Nem

I came to the realization that there is a very real chance that Senku may have ended up counting for far, far more than a couple thousand years. His determination makes it so that if there is so much as a chance of something, he'll do it, and when you are petrified, there is no way of observing the world around you. Meaning that if you can still think while your statue is broken and eroded, you have no way of knowing that you are better off losing consciousness. And until the sun expands enough for Earth leaves the Goldilocks Zone and become inhospitable for human life, Senku's going to keep counting. For millenia after millenia. For literal billions of years. Heck, if Senku thinks that there is a chance for him to still be brought back, he'd go until the heat death of the universe. And he would never know that humanity had come back. He would never know that Taiju and Yuzuriha had mourned him, knowing that reviving him would kill him. He would never know all of what Byakuya had done for him. He would only know numbers and the wait for a day that will never come. I know we talk a lot about how terrifying the sensory deprivation is already, but honestly, I think it could have been much, much worse.

I was thinking about the concept of what would happen if Joel failed to set off the Medusa. Ultimately, anyone in the fort would probably end up dying, but I think Ukyo would still try to save Suika, Francois, Ginro, and Matsukaze. There's no way they'd get out without any deaths, and I imagine that Matsukaze would go down trying to save Ginro. Francois would probably force Ukyo to flee when he gets too injured to fight and Ginro would actually try to fight after Matsukaze goes down, leading to his own death, trying to help the other three flee. The trio eventually meet up with Chelsea and Luna after Ukyo hears them. After the American forces leave, Suika investigates, as Ukyo was still too injured to, and finds the note Senku had in canon about the revival fluid, hidden away from the American forces. And so the five decide to continue Senku's mission: to bring back all of humanity, starting with Araxa. Years later, they eventually end up bringing back Sai at Francois' request. And Sai finds out that his little brother is dead. And had been dead for years. All that's left of him is a hat worn by a teenage girl, miniature boats made by a sonar operator that could no longer pull back a bow, and the cracks in Francois' cool composure. It makes the realization that Ryusui was just trying to include him when they were little hurt all the more painful. They do eventually end up fighting the New Sacramento forces, later down the line, and Ukyo has long since abandoned his 'no kill' policy. New Sacramento doesn't last long. Eventually, they do manage to go to the moon. Suika is the scientist, having decided to learn everything she could like Senku did, Ukyo is the pilot, having taken over the navigation from Ryusui, and Luna ends up the fighter, having decided to become strong so she doesn't have to lose anyone ever again. Ultimately, they do win, but the cost is far, far too high.

I was thinking about the age difference between Ukyo and a lot of the other kos members and came to the realization that he's just barely a millennial (if I'm doing my math right). And so now I'm just imagining Gen and Chelsea using a bunch of Gen Z slang to try and confuse him, just for fun. He's not actually far enough away in age to not understand them, but they're having fun, so Ukyo goes along with this. He stops understanding when Yuzuriha joins in, as she was born almost a decade after him.

I was thinking over the number of people in the Empire of Might with blonde or white hair, and how quickly it would have grown out without any way of redying it. As such, I can't help but imagine that one of them (Nikki or Minami, maybe) eventually goes up to Yuzuriha to ask if she knows how to dye hair, figuring that it'd be similar to dying clothes. And while they aren't, after the fiasco where Senku accidentally dyed the tips of his hair green (the first time), Yuzuriha ended up doing research on how hair dye and bleach is made and how to craft it out of curiosity. This ultimately culminates in Hyoga really, really awkwardly coming up to her to demand bleach when his roots start showing. This is also why Ukyo originally started wearing his hat. He was revived earlier than the most of the others with dyed hair and went longer without it, and the hat covered up his roots. By the time Yuzuriha started making hair dye, he was really attached to the thing and refused to let go of it. Minami just had to deal with really obvious roots for a while, having depetrified before Ukyo.

