Well, that escalated quickly.
What They Say:
Several thousand years after a mysterious phenomenon that turns all of humanity to stone, the extraordinarily intelligent, science-driven boy, Senku Ishigami, awakens.
Facing a world of stone and the total collapse of civilization, Senku makes up his mind to use science to rebuild the world. Starting with his super strong childhood friend Taiju Oki, who awakened at the same time, they will begin to rebuild civilization from nothing…
Depicting two million years of scientific history from the Stone Age to present day, the unprecedented crafting adventure story is about to begin!
Episode 7: Ray of Despair, Ray of Hope
The Perseus arrives at the treasure island. A recon squad consisting of Senku, Soyuz, Kohaku, and Gen set off to locate the platinum and make contact with the islanders. Ukyo later discovers something on the seafloor and sends Ginro to investigate.
Episode 8: The Trump Card Aboard the Science Vessel
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
No matter how prepared you think you are, the world has a way of throwing it all out the window. As the Perseus arrives at Treasure Island under cover of bad weather, the group thinks that they have the advantage. Surely the native population is no match for the Kingdom of Science.
Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed. Ukyo realizes too late that the objects on the sonar display are petrified people beneath the waves. Yet those people shouldn’t be there unless they were turned to stone after the cataclysm. The Perseus becomes a sitting duck and nothing prepared the crew for what form the attack takes when it comes. Yup, they’re not even anchored longer than a day before the entire ship is struck with the very weapon the crew wasn’t expecting to encounter until they made it across the Pacific, a petrification blast.
The tiny group which escaped the blast consisted of Senku, Gen, Kohaku, and Soyuz. They push forward into the jungle following the trail of a young woman, hoping to get her alone so she can lead the way to the platinum. Yet they didn’t expect her to be so forthcoming with the current situation on the island. The ruler leads with an iron fist and apparently maintains a harem of women at his palace. Because of course, he does.
Amaryllis continues the trend of waifish women for the Dr. Stone cast. She is Betty-Boop-like in her curvy, big-eyed, pouty-lipped glory. This image was carefully cultivated so she could infiltrate the palace. The men of her village are livid at the forced removal of the women and are about to raid the palace themselves before Senku stops them. With Kohaku at her side, Amarylis’s plan might actually work!
And then Senku and the others discover what has happened to the Perseus. Watching the new enemy walk the deck and casually tip and shatter Chrome should have hit harder, but it’s almost casual in its cruelty. Gen has to repeatedly hold Kohaku back. With the ship in enemy hands, Senku wonders if anyone escaped. After nearly giving themselves away, and one hasty but amusing cover-up involving a very unexpected kiss, the group manages to deliver a request to the sole survivors. They need the mobile science lab.
So, who escaped the blast? Well, that would be Ginro, who is useless beyond his excellent swimming skills. The other is a stowaway who wasn’t supposed to be on the trip, Suika. Saved by Ryusui she manages to get the message, hide the landing craft, and distract the enemy from finding Ginro. Suika remains the MVP, which they even joke about.
In Summary:
Break-neck pacing in these two episodes. Not much in the way of science, either. Senku marches into a situation without a clue of what might be happening and the end result is the entire situation is now dire, with the majority of the crew petrified and out for the count. It’s damn lucky that some of the natives are willing to quickly join forces with the scouting party to overthrow a despot ruler with the world’s scariest superweapon. The odds are certainly against the Kingdom of Science on this one. All hope lies with one little girl.
Episode Grades: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
