Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 Review
Defeating Ibara
Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 is the second cour of the third season of the Dr. Stone series. I remember a few years ago when having a two-cour season split into Part 1 and Part 2 was unheard of. Now it’s the norm.
Anyway, this “season” (cour) of Dr. Stone has me back to thinking that the series isn’t good. For some reason, I thought New World Part 1 was fine and even rated Ryusui as good. Both the original season and Stone Wars were only average.
New World Part 2 is the first part of the series I’ve rated as bad. But, why is that? Well, to me, the biggest issue is that the villains of this part weren’t very interesting. And when I say the villains, I’m referring to Ibara, Mozu, and Kirisame.
Let’s go through them in reverse order. Kirisame is the least interesting of the villains because she doesn’t have any goals. She’s a powerful warrior and the one who carries the petrification device. But, she just follows Ibara’s orders. She has no motivations and her character doesn’t have much depth.
Mozu is better in that he has personal a personal motivation. He works under Ibara. But, he also has the goal of overthrowing Ibara and becoming the king of the island. That makes him pretty decent as an antagonist. Well, except for the fact that he’s yet another “super strong and smart” enemy — like Tsukasa and Hyouga.
As the primary antagonist, Ibara should be the best of the villains. He’s not. Mozu is better. And the reason is that Ibara is kind of evil for the sake of it. He just wants power and wealth for himself and that’s it.
The Power of Petrification
In this season, Senku’s primary goal was to obtain the power of petrification. And, in the end, he succeeds in doing that. But, why did he want that power, in the first place? There are a few reasons. However, one stands above the rest.
Obviously, one reason is that having a weapon like the petrification device is good. It would make the Kingdom of Science stronger. But, we know Senku doesn’t care too much about having weapons like that. So, a better reason is that if the Kingdom of Science has it, their enemies don’t.
But, the main reason is that the petrification device can heal all wounds. If someone suffers a major injury, you can petrify them to stop them from dying. And when you free them from the petrification, their injury will be healed.
Senku wanted the power of petrification so he could use it to save Tsukasa.
However, there’s a flaw with the Kingdom of Science having the petrification device. If they can heal anyone, where’s the suspense? Any time they’d attempt something dangerous, we’d know that there’s no real threat. Did someone get stabbed? Petrify and heal them. Problem solved.
Of course, we know none of the characters are going to die anyway. This isn’t the kind of series to do that. But, it’s different when we know that there’s an in-universe reason why they’re not going to die. It just makes everything less interesting.
That’s exactly why the Kingdom of Science no longer has the power of petrification. They got to use it to revive everyone after the events on Treasure Island. And they got to use it on Tsukasa. Then, the power ran out. So, unless they figure out how to charge it, they can’t use it again.
Taking A Trip to the Moon
All the major players in the Kingdom of Science are back. And by that, I mean both Hyouga and Tsukasa are back. I think those were the only two major characters who were out of commission. But, with them here, it’s time to move on to the next adventure!
Senku and the gang have determined where the Why Man’s signal is coming from: The moon. And, to back this up, one of the people they revived told them an interesting story from the past. The last thing Matsukaze remembers is petrification devices rained down from the sky.
So, the Kingdom of Science’s next move seems pretty clear. They need to go to the moon and confront the Why Man. Or, at least, go to the moon and figure out what’s going on up there. We really don’t know anything about the Why Man or what they’re trying to accomplish.
Well, there is one other thing I should mention about the Why Man. At one point, a signal from the Why Man comes over the radio and attempts to activate the petrification device. It doesn’t work. But, that shows the Why Man’s intent to petrify the surviving humans, right?
Not so fast. Let’s not jump to that conclusion. You see, the Why Man didn’t exactly try to activate the device. Instead, the signal coming from the Why Man was a recording of Senku. It was a recording of when Senku tried to activate the device via radio against Ibara.
So, that’s interesting. If the Why Man wanted to activate the device, why use a recording of Senku? Why not say the command themself? Does the Why Man even exist? Could it be a radio station on the moon that’s merely mimicking signals it receives?
Final Thoughts
Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 is a 4/10. It’s bad. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t like it or have fun watching it. I like plenty of anime other people think are bad. I even like anime that I think are bad. But, the plot, characters, and overall writing of this season were not good.
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