Dr. Stone – It’s The Little Things

10,000,000,000% Worth Watching

When Dr. Stone first started airing, I really wasn’t that impressed with it. The potential for one of the best shows of the year was clearly there, but there was just something holding it back. Over time though, the show began to shine and quickly became one of the best series to come out this year. The reason for this is in the little things. It’s easy to forget the types of luxuries and comforts afforded to us in our daily lives, but Dr. Stone is a heartfelt reminder that it was a long road to get here. Mixed with a genuine passion for the topic of science, and you have a show just brimming with positives.

The One Caveat

Before I get to the good stuff, I feel like I should address the biggest complaint I have with the series upfront. Up until the introduction of Ishigami village, the show is pretty slow. This isn’t to say that Dr. Stone is bad during these opening episodes, far from it, but I found myself pretty disengaged. The biggest reason for this is the cast.

Senkuu is a fun character, but he alone can not carry the show. The reason why things so dramatically improve, beyond the general pacing and science stuff, is the way others play off of Senkuu. Don’t get me wrong, Taiju and Senku are obviously tight, but it is lacking. Even when they eventually add Tsukasa to the mix, the series villain, and Yuzuriha, the love interest for Taiju, things play out exactly as expected with very little “real” interaction between this initial cast.

Ishigami Village

Once the plot sheds these characters by “killing” Senkuu, the battle of brawn vs brain begins. That’s where the folks in Ishigami village come into play, and the show really opens up. This is an issue the manga seems to have as well, but there are a few good moments in here, they are just too far and few between.

If it weren’t for this, I would have easily given Dr. Stone the highest ranking, but unfortunately it falls just short of that. Putting that aside though, I have a lot of nice things to say about the anime.

The Good Stuff

Let’s get the surface stuff out of the way here. The characters are fun, the art is great, animation is generally slick, and the music is on point. There’s a reason that Crunchyroll chose to back this proverbial horse as a flagship series, so you probably don’t need me to tell you that it delivers on that front.

Rather, I would prefer to tell you about the thing that really sold me on the show. The one moment where I knew that any doubt that the series wouldn’t deliver were eviscerated; the moment where Suika gets her glasses.

While I didn’t shed any tears like many I know, this was a powerful moment for Dr. Stone. Not only did they animate this part particularly well to really sell the moment, but it genuinely captures something that is pretty important. A lot of things we take for granted in our daily lives aren’t things we’ve always had.

Not only this, but for Suika, this is the first time she can properly see. The closest thing I can relate it to is those videos where colorblind people get those special glasses and they just can’t believe it. There are other examples too, but even in today’s world stuff like this still happens. That’s pretty amazing!

The manga panels were the best I could do…

Furthermore, you get to go through the process with the characters. That’s really great. While stuff is obviously simplified and compressed for easier viewing, this is just another facet of the show that makes it work so well. Not only does it get you closer to the characters, but it provides a level of edutainment that we rarely see. The latest show to do something like this so well was Cells at Work!

While I wouldn’t necessarily use Dr. Stone as a teaching tool, it will undoubtedly help spark interest in the scientific field. There’s evidence that sports shows encourage enrollment in said sports, so it is reasonable to figure that will be the case here. That’s fantastic and even noble of the show, as it is pretty clear that this is at least some of the intent behind it.

The genuine love and passion for various scientific discussions present in the series, though somewhat shallow, are still really awesome. It’s these two things that elevate the show beyond the story itself. There are a lot of other great bits to this show, but I want to leave those for you to discover for yourself. Even some things surprised me, which most of you know by now is not an easy task!

Basically, Watch Dr. Stone

Despite the rough start, this anime is one that you shouldn’t miss out on. With the next season already announced, you can rest easy knowing this is likely going to be seen all the way through and that’s all the more reason for me to recommend it. If you avoided this show for some reason or somehow weren’t aware of it before, I hope I’ve been able to convince you to give Dr. Stone a try!

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What were your thoughts on Dr. Stone? Did it manage to wow or was it a complete flop? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! If you like my work here, please consider a donation by clicking either the Ko-fi or Patreon button below. I really appreciate that. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

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