Perhaps it's the overall lighthearted tone of this series that causes moments like the ones below to hit doubly hard.
Station 15
- The episode was about the Monster of the Week bringing people's personal desires to life and destroying it in front of them. Mio's personal desire was her imaginary friend, Maiki, coming to life. Anyone with half a brain could figure out where that would go. When the monster kills Maiki, hoping to send Mio into despair, it instead sends her into an epic Unstoppable Rage.
Station 23
- During the scene where they remember their town festival, Right realizes that he is having memories of his family. EVERYONE is crying, from Kagura's teary eyes to Tokatti's outright bawling.
- When the core ToQgers finally begin to remember their home, the memory Kagura has shows her going to her parents, and a little brother...
- Grita's death. What sells it is Schwarz's reaction. Despite admitting that he was only using Grita for his own goals, she says that she's glad she was of some use to him. Schwarz was clearly distraught. Things only get worse when Z emerges from her body.
Station 24
- The ToQgers were right with their theory that their home was absorbed into the Shadow Line. This very fact can bring tears to one's eyes.
Station 32
- When you find out that the ToQgers are still kids, and have decided to keep fighting the Shadow Line, even though their chances of becoming kids again decreases the longer they remain in their current state. They could end up losing most of their youth and might end up not being recognized by their families.
Station 36
- The heartbroken look on Hikari's face when he sees that an old teacher of his and the others doesn't recognize him.
Station 39
- It's the Christmas episode, and it's here that Akira has to fulfil his 'favor' to Schwarz for getting Drill Ressha back.
Station 41
- Gritta seeing Schwarz and Noire being killed off by Zed. Her mother, Noire, ends up being slain right in front of her, and Schwarz, the one she loves, throws her onto a Kurainer train to get her away from Zed. After she goes, Zed kills him.
- Hell, the entire episode counts, given that by now you're sympathising with just about EVERYONE. Gritta over the loss of her mother, Akira over the loss of Schwarz, the team over those same losses and Zed over the fact that everyone wants him to embrace darkness, when all he wants is to be able to accept the light.
- Akira getting hugged by the main team. In a heartwarming show of true companionship, they were beyond overjoyed that this isn't where he dies.
- Seeing Akira leaving a Weapon Tombstone for Schwarz, while his leitmotif plays in the background. It's a very sobering moment. Later, we see Gritta come by and leave a rose, too. Not to mention the ToQgers even have a candle for him aboard the train, despite all the grief that he's caused them.
Station 43
- Kagura's dream in which she is reunited with her parents and her baby brother, but they don't recognise her.
- When Dollhouse Shadow burns down the dollhouse Hikari and Kagura were trapped in. We know they have an escape plan, but the reactions of the other ToQgers to what appears to be their deaths is heartbreaking.
Station 45
- As Right leaves off to go fight Zed, the others run after the departing train, sorrowfully screaming out his name, even as they revert back to being children.
- Even a flashback of remembering about the rules of the Secret Base causes them to part ways, and he broke his own rules.
- After they've come to the end of the platform, Akira has to step in to keep them from going any farther, holding all four of them back at once. When they stop screaming for Right to come back, it's already too late; all their memories of their time as the ToQGers are gone. They don't even remember Akira, who's literally kneeling down right in front of them. The look on his face says it all; the team he's fought with all these months? Gone, in an instant.
- Hell, the whole time leading up to this moment. Right, carrying Z's darkness within him, takes the others' Rainbow Passes, but doesn't explain why. They only figure out that he's trying to stop them from boarding the train when he sprints off as it's about to depart. Right simply wants them to return to being children, but he's fully convinced that because of the darkness he holds, he can't go home again. Everybody takes the separation badly. Right is in tears, the Conductor looks about to break down and Wagon is unusually regretful and sombre, especially as she carries out Right's wish to burn the group's Rainbow Passes.
- The Conductor offers Right to visit his family and friends, but he declines, convinced that he can never go back home.
Station 46
- Right is obviously still hurting from his decision to bar the rest of the team from entering the train. He looks around and imagines the group running towards him, serving as a reminder of the train being incredibly empty and quiet. Akira's harmonica rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star doesn't help.
Terminal Station: The Shining Ones
- The ToQgers chewing Right out for his stunt a couple of episodes back. They're quick to remind him that this is their fight too, and that they promised to always help each other out. Of course they forgive him, but this little speech also causes Right to break down crying, prompting a Group Hug between them all.
- In a happy tearjerker moment, the ToQgers reuniting with their families... who still recognise them. The Rainbow Line crew tear up just watching the whole thing. Shortly after, the children run after them waving goodbye, with Right saying they will see them again soon.
- At first, it looks like Right's family aren't showing up, since they don't remember him. But then his siblings show up, followed by his grandpa, then his mother. And when he goes to hug her, he turns back into a child along with everyone else.
Hyper Battle DVD
- After the battle with Kaniros, Ticket passes on, with Right and Akira taking time to give him a proper funeral... Until it's revealed that he's somehow stuck himself on Wagon's hand.
Ressha Sentai ToQger Returns
- The fact that Right and the others can no longer see the Ressha.
- Child!Right getting into an argument with his adult self. Adult!Right tells him that he ended up losing his imagination after growing up, causing Child!Right to denounce him and even cry in anger. Thank God Adult!Right ends up getting his imagination back after all.
- The fact that Child!Right will end up moving away after graduating. It's only offset by the fact that the ToQgers obviously don't grow apart and continue to meet each other and be the same True Companions they always have been, but it can still hit home for anyone in real life who has gone through the same thing.
- The Child ToQgers seek out Akira, only to find that someone else has replaced him, and they're bluntly informed that Akira has left and will never come back. Of course, it's all a front and the ToQgers resolve to find him, but that had to sting all the same.
- Tank Top Shadow's Heroic Sacrifice. Then, he reveals that he was so close to Akira that he was terrified that if he stayed with the Rainbow Line, he'd end up growing old and dying. He desperately wanted Akira to stay alive, and then he takes an attack for him and dies in his arms. Thankfully, the ending reveals that he's OK (and Akira's perfectly OK with the concept of growing and dying like a normal human).
Ressha Sentai ToQger vs Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger
- During the night before the final confrontation with Devius, the ToQgers are at their lowest point. They've realized how small they are compared to the world, and how their battles have never seemed as big as saving the world, as they have been protecting one town at a time while the Kyoryugers have protecting the world as a whole. It doesn't help that the Kyoryugers are currently seriously injured, thus the ToQgers believe they have to battle Devius and his minions without their help, although the Zyudenchi themselves offered help. Also while they are happy they've turned back into adults after the defeat of Clock Shadow, they wonder if it's easier that they stay as children, so when they return home, their families would still recognize them and they could reunite with them. While they eventually rediscover their resolve, you have to remember that they're still human, and children at heart who have their own fears and doubts.
