English Dub Review: Dr. STONE “Weapons of Science”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Senku quickly realizes that Tsukasa has a “purify the world of bad people” complex, which has historically never ever been a moral of a good movement. He meticulously considers that as long as he doesn’t tell Tsukasa where or what the de-stonifying elixir is, he won’t run off and heal whoever he deems worthy — killing the unworthy on the way. Taiju comedically spoils the what/where of it, though, so Senku develops a plan to fight Tsukasa.

He quickly instructs Taiju to reanimate Yuzuriha before Tsukasa gets back from his elixir hunt, and he does. Yuzuriha is brought back in a tearfully joyous reunion with Taiju. However, when Tsukasa shows up, Taiju aims to defend his friends at whatever cost, no matter how many “beatings” he has to take from Tsukasa. Seeing how pure of heart Taiju is, Tsukasa agrees to give the group one day to recuperate. They stage a “panicked retreat” at the camp, hoping Tsukasa wouldn’t catch on to their next plan.

They book it miles into the wilderness and are able to determine their location based on Yuzuriha’s sentimental knowledge/memories of Japanese landmarks. They eventually arrive at a hot spring (in what was Hakone) and Senku reveals his plan to make gun powder from the sulfur to defeat Tsukasa before he suspects anything.

However, Tsukasa immediately deduces their faked escape, and their plan to build a gun by remembering Hakone’s resources.

Our Take

Was it just us, or did Tsukasa’s realization of Senku’s entire plan seem a little too quick?

Granted, Senku isn’t the most subtle person in the world about his aim to solve all his problems with science, but it seemed pretty fast for how the scenes were progressing. If Tsukasa really is just that based, our heroes are going to need a lot more than a gun to stop him. At the start of a new world, nobody wants another Hitler.

It was really great to see Taiju reunite with Yuzuriha — to see her in an actual character role definitely adds another ingredient to the pot. If there’s one way to describe Yuzuriha’s voice, it’s “sweet” — not loud, not overbearing. It’s not squeaky and childlike like a lot of anime girl voices are. This — on top of the fact that they seem to be respecting her as a character instead of just “anime girl” — makes for a promising future.

Much like Tsukasa, it’ll be exciting to see where her development goes. If Tsukasa brings back a person who turns out to be morally complex (like most people are) then it might make him question how he determines “good” and “evil.” If Taiju is hurt protecting Yuzuriha, she might just get super jacked and become an amazon queen to protect him. There are lots of different turns they could make.

One of the main reasons this show is so good so far is because of how natural the dialogue and character motivations are. The scenes that are meant to be funny are actually funny — and the character scenes that are meant to be genuine feel genuine (specifically Taiju’s.)

Most importantly — everyone (including the audience) learns something new every episode. Who knew copper ions prevented most plant growth?