Category: Dr.STONE

Hello all, and welcome to a double feature for Dr. STONE! Apologies for the missed week, but work called and I had to fly to Brussels. Such is the busy life of an adult. Regardless, it’s time to catch up! Onto the last two weeks of Dr. STONE.

Starting off, a general overview of the two episodes we are covering this week. It was a lot of the more human focused bits. Once again dialing in on how Science changes the villagers lives, giving purpose and such. From creating stoves to stay warm during winter to the “brain vs brawn” dynamics. Along with some just plain weird stuff, like Gen’s little working song. Still, while I don’t agree with all of these messages, that they exist at all makes for some interesting topics to talk about this week. As far as production goes, Dr. STONE once again keeps it all rather static. Lots of still shots, occasionally very pretty ones, with speed or focus lines to give the illusion of motion. It should be rather obvious by now, but Dr. STONE is not a particularly good looking show. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 22/23 [The Treasure/Wave of Science]” →

Welcome one and all to Dr.STONE and my first post on the new site! I hope its working well for anyone, and if you have any issues, please leave a comment somewhere. We want to make it the best we can. That said, let’s get into the episode.

So really quick, lets run through Dr.STONE production this week. There were a number of picturesque scenes throughout I feel. From the Christmas tree to the dawn of the New Year. Like always, I think Dr.STONE pulls these off well. Instilling a good amount of emotion into what are otherwise pretty basic shots. Something about the music, the framing and the characters all comes together to make them greater than they otherwise would be. The big thing though from this week I think is actually how the science is presented. As we are starting to get into very small things, science which requires precision. Unlike the water wheel or the generator or even the ramen stand, the lightbulbs and such are to small to really show off building. At least to do so easily I feel. So I think Dr.STONE did a fine job depicting scale and precision here. Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 21 [Spartan Crafts Clubs]” →

Hello all, to this double feature of Dr.STONE, as this lazy bones plays catch up. Apologies for missing last week, but a combination of factors made getting the post up in time… difficult. Enough excuses though, onto the episodes!

Starting off, since I missed two episodes, let’s talk about the production for a second. As in these two episodes we saw both what Dr.STONE does poorly, and what it does really well. For the first, the obvious answer is of course action. Quick, fluid movements, simply don’t play well with Dr.STONE’s visual style. Nor does it really fit the series itself. For as I have said time and time again, Dr.STONE is not an action series. However what the series does well, in my opinion, is filling tiny scenes with large emotions. Scenes that, in the grand scheme, mean nothing yet Dr.STONE fills them with human emotion. The easy example of this being Homura and the cotton candy in Episode 20. A simple thing, meaningless in the greater story, but to me it speaks of Dr.STONE’s true strength. That being its portrayal of humanity.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 19/20 [To Modernity/The Age of Energy]” →

Welcome one and all to another week of of Dr.STONE! Normally this is where I do a whole spiel, about what happened this week, etc. However this episode really solidified that I am just not into it. That Dr.STONE is really starting to lose steam with me. It has moments of brilliance there, as we see the science play out. But as a whole I just feel it doesn’t work as well as the manga. The gags last to long, the pacing much to slow compared to the manga. Meanwhile, I am realizing my nostalgia for reading the manga so many years ago was misplaced. Perhaps it was the magic of seeing a non-battle shounen anime. Or just the excitement of seeing Boichi’s art once again. Regardless, that magic has worn off, and the flaws are showing through.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 18 [Stone Wars]” →

I hate to say it so flat out like this, but I did not enjoy this week of Dr.STONE. From the focus on the overarching story to some issues on the actual presentation of it all. I found a lot of issues with this week, and it’s time to just dive into it.

Across the board, nothing in this episode of Dr.STONE really wowed me. The whole thing just felt rather dull. This isn’t unique to the anime of course, I wasn’t huge on this section of the manga either. But for me it highlights one of Dr.STONE’s biggest issues, that being the overarching story. We saw it when the series first started as well, with Tsukasa. A lot of the opening section as it sets everything up was just weak. The series really only coming into its own as we left Tsukasa behind and transitioned to Ishigami village. Focusing much more on the science and such. Here we are returning for a moment to the overarching story. However instead of focusing in on our leads, instead its backstory. Even for good stories, backstory is a pain, so for Dr.STONE’s dull main story? It’s a bit of a death kneel.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 17 [A Hundred Nights and a Thousand Skies]” →

This week of Dr.STONE is a double feature, courtesy of my inability to write! Here we cover the conclusion of the Grand Bout, finish the Cure-All and then dive into the history of Ishigami village. So without further ado, since we have a lot to cover this week, let’s dive in.

