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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Spartan Crafts Club

Overall I’d say this was a pretty good episode of Dr. Stone. There were only a few questionable parts, and one of them I think was only included to give Suika’s character some sort of importance. I’ll get to that towards the end of the review, though.

Episode 21 was all about crafting things which will eventually be used to build a pair of cell phones. But as I’ve mentioned multiple times in the past, the term “cell phone” makes this invention sound like it’s going to be familiar to us. Instead, it will likely appear more like 1950s technology than what we have today.

But cell phones aside, I first want to talk a little bit about Ishigami Village as it’s depicted in this episode.

The very first thing I noticed was that the bridges connecting the two islands of the village to the mainland have been reconstructed. This is sort of important, but not as much as you might think. Yes, the islands protect the village from some attacks, but as I’ve already explained last week, Tsukasa’s army could just burn everything down again.

And that “again” is another big reason why the new bridges aren’t all that important. It would be one thing if the village was actually on the islands and the villagers would have had to rebuild off the island, but the village was burned down. So not only did they rebuild the bridges, but they rebuilt the village as well.

The final thing I want to point out here may have actually been there all along. On the main island I noticed a pathway going down to the coast on the left hand side. Was that always there? I felt like there were cliffs on all sides originally.

Santa Claus Confirmed

So getting into more of what happened in the episode, Senku creates a bunch of light bulbs with the help of Chrome and Kaseki. He then uses their water wheel generator to power these light bulbs and strings them up around a large tree. And of course, he did this because it was December 25th.

That’s a nice way to celebrate and all, but nobody else in Ishigami Village besides he and Gen know what Christmas is. I imagine he’ll do this eventually, but it would have been nice to see him light up the village instead of a tree. I’m sure the villagers would have appreciated that more as well.

But what’s more important about this scene than anything else is that it’s confirmed that Santa Claus exists in the stone world. We don’t know if he was petrified originally and broke free, or if he was never petrified in the first place, but he exists.

So, if he was originally petrified, then who saved him? Maybe he’s a member of the Tsukasa Empire now.

But if he wasn’t ever petrified, then what has he been doing for the past 3,700 years? And how did he avoid the petrification? Is that just part of his magic? Did it not reach the North pole? We need answers.

Computer Assembly

Going back to the inventions of the episode, after creating light bulbs Senku decides that it’s time to make vacuum tubes as well. These are basically what make electronics work. And if you’ve seen 1950s computers, you’ve probably seen the over-sized vacuum tubes Senku has Kaseki making.

But this had me thinking, why is Senku trying to make a cell phone at this point in time? I know, you’re going to tell me he’s doing it so that he can stay in contact with Taiju and Yuzuriha, but my point is that’s all. There are so many easier ways to do that.

I get that communication is easier when you have phones, but as I’ve stated before, Taiju and Yuzuriha are going to have to hide it somewhere. It makes so much more sense to use alternative methods of communication. They could even do something simple like break off the tops of trees in certain ways to signal certain movements of Tsukasa’s forces.

There’s really no reason why a cell phone has to be created right now, and I’d actually go so far as to say it’s a detriment. Sure, there are important inventions being made along the way towards the cell phone, but what if all of their effort went towards those inventions instead?

What if Senku actually did make gunpowder and guns rather than a cell phone? Senku mentioned that they need bat guano which Tsukasa currently controls. But it’s not as if Tsukasa controls the only cave around that has bats inside of it. And there are plenty of other ways to get the materials needed.

So instead of assembling a computer, maybe Senku should work on assembling something else that will actually be useful.

Tungsten

But, building a computer is what Senku has set his sights on for now, so I guess that’s what we’re doing. However, the bamboo filament he was using for his light bulbs is incapable of handling the temperatures of burning phosphorus in the vacuum tubes. So is that the end of his dream?

Well, according to Senku, yes. This is one of the parts of the episode I didn’t think made much sense. Senku isn’t the kind of person to give up. When he sets his mind on a goal, he knows what he has to do to get there. But more importantly, he knows it’s possible to get there because it’s been done before.

So when he claimed that they couldn’t make vacuum tubes because bamboo filament was the best filament in the stone world, that went against everything he’s done up to this point. Modern light bulbs don’t even use bamboo as their filament, they use tungsten, so why would he think bamboo is the peak?

As I’ve already said, the reason Senku gives up on science seemingly out of nowhere is because it gives Suika a chance to shine, literally. I’m not sure if I’ve said it in any of my previous episode reviews, but I’ve made it known in my Discord server that Suika barely qualifies as a character. So I guess this was an attempt to make her useful.

The glowing stone she finds is known as scheelite, and it’s a tungsten ore. This is what reminds Senku that he can use tungsten to make a better filament for his vacuum tubes, and so he, Chrome, and Magma head out into the caves to find some more.

Does this mean Magma is going to get some character development? Probably not.

Conclusion

So what do you think of Dr. Stone episode 21? Did you think this was a good or bad episode? I’m going to err on the good side, but this still isn’t my favorite series. And why do you think Senku gave up after his bamboo filament failed? Have you come up with a different reason than I did? Let me know in the comments.

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 the latest content. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date.

And 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.

