Back to the Stone Age: Dr. Stone First Impressions

The first few weeks of the Summer 2019 season are now over, so it’s time for me to give you guys my opinions so far. Today, I’m going to be talking about Dr. Stone – the sci-fi adventure series by TMS Entertainment.

Please note: There may be some spoilers in this post.

Dr. Stone tells the story of how humanity was completely petrified by a mysterious light. Not a single soul moved on Earth for thousands of years. Buidlings decayed and plants had grown as they wished to in the wild. One day, high-school student Taiju wakes up from his rocky state, finding himself in a world full of statues. Luckily for him, his science-loving friend, Senku, woke up a few months before him. Senku has a plan – a master plan to get civilization kickstarted with the power of science.

Now, first of all, there were a couple of reasons why I picked up this series in the first place. I was first interested in Dr. Stone due to the fact that many readers of the manga seemed to give it so much praise. And, I was interested in the plot. The synopsis leaves so much to the imagination of the reader. I definitely wanted to know how this new civilization developed.

After three episodes, I’m still intrigued. The actual plot may not be the most interesting we’ve ever come across, but it’s a show that leaves you guessing. What are the guys going to do next? Who knows? Do they have good motives? How does Senku actually cope with Taiju? Again, who knows?

Speaking of Senku and Taiju, another thing I like about the show is the character dynamics. Here, we have a stereotypical combination of characters. A science nerd more intelligent than he should be and his sidekick that is the complete opposite. Despite the stereotypes, I do like the dynamic between the two protagonists. There’s something so charming about their relationship.

There are more than Senku and Taiju, of course. We’re introduced to Tsukasa in the second episodes. And if it wasn’t for Tsukasa, who knows what would have happened to them? It may have been a very short series if the quiet, muscular (and rather attractive, if I may say so) student hadn’t ‘awoken’ in time to save them. Of course, there are some differences betwen Senku and Taiju and Tsukasa. So much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if Tsukasa becomes the main antagonist of the show. Nevertheles, I’m intrigued to see where this goes. Senku tries to trick Tsukasa. A lot. But Tsukasa is also quite intelligent and is able to figure things out. I’m interested in how difficult this will make things for our protagonists.

We do also have some girl power! Although introduced in the first episode, we begin to see Yuzuriha – Taiju’s love interest – more in the third episode. That said, she doesn’t do too much apart from following Senku and Taiju around. This makes me question whether she’s actually going to be useful or not in the long-run. I may be being a little too harsh on a show that’s only been going three/four weeks, but my first impressions of Yuzuriha aren’t great.

For the most part, I do like the characters. Yet, I am also quite concerned. I’m concerned about Senku and Tsukasa in particular. They are both characters which rely on their intelligence or their athleticism. They could arguably be classed as being somewhat overpowered in their respective skillset. As I continue to watch the series, I do hope that the characters will become more fleshed out. I’d hate to see the characters being two-dimensional Mary Sues.

Another concern I have as well, is the repetition. There are only so many times that I can bear to hear the words “you big oaf” or “one billion percent”. As much as I love Senku, there is no need for him to say these catchphrases all the time, right? In my opinion, moderation should be key here.

Despite a couple concerns, I am actually enjoying Dr. Stone this season. It comes as a little bit of a surprise to me, but I’m somewhat glad that I’m enjoying something of a different genre than I’d usually watch. I love the art. The voice acting is fantastic. This is one to definitely be watching if you’re not watching it already.

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Dr. Stone is available to watch on Funimation and Crunchyroll worldwide! It’s also available to watch on AnimeLab for those in Australia and New Zealand!