Starting off, first an apology for missing last week. I simply had no inspiration for the episode. Nothing that I really cared to focus in on or write about. Episode 15 was just rather dull across the board for me, it was pretty dang straight forward. The fights/action for instance lacked impact, which makes sense considering it isn’t an action series. Unlike episode 14, there wasn’t really any sort of interesting science behind it. Meanwhile a number of the scenes in 15 just lacked the impact of the manga. Turning the page to some of Boichi’s best scenes. Take for instance the Cola scene with Gen, I don’t think it worked as well in the anime. Whether that be the sound effects or something else, I don’t know. But it, and others, simply didn’t stick with me. Resulting in no inspiration to really write about Dr.STONE.

Continue reading “Dr. STONE – 15/16 [The Culmination of Two Million Years/A Tale for the Ages]” →

And so begins the 2nd cour of Dr.STONE, complete with a whole new OP and everything. However for us, we are just picking up right where we left off. With Kinro’s fight, Senku’s science and an old friend returned. Let’s dive in!

In general I think this week was better than the last. Yes, the focus was still on the fights and yes this is still a Shounen. However it’s the manner, the focus of the fights, that differs. As last week was primarily on brawn and how it can be accentuated by Science. While this week Dr.STONE goes back to its roots and focuses entirely on science and teamwork. Of course before we can get to that, we have to talk about Kinro getting duped. I have to say, it was hard to write around knowing that would happen, and I am curious. What did you all think of the dupe? Was it setup fine and worked, or did it feel like a lazy contrivance to build tension? As Kinro has long been established as a bit of a rules lawyer. So while you read, please keep that in mind.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 14 [Master of Flame]” →

This is a difficult week for Dr.STONE, with what it has to follow up. Everything from production to the story just couldn’t seem to meet the same highs. As we start the Grand Bout, progress the cure-all and Kinro learns a thing or two about science. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, I hate to do it, but the production this week was… not great. Dr.STONE made it very clear this week that it wasn’t an action series. Oh the jokes and such were fine, there was plenty of well done comedy. I actually forgot about some of the memes like Salt Bae that were originally incorporated into the manga. However beyond that, the combat wasn’t great and sort of abandoned what made Dr.STONE fun. The detailed style just doesn’t fit the fast pacing required for this style of combat. Instead relying on a bunch of still frames, or simple repeated motions. It’s a shame, because we saw that Dr.STONE can get good fight animation. Gen’s assault looked pretty good for the short moment it was. But similar to Tsukasa’s scenes, these just don’t fit well with the shows style. Working better as still frames in a manga.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 13 [Masked Warrior]” →

Welcome to another good week of Dr.STONE, this time tackling a chapter I have been expectantly waiting for. As this week Senku and crew confront the dangerous side of science, Ginro finds his courage and we take another step towards our cure-all. Let’s get right to it!

First and foremost I want to talk about my personal favorite aspect this week, that being Sulfy-chan. It’s easy to see why she came in at #15 on the Dr.STONE character popularity poll. Despite the fact that she isn’t actually a real character. All that said though, Dr.STONE nailed her presentation this week. Really trying its best to harness the horror of the scene and the building dread of an enemy you can’t see. There are places of course that I think the manga did it better, but that is simply down to Boichi’s stellar art. I think that TMS translated it to motion well, foregoing some of the greater detail for slick animation. Such as her face melting, or her spinning into the bottle like a Proton Pack. So just as good, just in different ways. So credit to TMS there this week.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 12 [Buddies Back to Back]” →

Ladies and Gentleman who actually read these posts, this is an important week for Dr.STONE. As this week we meet Kaseki, perhaps the greatest old man of the season. Dr.STONE doesn’t stop there though. Introducing us to the wonders of glassmaking and giving us another heartfelt moment of technological progress. Enough of that though, in we go!

Starting off, Dr.STONE once again makes us appreciate the modern world through technological advances. The whole thing with Suika’s glasses was, in my opinion, beautiful. From discovering her issue, to making it clear this isn’t a defect or flaw. Dr.STONE really sells how much of an issue this would be in ancient times. Then, when it comes time for the grand reveal, the series knows when to hold back. No one says a word when Suika puts the helmet on. Letting her facial expressions and the scene itself sell the moment. Rather than telling the audience how to feel, it shows us. As someone who needs glasses in their day to day life, I loved it. It’s Dr.STONE once again slow-rolling the audience, without ever really screaming in our face, “APPRECIATE TECHNOLOGY”. If anything, the series sort of throws that at us back with characters like Kinro.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 11 [Clear World]” →