The Age of Energy

Dr. Stone episode 20 introduced some pretty major inventions: the gear, the water wheel, gold thread, and most importantly, cotton candy. And of course the one invention I have the strongest opinion on is the cotton candy, so expect to read more about that later on.

But before we get to the inventions of the episode, we need to discuss the climate. And by climate I mean both the “political” and physical climates.

Winter is coming. This isn’t the first winter of the series, but I don’t quite remember if it’s the second or third. So obviously Senku and the other reanimated humans of generation zero have already figured out how to survive in the cold.

However, the people of Ishigami Village have been living in this area for far longer. Generation zero might know how to survive through the winter, but the villagers have a system in place. And this is one of the reasons why Tsukasa doesn’t want to attack them during the winter.

Remember, the Tsukasa Empire is basically a group of hunter-gatherers who live day to day. I don’t believe Ishigami Village is a farming society yet, but due to the structure their society has, they do have the capacity to store excess food for harder times.

So based on this information, both sides determine that the siege on Ishigami Village is going to happen in the spring. But is that really the best idea? Should Tsukasa wait that long to strike? Let’s find out.

Siege on Ishigami Village

There are three main reasons given for why Tsukasa wants to delay his attack:

1. Ishigami Village can outlast his army in a siege.
2. Ice will form around the island making it harder to approach.
3. Given more time, the Tsukasa Empire can bolster its numbers.

However, Tsukasa is wrong about all three of these points. First of all, yes, Ishigami Village will have more food stockpiled for the winter than the Tsukasa Empire. But, they’ll have no way to resupply during the siege (except for Suika, probably). Meanwhile, the Tsukasa empire can still hunt and forage what little there is to find.

Second, the fact that the lake around Ishigami Village is going to freeze over is actually a good thing for Tsukasa’s army. If the lake is unfrozen, then they’ll have to either use boats or make their way across the single bridge. In the winter, they can simply march across the ice.

And let’s not forget that the bridge is currently down as far as we’re aware. This means the Kingdom of Science can’t retreat to their island fortress if Tsukasa were to attack immediately.

Finally, while it’s true that the Tsukasa Empire can gather more troops over the winter, that may not be to their advantage. During that time Senku will be developing his own scientific weapons which he otherwise wouldn’t have. Also, more troops means more mouths to feed during the winter months.

And, as a final nail in the coffin, if the villagers retreated to their island, Tsukasa could just burn everything to the ground with flaming arrows. There’s nothing the Kingdom of Science could do to prevent that unless they planned for it in advance.

Cotton Candy Machine

But since Tsukasa has decided not to attack just yet, that means Senku is free to build weapons of science as he sees fit. And the first weapon of science he creates may just be the most devastating for the Tsukasa Empire: a cotton candy machine.

Senku actually claimed that some people may defect from the Tsukasa Empire after hearing about this marvelous machine. I don’t think anyone (other than Homura) will, but maybe I’m wrong. Something tells me that cotton candy isn’t the invention that’s going to change the dynamic of the war.

I’m also a bit confused as to how the cotton candy is going to convince Homura to defect. I mean, last week I mentioned that this was going to happen, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon and in this way. I kind of figured it would be some sort of a deal like with Gen and the cola.

Instead, it seems like the cotton candy itself isn’t what’s going to convince Homura to swap sides. She’ll probably be drawn to the Kingdom of Science because they don’t treat their citizens like trash. The cotton candy is just a way of showing that Senku is nice even to his enemies.

Okay, but before moving on I do have one more thing to say about cotton candy. Does Homura not know how to eat cotton candy? You don’t lick cotton candy. That’s just going to make it all sticky and messy. If you lick cotton candy then I want you to know you’re preemptively banned from my Discord server.

The Water Wheel

Finally, we have the water wheel, invented by Chrome and Kaseki. Unfortunately for them, it was invented thousands of years earlier. But, that doesn’t make the invention any less impressive. In fact, I’m actually surprised Senku wasn’t the one to pitch the idea of building a water wheel considering how simple, yet effective it is.

With this invention, Ishigami village will theoretically have an infinite source of electricity. They can have light when it gets dark, heat when it gets cold, and the capability to create even more advanced technology. The only thing they really need to develop now is farming and they’ll basically be set.

Oh, and that water wheel can even help them with farming. They can use it to pump water up to wherever their crops happen to be. This water wheel, not the cotton candy machine, is likely to convince some Tsukasa Empire citizens to swap sides.

Now that the water wheel exists, the cotton candy machine can be put to use as it was originally intended. Cotton candy is nice and all, but creating gold thread which can then be used to create radio waves is even nicer. And keep in mind that I was right about Senku not inventing a cell phone.

Let’s also not forget that he somehow has to sneak the radio transceiver to Taiju and Yuzuriha while under surveillance. The Ishigami villagers are under surveillance, and Taiju and Yuzuriha are under surveillance. Perhaps this is where Homura will come into play. Will she become a double agent like Gen?

Conclusion

What do you think about Dr. Stone episode 20? Is the invention of cotton candy going to turn the tide of the upcoming war? Should Tsukasa have attacked immediately, or planned to siege Ishigami Village over the winter? 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. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date. You can also follow me on other platforms, usually @DoubleSama as well.

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 and the benefits you’ll receive, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.