Courage in the face of death.
What They Say:
Episode #12: “Buddies Back to Back”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I don’t think I like Ginro much.
The carefree member of the guard is a goofball who likes to carry on and mock others. Yet when he is recruited on a deadly mission he balks. For someone tasked with protecting an entire village he doesn’t exactly seem the best suited for it. Or perhaps it’s the fact that he can’t see the enemy he’s supposed to be protecting the others from that’s the problem.
They outfit him with a silver-tipped spear to act as an early warning that there is poisonous gas. However, the sight of the brilliant blue crater lake distracts Ginro at a crucial moment and it almost spells disaster. I’m not a fan of how the dangers of the lake were portrayed from Ginro’s point of view, and if Ginro is that much of a daydreamer then he really isn’t the sort who should be on guard duty.
This episode has one of the most shonen-ass shonen scenes that I have seen in a long time in it. Senku and Chrome are posturing in a ridiculously circuitous way about which one of them is going to put their life on the line. The conversation goes on for way longer than it should, has Chrome basically kabedon Senku, and ends with both of the dude deciding to put their lives in danger by donning the gasmasks and descending into caldera together.
The expedition into the caldera itself is tense. With the threat of killer gasses neutralized they only have to worry about slipping into the acid. No problem, right? Senku’s lucky that this relatively rare sort of caldera just happens to exist in spitting distance of his new home. An internet search for a matching sort of place on our current earth provides two similar locations. One is Kawah Ijen, and the other are the geyser pools of Yellowstone. Kaweh Ijen matches the look, but Yellowstone matches the threat. Regardless, some sort of post-processing would likely be needed to make the pure sulfuric acid he was looking for.
Extreme science aside, the real crux of the dangerous mission is that Ginro can’t understand how the two could go through with it. For someone who is supposed to be the first line of defense for the village, Ginro is terrified of the dangers in the crater. It takes a pep talk to point out that even if they’re scared, they’re still doing what they must. Indeed, Senku is trembling even if he puts on a brave face.
Yes, we get our slightly silly but still badass rescue to cap off the episode, and a bottle full of acid to show for nearly dying. Cross another ingredient off the list.
In Summary:
When working with chemicals it’s safety first. The search for sulfuric acid leads team science to a caldera to gather acid in the next step to making a wonder drug. The natural wonder on the doorstep is a not-so-hidden death trap and the journey to get the key ingredient is one that requires courage and a faith in science itself to protect the team. The progress towards saving a life might end up taking a few in the process. Will team science even get a chance to deliver the medication to the priestess when it’s complete? Kinro still hasn’t admitted his shortcomings to the group.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Toonami!
