Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (Episode 5) – Steam Gorilla

Senku has built a steam engine, but now he needs a suitable vehicle to go around it. As soon as that’s done, they’re moving out the rescue Chrome and bring an end to the Stone Wars for good!
What happened?
Gen got to give the first steam engine a drive as he is the only one with a driver’s license… anyhow, it turned out that it was far too bumpy for a person, let along all of the science materials. Luckily, Senku has a plan for that too. He’s having the kids and old folks weave some bamboo to create replicas of the moon rover’s tires. On top of that, Kiseki has built a body and it’s catching the eye of some of the guys.
They move out, but before they do, the old folks tell Senku that they will stay behind even though they realised that he built the car for them. It will be for the best. This way, they won’t get in the way or slow things down. Plus they have faith that Senku will win the war and stop anything bad happening.
Once they arrive at their new base, near Tsukasa’s evil fortress, Suika rolls off to do some investigating. She finds out where Chrome is being held captive and reports back to Senku. It seems he’s in the ideal location for them to ram the prison with the car, which Senku has super up even more with carbon fibre plating, and make a quick getaway.
However, Tsukasa is aware that Senku will probably develop a vehicle and has put Chrome there for a reason. The ground is littered with traps that would stop a vehicle dead. Chrome realises this and decides that he must find a way to escape before Senku tries to save him.

What did you think?
This was a fun episode with some nice moments as Senku took a moment to think about how good the village had been to him. Even the old folks putting their faith in him was a nice touch and freed them up to cut loose. Senku’s version of carbon fibre plating was excellent, especially when he blocked Ginru’s spear. He really has everything planned out. So, I can’t help but think he will be aware that Tsukasa would expect him to have developed a vehicle.
There’s also not been nearly enough Kohaku in this season so far and I hope that changes. The lioness needs to get some action. I also found it a bit clumsy the way she said that they wouldn’t need to destroy the “steam gorilla” if Chrome managed to escape on his own and then the next scene was Chrome saying to himself that he needed to escape on his own.

What have you learnt?
It feels like Senku and Tsukasa have got quite a handle on how the other might think and act. I think that sets this war up to being more like a battle of wits. Kind of how you would see two master samurai facing one another. If they were both of suitably high skill, they would be able to see the attacks before they happen. In these instances, one would invariably concede before a single attack had been made.
Senku built a car, Tsukasa set some traps. Surely, Senku will be expecting that, so I wonder what the next step will be. I also wonder how loyal Tsukasa’s people will be when they see that Senku has built a working steam engine. I can’t believe that every one of them is clinging to the idea of being a hunter-gatherer forever.

Other reviews in the series
Series Information
English Title | Dr. Stone |
Japanese Title | Dr. Stone |
Genres | Action, Adventure, Apocalyptic, Comedy, Science Fiction, Survival |
Demographic | Shounen |
Anime
Season One
Season Two
Bonus Posts
Saturday Spinoff | Kohaku Lost |
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