#i feel its illegal to not like senku

[fairyringtaxiservice]

This is Lumina. She has a last name but she probably won’t tell you what it is.

She’s my Dr. Stone OC for a fic I’m writing called Binary Star in a SenkuxOC asexual romance rewrite. She’s a medically-inclined character if only because I think they really needed to address medicine and disease especially early on in the series more than they did. Lumina isn’t especially interested in medicine specifically but disease terrifies her and she is fascinated by necrobiology, virology, chemistry, and the sneaky ways people kill each other and try to pass those deaths as natural or accidental. So, like, she’s practically a doctor, right? Yeah, totally. Absolutely. That’s how that works. Tsukasa thinks so too, so when they meet one day while she’s deliberating over whether or not it’s more merciful or right to kill a man suffering from rabies than to simply let the neurotropic virus run its terrible course, he kidnaps her because the Empire needs literally anyone to advise people not to rub dirt on their wounds hoping they’ll be magically healed.

As you can guess, Lumina is super unhappy with this decision, especially once she learns Tsukasa killed Senku, a totally cool guy who was her sort of, probably, kind of, actually friend and who was dedicated to absolutely launching illegal rockets into space and who didn’t care what legal framework or legislation had to say about it. Seriously dude, you need the Prime Minister’s permission for every launch with a payload. What a guy, right?

Anyway, so she spends her time in Tsukasa’s Empire Hospitality Suites forced to consult strange men about dermatitis, heavy metal poisoning, and broken hearts.

Wait no, why is that last one in there? She was quite possibly the worst person to consult about that? She wasn’t a therapist! Ah, whatever, she’ll choose to spend her time spitefully annoying Tsukasa until she figures out how to escape.

Hopefully. Probably. Maybe.

I feel like this summary is both very accurate but also a poor representation of what’s going on, so if any of this sounds remotely fun to you, please take a look and tell me what you think.

Here is the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45630784/chapters/114822286

[mrskurono]

HEARD YOU STARTED DR. STONE AND I MUST SAY, you have great taste in characters. What are your thoughts on Taiju and Yuzuriha if you don't mind me asking? - 🎲

I'm half way through with season two but can confidently say I will certainly be picking up the manga once I'm done. Bc this series is fucking *chefs kiss* Easily in my top ten now. My nerdy ass fucking loves the technicality of it + it's the only series to ever have Senku Ishigami. Win win.

And Taiju and Yuzuriha? I would die for them.

Of course as a queer individual I always want more gays but you know what Dr. Stone does fucking straight people right! This. This is the kind of romantic shit I love. Best friends to mutual pining lovers crap is my heroine. God I love it shoot it right into my veins, mainline this shit. I love them so much together. Same with Chrome and Ruri.

I'm a sucker for "I've loved no one but you for thousands of years" kinda vibe and Taiju and Yuzuriha past the fucking vibe check big time.

Dr. Stone is truthfully one of those shows I genuinely love everyone personally or appreciate from a writing/storyline stand point. I give it one billion points. That funky little series is delightful.

[stoneworldsimp]

pink(man) + white

senku x reader

warnings: swearing, this is a fic that talks about drugs but is intended to be humorous, nsfw at the very end(will be crossed out like this

ok LITERALLY im having a food coma rn and my thots are not there but what if WHAT IF ..

you the reader were. a drug dealer. no cap just doing ur thing and selling all the shit u can, and then u realize hey maybe I can whip this shit up myself. so u try a couple of times and think wow this is terrible... holy fuck. so u go looking for someone willing to make shit and u find thru various connections. SENKU. not affiliated in any way with drugs EXCEPT for having a friend who has tried it Once, taiju, and didnt like it but since they bought it from you, you have his phone number in your list of contacts. u were pretty desperate too, so no wonder u called this person who has never contacted you after they ordered a gram of meth one time. N E WAYS, you realize senku is a bit of a snarky asshole who sounds like he only wants to do things that will personally benefit for him, but what the fuck, he said he’s willing to help. so u two meet up and talk logistics, he tells you how shitty your method is and how happy he is to be helping you(but weirdly enough it’s not condescending?). he genuinely sounds excited to try it out. the days you guys get COOKIN, you try to let him know that its dangerous shit—you forget that this asshole who’s never had drugs is a mf SCIENTIST WHO KNOWS CHEMICALS, or whatever the fuck you guys use to make good stuff, he tells u that U should watch yourself in case you burn ur hand off. its def a rocky exchange at first but you try the first batch and ur in love so u figure its worth it for a few snide remarks here and there. you tell him he can definitely have some if he wants to try, but he declines. not to mention, being in close proximity to his focused face when he measures ingredients was pretty hot. for an asshole. as the months go on, you realize it works best if he makes the shit and u sell the shit and give him a cut of the money u make. ur both out of your ways when working and u both work best alone. what STINKS is that you! you the reader! have caught feelings for the dude with the leek hair! you don’t know how to handle it, always looking down at ur feet when picking shit up.

