Dr. Stone Chapter 82 Review by BelserionLast chapter Senkuu and Tsukasa formed the ultimate team up against Hyouga, ending with Senkuu launching a surprise attack, electrocuting Hyouga and seemingly grabbing a victory. This is where we continue.
In the throes of agony, Hyouga manages to ask Senkuu how he was able to get the weapon he used, to which Senkuu replied that Hyouga himself gave him the materials to create a 100,000 volt stun gun when he explained how to create a high voltage transformer a while back .
Homura arrives just in time to see Hyouga defeated, but as she was about to retaliate against an exhausted Senkuu, his friends show up and subdued her as well. Kinrou confirms that Senkuu is unharmed thanks mostly to the spear training he put him through in preparation for such an eventuality. Magma is hyped up to kill Hyouga, but Taiju stops him by reminding him that killing is bad. Hearing this, Chrome asks how long they are going to keep Hyouga and Homura tied up to which Senkuu replies they will keep them that way until civilization is created. Kohaku is relieved that it’s finally over but Senkuu corrects her by saying it’s only just begun. I like Senkuu’s point of view here. He saw the war as a prelude to building civilization, which in a way he’s right because Tsukasa was the only major obstacle so far.
As everyone worked to build The Kingdom of Science, Yo suddenly shows up wondering how he missed these new developments. For those of us who don’t remember him, Yo was a former policeman and one of Tsukasa’s weaker lackeys. He was responsible for guarding Chrome the time he escaped from his cell, and ran away to avoid punishment. He watches from the sidelines as Yuzuriha attempts to glue together one of the broken statues. She admits that there are a lot of fragments missing and wonders if the people can be revived that way even if all the parts aren’t there. Senkuu had hypothesized that as long as the inner fragments were all there then they should be able to be revived no problem. Gen morbidly states that if it doesn’t work then they’ll just have fountains of blood and corpses. They manage to revive a mangaka, proving Senkuu’s hypothesis was right. Gen surmises that with this they will bring back the world’s entertainment and that civilization will start there. He looks quite nostalgic here, and being an entertainer himself I’m sure this is the aspect he’s most looking forward to.
Yo reveals himself, telling the group a lie about losing his memory after falling down a waterfall. I guess this was his way of trying to integrate himself with them, hoping they would forget about all his past antics. Chrome warns Kohaku that Yo is bad news and was most likely the one to release Homura when they captured her the first time, but Yuzuriha interrupts and says if he wants to help then he’s welcomed to because there were a lot of statues to put back together. Yo is relieved to hear it and says this will absolve him of his crimes. He goes into shock at the amount of statues Yuzuriha shows him, proving that once again he’s rushed into something without thinking it through.
We move on to Tsukasa who is surprisingly still alive. He expresses regret to Taiju about the statues he destroyed, calling them meaningless sacrifices now that he’s been defeated by The Kingdom of Science. Taiju reassures Tsukasa that as long as he knows where to find the broken pieces there would not be any losses. Ukyo realizes that Tsukasa remembers all the statues he’s broken which Tsukasa confirms. This surprised me. I thought Tsukasa just went around smashing statues. I had no idea he not only remembered them but also where he smashed them. This shows Tsukasa in a more humane light I think. His reasoning for wanting to get rid of older people may have seemed weak, but it was something he truly believed in and had meaning to him. If it was just a selfish, fickle ideal, I doubt he would have given them a second thought much less remembered them all.
Chrome calls the villagers informing them of their victory and confirming that no one died. While the villagers celebrated, Senkuu, with the aid of Gen, used Formaldehyde along with other materials to create a substance which they plan to use in order to seal Tsukasa’s wounds and stabilize him. Senkuu warns Gen that he’s not a wizard; it would not save Tsukasa because his lungs have been ripped apart.
In the newly built prison cells, Kohaku takes food to Homura and Hyouga. Homura does not seem to mind her circumstances as long as she can be with Hyouga. Hyouga calls Kohaku naive. He says if they don’t execute the one his own commander there can never be order. Kohaku says she doesn't think even Hyouga would be enough to kill Tsukasa. Hyouga thinks it's absurd and that fools alwaysrely on miracles. Right here I think we get a glimpse into Hyouga. A statement like that makes me think his life was full of disappointments, or maybe even one big disappointment where he realized it was foolish to wish for good things. That could somehow explain why he’s so completely ruthless. Hopefully we get more insight into him as time progresses. Kohaku tells him that Senkuu doesn’t believe in miracles, he simply continues forward with his science knowing that one day he would achieve his goal. She ends the conversation by calling Senkuu the world’s steadiest and strongest man.
Senkuu visits Tsukasa and informs him that there is only one way to save him, and that is by petrifying him. He refers to the petrification beam as the mankind’s natural enemy, saying they will reverse it and use it to help Tsukasa. He excitedly tells Tsukasa that with science they would locate and seize the source of the petrification, something he finds thrilling. And with this the arc comes to an end.
Personal Thoughts:I rate this chapter 8/10For the most part I liked the conclusion with Hyouga defeated and captured. However, I did find the fact that they could now put people back together without all of the outer pieces a bit unbelievable. I think the author took an easy way out to fix the problem of the statues Tsukasa broke. It was enough that they could be put back together if all the pieces could be located, and if not, it would just be counted as an unfortunate loss. We already have Tsukasa showing regret for his actions, now with there basically being nothing to be sorry for, it loses a little of its appeal for me. It just seems overly convenient.
At the start of the series, the big mystery was what caused the Petrification Phenomenon. I always expected Senkuu to investigate it, perhaps even try to replicate it to maybe understand what the person was trying to do, if indeed it was a scientist that caused it. In this situation I find it far-fetched. Who knows how long it will take to figure out the process, and in the meantime what happens to Tsukasa and his lungs? How long can he live like that? Months? Years? I hope since Tsukasa’s survival is riding on this that the author doesn’t rush it because it has the potential to be a great arc.
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