Tag: Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars anime series cover art
Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Season Overview

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (ドクターストーン STONE WARS) is the second season of the Dr. Stone anime series. Compared to the 24 episodes of the first season, this season is considerably shorter, at only 11 episodes. But, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Spoilers Incoming

The Stone Wars season covers the “war” between Senku’s Kingdom of Science and the Tsukasa Empire, lead by Tsukasa, of course. The only thing is, it’s not really much of a war. It’s a single attack by the Kingdom of Science on the Tsukasa Empire that lasts about 1 episode.

You may recall from the first season that Senku’s plan for defeating the Tsukasa Empire is to use information warfare. If Senku can create a radio with which to contact Taiju and Yuzuriha, he can outmaneuver Tsukasa’s forces and win the war without bloodshed.

That’s what this second season is all about. The entire season focuses on the construction of a two-way radio, sneaking one of the radios into the Tsukasa Empire, and then using it to bring Tsukasa’s allies over to Senku’s side.

This season also features some new characters who I wasn’t all that impressed with. To be fair, I don’t really care about any of the cast. But the newer characters in particular felt a bit out of place.

For example, Tsukasa’s trying to create the ultimate army of useful people, and one of them is just a fangirl of a singer. Maybe there was something else to her character, but I honestly can’t remember what. And another guy was just a former prison guard with nothing special about him. Yet, these are some of Tsukasa’s elite forces.

The Same, But Slightly Worse

The reason I think it’s good that the second season of Dr. Stone is less than half the length of the first season is that it’s basically the same thing, but slightly worse. One of the biggest problems is that Stone Wars is very linear, as I alluded to in the previous section.

In the first season, there are a lot of detours along the way to Senku’s relatively minor goal of taking down Tsukasa. Things go wrong, and Senku is forced to adapt and go down a different path temporarily. But, these detours still end in inventions that will further Senku’s ultimate goal of reintroducing modern technology to the stone world.

This type of storytelling framework was good because it kept the story progressing while also not falling into a predictable rhythm. The second season basically throws that away in favor of a direct route to the minor goal.

A tank-like vehicle made by Senku & friends from the anime series Dr. Stone: Stone Wars
A tank-like vehicle made by Senku & friends

Unfortunately, the linear nature of this season is also what leads to the second issue. Despite the fact that a lot of the science in Dr. Stone is dumbed-down, or flat out wrong, I will admit that Senku using this “science” to invent things was probably the most entertaining part.

But there’s not much of that in the second season. Senku still does invent some things, like paper armor, but nothing exciting. You could argue that the radio he makes is exciting, but the explanation is so simple that it’s not satisfying.

To be fair, my expectations for this series are probably too high. It’s just a generic shounen series. It was never going to have a great story, characters, or complex topics. So in that regard, I guess Dr. Stone is exactly what it’s supposed to be — easily digestible entertainment you can put on and not pay much attention to.

The Ultimate Twist

Something that a lot of these anime with “extremely smart” characters do is that they pull really stupid plot twists out of thin air and pretend like the protagonist, or whoever the smart character is, figured it all out. This is a major complaint I have with Death Note, for example.

Dr. Stone has its own version of this trope, and it was just as bad as any other, if not worse. Without any lead-in, it was randomly revealed that the reason Tsukasa is doing everything he’s doing is that he wants to save his younger sister who’s never been mentioned before.

When this is revealed, the viewer is supposed to be surprised by Senku’s genius. After all, he was able to figure out Tsukasa’s true motivation when nobody else could! But there’s one problem. No matter how smart Senku is, this isn’t something he could ever figure out with the information at his disposal.

The Kingdom of Science launching their attack from the anime series Dr. Stone: Stone Wars
The Kingdom of Science launching their attack

There’s absolutely no evidence to support Senku’s claim. I don’t remember the exact “evidence” he gives since this was weeks ago and Dr. Stone isn’t important enough for me to remember all the details.

