care of all the feathered people while Akira runs across the city.

Back at the Castle, Zett asks Marchioness Mork what she meant about his weakness. She tells him it’s the shining and sparkling he’s so interested in. It would fine if he was really able to absorb it, but it’s no different than a fly being drawn to a flame. She warns him not to get sucked in by the light, especially the Rainbow Line.

While walking, Tokacchi apologizes about what happened earlier. But Hikari says it didn’t bother him since Tokacchi’s known about him not liking vegetables since forever.

Sure, Tokacchi says. But Mio sure is nice to Hikari, like trying to get him to eat his vegetables in a creative way. Hikari wishes she’d stop that though and Tokacchi again mentions how close they appear to be with each other.

They both stop. Hikari asks Tokacchi to get to the point, “If you have something to say, then say it.”

Tokacchi says it’s nothing, but Hikari appears to know what it is.
“Are you jealous?”

What?! No, Tokacchi says, but Hikari comes right out and asks, “You like Mio, don’t you?”

Tokacchi fuh-reaks out and goes Looney Tunes right off the side of the hill. He tries to compose himself and says he was just a little envious, but not jealous.

“You’re being annoying again,” Hikari says.
“I know.”

Back on the Resshas, Mio and Kagura are struggling over how to take on Right. Wagon says they’re being too serious and suggests they take things a little more lightly.

Akira flails his way to the park where Madame Noire and Right are, but he’s already exhausted and decides to call the others to take care of the situation instead.

“Let’s go,” Hikari says to Tokacchi who makes his way back up the hill. Tokacchi apologizes for being a dork and showing his embarrassing side again, not that he was ever cool though.

“I think your embarrassing side… is cool.”
Hikari says he could never loosen himself up like that. He always appears cold or harsh.

“Yeah, sometimes I have no idea what you’re thinking.”

Hikari turns, Tokacchi thinks he’s offended him again. But Hikari smiles, “I guess we’re both kind of a nuisance.”

They both laugh and hurry over to join the others.

Madame Noire alerts Right to the arrival of his friends.

The ToQgers think about Wagon’s advice: There’s always been things you wanted to say to Right’s face. Remember them and just do it!

They henshin and charge straight toward Right as Madame Noire happily laughs at the start of this show.

The ToQgers are resolved not to hold back against Right any longer.

Tokacchi remembers Right squirting milk into his face and then laughing at him.

Kick.

Hikari remembers Right ruining his favorite kendama.

Slash.

Kagura and Mio remember Right walking around in just his underwear.

Double attack.

The four of them then deliver a final kick simultaneously and Right is knocked to the ground, giving Tokacchi the opening he needs to grab the feather.

Madame Noire wants to pay them back for ruining her fun so she uses her umbrella to send a huge fireball their way. The four ToQgers are now at their limits after just having gone all out on Right.

Right decides to go Hyper to fight off Madame Noire himself. They go toe-to-toe until he knocks her towards a tree. She grabs onto a branch and sets herself back on the ground to summon her Kuliner and speed off.

Two Kuliner Robos arrive and an awake Akira immediately jumps into Build Dai-Oh.

The five ToQgers sit and watch, but Right has an idea. He summons the Daikaiten Canon and is about to fire it himself when Kagura stops him.

“At least in the end, let’s do this all together!”

Sure, Right says and each of the ToQgers insert their Resshas onto the cannon’s tracks, sending their energy into the Hyper Ressha. Their combined powers allow them to deliver a 5 Renketsu Shot Fire which takes out both Kuliner Robos.

The ToQgers are back on the Resshas with Mio serving some of her homemade pudding. Mio takes one and offers it to Hikari who says he’s okay and to give his share to Tokacchi.

Tokacchi jumps up and says he’s already got one. He quickly takes Hikari aside to ask him to give him some time and to not tell Mio.

Right excitedly comes over, wanting to know what the two guys are whispering about.

“Especially not to the other nuisance,” Tokacchi says.

Hikari turns and says he wants to treat the girls to a barbecue feast. Tokacchi thanks Hikari and Right excitedly tells the others about the barbecue. Conductor and Ticket come in and Hikari laughs, thinking about him always being the keeper of secrets.

