Dr. STONE S2 – 11 [Prologue of Dr. STONE]

We did it everyone, we made it to the finale of Dr. STONE S2! It was a bumpy ride no doubt, but Senku and Tsukasa managed to finish strong. And with a season 3 already on the way the ride doesn’t stop here! So without further ado, lets jump into it.

First and foremost lets talk about what’s to come next, both in and out of the story. With a Season 3 already announced, Dr. STONE is about to really expand the scope of its story. From science vs strength, Naturalism vs Modernism, to more of a science fiction mystery about discovering the source of the petrification. For me this is nothing but a good thing as it is here that Dr. STONE really finds its stride. Not only do the conflicts change to better support the science focus, it also allows the series to explore a wider variety of science topics. For many though I can see this shift to being more adventure focused as a bad thing. We no longer have a main villain, a driving antagonistic force. But as a long time fan of the series I can only ask you give it a shot.

Moving on to the actual episode lets talk about Tsukasa and Senku. Once again Tsukasa is only ever interesting when interacting with Senku. It’s the only time he lets down his guard, this persona, and is allowed to interact with an equal. And what an interaction it was. His final moments with Senku were without a doubt one of the highlights of the season. The buildup of everyone leaving them alone, the idle chatter just to spend time with each other, the reflections back on their first camp and just how much time has passed since then. Even the parallels back to when Tsukasa killed Senku and their ability to laugh and reminisce over such times. It was a very organic way of doing a “Look how far we’ve come” scene, only much more personal than most usually are. Dr. STONE really nailed the emotions here I think.

As for the science? Well this is when we start to get into stuff I know nothing about. In theory deep freezing someone should work. We’ve had those conspiracy theories about Walt Disney freezing himself for decades after all. But the idea that you can achieve it in a stone age with a pump and a waterfall might be the most outlandish thing they have done yet. Not to mention the possible effects it would have on the brain and body once thawed. Of course most of this is probably resolved by the petrification healing, but its worth mentioning. Speaking of petrification healing, it was fun to see Senku brainstorm about possible ways to use to to help. Whether it be petrifying food or using it to heal, its just as Ukyo said: The man wants to use what destroyed humanity to save it.

Finally lets take a moment to talk about the reintegration of Tsukasa’s people into society. Dr. STONE made a small nod towards it but it was nice to see just how far behind they are from Senku’s group. Up until now there has been a clear line between “modern” and “primitive” people. This assumption that those born in the stone world are idiots. Slowly throughout the season though that has been changing, with this episode fully breaking down that wall. Not only having the “primitives” be the ones with all the fancy shit but by having them understand how it works far better than the “modern” people. From this point forward there are no more “primitives” or “moderns”. Just people. Just scientists.

All in all though, how was the episode? Well as a finale I think it did great. It wrapped up the Stone Wars saga and transitioned us well into the next big arc: Exploration. Dr. STONE still have to deal with some of the naivety that comes with being a Shonen series of course. Locking up villains instead of killing them, as Taiju says “Killing is bad”. But if that bothered you overly much then I doubt you would have made it this far in the series to begin with. As for what I thought of the series as a whole? Well wait a few days and find out. I’m in the process of writing the review now but between 2 other shows ending its uh… busy time.

See you all then and good luck in the spring season!