English Dub Review: Dr. Stone: Stone Wars: “Full Assault”

Overview: After recruiting Nikki (Katelyn Barr) to their side, Senku (Aaron Dismuke) and the gang get going on building a car, not only to end this war but to save Chrome (Matt Shipman) who has been taken prisoner, while we are given more insight on Ukyo (Mark Allen Jr.), the archer with Daredevil-like hearing. 

Our Take: “Full Assault” really takes the name to heart as Stone Wars begins ramping up and will soon start firing on all cylinders. Although it was technically in the last episode, we’re now given a more formal introduction to that of Ukyo, Tsukasa’s right hand man and eagle eared archer. Right off the bat and through Gen’s insights, it becomes clear that Ukyo makes decisions of his own volition. Not making him some mindless drone of the Tsukasa empire mindless and/or a one note character. Similarly to Nikki and Homura, he has his own agenda, and because of that feels all the more real in the process. And the fact that it could be a scheme against the Tsukasa empire makes it even more intriguing than that of the others thus far. Even with all the new and interesting characters being brought into the fold, the crude animation at times with simple things, like Magma running being a stagnant shot, is unfortunate. While it’s not unusual mind you, it’s also not appreciated either. You’d think that with a mere 11 episode season, it would allow for movement with more life than this. 

Like previously mentioned, this episode gets the gears turning, both literally and figuratively as Senku and the Kingdom of Science begin building a car of all things. At this point, nothing this guy builds shocks me anymore. But I mean it when I say that as the show doesn’t take 3-4 episodes going through the explanation. As engaging as the learning process can be, it doesn’t lend itself to this shorter and faster paced arc and I am glad they found easy workarounds to explain how they were able to get the parts quicker than usual, like the beeswax. Also choosing to take the fight directly to the Empire of Might shows even more just how properly paced this arc is as progression gets underway not just action wise but in regards to the overarching narrative as well. With just seven episodes remaining, this story still has much it has to deliver on. It has, however, begun moving in the right direction with some great pacing and continuous introduction of new characters on Tsukasa’s side in this fourth episode of Dr. Stone: Stone Wars.