Dr. Stone stars Senku Ishigami, a highschool genius who uses his intellect and scientific knowledge in order to survive in the new stone age that he finds himself in. He and his loud, enthusiastic friend, Taiju work together to discover a method to break people free from their petrification with Taiju, in particular, wanting to save his love interest, Yuzuhira. Together, they take advantage of the power of science in order to stop Tsukasa, an extremely skilled fighter who wishes to purify humanity by only reviving young, pure-hearted individuals and doing away with corrupted adults.
Dr. Stone creates a unique setting in which the power scaling of the series is measured by scientific advancement. A large part of its appeal is seeing how Senku and his team are able to recreate inventions such as medicine and steel in the stone age in order to get ahead of their adversaries. It’s not only a battle of intellect but of application as well and as the series progresses and more conflicts arise, more creative scenarios are presented. The show also has an educational factor similar to Shokugeki no Soma as it teaches and explains the science behind the inventions and tactics used by Senku.
Dr. Stone’s characters play a key role in making the story engaging. Senku is an extremely enjoyable protagonist with his cool-headed, calculating nature mixing well with his dry sense of humor. Taiju bounces well off of him with his loud, curious and loyal personality. The two characters have great comedic chemistry throughout all the episodes and there are plenty of great jokes spread throughout. New characters are introduced at a frequent rate and are given a good amount of time to introduce themselves. While she doesn’t truly show up until episode 3, Yuzuhira mostly serves as motivation for Taiju however she does compliment the cast with her kind and caring personality. Tsukasa is also a great villain, with him having a nice contrast between his stoic, respectful nature and his menacing strength. The show creates an interesting conflict between Senku and Tsukasa as Tsukasa’s ideals may seem objectively right but are morally questionable. Because of there not being any kind of technology to defend themselves at this point in the story, Tsukasa’s combat skill and strength make him a real threat to Senku and his plans to revive every human.
The show paces itself well with about 2-3 chapters from the manga being covered each episode. It gives the characters time to show off their personality and interact with each other while still keeping the overall plot moving without dragging. There’s substantial progress in each episode with the premise and overall conflict being presented and put into motion within the first 3 episodes.
The Dr. Stone manga has an incredible art style that produces striking panels and endearing comical reactions. That same style is mostly here in the anime however the animation itself isn’t doing anything extraordinary. It’s great to finally see the world of Dr. Stone colorized but you can see where some shortcuts were made with still shots and minimal movement here and there; there are standout shots but not a great number of them. This isn’t too much of a deterrent for me personally as Dr. Stone’s personality and uniqueness are still intact and there’s plenty here to enjoy. The comical expressions of the characters are a highlight however and bring even more life to the characters than the manga does.
The music in the show is fantastic and captures the natural feel of Dr. Stone. Melodic, orchestral tracks with acoustic flair accompany big, emotional plot moments while upbeat jazzy songs go alongside more comedic scenes. There’s also ambient songs that highlight the serene quality of Dr. Stone’s humanless word. Dr. Stone’s opening and endings are also great, with the opening, in particular, having the show's best showcase of animation. The colors throughout the whole opening are extremely vibrant with the incredibly fluid movement of the characters. Burnout Syndrome’s ”Good Morning World” has been gladly stuck inside my head. The ending song “LIFE” by Rude-A has a great vibe to it with a chill rap alongside an acoustic guitar instrumental.
Overall I had a lot of fun with Dr. Stone’s first 3 episodes and am looking forward to what’s to come in future episodes. If anything about what I’ve said about it interests you, I highly recommend giving both the show and the manga a try. You can watch Dr. Stone on Crunchyroll, VRV and Funimation.
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