after another chunk of time passes, he notices u might like him and becomes a TEASING BITCH about it!! but don’t worry, he likes u back. hell, hes probably liked you longer than u liked him. pretty soon hes able to make u admit to ur feelings, and you basically rampage with a red face why what u said wasn’t true, but he stops u with a kiss RIGHT on the mouth on his front porch. boom u guys date while making extremely illegal drugs. it’s the life.

the nsfw version would just be that u guys fuck every time u come to pick up a batch to sell

[cherry-valentine]

Winter 2021 Anime Season:

What I’m watching:

Log Horizon season 3 is all about the politics. Of all the “trapped in a video game” anime I’ve seen, Log Horizon has always been unique in the way it focuses not on the drama and action (although there is some of that), but on the world building of the “game” the characters find themselves stuck in. It’s less a game and more an entirely new world, one that the players, called “Adventurers,” are keenly aware of their influence on. The show focuses much more on the politics, economics, history, etc. of this world than it does on battles or romance. This sets it apart from things like Sword Art Online and the .hack franchise. Season 3 so far seems to be focusing on how the hub town of Akiba will be governed, with an actual election taking place. The Adventurers have to form good business relationships with the “People of the Land” (NPC’s, who in this world have their own personalities and lives and are just as developed as the players). The series goes into things like power systems, food supply, the politics of arranged marriages, and so many other things that make this world so interesting. Because of this, I’ve seen people calling the show boring or slow. I can understand how it could be seen that way, but I honestly find it fascinating. When the show does focus on action, it really nails it. So far season 3 has had pretty much zero action, but I’m guessing we’ll get some in the later part of the season. The animation is nice, with tons of characters sporting various designs. The music is great too. While I do miss the “Database” opening theme from season 1 and 2, this new one is pretty good. Watch Log Horizon if you’re into fantasy world-building. Avoid if you think a few episodes without a fight makes a series boring.

Beastars season 2 is a delight. I didn’t watch the first season as it aired, so I quickly caught up on Netflix before season 2 started, and I’m so glad I did. The show is definitely something I didn’t think I would enjoy, but everyone seemed to agree it was fantastic, so I gave it a shot. I intended to watch the first episode one evening to see what it was like and ended up watching the first eight in practically one sitting. For those unaware, Beastars is about a society of vaguely human-like animals (almost all of them walk upright on two legs and wear clothes, for example) and the conflicts between the carnivores and the herbivores (many of whom live in constant fear of being eaten, even though eating meat is illegal). The core of the story is about a wolf, Legoshi, falling in love with a rabbit, Haru, and all the complications that arise from that. Apparently, inter-species relationships are allowed, but frowned upon (I guess? It’s never explicitly stated either way). What makes this relationship interesting is the fact that the wolf is shy and awkward (and just generally a sweet guy) while the rabbit is more experienced and worldly. Something that struck me as interesting is that the rabbit Haru is sexually active, and has been with several different male characters. While the other characters, naturally, have things to say about this (calling her a “slut” or a “bitch” - the main setting is a high school after all), the story itself doesn’t condemn her for it. In fact, the story presents her in a positive light, sexual history included. The fact that she sleeps around is never portrayed as a negative aspect of her character, and Legoshi is very much aware of her activities. It’s a surprisingly sex positive take. Of course, this positivity doesn’t extend to the audience. Avoid comments sections on episodes of this show unless you want to see some rampant slut shaming.

I ended up talking mostly about season 1, but I didn’t get to do a write-up about it so there’s that. Season 2 is so far very good, dealing with a plot thread that had been left dangling in season one: an herbivore student was murdered and eaten in the first episode, and the mystery of who the killer is was pretty much dropped in favor of character development and world building. But season 2 is addressing that mystery in earnest, and it’s been exciting to watch Legoshi pursue the case. Overall, it’s an engaging show that I regret sleeping on until now. The opening and ending themes are real bangers and the animation looks great.

