ToQger Episode 9

A little site update my pretties. If you'll look to the right you should notice my new amazon widget which has a little more functionality and freedom than the previous one. I figured it was a good choice to display more than just my own approved items cause, let's face it, people who only get five views a week can't afford to be selective in their advertising. If anything this improvement is nicely timed with this week's ToQger which is a marked improvement over its previous endeavor.

First off let's give points for the title “Love is a One Way Ticket.” It works as both a train pun and something befitting a Bond movie. Our tale begins with the normal train stopping for repairs which gives the crew some time off for museums and small town festivals, exactly the things 20 somethings are into......so yeah. During the days activities a fight breaks out during some lovers competition for all you can eat dumplings (god Japan is weird).

Anywho. During the tussle Mio meets a man by the name of Mr. Hunkypants. Alright. I can't remember his name but he actually ends up protecting her from the goon squad. He follows that up with a fancy speech about how women should be protected. Now I'm all for chivalry but this dude takes it a mite bit into the sexism arena when he pats her head as if she were a dimwitted child. Things seem like they're back to normal. Little do our heroes know that man are saving woman all over town and following it up with similar speeches in what is assuredly a diabolical plot to flood the city. What? No fans of ovulation humor?

Turns out that hunkypants left his wallet behind during the fight, leaving Mio to figure out how to approach returning it. She eventually settles on a kendo duel and boxed lunch. Major props for originality there honey. This is where the monster of the weeks plan really comes to fruition as the same thing is happening all over. Girls are giving presents to all these brave men who protected them in their hour of need. See the monster this time is a marionette who controlled the men into saving the girls only so they could later stomp on their affection thous producing the bad mojo our villains are after.

Old Marionette shows up in a fury, wondering why Mio isn't affected like all the other women which is when he realizes that she's a ToQger. Now the shows seems to be making the argument that she's so thick skinned that the dude spurning her advances doesn't send her into despair but I guess I've been operating under the assumption that these kids are invulnerable to the monsters schemes already. Guess I'll have to keep an eye out for an answer to that one. Fight time! And wouldn't ya know it. Marionette slaps Mio around like she owes him money.

Quite quickly the others show up and give her a pep talk about how she doesn't have to be the team mom all the time cause they can do some of the heavy lifting themselves. The rest of the fight goes pretty smoothly and then it's time to make some toy sales by introducing a new giant robot made entirely out of the support cars. Nothing too special but I'd wager it's best to mention it now instead of inciting confusion the next time it pops up.

Not a half bad episode I do declare. There was enough humor and action to keep things moving, So far Mio is easily the most well rounded and believable member of the team which gives me hope that the others will catch up soon. Tokatti's at bat next week so we'll see if this new trend of expanded character development holds true. Time for me to get in a few meager winks and see if I can pull together another good weekend. See ya folks!