But basically, his evidence was that Tsukasa is a “protector.” So, therefore, he must have been wanting to protect someone important to him, such as a younger sibling. And why does his younger sibling need protecting? Because she’s been in a coma for (thousands of) years.

You can’t get from “Tsukasa is actually a nice guy who protected me when we first met” to “Tsukasa has a younger sister he’s never mentioned who’s in a coma and he murders people in order to save her.” There’s very obviously a huge gap in that logic.

Conclusion

Although I do think that Dr. Stone: Stone Wars is worse than the first season of Dr. Stone, I’ve ended up giving it the same score: 5/10. It’s worse, but I still think it’s “average,” not “bad.” I dislike it, but that alone doesn’t make something bad.

What I will say is actually bad, though, is the OP for this season. The Stone Wars OP is very bad. The song doesn’t really match the visuals, and the visuals are garbage. I’m sorry if you like the OP, but it’s just not good.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

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Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone anime series cover art
Dr. Stone

Overview

Dr. Stone (ドクターストーン) isn’t one of my favorite anime. I’m sorry to everyone who loved this series, but I need to mention that right from the start so you don’t get your hopes up. And from what I’ve experienced, those of you who love this series are extremely opposed to evidence of its shortcomings.

But, hopefully you’ll take the time to actually understand what I’m saying in this review. And if you disagree with anything I say, or have questions about why I said the things I did, I’m more than happy to have a discussion with you in the comments or over on Discord.

And with that said, it’s not like I hate Dr. Stone. This series had a good premise, but unfortunately wasn’t able to live up to that premise for a number of reasons. I also recognize the fact that this is a shounen series, which means I’m not the target demographic.

So, for everyone who hasn’t seen Dr. Stone, what is it about? Basically everyone on Earth gets turned to stone during some sort of petrification event. Then, 3,700 years later, our protagonist breaks free from the petrification and sets off on his plan to rebuild the world.

And one major part of this plan is to “revive” everyone else who was petrified. Senku is similar to most shounen protagonists in that regard. He doesn’t just want to rebuild the world — he wants to save everyone.

Like I said, it’s a good premise for an anime, and it would allow for a lot of historical topics I’m personally interested in to be explored, but the series falls short. Instead, what we get is a series which at some parts feels like it’s ripping of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and at other times is teaching children semi-correct science.

Characters

Rather than going through individual characters, let’s go through them in groups. The first group is Senku (the protagonist) and his friends from school, Taiju and Yuzuriha. While Senku is the brains of the operation, Taiju is the brawn. Together they make the perfect team.

But then we throw Yuzuriha into the mix, and even after watching the entire first season I’m still not sure what she brings to the table. As far as I can tell she’s just the token female character of the main trio.

Taiju and a broken "statue" from the anime series Dr. Stone
Taiju and a broken “statue”

The Tsukasa empire is the next group, which is the antagonistic group of the series so far. I’m guessing at some point the Tsukasa empire has to be defeated and the series won’t end there, but I’m not entirely sure. This group is dedicated to being “anti-science,” and no, there’s not a good reason for this to be the case.

Basically, they don’t want the entire world to be revived from petrification. And since Senku does want that, and is also very much into science, the Tsukasa empire takes an anti-science stance simply because it’s the opposite of Senku’s stance.

The final I’ll just refer to as the stone village, because the name of the village isn’t actually revealed until later in the series. This is a village made up of people who were born and raised post-petrification event. They don’t really know anything about the world of 3,700 years ago.

This village is also where we spend the majority of the series, and some of the notable characters are Kohaku, Chrome, Kinro, Ginro, and Suika (I guess). The most important is Chrome, because although he doesn’t know what science is, he’s a scientist at heart.

Science

I’ve discussed the issues with the science in this series at length in my episode reviews. So instead, let’s discuss how the “science” of this series actually diverted the series from the premise it laid out at the start: which is to rebuild and save humanity. And yes, this section will include spoilers.

