Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Ah today is a good day. The day where Dr.STONE reinforces what I loved about it when I first read it. You see this week Science takes center stage, we meet the ancient sorcerer Chrome, and the legendary Kinro gets his fabled weapon. Enough with the preamble though, welcome to this weeks Dr.STONE and lets get into it.

Starting off, I want to talk about the fun presentation of the episode. From the OST to the sound effects, Dr.STONE did a good job of accentuating the animation. Take for instance the segment of Senku dropping mathematics on Chrome. With the sound of everything and the kitchen sink falling with it. Or the music during Senku and Chrome’s final conversation. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I am pretty sure I heard bagpipes in there. The last anime I remember using bagpipes was Fairy Tail, and even then the OST was never Fairy Tail’s issue. In Dr.STONE though it expertly brings out this sort of terrifying whimsy. Getting across the scale and destruction of what has happened, while still having the whimsy of Senku and his science. To put it simply, I could listen to those bagpipes all day. Love the instrument.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 7 [Where Two Million Years Have Gone]” →

Welcome one and all to my favorite episode of Dr.STONE yet. This week we finally meet our main character Science, the natives, and Taiju takes a hike. Let’s dive in!

Starting off let’s talk production, specifically I want to talk about the music. You see, I think it safe to say that Dr.STONE has one of the more unique OST’s this season. With a strong focus on rap/hip-hop and mixing in some more “ancient” instruments like woodwinds and drums. It’s not something I normally expect to see in anime, but it’s clearly worked before. Just look at Samurai Champloo for proof of that. I think it’s a good mix to combine the modern day with the “Stone World” of the series. OP and ED aside, both of which I enjoy the actual songs of, this episode had some great pieces. One the stands out to me played during Senku’s scene with Kohaku. It’s short, but something about Japanese Rap makes it a nice change of pace from American rap. But enough of that, onto the meat.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 6 [Two Nations of the Stone World]” →

Welcome one and all to the ending of Dr.STONE’s first arc. This week we have some BS plot armor, some questionable morals and a vision of what could have been for the series. Lets jump in!

With this episode, we have completed Dr.STONE’s first arc. One widely considered, at least by those I talk to, to be the series weakest arcs. As a manga, Dr.STONE was never particularly good at setting up its premise. It just kind of throws you in there, and then ignores the greater mystery for an immediate threat. But then, that immediate threat disappears for a few dozen chapters, before finally returning for the conclusion. None of this is to mention that the actual conclusion to this introductory arc sort of ends on a rather annoying note. I will get into specifics after the break, but suffice to say, for this ending to occur everyone had to be stupid. It’s one of my biggest bugbears with the series, this section right here. And I think reveals the weakness of this adaptation. We will get to that though. For now, onto the episode!

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 5 [Stone World The Beginning]” →

Welcome all, to the climax of Dr.STONE’s opening prologue. A lot happens this week! We see a young Senku, Tsukasa catches up and perhaps the greatest change, Yuzuriha gets a haircut. Lets dive in!

Right off the bat, for as much as I enjoyed it narratively, visually Dr.STONE was pretty weak. The biggest example of this is Tsukasa’s run through the forest. With the ground and trees looking like they came from a completely different series. Tsukasa himself standing out against the background textures. It doesn’t help Dr.STONE that Kimetsu no Yaiba is airing in the same season either. Ufotable’s CGI landscapes are both better done, and better directed. Going for dynamic camera movements and effects such as fog to cover any iffy textures. Using a first person view to get around actually placing 2D characters into a 3d scene. Yes, its production tricks, but they are clever and result in a far better looking scene than we got here. Luckily, that was Dr.STONE’s worst offense this week. The rest resulting in a fun, if melodramatic, cliffhanger.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 4 [Fire the Smoke Signal]” →

Hello everyone, time for another day at the anime blogging grindstone. This week Tsukasa’s conflict comes to the fore, Yuzuriha wakes up and our team goes for a hike. Let’s get to it!

This week, Dr.STONE continued to make good use of Boichi’s original art. However we are starting to see some of the limitations of his style. Originally a hentai artist, Boichi’s style is rather exaggerated. After his years of work on Sun-Ken Rock, for men this results in veritable mountains of muscle. He clearly enjoys drawing that muscle as well, which you can see in Tsukasa. Turning them into rock solid titans. For his female characters however, he runs into a similar problem as Saber from Fate, though more exaggerated. With all of them looking the same, with the same proportions and similar doll-like faces. It makes for appealing manga stills with his exaggerated art. But an anime necessitates a lesser amount of detail, and this just ends up making Yuzuriha look… off, for me. Its not something that is going to change though. For better or worse.

Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 3 [Weapons of Science]” →