It’s electric!
What They Say:
Episode #8: “Let There Be the Light of Science”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The arc of this story so far feels a great deal like a video game quest where you have to acquire various tasks making up a larger task. This week’s fetch quest is a powerful magnet to power a generator.
But first, ramen. Senku’s plan to bribe the villagers with ramen was a shining success. He manages to convince a handful of villagers to work his bellows in exchange for the meal he fed them. Yet the dinner party attracted an uninvited guest, a strange-looking young man with an untrustworthy face. Gen Asagiri. He just happens to be one of the folks that Tsukasa has thawed out, something that Senku guesses right away.
Gen tries to hide the information about why he is there from the others but gives it up in short order. Tsukasa sent him to see if Senku was still alive and if anyone else was around. Gen could report back, Tsukasa promised him a harem of ladies. Yes, Gen is one of those characters. Luckily he keeps the horndog aspirations firmly to himself and isn’t making passes at Kohaku every moment. Kohaku can’t kill him because if he doesn’t return it will raise Tsukasa’s suspicions.
Gen isn’t just a manipulator. Senku recognizes him because it turns out Gen is somewhat famous as a young mentalist. His simple magician’s tricks manage to wow the villagers, although Senku is less than impressed. The only one who can see straight through Gen is Kohaku, and since Gen has no combat abilities they’re able to keep tabs on him during their science experiments.
The science in this episode is involved and lengthy. Senku needs to make a generator, however, that requires a magnet, which is why they were attempting to smelt iron. With the smelter finally working they need a way to polarize the metal.
This is where things get silly and dangerous. They build an impromptu lightning rod and climb a mountain during a thunderstorm to charge the bar. This is all based off a bit of science trivia that Senku remembered, and while the entire thing worked, I’m shocked (pun intended) that none of them were injured in the process.
With a generator in place, Senku wows his new friends one more time, by lighting up the night sky with artificial light.
In Summary:
Dr. Stone is still an entertaining romp, but sometimes I want to hit the lead characters. Senku’s strange lack of concern about another stranger showing up is foolish, and the attitude of these characters is so over the top. Not to mention the insane projects Shonen logic aside, I do love the manipulation Senku goes to in order to get people to do his bidding. I don’t trust Gen at all, but he could provide the psychological muscle to punch through the social barriers that Senku can’t. That is if he can stay on the side of science.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Toonami!
