If all cops are bastards, and Yo is their king.
What They Say:
Episode #6: “PRISON BREAK”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Oh Chrome, you dumbass.
At a glance, it doesn’t look like it would be too difficult for Chrome to wiggle his way out of the prison Tsukasa has him trapped in. The bamboo bars aren’t all that far apart and they’re held together with twine. The real issue is that Chrome has zero chill. He can’t remain quiet and calm without making a big scene. He could have patiently cut through the twine with a rock, slipped out under cover of night, created a diversion… but no. He draws attention to himself constantly, loudly, and obnoxiously.
The man he is up against is Yo. The prison guard was chosen for that duty because once upon a time he was a cop. A really, really, really terrible cop. One who apparently shot a convict because that’s what cops do right? (Japanese cops rarely, if ever, discharge their service revolvers, which are attached to their hips with cords.) Yo is a real piece of work and has no problem throwing his weight around.
What follows is a messy series of escape attempts. Chrome first tries to burn his way through the ropes, to no success. He tries to gather plants from outside with the hope of finding something to help him escape. When multiple attempts fail help comes from the outside, as one of Senku’s friends slips him the spare battery. Armed with a weak electrical charge, Chrome manages to make a weak acid to eat through the ropes. (Except he was wrong about the chemical he manufactured. Electrolysis of brine is a legitimate way of making bleach, but his method for getting that brine is a stretch.)
Through a mixture of lies and trickery and one well-aimed blow, Chrome finally manages to escape with minimal damage to himself. Not an easy feat, and he’s lucky that none of the other guards managed to give chase.
The rest of the kingdom of science is damn lucky that Chrome returned on his own. Senku’s tank plan was never going to work, especially since Tsukasa saw it coming from a mile away. With Chrome safely returned the group can resume their original plan.
In Summary:
Let’s face it, Senku’s plan to ram the prison with a tank was never going to work. I also think it was dangerous and stupid to lead his villagers, who practically take him at his word now, along with that plan. It’s one thing to experiment and test things out, but it’s another when that test is a live-fire operation. Chrome realizes on his own that he needs to escape and barely manages to do so. His plan may have lacked grace and style, but it was effective. Now it’s time to return to plan A, hearts and minds.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll & Funimation