Dr. Stone Season 2 was easily my most anticipated series this season. It was my favorite show during it’s first season and is my favorite overall this season as well. The show is just so fun. The very quick and basic plot setup is that humanity was turned to stone in the modern age and, thousands of years later, the earth has been retaken by nature. A teenaged scientific genius named Senku breaks free of his stone shell and decides to save everyone and bring science and technology back to the world. In conflict with him is Tsukasa, a physical powerhouse who wants to destroy all the stone adults and create a utopia for the youth. Season 2 leaps right into the war with Tsukasa’s army, with Senku and his allies actually building a primitive cell phone to communicate over wide distances. The charm of this series has always been in its mixture of science facts and methods (all based on real-world science and theoretically possible) and dramatic action between well developed characters, both presented in equally exciting lights. It’s just as much fun watching Senku and his friends gather materials to make a vehicle as it is watching the various skillful warriors battling it out. The art style is something often commented on, as the character designs take a little getting used to, but the animation itself is very nice. As per usual, it has amazing opening and ending themes, with my favorite opening of the season.

The Promised Neverland Season 2 is a bit of a mess. I don’t follow the manga, but I enjoyed the first season of the anime very much and, just by virtue of being on Tumblr and being aware of the series, I ended up hearing about some major plot points from the manga that had me excited. So season two started and the first few episodes were great. But then things started seeming rushed, or just not quite right. A glance at the comments on the episodes revealed that entire story arcs had been skipped, and it really shows even to someone like me who hasn’t read the manga. And one major event I had seen so many images of from the manga is clearly being done in a completely different way in the anime (one that lessens the scene’s impact quite a lot). So... I’m not sure how to feel about this series. It was one of my most anticipated shows this season, but now it’s dropped down toward the bottom, and that’s disappointing. I guess I’ll finish this out and then consider picking up the manga, since apparently this is so different it won’t be spoiling much.

World Trigger Season 2 was a bit of a surprise. I only found out about it a few days before it began airing, and I honestly hesitated when deciding whether or not to watch it. When the first season aired, I loved it. I was sure it would be a new favorite. But then the filler arcs started, and they were almost unbearably boring. I dropped the series and always wondered if the show went back to its former greatness. So when season 2 started, I wondered if this was more filler, or if the filler arcs had ended in season 1 and I’d missed out on some content that I’d need to watch to understand season 2. Plus, my memory of season 1 wasn’t so great. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to watch the first few episodes of season 2 and see if I could make sense of it. Luckily, all of my concerns flew out the window pretty quickly. By the end of the first episode, I was enjoy it so much that I didn’t care about any of the things I’d been worried about. Sure, I might not have remembered all the names or all the details, but the important stuff was coming back to me.

The thing World Trigger does best is juggling tons and tons of characters. I know a lot of anime have large casts, but few of them have so many characters active in a single story arc, and even fewer of them handle those characters so well. Even though it’s been a few years since I watched season 1, and there were dozens of characters popping up in the first few episodes alone, I remembered most of them as I saw them. This is because all of them are memorable, well-designed, and interesting. I think it says a lot about the cast that, in the first several episodes, the three main protagonists are completely left out of the action, and we only get a brief glimpse of them. And this did absolutely nothing to hinder my enjoyment of the show. The supporting characters are so strong (both in-series and in terms of the writing) that the protagonists were not even missed. And I’m not dunking on the protagonists here. They’re great, fun characters. Aside from all this, the show has simple yet attractive art with a ton of variety in the design work. The music is nice, with one of the better opening themes of the season. The action is well choreographed and it’s just a fun series overall.

Sk8 is one of only two totally new series I’m following this season, and it’s a blast. Following a handful of eccentric skate boarders who engage in one-on-one races, the show is equal parts funny and exciting. The main focus is on two skaters, the energetic Reki and the Canadian snow boarder Langa, whom Reki is introducing to the world of skate boarding. The first thing you’re likely to notice about this series is just how colorful it is. It’s like the show itself is in love with color. It makes the art very striking and pleasing to look at. Honestly, it’s worth watching for the eye candy alone. Luckily, the series has other things going for it as well. The budding friendship between Reki and Langa is humorous and sweet, with very little of the usual “rivals who act like they hate each other but are actually friends” shenanigans we see so often in anime. They’re just two nice boys who are nice to each other, and that’s refreshing. Another high point is the gloriously flamboyant villain, Adam. He’s a real treat whenever he’s on screen. The show has an overall light-hearted feel, with enough emotional moments to keep it from becoming too silly. I don’t know much about skate boarding, but this anime makes it look awesome.

