Dr. Stone Episode 9

Dr. Stone Episode 9

Let There Be the Light of Science

I’m not sure whether Dr. Stone was a decent episode with bad parts or a bad episode with decent parts. I’m leaning towards the former. The events that took place within the episode were fine, but I do have issues with some of the additional “features” of the episode.

For example, I don’t like the new character who was introduced. The next section will be all about him though, so I won’t get into why just yet. Another issue I had is an issue I have with all of the episodes, which is the use of “comedy” in the series.

The “comedy” — it’s not actually funny, so it isn’t really comedy — of Dr. Stone isn’t quite as detracting as in Demon Slayer, but there’s a lot more of it. In every scene, and just about after every line of dialogue, there has to be a cut to some sort of reaction shot.

Often it will be a shot of someone being shocked in a “funny” way, or will show the people of the stone world being confused so we can all go, “haha they don’t know what that is, but I do.” This sort of scene and episode structuring ties back into my main argument about the series being peak shounen trash.

And by that I mean everything about the series is crafted for the mind of a 12-year-old.

Gen Asagiri

The new character of the episode is Gen Asagiri. Gen isn’t a stone worlder, he’s someone who was petrified and now somehow isn’t. We don’t yet know exactly how he came to be unpetrified, but we do know he’s currently allied with the Tsukasa Empire.

From this we can assume that Tsukasa had him revived, though I’m sure this will be explained later on. After his revival, Tsukasa sent him out on a mission to locate Senku. Either Gen would report back that Senku’s body had been found, or that Senku is actually still alive.

Gen Asagiri from the anime series Dr. Stone
Gen Asagiri

Obviously, he learns that Senku is very much alive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to go running back to Tsukasa. Gen doesn’t really feel allied with either side, and instead is willing to go along with whoever he thinks will win. That, or whoever he thinks can provide him with the carefree life he desires.

On one hand, life in the Tsukasa Empire is easy for Gen. However on the other, he appreciates all of the quality of life improvements that come along with being a member of the Kingdom of Science. For now, Gen seems fine with playing both sides until the time comes when he’s forced to choose.

As a bonus fact, 3,700 years ago Gen was a psychology writer of some sort despite appearing to still be a high school student. He uses his knowledge of human psychology to trick those who aren’t as smart as he is.

Powerful Magnets

After Gen arrives at the stone village and Senku has won a sizable number of the stone villagers over to his side with food, it’s time to get to work. You may recall from last week’s episode that the current goal is to harness the power of electricity.

However, there are a few steps that need to be taken before we can get electricity. First, Senku needs the help of the stone villagers to create iron. Once he has this, he can wrap it in copper wire and introduce it to a large amount of electricity to form a magnet.

There’s only one problem — how do you get electricity to make the thing that makes electricity?

Senku creating a powerful magnet from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku creating a powerful magnet

The answer to that question is: lightning. And luckily for Senku, a storm suddenly pops up out of nowhere. After hastily constructing a few (though we only see one) lightning rods on top of a mountain, Senku finally has the powerful magnets he needs.

With these, and some giant wheels made out of copper, he’s able to build a man-powered generator. But, while having electricity is only the first step in Senku’s master plan of obtaining antibiotics, it has a wide variety of other uses.

Electric Revolution

So how do you get the people of the stone world on your side other than with food? With light.

The incandescent light bulb really did change everything for us humans. No longer was work limited to the hours the sun was overhead. Sure, fire can create light, but it isn’t as safe, easy to handle, or effective as light bulbs are.

With the power of light on their side, the villagers of the stone world can be more time effective. They can work on things such as clothing, food, or engineering projects after the sun goes down. Or, they could even use it as a form of communication via Morse code.

Light will also bring improved safety to the stone villagers. For one, if they rig their islands with light posts, there won’t be any fear of falling into the river below. But more importantly, light allows you to see your enemies. Tsukasa’s soldiers will have virtually no way of executing a sneak attack at night.

However, there is one major downside to using electric light. That is, your enemies can find you easier.

Imagine you’re a member of the Tsukasa Empire and then one night you suddenly see the glow of light on the horizon in the middle of the night. That’s sure to pique your interest. There are ways the stone village can minimize this risk, but they wouldn’t be able to completely erase it completely.

Conclusion

What are your thoughts on Dr. Stone episode 9? Do you like Gen as a character so far? And which side do you think he’ll choose? Personally, I think it’s pretty obvious that he’ll side with Senku in the end. Also, how else would you like to see the stone village use electricity? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

2 Replies to “Dr. Stone Episode 9”

  1. I’m surprised you didn’t go after the science in this episode… namely the lack of science that is.

    First off, Senku makes his explanation that a NASA scientist experimented with creating magnets with lightning, which is true… but that was creating a permanent magnet from magnetite. Senku’s creation is rather “works only in anime” in comparison, Senku wanted to create an electromagnet to magnetize a bar of iron… except as we saw the copper wire couldn’t handle the load and instead fused with the bar of iron and the whole thing just became a mess of metal.

    Then Senku decides to, for whatever reason, turn a very simple homopolar generator into a generator that looks cooler since it has 2 cranks instead of one but undoubtedly only increases the problems his contraption has.

    Finally Senku… uhh… has what looks like a small copper filament that got embedded in a leaf somehow. With this tiny piece of copper that is exposed to the elements he… sets fire to his science shack and ends the series in one go right? After all, incandescents are operating at just below the melting point of their respective filament… and some how we have an enormous amount of light coming from this powered leaf which should mean an enormous amount of heat as well.

    1. I’m not a scientist myself, I’m a historian, so I can’t really write about some of the more in-depth scientific blunders of this series. If it’s basic physics, chemistry, astronomy, or even geology, then I know enough to call out some if the issues this series has. But electromagnetism isn’t something I’m experienced with.

      However, as I have mentioned in previous episode reviews, the science of this series doesn’t really hold up all that often because its audience isn’t expecting it to. This is a Shounen Jump (or other shounen magazine) series, and 12 year old boys generally aren’t familiar with actual science.

      Also, if you have issues with the science (or lack thereof) in episode 9, just wait until you get farther into the anime if you aren’t caught up already. It doesn’t get any better.

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