Gen takes one for the team, the question is, which team?
What They Say:
Episode #10: “A Flimsy Alliance”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Electricity achievement unlocked! It’s one small step for Senku, but one giant leap for getting him closer to his dream to get civilization back up to speed.
It’s just a shame about the lurking trouble makers and the stone age politics happening all around the small science club. Suspicion of Gen hasn’t lifted, and they talk loudly about their distrust behind his back. Yet when Gen walks away he becomes the victim of a violent attack, leaving him badly injured.
The others rally to bring him to safety and the group spy rolls off to find out who attacked Gen. It turns out to be village tough guy Magma, who has a grudge on Kohaku. It turns out the village holds a competition for who gets to be elder. That person happens to be the strongest warrior, and the prize is marrying the village priestess.
Yeah, it’s one of those things.
Kohaku won the last battle, foiling her father’s plans. I had thought Kohaku’s father was just an asshole, but he doesn’t even seem aware of the cruelty of Magma, his ambition, or his blatant comment about wishing the priestess was dead so she could be out of the way. It’s wonderful to see Kohaku kick his ass, even if the whole situation is about as subtle as a brick.
Team science breaks into two groups to tackle the current problems. Kohaku trains the guard boys to take on Magma and win her sister’s hand, while Senku and Chrome work on the science stuff. While that’s happening Gen makes a break for it back to Tsukasa.
We get a brief moment to see what Gen’s revival was like. I like the detail that Tsukasa apparently moved all of his chosen people to a cliff with a nice view of the ocean. Gen may be a grifter, but he’s not completely crazy. Even after suffering almost fatal wounds at the hands of native villagers, he still ends up siding with Senku.
As if Kohaku’s desire to save her sister wasn’t altruistic already, she has a further motive in keeping Magma away from her sister. The man is not only a sore loser, but he’s also a power-hungry misogynist who threatens all of their plans. Because one bad dude wasn’t enough, now we have two.
In Summary:
Gen sells his allegiance for a soda, but can you really blame him? Senku is the obvious choice if you don’t want to live a short, brutal life and die of natural causes by the age of 30. Survival of the fittest is often the survival of the smartest, or the most adaptable. Kohaku’s motivation to save her sister amps up, misogyny rears its head, and Senku remains a man of science. It’s interesting to see the progress made on Tsukasa’s side in regards to resurrecting warriors for his cause. Senku still has a long way to go in order to make his miracle drug though.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Toonami!
