The special takes place in both 2025 where our adult ToQgers reside, sadly bereft of their once powerful imaginations, as well as in 2017 where the younger versions are preparing to graduate from Elementary School. Both are attacked by Archduke Hein, a remnant of the Shadow Line bent on resurrecting it under his leadership. Our adult ToQgers travel back to 2017 to protect their younger selves, and hopefully recover their imaginations along the way. It's a trite plot somewhat complicated by the practically unexplained time-travel element ("It's a time paradox!" Kagura helpfully exclaims near the end of the special), but it allows the older and younger versions of the ToQgers to interact with each other, and that's something we rarely got to see in the original run of the show.
Making that interaction a focus of the special is a smart move, as the interplay between them has shifted now that the older ToQgers aren't simply imagined versions of themselves. The younger ToQgers are understandably incredulous that their elder counterparts have forgotten how to use imagination properly, and refuse to agree that imagination must inevitably fade as one grows up. ToQger Returns is willing to ask some interesting questions about the nature of imagination and if the answers it finds are more simplistic and easy than I'd like, well, this is after all a show for children. I'm giving it points just for being willing to bring up complex issues even if it doesn't resolve them perfectly.
The other focus of the special is ToQ #6, aka Zaram, aka Nijino Akira, aka "So this is the place where I'll die." Akira was undoubtedly one of the absolute highlights of a sometimes uneven series, and putting him at the center of Hein's evil plot was a smart move that pays off well, allowing the oldest member of the cast a chance to shine and do much of the emotional lifting for the back half of the special. Hein's plot involves making him return to the Shadow Line, but it is intriguingly complicated by the presence of Tank-Top Shadow (Akira's shirt was a monster this whole time, who knew?), who is worried for Akira since staying with the Rainbow Line means he will age and die like a human rather than live eternally as a shadow. Again, the show isn't willing to fully address the weight of those ideas, but it gets points for making Akira's choice to fight evil mean a bit more than it did before.
You know eventually good will triumph, and amusingly so does this special, finishing most of it's serious plot about 35 minutes in to make way for an incredibly goofy finale. This includes things like both versions of the ToQgers, Akira, and Wagon all crammed into the mech, with the back-light sign saying "We apologize for overcrowding!" This you may find either infuriating or endearing depending on your disposition towards very silly things in your Sentai shows, but I loved it. ToQger was at its best when it mixed exciting action scenes with goofball characters and situations, and this special really manages to deliver on that front. Ultimately ToQger Returns is the perfect epilogue to an inconsistent show, and reminds you of all the shows high points while deftly avoiding it's lower ones.
Final Score:
IMAGINATION / 5