Kemono Jihen is the only other new series I’m watching this season. It primarily focuses on a small group of mythical creatures (or half-human/half-mythical) living in Tokyo, operating a detective agency for cases involving creatures like them. The protagonist is Kabane, a young boy who is half human, half ghoul. He’s apparently immortal, to the point that severing his head doesn’t even seem to cause pain. Due to being neglected and mistreated by his adoptive human family, he lacks social skills, but his earnest attempts to make friends and help his companions make him an endearing character. While this type of “urban fantasy” story isn’t new, it’s executed rather well. The characters and their abilities are varied and interesting, the art is competent, and the music fits. There’s a bit of a gross-out factor, with at least two cases involving insects, so be aware. It’s not my favorite show this season, mainly because it doesn’t seem to bring any new ideas to the table, but it’s entertaining enough to keep a spot on my watch list despite me being absolutely brutal when trimming that list down this season. Worth watching, for sure.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

Black Clover

Jujutsu Kaisen

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Sk8

Best Opening Theme: Dr. Stone Season 2

Best Ending Theme: Sk8

Best New Male Character: Langa (Sk8)

Best New Female Character: Kon (Kemono Jihen)

[metalandmagi]

Fall 2019 Anime Worth Watching

Wondering what anime to watch now that the jam packed summer season is over? Never fear, we’re into the fall, and there’s even more great shows this season! It’s my last rec list of the year so we’re in the home stretch now!

Full disclaimer, this season is packed with great shows, but a lot of these are not available on Crunchyroll...so here’s a link to a list of where you can watch everything legally on streaming! And I’ll but an (*) by everything that IS on Crunchyroll.

And here’s my recs for every season this year:

Summer 2019

Spring 2019

Winter 2019

And here’s my master list for 2020

New shows!

Chuubyou Gekihatsu-Boy (Outburst Dreamer Boy): A comedy in which a normal girl just wants a peaceful high school life, but finds herself surrounded by a group of ridiculous, overly dramatic boys who are all part of the “hero club” who try to make her school life better by helping her make friends. This is all well and good, but all the boys are delusional in one way or another. For example, one thinks he and his friends are basically Power Rangers, and another is obsessed with fabricating dramatic fake anime backstories for himself. It’s Ouran High School Host Club without the hosting. It’s absolutely hilarious, but it’s really flying under the radar because it’s not on Crunchyroll.

Kabukichou Sherlock: A surprisingly comedic modern version of Sherlock Holmes that takes place in the seedier portions of Japan in which a bunch of the city’s quirky detectives try and hunt down Jack the Ripper. I was not expecting this to be nearly as good as it was. The characters are great, Mrs. Hudson is a transvestite cabaret singer, the soundtrack is bomb, it’s an original anime by Production I.G. AND SHERLOCK EXPLAINS HIS DETECTIVE PROCESS THROUGH MYSTERY SOLVING RAKUGO!!!! 

Babylon: NO, NOT FATE BABYLONIA! This is a mystery/thriller involving a case of illegal clinical research for a pharmaceutical company that leads down a rabbit hole full of murder, suicide, and political intrigue. IT’S LIKE DEATH NOTE AND MONSTER HAD A BABY AND IT’S FREAKING AMAZING! I haven’t been this interested in a mystery/crime anime since Erased. The first episode will definitely leave you...hanging…. The only problem is it’s not on Crunchyroll, so I have a feeling most people won’t know about it because it’s on freaking Amazon Prime!

Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align): A coming of age sports anime in which a boys soft tennis team sucks so bad that the school will disband them if they don’t win a tournament. And the team captain is so desperate for serious members, he literally pays his childhood friend who recently moved back into town to play on the team. And said childhood friend has an incredibly interesting backstory and struggling family life that ropes you in right away. How is soft tennis different from regular tennis? No clue, but this show is awesome! You can tell by the first episode it is going to be a great coming of age story, with more mature themes of abuse and class difference.

And it’s not the only sports anime with Sora in the title...

*Ahiru no Sora (Sora the Duck): Another sports anime, in which a short, spikey haired boy wants to play basketball (yeah yeah very original) but discovers that his high school basketball team is full of punks! It’s basically what would happen if Izuku Midoriya wanted to be a basketball player. The first few minutes are basically every sports anime you’ve ever seen, BUT it really lives up to its potential by the end of the first episode. It has a likable protagonist, good animation, and the female characters all wear realistic clothes to play basketball in! If you’re a piece of sports anime trash like me, this is definitely the show for you!

