WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Rust-Eater Bisco Episode 10, "Tetsujin Revived," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Episode 10 of Rust-Eater Bisco showed fans that even with the anime's main villain gone, the devastating potential of his plot still remains. The danger that Kurokawa and Bisco's death appeared to have prevented last episode has unfortunately doubled down here, reigniting the threat of the entire country's destruction.
With Kurokawa dead, it was thought that the only major threat left for Milo, Jabi and Pawoo was the Ganesha Cannon and the rust it would unleash. Pawoo and Jabi made quick work of it, but their success was short-lived before all chaos broke loose. With barely a moment to acknowledge Bisco's death, the Tetsujin that Kurokawa planned on using to continue artificially spreading the Rusting broke free, making its way toward Imihama and leaving a graveyard of rust in its wake.
Despite the governor's defeat, the Tetsujin was still carrying out his plans for destruction, setting its sights first on the Weeping Child Ravine where the Rust-Eater mushroom grows. Even if there's a possibility that Kurokawa and his forces had some stores of Rust-Eater hidden away for all his experiments, the destruction of the primary location where they grow means the cure would become rarer than ever.
Towering like an evangelion, the Tetsujin unleashed numerous blasts that leveled the area as it made its way toward Imihama, covering everything around it in the toxic rust. Though Rust-Eater Bisco has regularly mentioned the rust's toxicity and its disease, the face-off with the Tetsujin showcases the immediately destructive nature of the weapon, its long-lasting effects, and shows in full how Japan got to be in the state that it is.
With Kurokawa's machinations resulting in little progress toward recovery since the Rusting overtook Japan, the revived Tetsujin threatens to derail everything Milo and the deceased Bisco have fought for. It also remains to be seen if Milo and the others will be able to use what they've learned from Kurokawa's plans to inform the rest of the populace. With the knowledge that the Mushroom Keepers have been wrongly targeted all this time -- and that the continued spread of the Rusting has been orchestrated -- it can only be expected that some level of unification might occur.
As Rust-Eater Bisco gears up for its next arc, it's clear fans are in for another adrenaline-pumping adventure. Episode 9 may have left many reeling following Bisco's death, but Milo's indomitable will and dedication to help others -- and carry on Bisco's legacy -- provides a burst of energy as if Bisco were right there by his side.
Since Milo is also the only one to have taken the Rusting cure synthesized from Bisco's blood, the task of taking down the Tetsujin rests firmly on his shoulders as he's the one most likely to survive its onslaught. Though the Tetsujin will surely make for an arduous battle, with the help of the Shimobuki traders and Tirol, it's likely that this battle may finally see the sectioned-off wastelands unite to take on the threat that brought on the country's destruction in the first place.
Kurokawa's greed and vitriol have taken new form in the Tetsujin, embodying the toxic destruction that Rust-Eater Bisco's world has been forced to deal with. Despite Bisco's absence, the fight ahead will require Milo, Pawoo and Jabi's best should they hope to have any chance of stopping the Rusting and finally getting a cure to the people.
