Dr. Stone Episode 5

Dr. Stone Episode 5

Stone World The Beginning

Can you guess my thoughts on this week’s episode of Dr. Stone? If you guessed that I found this episode to be the most outlandish one yet, you were correct. Though, surprisingly, my only real issues with this episode come from the first half. Well, and Senku saying the number ten billion twice.

So what were the major problems with this week’s episode? The first has to do with Senku’s death from the end of the previous episode, and the second has to do with his revival. There are just so many things wrong with both of these events, but I’ll try my best to go over everything.

First of all, let’s establish that Senku was “killed” by having his neck broken. He wasn’t actually killed — because he gets healed in time — but for all intents and purposes, we’ll say he was killed this way. Here’s the problem, look at the weapon Tsukasa used to inflict this wound (pictured below).

Taiju throwing a boulder above Tsukasa from the anime series Dr. Stone
Taiju throwing a boulder above Tsukasa

Tsukasa isn’t using a blunt weapon. His weapon is sharpened into spiked blades on either side. This would do far more damage to a human body than simply breaking some bones. Being struck in the neck with this weapon would partially decapitate the victim, and with Tsukasa’s established strength, completely decapitate them.

That’s the first issue regarding Senku’s death and revival. He would have either died instantly due to being decapitated or very quickly due to a broken neck and severe blood loss. And yet, his neck seems to be doing pretty okay when we see it in the anime. Sure, the bones are broken, but the skin isn’t even torn.

And before anyone says Tsukasa used the hilt of his weapon, why would he do that if he’s truly trying to kill Senku?

Senku’s Revival

Now we come to the second major issue with the episode, Senku’s “revival.” Again, he wasn’t really revived because he wasn’t really killed, but whatever. If he had really been killed, which I could make the argument for because we see his eyes glazed over and it’s implied his heart stopped, then this is even more of an issue.

Taiju and Yuzuriha heal Senku’s broken neck by pouring the revival liquid onto it. This then heals his neck because there was still a piece of rock on the back of his neck from the petrification. And if you don’t know why that happens, it was established that wounds are healed upon being revived from a petrified state.

I’ll accept that the revival fluid could heal him under that specific circumstance, even if his neck was busted open by a spiky, bladed, stone weapon. However, what I can’t accept is that Senku was in the specific circumstance necessary for this plan to work.

Are we really supposed to believe that Senku had kept that one fragment on the base of his skull petrified for two years or more? Not only would that severely reduce the range of motion in his head and neck, but the weight of it would be extremely uncomfortable due to the placement.

We saw that Yuzuriha was in pain simply from her toe still being petrified. The base of the skull is a much more important and sensitive area.

But it all comes back to the question, why? Why did Senku still have this petrified fragment? There’s no logical explanation. Even if he was planning to use it as a last resort ever since Tsukasa was revived, that still means he went for over a year with it before this plan would have ever been thought of.

The Stone Age

With the major issues of the episode behind us, it’s time to focus on the second half. This half of the episode is more in line with what the series really advertised itself as. We see Senku start from nothing and slowly work his way up through levels of technology.

He creates stone hand axes, then more complex stone tools and weapons, rope, fire, shelter, clothing, bowls, all technology from the stone age. And, he even puts off researching the petrification event and how to undo it until after he’s gotten to the point where he can “comfortably” survive.

Senku's stone tools from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku’s stone tools

It’s a shame the series had to go in such a different direction. I get that a lot of people are enjoying the show as it currently is, but it’s still a far cry from what it claimed to be originally.

And, just because it would have actually followed historical inventions doesn’t mean there wouldn’t have been a plot or conflict. There could still be a rival faction fighting to stop Senku & company from reviving all the adults. I just don’t think it had to go as much into the supernatural and fantasy realms.

I mean, really, how does the fact that Tsukasa is a super soldier really improve the anime? Does the fact that he can kill a fully grown lion with one punch really add to the story in any way? Why couldn’t he have just been someone with views which rivaled Senku’s?

The same story structure would have been there, but we wouldn’t have jumped from stone age technology to gunpowder in an attempt to stop a superhuman.

Conclusion

The last thing I have to say about this series, which I almost forgot, is that we weren’t introduced to the female character who was teased in the previous episode. Perhaps she’ll show up in the next episode after Senku is fully healed and awake.

But what did you think of Dr. Stone episode 5? Do you agree that Senku’s death and revival make absolutely no sense? Do you think his death and revival were interesting and exciting developments? They weren’t, but even if that’s what you think, let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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