Quick Summary
In Dr. Stone episode 04, “Fire the Smoke Signal,” Senkuu tries to teach Taiju Ooki and Yuzuriha Ogawa how to make gunpowder. The good news is that the operation is a success! The bad news is that they knew it was a success because it exploded! But in doing so, it triggered many answering smoke signals. Senkuu knows that Tsukasa Shishiou is closing in on them. If he finds them before Senkuu can create a weapon with the gunpowder, they’re done for. Will Senkuu attempt to communicate with the people who started the other signal fires? Will he focus on defending against Tsukasa? And will Taiju ever confess to Yuzuriha?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Best Moment in the Show
Senkuu tried to bluff Tsukasa. You could say that his poker face wasn’t up to it. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Have you ever played poker? I used to really enjoy it, but truth be told, I was never very good. I couldn’t master the psychological aspects of the game. It’s one thing to know probabilities about what hands are best and the raw probability of your opponent having a better hand than you do. That’s easy. Well, not easy, but compared to the psychological stuff, it seemed easy.
Bluffing? Redirecting? Trapping my opponent into betting too much and taking the pot myself? Those are parts of the game that eluded me.
In this episode, my Best in Show Moment was when Senkuu saw the same thing happen to him.
Tsukasa had figured out that Senkuu planned to make gunpowder. He knew the best to place to find sulfur was the hot springs, so he ran there. As he ascended the mountain, he game across Yuzuriha, and he took her hostage. Moments later, he stood before Senkuu and pressed a flint knife against Yuzuriha’s throat.
Senkuu tried to act like he didn’t care because he was a man of science and emotions weren’t important. Tsukasa made it clear that (11:40) “I don’t mind getting my hands dirty in order to stop” grown ups from being revived and taking the world back to their “tainted” ways. Keeping the flint knife right at Yuzuriha’s throat, he said that before he killed Senkuu, he wanted the recipe for making the revival fluid.
Senkuu couldn’t stop his reaction when Tsukasa slashed at Yuzuriha. And in that moment, he became much more human to me! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Senkuu only paused for a moment when he brushed aside the threat to Yuzuriha. He wanted Tsukasa to think that as a man of science, he didn’t have room for feelings or friendships or anything like that. He went on to say that he didn’t care what Tsukasa did with “that female.”
The problem was that in the moment he paused, you could see a single bead of sweat run down his temple. Tsukasa saw it and knew what it meant. So he slashed hard near the back of Yuzuriha’s neck. He only sliced off her hair, but Senkuu’s gasp was very loud.
Senkuu tried to play the cliche emotionless scientific genius and he failed. His feelings betrayed him. And I thought it was fantastic. That was a pure moment of human frailty. He’s not a Vulcan who’s learned to bury their emotions. He’s a man trying the best he knows how, and right now, that’s just not good enough.
So now what’s he going to do?
What did you think of their re-invention of gunpowder? What was your best in show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Other Posts about This Series
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Dr. Stone – Episode 4 Discussion
- I Drink and Watch Anime: Dr. Stone Episode 4 – Smoke Signals
- The Otaku Author: Dr. Stone (Episode 4) – Fire the Smoke Signal
This Site (Crow's World of Anime!)
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 01 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 02 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 03 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 04 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 05 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 06 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 07 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 08 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 09 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 10 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 11 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 12 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 13 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 14 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 15 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 16 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 17 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 18 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 19 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 20 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 21 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 22 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 23 – Best In Show
- Review: Dr. Stone Episode 24 – Best In Show
