Dr. Stone - Chapter 131 Review by Seraph
Chapter Title: Nasty Crimes
As Senkuu and Co. make for the upper decks they're being chased by Moz and some of the remaining soldiers,while Gen and Senkuu can confuse the Soldiers with some basic science tricks they're steadily chased by Moz who is also keeping his own against Hyoga who keeps attacking him from all angles. Tsukasa's former right hand-man advices Moz to keep his guard up otherwise he will never claim victory against him,meanwhile,Senkuu and the others have jumped onto a couple of boats and are now trying to row back to the Island in order to create something of which Senkuu claims can earn them a sure victory against the Kingdom of Petrification if they hurry. Hyoga and Moz have taken their bout onto the upper deck by now with the latter claiming that he's ready to rise to Hyoga's expectations and will not be holding back anymore,even moreso because he is aware of Hyoga's strength now, he apologizes to his opponent for letting him believe he stood even a sliver of a chance all this time. As he finishes his apology he lets out a loud roar and attacks Hyoga with incredible speed and force,shocking him to an extent where he even opens his eyes for a change,but he barely manages to guard against it yet is still being pushed back a fair distance. As the 2 Warriors fight it out we see Ibara ordering Oarashi to take the Petrification Weapon all the way to the middle of the Island and activate it there to engulf it entirely,Kirisame who hears this voices and shows visible concern for Oarashi as he won't be able to outrun it himself if he activates it,asking the Minister to reconsider his plot of engulfing the Island she is only met with a condescending,evil grin and the Question why this Old man should heed her words. He continues by telling her that Oarashi is being sent because Kirisame herself is perfect for guarding him and the former is simply "disposeable".
As Kirisame hears this she can't help but question Ibara's behaviour,Oarashi isn't disposeable and all of their soldiers and citizens haven't evacuated yet either,but Ibara only responds if Kirisame wants too disobey the Great Leaders Will here which triggers a memory Kirisame has of a conversation with said Leader. He teached her that the range of the Petrification Weapon must never be abused or toyed with, engulfing the entire Island is crossing the line for her and she can't help but wonder if this really is the Great Leaders Will or infact Ibara's own. Just as the Minister wants to answer her question the Retrieval-Team arrives at the coast with the pieced together Statue of Soyuz' Dad a.k.a The Great Leader, with Taiju yelling in a very loud voice that everybody has been fooled all this time as their Leader is only a Statue and Ibara is the one pulling the strings here, seeing this Kirisame instantly confronts Ibara with this but the only words he says are: "One Meter. One Second."...As he holds up the Petrification Device. Realizing that the Minister is about to turn her into a statue the Warrior-Princess lunges towards Ibara intending to catch the weapon before the strap attached to it straightens and it activates but she is too slow,while Oarashi saves himself by jumping off the ship we are to witness Kirisame's petrification. She curses Ibara under tears as her screams end apruptly with her Petrification having finished and her statue falling off the boat as well. As her statue falls down Ibara bids her farewell and thanks her for all the hard work she put in for his sake,he turns to the island and claims that the only thing left to do is to petrify all the Intruders on the Island but just as he finishes a loud noise is heard,even all the way to Ukyo and Co. it is heard very clearly.
Suddenly Ibara's left hand is shot by a bullet by no one other than Yo who begins to state Ibara's rights according to the Law,with mild difficulties at that,while Ibara notices that he let go of the Petrification Weapon Yo tells him that he is under arrest for all of his countless and nasty crimes with the Minister very visibly freaking out at the loss of his trump card...
Personal Thought's
I rate this Chapter an 8 out of 10.
I actually doubt that Hyouga is being completely overwhelmed here,at least for now,he may have been surprised by Mozu's sudden rise in strength but i doubt Hyouga himself has been going at it with his best so far either. I believe that because Hyouga was aware of him holding back under deck and yet did not take advantage of it and dealt fatal blows to him instead he simply cornered him as much as needed at the time,and also because Senkuu and the others left for the Island so Hyouga could fight without holding back as well. So the last word isn't said here yet i'd say,i'm open to Hyouga losing but if he does then Mozu himself will be down on his last leg as well. Now with Kirisame i was really happy in this Chapter!, She showed emotion,concern and compassion for someone she barely cared for previously(namely Oarashi), she dared to mention and defend a rule established by the Great Leader to Ibara's face and she was willing to defy his orders instantly upon seeing the Statue of Soyuz' Dad. I know it is basically nothing but a starting line for her as a character in general but i don't care i loved to see this in the Chapter,not gonna lie. It was pretty sad to see her get petrified with tears in her eyes but on the upside it granted us some scarce insight on how and what the Petrification Weapon actually is i think.
It's interesting how the device also appears to be adjustable per voice input and not just throwing distance and positioning,unless this is another version of their Petrification weapon(Which it very well could be),and even how long it is going to be in effect it seems. Poor Kirisame had to feel the close range brunt of it but it allowed us to get a closer look at the device which seems to be 3 small iron bows bended into and around another with very small platines put all over it. At least from the looks of it,definitely appears to be of Modern Technology for me. I'm not sure anymore if i can see Ibara be someone from the modern civilization,even though i considered it initially,hearing that the Great Leader himself established Rules in terms of how to handle the Petrification Weapon makes me think that the Weapon itself is something left behind by Byakuya and the Soyuz Crew many years ago after they found out how it functions or how it might function. Perhaps for research purposes? I'm not sure,but it also tells us that the Weapon had been in usage even while the Great Leader was still around just not as much as it was the case with Ibara i guess. I liked that Yo got a moment to shine here,and even had some cool dialogue lol.,now i do wonder if he'll manage to get a hold of the Weapon when it hits the water or if Ibara will jump after it right away? I'm also really curious what Senkuu wants to build that will grant them a sure victory here...Till next time everybody!!!
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