Dr. Stone sort of advertised itself as this science x history series which was going to go through all the major scientific developments throughout human history. However, it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t actually going to happen, which is a shame because it seems a lot of people, myself included, were looking forward to that.

But that in itself isn’t really an issue. Just because a series isn’t how I wanted it to be doesn’t make it a failure.

Senku holding a gun from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku holding a gun

It didn’t take long for Senku to reinvent gunpowder, which would make taking down Tsukasa relatively easy. However, that would also eliminate the major conflict of the series, so that obviously can’t happen. To prevent this, we get some mental gymnastics on the part of the author.

It goes like this: Tsukasa figures out that Senku is making gunpowder (because apparently he’s also a super genius). Then there’s a weak excuse for why Senku can no longer make gunpowder. And then Senku decides to build a whole bunch of other inventions to take down Tsukasa in a roundabout way.

However, none of his new inventions will actually take down Tsukasa. He still needs either gunpowder, or the talk-no-jutsu. And since this is a shounen series, I have a feeling the latter is what we’re going to see in the end.

Conclusion

Overall, Dr. Stone is a 5/10 from me. It’s almost a 6, but not quite. There were just way too many flaws with the logic of the series for my liking. And that’s especially egregious considering this series advertises itself as a science series.

If you really want a more in-depth look at this series, I did weekly reviews for every episode. In those reviews I discussed the specific issues I had with the science of each episode, so they’ll give you a much better understanding of why I have this series rated as I do.

But, if you enjoyed this review or found it to be helpful in any way, click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN and CaptainRainbowPizza for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika and Sensei tiers respectively this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the second season: Stone Wars is available.

Dr. Stone Episode 24

Dr. Stone Episode 24

Voices Over Infinite Distance

We’ve finally made it to the end of Dr. Stone. Or should I say, the end of Dr. Stone season 1, because season 2 was confirmed. And while I don’t particularly want to watch season 2, of course I’m going to. So when that finally comes out, tweet at me or something to let me know if you want it to come back as a weekly review.

If you’re a “fan” of Dr. Stone, that’s great and all, but I’m so glad this series is over so I won’t have to see people talking about it anymore. Yes, it’s a fine anime, but that’s all it is.

But as for this episode in particular, I’m going to have to go ahead and say it was bad. I know some of you will probably want to defend it, and you’re free to do so in the comments, or on Twitter, or over on Discord. But this was basically a recap episode as the final episode of the season.

Once the (first of two) radios was complete, I figured we’d just skip to the second one being complete and then get into some action. You know, have Senku, Chrome, Kohaku, and Magma infiltrate the Tsukasa Empire and deliver one to Taiju and Yuzuriha. But no, once the radio is done we move on to recap.

3,700 Year Old Record

By now you should know how I feel about characters breaking out into song for no real reason in anime — I don’t like it. And that was basically the main purpose of the record Senku finds, which his father and his companions had left behind.

When we first learned about the record I figured maybe we’d get a bit more backstory on Senku’s relationship with his father, but that’s not the case. Didn’t we learn at one point that Senku was adopted or something? Is that ever going to be relevant in the story?

Or was that just stated because Kohaku is technically a descendant of Byakuya, so then it would be frowned upon for Senku to end up in a relationship with her. Not that I think Senku is ever going to end up in a relationship with anyone in this series.

Senku showing off a glass record to the Ishigami Villagers from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku showing off a glass record to the Ishigami Villagers

Unfortunately, the only flashback we got involved Byakuya & co. working together to create this record which they left for Senku to find.

However, this record could turn out to be more interesting than it seems. We don’t know what else was on it. Was it simply Byakuya’s introduction and then the song? Or was there perhaps other information preserved on this record after the song that we didn’t get to hear?

And what about the other records? It seemed to be implied that there was a record hidden within the tomb stones of each of the founders. So what information could be hidden on those records, if they exist? We’ll probably never know.

