English Dub Review: Dr. Stone “The Kingdom of Science’s Counterattack; The Medusa’s True Face”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

With Revival Fluid in hand, Senku and the Science Team begin work to depetrify their friends, but soon find Ibara has shattered them all into pieces. Kohaku stays under the radar by shattering Ryusui herself, but sends his pieces back to Senku through radio controlled cars. Once Ryusui is back, Senku makes scuba gear to grab the others, prioritizing Kaseki and also reviving Taiju in the process. They eventually collect everyone’s pieces, as well as another unknown person, but can’t revive everyone just yet. Kaseki begins working on drones. Meanwhile, Ginro is picked to “marry” the Master but encounters Ibara, who Ginro distracts with a stink bomb so he can see the Master…is actually petrified AND resembles Soyuz, but is mortally wounded by Ibara. Kohaku is found out as an infiltrator by Moz, but learns the truth from Ginro and decides to shout it so that the two of them will be petrified, trusting that Senku will find a way to free them. As they’re turned to stone, Kohaku gets a good look at the Petrification Device, confirming it is not magic, but science.

OUR TAKE

The second half of Dr Stone’s third season kicks off with a pair of very eventful episodes, not skipping a beat with the momentum left off at Episode 11. Senku’s team has already gotten to work reviving everyone else, under the radar of the Petrification Kingdom, who think their Petrification Beam is a death sentence. It’s kinda funny to think about how that may have been the case at the start of the series, with the scene of Tsukasa breaking a statue apart being seen as essentially murder, but now that we know the pieces can be reconstructed with enough time and being able to find them, it’s mostly just inconvenient. One might think that reduces the tension a bit, especially for the ending scene of Kohaku willingly being petrified to at least keep Ginro from dying, but it’s actually become part of the tactics the Kingdom of Science can use against less advanced civilizations. As long as they know how petrification works and how it can be undone, they have an advantage over any who rely solely on superstition and mysticism. And with the Petrification Device confirmed to be technology, it’s only a matter of time before they understand it well enough to defeat it too.

We also learn a bit about how Ibara is controlling his citizens. He already looked like a Disney villain to start with, but it’s shown here he has apparently petrified the true ruler, revealed to be a relative (possibly father) of Soyuz. Given his recovered memory of being taken as a child away from the island by his mother to avoid petrification, being the heir of the previous ruler would be a likely reason they would need to run to avoid harm. Where this will lead Soyuz’ character once this is brought to his attention is unclear, though I don’t see him deciding to take up being a king. This is made worse by, based on the condition of the Master’s statue, his skull is somewhat exposed, meaning it may be impossible to fix him to a good condition before reviving him. If this half of the season follows the episode count of the first, we’re looking at another nine episodes at the very least, and with that in mind, I have no clear idea where this story is headed. However, if this season is like the past ones, I don’t see it letting me down any time soon.