No Gun Life: In a detective noir world where everyone has basically become a cyborg, a guy with a gun for a head works to uncover the plans of an evil organization.  That’s it, that’s the whole thing. It’s made by Madhouse AND IT’S A CYBORG WITH A GUN FOR A HEAD! What else do you need?!

Beastars: IT’S JUST ANIME ZOOTOPIA! I’m not even kidding. It’s a school based mystery involving anthropomorphic animals who are faced with the murder of one of their classmates and the disruption of the peaceful coexistence of all types of animals in the school. It involves the whole predator vs prey dynamic and how appearances are deceiving, all with a jarringly serious tone considering everyone’s an animal. The only thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the use of 3D animation...which I notoriously despise no matter how great the show is. But even I am willing to put aside my hatred to keep watching this anime. The characters are interesting, it’s shot really creatively, and I love how ridiculously seriously it takes itself. Apparently it’s going to be on Netflix at some point.

*Shin Chuuka Ichiban (True Cooking Master Boy): It’s Food Wars’ less porny sibling that takes place in 19th century China, where a young boy named Mao is a master chef who travels around spreading his love for cooking! This is a reboot/continuation of an anime based on a manga from the 90s so there’s a really fun retro art style that’s nice to see updated. Apparently it picks up in the middle of the original story, but I haven’t felt like it’s necessary to see the source material to enjoy it or understand it. Also the soundtrack is bomb! It’s a great shounen to watch if you want more cross-cultural cooking anime that’s not straight up porn in your life, and it will definitely make you hungry!

Next seasons and Continuations!

 And don’t forget the summer leftovers, and some shows are getting continuations!

*Chihayafuru season 3: This is an incredibly fantastic underrated sports/club anime about a girl named Chihaya who struggles to find members for her karuta club after her best friend who made her fall in love with the game moves away. Never heard of “karuta”? It’s a physically and mentally challenging traditional Japanese game involving 100 poems written on cards that the players must memorize and locate before their opponent….it makes more sense when you see it I promise. This show is goddamn amazing, with incredibly realistic characters, an amazing game that most people don’t know about, gorgeous animation. It’s hilarious, it’s dramatic, it’s sad, and it’s uplifting all at once. 

This doesn’t premier until October 23, (so you’ve got time to binge the first 2 seasons!) but this is by far my most anticipated show of the season and quite possibly the entire year! I’VE BEEN WAITING SO MANY YEARS FOR ANOTHER SEASON, AND I’M SO PSYCHED!

Kono Oto Tomare (Stop this Sound) season 2: Speaking of club related anime, in case you missed the first season earlier this year, this is an anime about a boy who tries to recruit members for his high school koto club after all his senpais graduate. What’s a koto club you ask? It’s a large Japanese string instrument that no one cares about or plays anymore of course! Their club is endearingly terrible, with literally only one competent person on the team, but they’re aiming for nationals anyway, because...of course they are. This show seems pretty textbook at first, but it really grows on you the further you get. There are great character dynamics, it’s fun, it’s sweet, and there’s cool music that people don’t hear a lot of! If you like sports or club focused anime, give this one a chance!

*Dr. Stone: An action adventure in which all of humanity is mysteriously turned to stone one day. When a genius high school boy named Senku and his….not so genius friend Taiju awaken 3,700 years in the future, the two must rebuild civilization and turn the world back to normal with the power of science! I know pretty much everyone is watching this already, but I just want to reiterate how amazing it is. It is mysterious, educational, hilarious, and it really makes you think about civilization as we know it today. It was one of the best (if not the best) new show of the summer, and I’m so glad it’s getting a full run!

Vinland Saga: THE VIKING ANIME IS GETTING A FULL RUN!!!!!!!! In case you missed this gem in the summer, it’s a historical drama about a young boy named Thorfinn and his journey to avenge his father’s death and become a great warrior. And it’s all while traveling with his enemies through Northern Europe. It’s a fantastic dark, realistic story in a historical setting that filled the void left by Dororo. Plus it’s animated by Wit, so it looks beautiful. The music is great, the characters are intriguing, the story is interesting, AND IT HAS AN AMAZING ANTAGONIST! It has hype written all over it, so I’m pumped for the rest of the season! Unfortunately, you can only find it legally on Amazon Prime, so that’s why no one’s watching it.