Season Recap

As I’ve already mentioned, the entire middle section of the episode basically just recapped the major events of the season. We got to see Senku finishing some of his inventions, and we had characters reminding us of what happened in the past.

I’m not sure what other series I’ve brought this up in regards to, but you should never end a season with a recap episode. Instead, you should include an “episode 0” at the beginning of the next season for those who want to be reminded of the previous season’s events.

There are many times I get to a second season which comes out years after the first, and they dive right into the action. In those cases, I’d really like to have had a quick recap. And in those cases, a recap episode in the previous season isn’t going to help. You think I’ll remember that Dr. Stone episode 24 was a recap episode by the time season 2 comes out? Of course not.

The Future of Stone

Now before I conclude this episode review, I want to touch on the future of this series. And by that I mean both the second season and what Senku has planned for the future of Ishigami village. Starting with the latter, Senku tells Chrome, and the other villagers, that there’s a whole lot more entertainment in the “future” than just music.

He mentions, games, movies, manga, you name it. And I did enjoy the visuals which were added to go along with the things he was listing off, so let’s go through those.

First we have Dungeons & Dragons; then some sort of VR video game; I’m not quite sure what’s next, but it looks like Dragon Ball was based on it; then a movie theater; 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Jurassic Park; then Sherlock Holmes; War of the Worlds (the original, not the US radio broadcast); a Nintendo Switch; and finally, Goku from Dragon Ball Z.

Goku from Dragon Ball Z as depicted in the anime series Dr. Stone
Goku from Dragon Ball Z

Of these entertainment inventions, which do you think we’ll see next in the series? My guess is that in season 2 we’ll have the introduction of movies. We already have recorded audio this season, so recorded video seems like the logical next step.

And speaking of season 2, it’s going to cover the “stone wars” arc, which means we’ll finally have Ishigami Village fighting against the Tsukasa Empire. Though, I don’t really see this series becoming a battle series. While there will definitely be fights, I don’t think they’ll be all that different from those we’ve seen so far.

Rather than true fights, we’ll get to see how science can defeat aggressive combatants while causing zero casualties. I bet Tsukasa won’t even be killed when they finally defeat him.

Conclusion

What did you think of Dr. Stone episode 24? Did you like it? Hate it? Do you think having a recap episode as the final episode is a good or bad idea? And, how many of the references did you pick up on when Senku was listing off all the entertainment options in the “future?” Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community. We have some good emotes in there too.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN and CaptainRainbowPizza for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika and Sensei tiers respectively this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Dr. Stone Episode 23

Dr. Stone Episode 23

Wave of Science

It was brought to my attention that apparently I didn’t complain about Dr. Stone episode 22. So to make up for that, I have some complaints about episode 23. But actually, I do have a couple of complaints regarding this week’s episode, and I was going to bring them up anyway.

My first complaint is that this episode was basically just an invention montage episode. We don’t really get any development aside from the fact that Senku completes his “cell phone.” But, Ishigami Village does get upgraded in the process, so I guess there’s that.

The other complaint I have is that Gen breaks out into song randomly in the middle of the episode. I should honestly drop my rating of this series down a point just for that, but I’ll hold off for now. Seriously though, I hate when anime break out into song for no reason.

Dr. Stone isn’t that good of an anime to begin with, so the addition of musical elements is just that much worse. If it was actually a good anime I might be able to overlook it a bit more, but it would still have made me consider dropping my score.

Maker Friends

Perhaps you remember way back when Kaseki was first introduced into the series. I’m pretty sure at that at that point I commented about how he would be little more than a background character. Well, it turns out I was somewhat wrong, and the Kaseki montage in this episode helped me realize that.

I mean, he’s not a character who gets very much screen time in most episodes, but he has been instrumental in the construction of just about every invention since his introduction. And this week we finally get a little bit of background information on him, though it doesn’t really matter.