Meanwhile, back at the Castle, Zett is sitting on his throne when Madame Noire sees Gritta’s reflection again in the mirror. There’s no doubt about it now, Noire says, “His Majesty hasn’t fully absored Gritta.

Zett thinks about Marchioness Mork’s words about his weakness while somewhere in the forest, Schwarz is getting ready to revive his Kuliner.

Episode Thoughts

This was a lot of fun. What the show has done very well is show and reinforce the ToQgers’ friendship and bond in many different ways. This episode was another one with Hikari and Tokacchi understanding each other and their own shortcomings. At the same time, they understand what they mean to each other, sort of like a “You complete me”-kind of way. And that’s applicable to all five of them. They each complement each other so well.

My romantic at heart-self loved seeing Tokacchi’s jealousy hilariously play out the entire episode. I’m glad they Kobayashi is developing Tokacchi’s feelings for Mio instead of just dropping it.

The addition of Marchioness Mork definitely adds more to the infighting and jockeying for position within the Shadow Line which is always great. But it was even more awesome seeing Madame Noire in extended fighting scenes. We were so cheated out of the Noire-Nero battle. But it was nice to see her in action in this episode. I loved seeing her grab on to the tree branch when Hyper Right sent her flying.

What to say of Right’s annoying antics toward his friends though? Spraying milk onto Tokacchi’s face, playing with Hikari’s ball and flashing the girls… Right definitely needs to cut it out. Though of course, he didn’t actually hear them expressing their grievances. (lol) Wagon giving some helpful piece of advice, while shaking her butt, was a nice change of pace as well.s

And of course Akira’s flailing about to his place of death. So random, yet so hilarious.

But this scene though:

That was a little disturbing. Like legit ZOMGWTF. That guy was about to smash that little girl’s head off and he proceeded to kick Right as he shielded her. Right was also brutal to Kagura too. He gutpunched her several times. Damn!

Anyway… lol

Overall, another great episode. And yay! Perfect day too because my Go-Busters Ressha arrived today as well. =D

Schwarz is driving along in his Kuliner, remembering Zett sending him into the river with such great power. Schwarz believes he needs something to help him get on equal footing. Drill Ressha perhaps?

At Castle Terminal, Nero is introducing his trusted right-hand, Bottle Shadow. Marchioness Mork says everyone in the Shadow Line knows of Bottle Shadow’s deeds. She is happy that Nero appears to be getting serious, especially in eliminating Zalam and Schwarz.

On the Resshas, Ticket and Conductor hurry into the main car to tell the ToQgers to quickly help Akira who is fighting Bottle Shadow.

Akira tells Bottle Shadow only he will decide where he dies. Bottle Shadow unleashes red and white beams from each of his bottle heads and knocks Akira down. But suddenly, Schwarz appears and fires at Bottle Shadow who is excited to see the two traitors together for him to get rid of.

Schwarz and Bottle Shadow face off as the ToQgers arrive, unsure of why they are fighting. They charge in, but Bottle Shadow retreats.

Schwarz tells Akira he wants to talk. He asks why Zalam left the Shadow Line, but Akira will not say. Schwarz says he had the perfect train army to fulfill his ambitions, but the Emperor has power greater than he imagined. He has and will go through the mud just to get revenge against the Emperor, which is why he is here, bowing his head, asking for their help.

Akira conferences with the ToQgers telling them Schwarz is asking for a ceasefire so they can fight their mutual enemy, Zett. The ToQgers are not ready to so quickly trust him. But Right says why not? They all saw Zett try to kill him.

The others still think it is not the best idea to trust the guy, so Right says he will check him out himself.

Right runs to Schwarz and invites him to lunch.

The Castle finds out about Schwarz teaming up with the Rainbow Line. Zett thinks this is very interesting, but Marchioness Mork orders Baron Nero to just finish the two traitors off at once.

Right digs into his fresh seafood lunch. Schwarz will not have any, thank you. The other sit at a nearby table, wondering what Right is up to.

Right asks Schwarz why he wants to defeat Zett so badly. Schwarz says he realized there is a limit to fighting alone. And now, he wants to defeat Zett for revenge, even if it means putting aside his pride and surrendering to the ToQgers.

