The miracles of science.
What They Say:
Episode #6: “Two Nations of the Stone World”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Talk about teasing the audience. Why cut to the chase when they can string us along?
This episode opens still in the middle of the flashback from the previous episode. Senku exhausts himself making shelter and gathering food, but once the basic human needs have been met he turns his attention toward trying to figure out why only humans and swallows were turned to stone. Then he attempts to figure out the who, why, and how of the matter. Yes, we learn that Senku didn’t will himself free. He just happened to be conscious and for some reason that made a difference. Once again, we’re left with few answers, although we do learn that Senku dug up Taiju and moved him to the cave with the hope the boy would break out of his stone prison the way Senku did.
This leads back to the present where we see Senku pleading with Taiju to wake up in the same way Taiju now pleads with Senku. Which he eventually does to the surprise of no one. How he isn’t brain dead, nobody knows. Even Senku is surprised at the restorative properties of being healed from stone.
Now that the gang was back together Senku immediately decides that they need to split up. He basically orders his friends to go undercover with the enemy, Tsukasa, to gather intel. Tsukasa doesn’t even have a base yet, let alone destination. Yet Senku tells them to infiltrate his society. What?
Yet they follow his orders and the group splits. Just in time for Senku to witness a girl become the target of Tsukasa. A blond-haired and blue-eyed teenager emerges to attack Tsukasa, having witnessed his attack on Senku. Tsukasa meets her blow for blow, and it’s clear that she has lived her life in this strange new world. She calls Senku a sorcerer, for example. Tsukasa pins her beneath a tree and departs, now aware that others are alive in the world, and with the idea to conquer these primitive people.
Senku introduces himself after Tsukasa leaves, and the girl introduces herself as Kohaku. Tsukasa rigs a pulley system to lift the massive tree off her, and with very little diplomacy Senku has made himself an ally. Now, why does she speak Japanese, and where did she come from?
In Summary:
What a strange flow this show has. The late title sequence in this episode spells the end of the series prolog, which hardly feels like a traditional prolog. Senku is reunited with his friends only to send them away. The pseudoscience forming the root of the driving plot is still at odds with the real science peppered throughout the story. It’s best just to turn off your brain and enjoy the ride. I’m eager to see the origins of Kohaku’s people, and what lead to them being forced to survive in a changed world.
Episode Grade: B –
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation
