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.
Now onto episode 22, The Treasure. This episode has a pretty interesting concept, with the whole idea of taking Magma into a cave alone with them. It was rife with potential that, personally, I think it kinda failed to use. The idea being that it’s a bonding trip, to get Magma on their side. But the issue is Dr. STONE has it come to a head almost immediately, without any real in-episode buildup to it. No doubt because there is a lot to cover what with Senku’s birthday at the end. However it made the whole relationship growth feel sort of rushed. The idea behind it was sound of course, Magma wanting to see what interesting things Senku could cook up. And how it has improved and enriched the lives of the villagers, him included. I just wish we had more time to let it stew is all.
Dr. STONE also presented a very romanticized view of Capitalism this episode. So much so you wouldn’t be to far out there to call it propaganda. I am of course referring to the cooperation between “Brains” and “Brawns” that Senku tells to Magma. Now technically he is correct. We would not have a lot of the things we have now if people didn’t go work and dig it out of the ground. Or manually build buildings and such. However to say they are treated equally by society is one of the biggest pieces of bullshit Dr. STONE has tried to feed us yet. Completely ignoring wealth disparity, working conditions, etc. I don’t want to get to political with all this, so I will refrain from my own opinions on it all. But suffice to say there were a lot of details left out of Senku’s sales pitch.
Outside of the cave though, Dr. STONE did give us one unquestionably good, wholesome moment. That one being Senku’s birthday. I liked how the hints were dropped throughout the show, legitimately leading up to this one point. With Gen, the smooth talker, slowly working this information out of him. From the day he woke up carved on the tree, to how many days he has been alive along with the current date. All this information came up naturally without really giving away its purpose. Which made Gen’s surprise work both on Senku and us, the audience. All the while managing to tie into Senku’s dream of going to space and Gen’s growing admiration for Senku, even from before they had actually met. Like with all of my favorite Dr. STONE moments, it was very human in its focus, small in its scale. And I really liked it.
Moving on, let’s talk about episode 23, Wave of Science. This week saw Dr. STONE finish up the cell phone, even giving us a little montage. It was a tad unexpected actually, as I assumed we would finish it mid way through episode 24, then give a finale of them using it. So it makes me a little curious where exactly the season will end. Still, it gave us a lot of fun science to play with along with a number of heartfelt moments throughout. From the usage of stoves to heat the village to the Chief noticing how helpful Magma is being now. We even got a small, completely out of left field, working song from Gen. It was funny, random and if I remember right completely anime original. At least so far as how complete it was.
On top of all that my favorite part of Dr. STONE this week was actually Kaseki. His whole bit with Senku and Chrome was great. Both the idea of them bonding over their work, and the question of generational divides. How just because Kaseki is 50 years older than them, there is no reason they can’t be friends. It sort of pushes the idea of a Meritocracy of course, dividing people up by their skill sets and those kind of social groups. But hey, Senku also high fives the kids and probably everyone else who is willing to work on their projects. So it’s a sweet moment of human connection regardless.
So all in all, how were these two episodes of Dr. STONE. To be blunt, it was pretty much more of the same. If you enjoy the science, the human moments of the series, then these were right up your alley. Sure there were bits that could have been done or paced better, but hey. It’s easy to nitpick any series to death. Like the animation could be better, the art for the most part is pretty standard, with the occasional scene heavily stylized in Boichi’s style. The music is good and the science is fun. For me, that’s good enough. Dr. STONE isn’t going to rock anyones socks or change the anime landscape. But its a good time and a nice break from action Shounen. And I am looking forward to its finale next week. See ya then!.
