Why Wasn’t Ressha Sentai ToQger Adapted?

Does Saban’s Surprising Announcement Mean New Hope For ToQger?

Not long ago, I made an article talking about why Go-Busters didn’t get adapted. I went through some of the possible reasons about why it was ignored, ending with what it would most likely be like if it wasn’t. That article is now somewhat dated since it was recently announced that the 2019 (And possibly 2020) series of Power Rangers will be based on Go-Busters. Now that we know that Saban isn’t opposed to adapting older seasons, let’s look at why ToQger was initially ignored and what the chances are of an adaptation in the future.

The obvious main explanation for the skip was because of the theme, trains. I’m not going to deny that trains are popular in the west and that Power Rangers is aimed at a similar demographic to those who may be interested in trains (Boys aged 5-11). While this may seem like an obvious choice for an adaptation, not every kid into Power Rangers is necessarily also interested in trains. A while ago, I was talking to someone around this age range about ToQger and he thought it was an unusual concept. The train theme would probably make filming a pain too. It would be harder to film tracks and stations without constantly re-using footage because of the differences between the Japanese rail network and the Kiwi rail network. For example; New Zealand has just over 100 train stations and 1km of track for every 65km² of land while Japan has 8500+ stations and 1km of track for every 14km² of land. There’s always the possibility that they could limit the train theme to just the Zords and suits and not revolve the story around them to make filming easier, it worked for Super Megaforce and Mighty Morphin’ Season 1 (To a lesser extent).

Before we knew it was being adapted, both Saban and Bandai had previously mentioned that they wanted to do something with Go-Busters in the future. However, they have not said anything about ToQger. Unlike Go-Busters, there doesn’t seem to be any rejected plans for hypothetical adaptations. It seems like Saban has just given up on it. Ever since they took over from Bandai, Hasbro seems to want to do new things with the series so an adaptation is not entirely impossible. Personally, I would love to see ToQger get adapted, but if Saban and Hasbro did these things, I think the chances of the season succeeding would be higher. Firstly, as I mentioned before, the plot should be focused less on trains. Alternatively, the zords and suits could be used for a “Super” follow up to a different season so fans of the first would watch it, helping it get better ratings. Next, some toys should just not be released at all. For example: the IC card thing the ToQgers have on their belt buckle since IC cards are pretty different and less common in the west. Also, they should wait until the inevitable “Super” season to sell most of the zords, just in case the train theme isn’t popular the first year. Overall, I very much hope Saban decides to adapt ToQger but I doubt that’s it’s definitely happening.

Would you like to see ToQger get adapted? Let us know in the comments.