Science rules.
What They Say:
Episode #15: “The Culmination of Two Million Years”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Chrome has defeated Magma. All that’s left is for Senku and Ginro to throw their matches and leave the path to victory open for Chrome. Yet even this simple final step to victory is met with some unforeseen circumstances. For one, Ginro is still a goddamn idiot. Two, Chrome passes out from his injuries leaving Senku the victor.
That goes over about as well as the Hindenburg. Senku really doesn’t need a wife, and he’s not interested in disappointing Ruri. While the other villagers are determined for Senku to take his manly place and have a drink, Senku declares he’s divorcing Ruri and flees the village with the wine and the spoiled wine (vinegar.)
From there we’re thrown into a montage of the group going through the paces of processing the final steps necessary for making the sulfa drug. There’s a lot of scientific terms being tossed around, much to the confusion of the others. Senku’s encyclopedic knowledge of various compounds and solutions is impressive. He must have a mind like a steel trap.
The end result of all that frantic activity is that they finally have what they wanted, a quantity of white powder. An interesting byproduct of the chemistry is a surplus of carbonated water, which makes Gen very excited. Senku points out he needs it to make baking soda, crushing Gen. Yet when the other departs for the village Gen finds a single bottle of crudely constructed “cola” on the table for him. (I say “cola” in quotes because there is no kola nut in the soda. No, it’s not root beer either. Senku makes it out of a combination of lime and *gag* cilantro. Yes, coriander seed is one of the ingredients traditionally in Coke.) That cements Gen’s loyalty in team science, and rewards him for his assistance.
I knew that it would have been bad news if Ruri’s diagnosis had been tuberculosis. That is a disease that requires a far broader series of drugs to treat, and one of Senku’s biggest worries was that she was suffering from it. If she had been then there was nothing he would have been able to do, except for maybe attempt penicillin. The fact that the sulfur water was helping her symptoms gave him hope she had something else.
What she does have appears to be some form of chronic bacterial pneumonia. When Senku first administers it she has a rather bad reaction to the medication, and I was ready for a cruel twist of fate where she was allergic to sulfa drugs. However, she improves over time and is able to regain her health and vigor.
In Summary:
Hard work and science win the day and save lives. Ruri is finally treated and the village has a new chief in Senku. Yet, was it all foretold by destiny? It looks like the Ruri arc of Dr. Stone is coming to a happy conclusion, but the bombshell dropped after her recovery just leads to more questions. Why does the village happen to share Senku’s family name? I have some theories, but they all point toward these villagers being long distant descendants of Senku’s family line. (And if that’s the case, talk about inbreeding!)
Episode Grade: A –
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Toonami