I was thinking about the whole Ukyo-gets-stabbed part of the battle over the miracle cave, and even Hyoga's spear didn't hit anything vital, with the amount of blood Ukyo lost, it has to be deep or hit an artery or something. And in a Stone World with zero doctors (Senku doesn't count, there are certain things that require experience and can't be left up to trial and error, and there's a reason he couldn't fix Tsukasa's lung), the likelihood of any damage being perfectly fixed before they find the medusa is pretty low. Add in the fact that there are certain things even modern medicine can't fix and it wouldn't be too surprising if Ukyo ended up affected by the stab wound until Treasure Island. I know I ended up with chronic pain from a far less serious wound (though the pain is really minor), so it wouldn't be surprising if he did, as well. I don't know enough about medicine to say for sure how else it would affect him, but it can be assumed that other things would probably affect him, as well. But this is Ukyo. Ukyo who was just in the Kingdom of Might, where he had to hide any weakness. Ukyo, who hates being a burden on others. Ukyo, who doesn't appear to have any real connections with people prior to becoming one of the Five Wise Generals. There's no way he's going to mention anything to anyone, even if Senku could make pain killers or something similar. He's already pretty easy to miss. It'd be pretty easy to pretend not to be strong enough to carry something considering his lack of bulk, or slip away every once in a while when it gets too bad, pretending to be scouting or gathering or something similar. Gen will probably notice, particularly considering how they end up pretty close, but Gen could also be trusted to prod Ukyo before going to Senku, and will respect Ukyo's wishes if he asks him to keep his mouth shut. Ultimately, it probably wouldn't really be noticed until the Perseus has set sail and Ukyo's surrounded by people 24/7 and is the main sonar operator, making it so he can't quietly slip away (easily). Additionally, considering Ukyo's work ethic and lack of self confidence, it wouldn't be surprising if he felt pretty intense guilt any time he couldn't help out, too, adding another layer to this. But yeah, just thoughts.

Is it just me, or does it feel really weird to see Ukyo without his hat? Surely he could have kept it on, he was an integral part of the Kingdom of Science and is likely a celebrity alongside everyone else in it. What are the bureaucrats going to do, tell him no?

I would like to posit the idea that the Kingdom of Science ends up having regular communal sleepovers following Araxa. Considering how traumatizing all the events that happen there were, followed by being trapped in stone where all you can do is think, it wouldn't be surprising if most if not all the members end up with nightmares after that. And while communal sleepovers won't perfectly fix that, they will allow the members of the kos to quickly remind themselves that everyone is alive and help each other out following a nightmare. The drawback would be the likelihood of being woken up at various points in the night by various people and would be somewhat hindered by kos splitting into multiple groups, but it would be cute, nonetheless.

I was thinking about the petrification's curative ability and its drawbacks, mainly how it seems to be limited in its regeneration. It's explicitly shown that it cannot bring back lost limbs when Senku tried depetrifying a swallow with a broken off wing, and it wouldn't be surprising if this extends to other things, like if you had to have your tonsils or something removed. However, the fact that at least one (probably more) characters are brought back after dying to blood loss suggests that the Medusas do have some regenerative power, even if it isn't perfect. Add in the fact that deep enough petrification marks seem to need multiple petrifications to disappear based on Senku and Xeno (though that may be related to the 7 years that pass, rather than the deepness of the scar), and I'm wondering if deep enough wounds, like the ones at the end of the South America arc, could cause petrification scars. While it isn't canon, it would be a fun thing to play around with, particularly when newer characters, such as Sai, are introduced, and opens up a lot of potential for angst. Granted, Sai probably wouldn't notice the weirdness of the marks at first, considering how huge his petrification marks are.