Kaseki crying from happiness from the anime series Dr. Stone
Kaseki crying from happiness

Apparently because he was the only maker in the village, he was always a bit of an outcast. So to make sure he was accepted by the other villagers, he always used his crafting to create things which would improve the lives of everyone else. In fact, he’s even the one who originally constructed the bridges.

However, we don’t have to feel too bad for Kaseki because he’s no longer alone. He now has Senku and Chrome as his maker friends, and I guess Suika too, but she’s not a real character so she doesn’t count.

Chieftain Senku

Now, the only part of the episode I’d say really mattered was when we were shown Ishigami Village being upgraded by Senku’s inventions. Yeah, Kaseki’s background was nice, but it was also really short. And the “cell phone” invention is still something I think is pretty worthless at this point in the story.

But the upgrades to the village do matter. They mean that the quality of life will improve, villagers will be able to live longer, and perhaps other people from the Tsukasa Empire will be enticed to join the Kingdom of Science.

Kokuyo leaving Ishigami Village in Senku's hands from the anime series Dr. Stone
Kokuyo leaving Ishigami Village in Senku’s hands

And these upgrades to the quality of life of the villagers is something I mentioned in a previous episode review (I don’t know which one). Although Senku has these road maps to create his big inventions, all the little inventions along the way have their own uses.

This is something the previous Ishigami Village chieftain, Kokuyo, realizes in this episode. Yes, Senku invented oven things to help produce components for his “cell phone,” but they can also be used to keep the villagers warm throughout the winter.

“Cell Phone”

For a few weeks now, I’ve been mentioning how the thing Senku is building isn’t really a cell phone. Yes, it’s a radio wave transmitter and receiver, but that’s not exactly what a cell phone is. In fact, what he built has nothing to do with the “cells” the word “cell phone” is derived from.

But that’s not really what I want to discuss right now. No, what I want to discuss is the “cell phone” itself, and how there’s no way that Taiju and Yuzuriha are going to be able to hide it from Tsukasa and his underlings — especially while under 24 hour surveillance.

First of all, it’s large, as I had previously pointed out it would be. Second of all, it’s not nearly as robust-looking as one would probably like. I don’t think that “cell phone” is going to hold up for long if it’s out in the elements. And lastly, they have to build a second one now for Taiju and Yuzuriha to use.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to communicate in basically any other way? Yes, the village got some upgrades along the way, but using these “cell phones” without being found out is completely absurd. What, is Taiju going to hide it in his cave and nobody from the Tsukasa empire is going to check?

Conclusion

What did you think of Dr. Stone episode 23? Did you like the fact that the episode was basically one, long montage? Did you like Kaseki’s backstory? What about Gen breaking out into song randomly? Let me know in the comments (unless you actually did enjoy Gen’s song, then keep that information to yourself).

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on all the latest content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date.

You should also come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community. All the cool kids are doing it, don’t you want to be popular? But actually, join the server.

And finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier, and CaptainRainbowPizza for supporting at the Sensei tier, this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, and the benefits you’ll receive for doing so, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the final episode of Dr. Stone season 1 is available here.

Dr. Stone Episode 22

Dr. Stone Episode 22

The Treasure

Dr. Stone episode 22 was extremely average. I liked that Magma got a bit more character development, but at the same time, he didn’t. Also, apparently Senku is strong and heavy enough to support Magma’s weight hanging off the edge of a cliff. I’m not saying that’s the most egregious offense in anime, but physics doesn’t work like that.

So anyway, let’s start with the pseudo-character development Magma received in this episode. We all know Magma was a minor villain earlier on in the series, but what about now? Is everything that happened between Magma, Chrome, and Senku water under the bridge?

Kind of, yeah. And the problem I have with that is that there’s no real reason for it. We’re just left to accept it.

