English Dub Review: Dr. STONE “King of the Stone World”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Taiju and Senku are about to revive Yuzuriha from her stone prison. However, coincidentally, a lion jumps out of the wood and starts chasing them. This is when Taiju remembers that he came across “the strongest primate high-schooler” when he first woke out of the stone. They decide to use the de-stonifying liquid on him in order to get help fighting the lion. Just as they do, they are surrounded by lions, but the legendary high-schooler — AKA, Tsukasa — leaps out of the rock and kills the lion in one punch. He reveals himself to be a very nature-oriented individual; he aims to use all of the animals, as part of the circle of life. His values seem to be centered around a naturalistic way of living, and he vows to protect Taiju and Senku.

The trio seems to get along well and wind up grinding calcium carbonate in order to farm, create cement, and make soap. One day, Tsukasa tells Senku about how he was once beat to an unrecognizable point by a fisherman who “owned” part of the beach, after taking some shells for his hospitalized sister. He punches (presumably) his statue’s head off. He says that Senku should only revive the “young and pure-hearted,” and to make sure they “keep this world natural and not owned by anyone.” Senku stops him from destroying another statue and coolly disagrees, declaring that he’ll revive everyone.

Our Take

Only two episodes in and these characters already seem stone solid.

Firstly, the voice acting so far has been pretty high quality. It’s hard to judge the English dub voice acting of any anime by the first episode, as it’s very easy to dismiss it for the sub. When swishing the “flavor” of the voices around from the first episode compared to this episode, it’s easy to see that the variations in tone and expression will only go further as the series goes on. These are definitely voice actors with more than “one-note” — and it’s great to see Aaron Dismuke (previously the soft-voiced Alphonse Elric) taking on a role like Senku’s.

Plot-wise, it’s looking like things are heating up with conflict. They don’t say “three’s a crowd” for nothing. For a moment, it seemed like the show’s core focus was going to be science and survival, but the power of Senku’s de-stonifying liquid is surprisingly showcasing itself as a tool for evil. Tsukasa’s morals and values seem to be just the beginning of the real conflict — which is now not only about life itself, but the question of who “deserves” to live.

This is definitely way more than expected out of episode two. If they keep this pacing up, there’ll be no drag and all plot — which is exactly the way it should be. The dialogue of the characters is so natural and funny that it really adds another layer of realism to the cast (also, the fact that Senku and Taiju were childhood friends seemed so obvious that the reveal was simply complimentary.)

So far? Things really rock.