The others think about what for and Mio remembers maybe he wants to get revenge for Zett killing Gritta.

Okay Right says, he doesn’t think Schwarz would lie about this part so he trusts him. Schwarz says he must answer to that trust and expects to do everything he can in the next fight.

Back by the water, Schwarz explains how to avoid the two beams from Bottle Shadow. They will split up into three teams and attack from multiple directions while getting close. Once they’ve worn him down, Right will come in to finish Bottle Shadow for good.

Akira says this information is correct and Schwarz’s plan makes sense, but… Schwarz gives them more info. The ToQgers must be ready to avoid the beams as soon as Bottle Shadow finishes saying his nonsense before firing.

Right and Schwarz shake hands. Akira reminds Schwarz to not do any funny business. He’ll be watching him.

Bottle Shadow arrives and promises they will all die. The ToQgers henshin,

Tokacchi and Mio run toward Bottle Shadow first, but they avoid the blue beam and manage to get a hit on the Creep. Hikari and Kagura are next and avoid the white beam to fire at Bottle Shadow. Now it’s Akira and Schwarz’s turn.

“How long has it been since we’ve fought side by side?”

Akira inserts Drill Ressha in his Yudou Breaker, but suddenly, Bottle Shadow unleashes a rose beam. Schwarz steps behind Akira and uses him as a shield as Bottle Shadow fires and the rose beams hits all the ToQgers, including Right who was waiting for his opening.

Schwarz does one swipe of his sword and sends Bottle Shadow flying.

He picks up Drill Ressha and Akira realizes it is what Schwarz wanted all along. Schwarz slashes at Akira’s chest and sends him flying toward the others.

Right won’t have any of this betrayal so he charges toward Schwarz. They battle as Akira and Marchioness Mork have arrived and watch from behind a boulder.

Right pulls out Hyper Ressha, but Schwarz knocks it away, right to Hikari’s feet.

Bottle Shadow arrives and Hikari decides to use Hyper Ressha to become Hyper ToQ-4. He summons Daikaiten Cannon and the others join him to deliver a Hyper Four Linkup Crash to finish Bottle Shadow’s first life for good.

The Shadow kaijin embiggens as Schwarz also jumps into his Kuliner Robo. But this time, he can attach Drill Ressha to his arm.

Right summons Diesel-tachi while the others tell Akira to rest as they hop into ToQ-Oh.

Right wants to face Schwarz and tells the others to deal with Bottle Shadow.

Schwarz uses Drill Ressha and is pleased with its power against Right in Diesel-Oh. Meanwhile, Tokacchi summons Shield Ressha to block Bottle Shadow’s beams and send their own beams his way. Mio and Tokacchi initiate a punch and a kick.

And finally, Kagura says since they haven’t used it in a while, they will deliver a Fumikiriken Ressha Slash to finish Bottle Shadow off for good.

Right meanwhile delivers a Diesel-Oh Spin Kick, but Schwarz uses Drill Ressha to counter it. He says since he now has Drill Kuliner, there is no point in dragging this out. Schwarz drills into the ground and leaves.

Zett is impressed by the sparkling of everyone involved.

On his Kuliner, Schwarz vows to bring Lady Gritta peace.

On the Resshas, Right bows to everyone, apologizing since it is his fault for trusting Schwarz in the first place. The others say it is okay, but now they cannot go into Shadow Towns without Drill Ressha.

Akira says that’s also fine, they will just take back what was taken from them.

Episode Thoughts

This was a great episode to officially welcome back Schwarz. It would’ve been even better if they had done some faux shock in Schwarz actually just using them for Drill Ressha. But still, it was a great way for Schwarz to get back in the picture as well as delay the ToQgers going into Shadow Towns for a while.

It was good to again see Right is not always right. Right? But see the ToQgers come together when they need to. They also did great in again using Akira’s connection as member of the villain faction to bring a fresh dynamic to how the heroes deal with their enemies.

We haven’t seen some scenic locations lately, so it was great to see them in a seaside town. I’ve been missing those countryside locations.

Overall another good episode. But next episode… WIGS! Yes!