It’s sort of implied that over time Magma has recognized the benefits of Senku’s inventions, but barely. He doesn’t really begin to respect Senku until the events of this episode. And by then, it’s already too late — his character development has seemingly already occurred.

Think of it like this, why did Magma risk his life to save Senku in the cave? Because Senku is the chieftain? Because Gen told him Senku’s birthday is coming up? From what we know of Magma, he doesn’t care about those two things.

My assumption is this: Magma is afraid of Gen because he doesn’t understand that his sorcery isn’t real. So when Gen told him to return Senku by a certain time, Magma saw this as a threat. Either he returns Senku safely and on time, or Gen will use his sorcery against him.

So is that really character development? No.

The Dungeon

However, although Magma’s character didn’t develop in that way specifically, he does get some real development over the course of the episode. Because of the actions he takes in his attempt to keep Senku safe for Gen, he learns a lot about Senku.

First, Magma sees that Senku trusts him more than he really should. For example, when Magma holds the ladder steady as Senku crosses the ravine. Senku doesn’t appear to have any hesitation, even though he knows Magma could kill him at any point.

Then we get to the part when Magma pushes Senku out of the way so he doesn’t fall into a mica pit. Despite Magma’s best efforts to hide this, Senku realizes what he did. And because of this, Senku refuses to let go of Magma despite it meaning he’s going to fall into the pit as well.

Senku and Magma as an architect and construction worker respectively from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku and Magma as an architect and construction worker respectively

But even once the two are stuck in the pit together, Magma still isn’t sure about Senku. It’s at this point that Senku explains that he doesn’t see himself as inherently better than Magma. Instead, they both excel in different areas, and can achieve even greater feats by working together.

This is when Magma’s character development truly begins. Remember, everything helpful he did up to this point was likely caused by his fear of Gen’s sorcery.

Then, at the end of their adventure, when they find the rocks they’ve been searching for, Magma once again puts on his bad guy facade. Chrome takes this seriously and believes Magma is about to kill them, but Senku doesn’t even respond. He keeps his back to Magma because he trusts that Magma won’t hurt him. And this proves a lot about Senku’s character to Magma.

The Treasure of Friendship

Aside from all the mineral treasures which were found in the cave, Senku, Chrome, and Magma came back with another treasure: The treasure of friendship. Okay, so maybe it isn’t quite right to say that Magma is friends with the other two now, but they have a mutual respect for one another.

And this respect is actually seen all throughout Ishigami village. While the trio of spelunkers were off mining, Gen rallied the other villagers and together they built Senku an observatory for his birthday, complete with a telescope. This was the villagers’ way of thanking Senku for everything he’s done for them up to this point.

Senku and his new telescope from the anime series Dr. Stone
Senku and his new telescope

According to my calculations, which could very well be extremely wrong, January 4th is Senku’s real birthday. And I have to specify “real” birthday, because there’s an offset between his age and his birthday. He’s roughly 17.25 years old on the date of his birthday.

We know this because of the information we’re provided. He’s been “alive” for a little over 6,268 days, and he awoke from his petrification on April 1st 5738 CE. Additionally, this tells us that the petrification event occurred at some point in June.

Also, the Dr. Stone universe doesn’t appear to have leap years, meaning their version of Earth has 0.25 days less per year than ours.

And now that I’ve done that math and come up with those conclusions, just as you’re probably wondering, I too am wondering why I even bothered. Oh, and I could be off by a year on Senku’s age. I’m pretty sure this is the second winter since he awoke, so I based his age on that.

He could be 18.25 if there was another winter I forgot about, which seems very likely.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts on Dr. Stone episode 22? Why do you think Magma seemingly had a change of heart and was helping Senku and Chrome through the first portion of the cave? Was it because he was afraid of Gen? Also, check my rough math, how old do your calculations say Senku is? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. And follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on future content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date.

Also, we have a Discord server you should join. We discuss anime, games, music, and more. There are even group anime watches when I’m not too busy with everything else.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

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