"Mother nature is neither a friend nor an enemy. Kukuku... She's actually quite impartial."
Spoilers are unmarked
- The very premise involves all of humanity being Taken for Granite. During this time, they are still conscious for at least a short time, but unable to move or see anything. And you're forced to keep yourself awake for millennia if you want to be able to break out on your own. It's not just an Inferred Holocaust either, as we get to see car accidents and planes falling from the sky, killing off countless people without leaving them any chance of surviving or being rescued later. And what about everyone who was on a ship when the beam hit? Even if they weren't conscious by the time it inevitably sank, there's a high likelihood that they may never be found and depetrified.
- Gen suddenly getting assaulted and a spear through the chest comes nearly out of nowhere and happens so fast it's jarring. Yeah, he had been prepared, but it's very easy to be shocked into thinking that it's the first (actual) death in the series.
- Ginro's mental image of a visually beautiful lake has it watched over by a gorgeous winged goddess. But as he's running toward it, he sees a flock of birds fall to their deaths because of the toxic fumes and then dissolve in acid, causing the "goddess" in his mind to become a horrifying monstrosity.
- Senku's story about a researcher bending over to check his boots and dying because he ducked straight into a cloud of too much invisible toxic gas? Yeah, that's happened.
- At the end of Chapter 95, Senku's team picks up on a transmission of Morse code while out at sea. The message is one word, accompanied by the image of a skeletal face on the last spread of pages: "WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY". Not only is it possible that people other than Senku's team and Ishigami village are still alive, but they have technological capabilities beyond Senku's.
- Chapter 103, hoo boy. Ukyo's sonar sees something strange, and Ginro looks underwater. He finds petrified people, but Ukyo wonders how that's possible as the island was uninhabited during the original petrifaction. Then Ryusui senses someone and it's not friendly. Kohaku thought she saw a light from the ship but doesn't understand the significance of it. As the ship isn't answering their calls Soyuz and Gen tries contacting from a higher place. Soyuz checks the ship with a telescope and is horrified. Gen also looks and sees that everyone on the ship had suddenly been petrified.
- Chapter 120. Ginro learns that the leader of the village is petrified, realizing that Ibara is really the one running things. Ibara finds out, and when Ginro tries to claim he didn't see anything, he looms over Ginro with sunken-in eyes and massive sharp nails, growling "No lying".
- Chapter 138. The Why-Man returns with a different message. "12,800,000 Meters. 1 Second". That's the diameter of the entire planet, and he casually wants to re-petrify it. The thing that makes it even scarier? He's using Senku's voice.
- This also implies that the device is more than capable of that and the only thing that's needed is to ASK. And it accepts voice commands from anyone. And the very next chapter reveals that many such devices appeared on the island in the past...
- Chapter 149: How does the crew learn there are survivors in America? A hail of machine gunfire. Had Tsukasa and the battle team not sensed him, they would have all been dead.
- Chapter 180 has what could simultaneously be the most terrifying and beautiful image in the entire manga. The crew, after years of dedicated work, blood, sweat, and tears have finally found the source of the petrification beam that wiped out humanity thousands of years ago. What they happen upon is a huge, shiny mountain glistening beautifully in the sunlight... that turns out to be made from what is potentially several hundred thousand petrification devices. We knew that there were many of these things already and that just one could wipe out all of humanity if used properly (fortunately, the ones in the pile are all revealed to be powerless), but the sheer number of them shows just how disgustingly Crazy-Prepared the Why-Man really is, and how much of a threat he poses.
- Chapter 188: Previously when the Kingdom of Science fought against Stanley and Xeno's forces, they were able to come out on to their prowess coming out on top with Xeno himself as a hostage. This chapter highlights exactly how an encounter with guns would end. Tsukasa, Hyoga, and Kohaku, despite accomplishing their goal, get gunned down. Their only hope for Senku to successfully activate a petrification device before they bleed out so the petrification process can heal them, although in Hyoga's case it might be too late.
- The bloodshed continues in Chapter 189. Taiju's noted durability does indeed have a limit, as he takes a big explosion to the face. We don't see his body, but from Gen pleading for him to wake up, it is not pretty. Then the chapter ends with Ryusui getting shot through the chest as a grenade engulfs their diamonds. For the first time, things truly seem hopeless for Senku.
- Chapter 194 cranks up the fear, Suika is alone, think about it. She is the only person who is alive as the last human on Earth. And it takes her years before she manages to finally make revival fluid. Imagine having to spend that long as the only person in the world, with the only hope being to follow some complex instructions (despite being barely literate) that involve a lot of trial and error and a year of waiting. Suika's really got it tough.
- Chapter 201: The Why-Man sends a new Morse Code message that isn't just "Why". This time, it's a threat.
- Chapter 213: The Medusa suddenly activates on its own. No one knows how big the diameter of the light is but the fact that the medusa getting triggered is enough to send shivers down the spine.
- Chapter 228: The Whyman’s identity is finally revealed… to be the Medusa devices themselves.
