English Dub Review: Dr. Stone: Stone Wars: “Prologue of Dr. Stone”

Overview: Tsukasa’s (Ian Sinclair) life hangs in the balance and Senku (Aaron Dismuke) is forced to make a crucial decision as he along with Taiju (Ricco Fajardo), Yuzuriha (Brittany Lauda), Kohaku (Felecia Angelle) and rest of the gang set sail on their next adventure. 

Our Take: Fresh faces for the Kingdom of Science gathering around and being absolutely dumbfounded with whatever crazy modern science contraption Senku comes up with is at this point just a badge of honor for every new addition and one I continue to get a huge kick out of. Especially with those outrageously derpy faces that Dr. Stone has mastered to perfection. 

Then there’s Gen. The longtime veteran who is so desensitized to the amazement of Senku’s creation and ambition, that at this point he just rolls with it the best he can. One who is understanding of Ukyo, Niki and You’s bewilderment. It’s these moments as well that make the payoff of the conflict that tad bit sweeter. It’s fun to see new characters have these nice little moments of interaction with longtime members of the Kingdom of Science.   

Tsukasa’s sense of humor during his surgery was a welcome addition and nice to see a comedic side to his relationship with Senku. Although, as expected, it was not meant to last due to his condition and was merely added levity before their sorrowful farewell. 

However, what should have been a scene that required you to have the Kleenex on standby instead misses its mark somewhat. During Tsukasa’s final moments before he is frozen, Senku reminisces about his beginnings in the stone world with Taiju and Tsukasa. That’s all well and good but it feels inconsistent to a certain degree. There weren’t any especially warm moments with Tsukasa during that time, just tension as the nature of his true intentions were called into question. The scene with the mushrooms could have been at least animated so some more emotional impact could be cultivated, but not even that was present. Mind you, they have always had a mutual respect for each other and a would-be friendship was contemplated, not to mention voice actors Aaron Dismuke and Ian Sinclair give a genuinely heartfelt performance. But this seems to distort those past stories by romanticizing them just a bit too much for my taste and strong leading performances can only take this finale so far with these kinds of glaring issues. Thankfully I will say that this finale leaves the door open not only for Tsukasa’s return to the fold as a newfound companion but creates a lot of intrigue for the already announced third season. By exploring and expanding upon the lore of the primitive stone world and the past modern one, the overseas adventures of the next entry seem especially promising. 

“Prologue of Dr. Stone,” even with its inconsistencies, still manages to deliver a decent ending to the Stone Wars arc in what is lifted up by heart, humor and great VA performances from the cast.