Run away! Run away!
What They Say:
E15 – Battle in Three Dimensions
Moz and the Kingdom of Science form a tenuous, temporary alliance against Ibara. How long it will last is a question they can’t afford to concern themselves with just yet.
E16 – Total War
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The race to save everyone and everything is on. Episode 15 mostly consists of the team scrambling to finish preparations to isolate the village warriors and take the petrification device via drone. Remember way back when Senku started a war and reinvented gunpowder? Yeah, that wasn’t a great look for humanity. Once again Senku resorts to making a weapon that can stand up to Moz. That ends up being a pepperbox gun, much to the shock and slight horror of the characters from our present day.
Although I’m side-eying Ukyo saying a roundabout ‘guns don’t kill people, people kill people.’ I now remember he was a military guy, which is easy to forget. What I didn’t forget was Yo being a cop. Out of all the people to thaw out, they grab Yo and hand him the gun thinking he would know how to use it. (It isn’t exactly a service revolver.) I don’t understand why Yo still has a patch of stone on his eye after the second petrification. Is it just a running joke at this point?
They manage to finish the drone and add stabilizers and a better control system, but it’s still just a drone. They realize that to recover the device they would likely have to get into a tug-of-war match with the enemy, so Team Science starts reviving more of their friends to act as brute force. We get Kinro, Nikki, and Magma back and ready to rumble.
With disguises set and the team armed and ready, the showdown is set to take place near an ocean cliff so the sound of the waves drowns out the drone. Everything appears to be going to plan, until the last possible second when Ryusui feels that something is off and Senku calls for a retreat. Suddenly the plan is a bust and Team Science is fleeing from Moz.
Ibara is not as stupid as he looks.
He had figured out that Moz was wearing an earring matching Kohaku’s and retrieved hers from her petrified body. He had been listening in on everything going on and made Moz out for a traitor and threat to his power. He tipped off Kirisame and moved everyone out to the ship, which his men learned how to sail. The plan? Petri-nuke the island and catch all the enemies in the beam.
It’s about this point that all the plans go out the door and chaos breaks out. Magma steals the gun from Yo, with Gen trying to get the lunatic idiot under control to no avail. Team Science figures out what is going on and tries to make a dash for the ship themselves to put up a fight. The squishier members of the squad head for the village to retrieve the petrified king of the island so the villagers and warriors will know Ibari was lying, only to find him shattered. It really is just a comedy of errors, but I love seeing the cast struggle back and forth. It’s not tidy, and it shouldn’t be. The plan was weak with too much room for error and to see everything just become a race and a brawl is delightful.
In Summary:
You know what they say about ‘best-laid plans.’ For all of the planning that Team Science did to prepare to retake the island, that plan failed spectacularly. I’m so happy the drone idea doesn’t pan out the way they hoped it would. Reviving the bad cop and arming him with a gun was a stupid idea. Reviving Magma? Very stupid idea. In the rush to execute the overthrow of a tyrant, the gang has created a chaotic mess. Perhaps the best plan is just to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. What a mess. A wondrous and entertaining mess, but a mess. Because, let’s be honest, while I love it when a plan comes together, it’s way more fun when shit goes sideways.
Episode Grades: B, B+
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
