English Dub Review: Dr. Stone: Science Future “Giant Step”
Overview:
Next stop: the Moon! Senku and his team head to the Americas in hopes of harvesting the required materials.
Our Take:
One thing I love about this show is how it legitimately teaches you things. It’s not its purpose by any means but it’s almost like an anime Bill Nye. Sure, the moon might not actually protect us from asteroids on purpose, but the fact that we never see the other side of the moon is something I never thought about before.
What sets this show apart isn’t only the fact that you learn things, but also in how the story is presented. Sure, some typical shonen fights happen, but most of the “conflict” comes in the form of solving a problem using caveman-era resources. In this particular episode, a petrified hair got stuck in their electrical wiring, which made radio and video feeds cut out entirely. This was doubly stressful because they were in space. There’s nowhere else you can go, and if you mess up, you’re probably dead. It made for a stressful and tense atmosphere, but seeing how Senku solves problems is most of the reason you watch.
One of my only issues with the show is that, from what I’ve seen, Senku seems to know everything. I understand he’s a genius, but even geniuses have blind spots in their knowledge. Not Senku, apparently, because he knows how to fix pretty much anything, it seems. He needs help in the form of manpower, that’s it. I haven’t seen a large chunk of the series, so I could be wrong about that, but in most episodes I’ve seen, there’s nothing Senku needs help with from a knowledge standpoint.
The art style is really one of a kind for Dr. Stone. Every character has some unique characteristic that sets them apart, so you know exactly who you’re talking about. There’s been a melting pot of different cultures in this series, and it’s all represented visually in how the characters dress and, in some cases, their hairstyles.
Senku might be Aaron Dismuke’s best role. I might not have kept up with the show until now, but whenever I think of Aaron, Senku is one of the first characters that pops into my mind. That and the fact that he sadly aged out of being able to voice Alphonse Elric in FMA: Brotherhood. But Senku lets him let loose, and I can’t imagine anyone else voicing him.
