Spectacular chapter this week. It was short, but that cliffhanger was worth the short chapter length.
They finally land on the moon, and there’s no time to waste. Senku, Kohaku and Stanley march out into unknown territory. An element of interest to take note of is the fact that the Why Man location is somewhere near the flag that was first put on the moon when humans first came onto it. From this tidbit of information, we can infer one of two things:
a) Why Man was indeed looking down on humans, as per Gen’s analysis in chapter 201. Setting up their base near where humans first set foot on the moon can be seen as a form of insult. Kind of like building a house where someone famous was buried.
b) Why Man chose this area because it might be the most environmentally friendly area to live on the moon.
Chelsea and Xeno explain that the destination which Senku’s group is supposed to head for is the Taurus-Littrow valley. A historically significant destination since this is where the last crewed mission to the moon landed back in 1972. These were the members of the Apollo 17.
When the Apollo 17 returned with samples from this area of the moon, they were described the most interesting to be returned from the Moon and has been the subject of thermochronological calculation in an effort to determine whether the Moon generated a core dynamo or formed a metallic core, an inquiry that has yielded results in apparent support of the former—an active, churning core which generated a magnetic field, manifested in the magnetism of the sample itself. Further analysis by Garrick-Bethell et al. of the sample reveals nearly unidirectional magnetism—perhaps parallel to that of a larger field—lending further support to the hypothesis that the sample's magnetic properties are the result of a core dynamo in lieu of a singular shock event acting upon it.
Kind of reminds you of the tests that they were carrying out on the petrified swallows in America when they first came across them. Ever since the last chapter, I have been getting this weird idea in my head that the material in the stone statues is the same as the material found on the moon’s surface.
Why Man tries tricking Kohaku with Senku’s voice in this chapter, which cis something he also did to Ruri back in the Treasure Island. Though back at the time, he did not have any specified instructions for her. He just kept on repeating the command for petrification. This time, he talked for an extended period with Kohaku. It is the most we’ve ever seen Why Man interact in the whole series.
Kohaku gets tricked, but thankfully due to Stanley and Senku’s quick thinking, no one is petrified. The Medusa activates, forming a perfect sphere just like all the other times it has been activated. In Chapter 213, when the Medusa activated in a vacuum, the sphere it formed was distorted. Warped. However, in this chapter, the sphere is perfect. Meaning that there might be an artificial atmosphere on the moon’s surface?
Once they manage to avoid being petrified successfully, they head forward towards the previously mentioned location. What they come across is a black stagnation, which resembles the black wave of energy that is released by an activated petrification device. Somehow from this, Senku manages to ascertain the identity of the big boss. He isn’t the only one who reacts to this realization. Everyone else on earth from the 21st Century also is shocked at this reveal, meaning that……it might be someone from their time? Someone who is globally famous/ an icon of the old world. Or the reaction collage could just have been used to drive home the fact of how big a reveal this is.
What I like about Senku's face there is that he looks excited. Its the same face he makes whenever he comes across a scientific concept/invention. This means that the answer that awaits us is wholly scientific.
Perhaps WhyMan is not an actual physical being, but an entity? A construct made of science. A concept in nature. Much like mother nature was at the start of the manga, when they went to obtain sulphuric acid from the lake.
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