Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (Episode 9) – To Destroy and to Save

Senku races to the miracle cave in order to come up with something to stop the war as his followers engage Hyoga and Tsukasa in battle. The goal is to buy Senku time, but is that going to be enough?
What happened?
Kohaku, Ginro, Kinro, Magma, and all the others surrounded Hyoga and Tsukasa. Their goal was not to hurt them but to keep them occupied until Senku could come up with a solution. He raced with Chrome and Gen to the cave where the attempted to create a weapon with the nitric acid, but nothing was working. Luckily, Chrome appeared with the remainder of the fake tank shell which was full of sulphuric acid.
It was just what Senku needed to move his plan along. The last ingredient was soap! What could he be planning?

Meanwhile, Kohaku focused her attention on Hyoga while the others attempted to keep Tsukasa at bay. Their attempts appeared to be fruitless, but it had slowed them down enough. Finally, as Tsukasa charged towards the cave, he was met by Taiju who had no intention of letting him pass. Then, something caught their attention.
A paper plane drifted over the battlefield and bumped into a tree branch. Of course, it was no ordinary paper plane. Senku had made nitroglycerine and turned it into an explosive weapon. Gen instantly oversold the development and Ukyo recovered enough to aim an arrow coated in the explosive liquid at the opposition. It would appear that we have a stalemate.

Senku revealed that he had no intention of killing people and merely wanted to negotiate. He commented on how Gen first met Tsukasa on a game show and didn’t he think it odd that Tsukasa was so driven by money. Tsukasa relived the moments from the time his little sister got sick and he was the only one that could provide for her.
Of course, there is a chance that she might recover from whatever illness she had experienced thanks to the petrification process, as Senku had when Tsukasa broke his neck. They agreed to a truce so that they could find his sister and attempt to revive her.

What did you think?
It was another great episode full of action, science experimentation, and outlandish expressions. Gen and Senku really did have a monopoly on the later, but it was all good. The action was great although I still don’t think stone weapons will do much against forged steel, especially given how strong everyone was, but that’s a minor quibble.
I liked that we finally got to see a bit more of Tsukasa’s back story and the real driving factor behind his actions. However, smashing up the older statues still seems like an unnecessary action. If he was worried about the reviving formula running out or that too many people would be revived… seems like two ends of the spectrum… then how about just not smashing them up. His explanation didn’t really make sense to me.

What have you learnt?
Hyoga has been a bit of a mystery in this series so far. I don’t think we saw much of a back story if any, but I feel like we’re about to. His reaction to the explosion was exactly what you might expect from an evil villain witnessing the birth of a devious idea. My gut feeling here is that Senku will successfully revive Tsukasa’s sister and that will usher in a true peace between the two communities, however, someone won’t like the new status-quo… I wonder who that might be?
With only two episodes left, I can help but feel like we’re about to be hit with a bit of a bombshell. There’s got to be something to make us desperate to see the next season, not that it needs it. Two successful seasons is more than enough for me to be guaranteed to watch and I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of people. This show really is that good.

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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