*Fire Force: The (unfortunately timed) action/drama where fire fighters with super powers must protect Tokyo from people who are spontaneously combusting and uncover the evil rooted within their own organization. It’s made by the same person who created Soul Eater, and it definitely shows. The animation is high flying and out of this world. It’s worth watching for the action alone. But be warned, the plot and characters are it’s biggest weakness. It will jump between gratuitous fanservice and hijinks and then rocket into moral dilemmas and disturbing situations with no warning. BUT I still like watching it for the action, and in these later episodes the plot has steered itself back on track a lot more, and I’m way more interested in where the story is going now. I’m hoping that means the second half will give us a better sense of the characters. It also has a top tier muscular waifu! 

*My Hero Academia season 4: I’m sure everyone’s already going to be watching MHA, but I guess I’d have my anime fan badge revoked if I didn’t at least mention this one. I may not read the manga, but I know this arc is going to be a good one! I firmly believe this will be a modern classic, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s really worth watching.

And that’s it for this season. I’ll probably do a list at the end of the year of my top shows of 2019, but otherwise, see you in the winter of 2020!

[xenowingfield]

hallo! resident xeno wingfield lover here, wanted to give my input on xenos ideologies

its not that xeno wants to rule the world because he can--but because he feels held back by society. cut and dry, thats what he says in the manga. what kind of science he wants to do im not sure of, but it is probably highly illegal. he has an affinity for weaponry, to the point that he could make functional, accurate guns and planes from scratch. so on one hand we have this cold, calculating genius who wants to rebuild the world just to rule it, using his expertise as a weapon maker to assist him. on the other, we have a genius nasa scientist, who loves his work and even made a bond with some random kid, just because he was enthusiastic about science. honestly, i think xeno + stan are going to have some kind of dark backstory that gets revealed, we are just getting to know them, that will explain more as to how xeno got the way he is. xeno isnt supposed to be like the other villains--hes not dedicated to his ideology, not in the same way all the other villains are. tsukasa, hyoga, and ibara are only sticking with senku as a temporary alliance, to further their own goals (or because they were bested and are now forever indebted but w/e). xeno is a cold, cruel man with the barest bits of a science loving child still sticking in his brain. he does what he does because he knows you have to show no mercy to get to the top.

it may help to frame it like this--senku is young, and xeno is old. xeno has seen the world, he has seen wars, and death, and weaponry. he has built wars and death and weaponry. that part of senku that xeno sees himself in?? thats that childish joy for science, untouched by the cruel realities of governments and adulthood.

this is like, the entirety of why xenos eyes are sometimes pure black, and sometimes shiny! those shines are him, the raw him, not touched by the hell he has seen. its the adoration for the kid he is an uncle-like figure for, the vested interest in science he has held forever, the love for his childhood friend.

tl;dr xenos character dynamic comes from him not having a consistent ideology that he abides by

Thoughts on 193

still very anxious but now it’s about Suika reuniting with Chalk and Sagara

Xeno doesn’t seem to understand Senku all that well despite having been his rocket science mentor for years. Like he was all “we’re so similar so why do we have different goals,” as if it isn’t obvious that Senku just…cares about people rather than power and dominance? I know a lot of people really like Xeno (and sure, he’s kinda fun in some ways), but he doesn’t really have more interesting goals beyond world domination and violently murdering teenagers that pose a threat to his power. His ideology seems to just be “I want to rule and I’m super intelligent so I’m gonna.” Which is a tad less compelling to me than even Tsukasa, Hyoga, or Ibara’s backstories and motivations.

I guess he’s really set up to be a narrative foil to Senku in that both were science prodigies with a nearly insatiable hunger for knowledge, but where Senku grew up wanting to use his talents to help the world, Xeno was only focused on personal gain.

That panel of Senku and Taiju being paralleled with Xeno and Stanley also makes me consider Taiju vs Stanley. Stanley is a professional soldier who hesitates to kill civilians but will go for the kill without any hesitation if given clearance by Xeno. Taiju however, is completely against using his strength to harm others, but not only that…Taiju trusts that Senku will never intentionally put him into a situation where he has to hurt someone. In both cases the “bodyguard” has complete faith and trust in their “scientist,” but Taiju and Senku are both pacifists who only want to use their talents to build things and better the lives of those around them.

On another note, kudos to the villagers and the islanders for quickly getting into defensive positions and trusting that things will turn out okay eventually. It’s obviously a terrifying first experience for a lot of them, but they approached it strategically, not letting a panic break out. Very cool.

I’m estimating the time skip to be around 3 years? 5 at maximum.