I don't know if someone has come up with this before, but I've started thinking about how fun it would be to throw Senku into an isekai. I've been bored to death of traditional power fantasy isekais and considering his bad luck and power balancing, I think it would be funny if he had ridiculously low mana and can only manage level one spells. As such, I think Taiju would probably be the hero they were trying to summon, but they either missed and got a wimpy nerd, with Taiju and Yuzuriha making Senku's main goal to find a way home, or they end up with the full trio, with Byakuya being his motivation. Tsukasa would be a summoned hero that went AWOL after defeating the first great evil, though it is eventually revealed that he was promised a ticket home in exchange for defeating it and was told that it was impossible afterwards, causing him to shun the royal family and nobles, rather than adults in general. He quickly joins Senku after finding out about his end goal so that he can see Mirai, again. Gen and Ukyo are both reincarnaters, with Gen being a really powerful black mage with memories of a life in a third world and strong spatial magic, which is necessary for a portal home, and Ukyo being some kind of a white mage or ranger with memories of his life on Earth. Kohaku, Ruri, and Suika would be princesses to a neighboring kingdom, and Ibara would be the person who summoned Tsukasa and Senku. Ryusui and Sai would probably be the sons of a duke, or something. I think Suika would eventually gain memories of a prior life like Gen and Ukyo, but only partway through the narrative, mirroring her aging during the South America arc. Chrome would be a random peasant kid with strong earth magic, which Senku would need for materials and quickly joins up with them. At some point, they probably end up overthrowing Ibara, making Tsukasa really happy, and giving them political power in the process, though Senku would refuse to become king. Halfway through, they manage to make an interdimensional telephone, allowing Senku and Tsukasa to contact Earth. I'm thinking about the potential of time dilation between worlds, so Ukyo might not have anyone to contact, and Gen and Suika's dimension was destroyed and partially merged with the current one, creating the so-called second 'great evil', so he wouldn't have anyone to contact, either. But yeah, random thoughts.

I've been thinking about how strange it must have been when KoS family members get revived. Just think about it, on top of the typical shock of 3,700 years passing and the world you knew and loved being gone, a person you knew and loved also grew up and left you behind. That person, your son or daughter or sibling was a teenager or young adult, but then you blink, and suddenly, they're in their mid to late twenties, or even their thirties, in cases like Ukyo. They've lived so much of their life without you. There's a chance they found love or even had a kid. There's a chance that they've died, temporarily or not. There's a huge chance they helped save the world. And you saw none of it. Whoever caused Nikki so much distress back in the modern world will find that she's a major member of the power team and a major diplomat. The head of the Nanami family will find that his conglomerate and wealth collapsed and that suddenly, Ryusui is the wealthiest person on the planet and a major political figure, not despite but because of his greed and brazenness, and isn't under his control anymore. Ukyo probably wouldn't mention his accomplishments to his family, but the number of important people visiting him and whispers of the Five Wise Generals would eventually lead to the realization that he, too, is one, and was integral to humanity's survival. The famously shallow magician, Gen, would suddenly be a top diplomat and no longer cheap entertainment. Minami would suddenly be famous for her records of the Stone Wars and beyond, and her career would have skyrocketed. On and on it goes, and you saw absolutely none of it. You completely missed out on eight years of their life, and suddenly have to just deal with it.

Does anyone ever think about how Sai would react to the fact that his brother was shot and possibly died? If Joel hadn't managed to petrify everyone in time, there is a very real possibility that Sai would have woken up to a world where his little brother was dead. The little brother who had followed him around constantly, the little brother he had left behind, the little brother he didn't get to see grow up. Would just be gone. In the blink of an eye. And with a guy as anxious as Sai is, you know that it's going to haunt him, every moment for the rest of his life. And knowing Ryusui, he probably would have tried to hide that from him, knowing about the anxiety it would cause him and the fact that KoS doesn't really talk about traumatic events. But when Sai finds out about that, it'd eventually lead to him finding out about all the danger Ryusui (and everyone else) has faced over the years. And the fact that he wasn't there, that he had run away to India probably would have led to a lot of guilt. I don't remember if Francois had started working for the Nanami Conglomerate before or after Sai left, but if they were, that would just add another layer to the grief and guilt, as well. Whatever the case, the realization would be both horrifying and brutal, particularly with how strong and untouchable both Ryusui and Francois seem.