English Dub Review: Dr Stone – Science Future “Our Dr. Stone”

Everyone gets wasted. And then stoned

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

After mowing down Kohaku, Tsukasa, and Hyoga, Stanley’s forces finally close in on Senku and the Science Team, with horrific results, while Xeno’s faction back at base uncovers that Joel has fully unlocked usage of the Medusa. Things are at their most dire for the Kingdom of Science, but they have one last move to play.

OUR TAKE

Huh, so I guess that’s why Kohaku, Tsukasa, and Hyoga were together in that ED alone? Weird. That may seem like a bit of a lax reaction to what went down in this episode, which saw what was no less than a massacre of Senku’s side, followed by a last minute choice to gamble on another self-inflicted global Petrification like the one that caused this mess, only this time using Why-man’s recording of Senku’s voice to trigger it in the Medusa which Joel was finally able to remake. Those are all astonishing wham moments that all build up to something huge in size and scope after so many episodes that felt…well, like they had less gravity. Truth be told, I spoiled myself on this plot point awhile back, but that’s not the show’s fault. However, the impact of this is undercut (not terribly, but notably) by a couple different factors. First of all, seeing so many major characters gunned down so dramatically practically gives away that they’re not in any real danger. Dr Stone, being serialized, is not bound by having a status quo, but it has already demonstrated the life saving effects of petrification, and the group had already planned to petrify on a smaller scale in case things go bad in the operation.

But secondly, we still have three episodes left in this section of the season, with at least a dozen more after that. Yes, this is still technically the FINAL season, and large swathes of permanent character deaths do have increased likelihood as the story nears conclusion. But this also isn’t that kind of show, and in fact the characters have worked tirelessly to overcome things that were initially seen as death sentences. Had this somehow been delayed to the end of this stretch of the season, or even pushed by two to the second to last, it would have at least been a bit more impactful, but with three episodes remaining, it feels less important. That all said, this is still a major turning point for the story and is probably going to lead us into the beginning of the final act for the story, and I’m pretty damn intrigued to see what the aftermath of a second global petrification will be like. Who will re-emerge first and take the lead in the direction this will take? Or will the rest of this series just be panning shots of statues of our beloved protagonists? Would certainly be a bold choice if they tried that. And what the hell we can do with only three more episodes! Stay tuned as we find out and smoke em if you’ve got em!