Dr. Stone: New World

Episode 16

This week's Dr. Stone is a great example of controlled chaos. Our heroes face a situation where everything seems to be according to plan, yet something seems off. While neither Senku nor Ryusui can see where things went wrong (i.e., that Ibara has tapped their communications), they both conclude that the plan has failed. For Ryusui, it's a matter of instinct. For Senku, it's the fact that, based on what they know about the device, it's not being thrown correctly to turn them all to stone. Thus, Senku makes the call to retreat.

It's here that things get interesting. No one even questions the order. They simply run for the mobile lab as told. They are confused and have no idea why they are running when it seems victory is inevitable, however, the trust they have in Senku is absolute at this point. And when you think about it, that makes total sense.

None of them, not the modern humans or even Chrome know even a hundredth of what Senku does. Time and again, they've had to take it on faith that things will work as he claims they will—and by and large, they have. Because when it comes down to it, what they're all really trusting is science itself—and science works whether you believe in it or not.

The funny thing about the whole situation is that Ibara is a person who is clever and knows it—to the point that he overestimates himself. His plan to petrify the whole island is the nuclear option if there ever was one. It's setting fire to a house to kill some ants. Moreover, he's planning to sacrifice some of his troops in the process as he has left guards at the Master's compound. It is a plan that stinks of desperation—but then again, the unknowns of Senku's “magic” may have simply pushed him to take the safest course for the long run regardless of any collateral damage.

But the Ibara overestimating himself may not be his weakest point. Rather, that would be him underestimating everyone else. It never occurred to him that people like Soyuz with his photographic memory and Yuzuriha with her crafting skills could exist. To him, shattering the Master is irreversible and has assured his victory.

So in the end, we're left with Senku and the others on a near-suicidal mission to buy time for Yuzuriha and Soyuz. Their ultimate trump card is in the hands of a moron and somehow they have to get it back from him while fighting off nearly the entire population of the island. Moreover, there's no doubt that Kirisame and Moz are on their way—meaning things will only get worse for our heroes the longer things drag on. The tension is palatable and it looks like we'll be going full-steam right up until the end of the season.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I wonder how the fake petrification device came about. Given the secrecy surrounding the petrification device, did Ibara have some stone mason or woodworker make a copy and then turn them to stone to hide what they'd done?

• Can the petrification device turn the whole island to stone in a single shot? What is that thing's power source? A hand-held nuclear reactor?

• Everyone sneaking around while Nikki just takes out the boat guard with a single punch instead is a great little gag.

• Magma is the second strongest of the native heroes—second only to Kohaku. So the question is, can Nikki take him? I'm guessing that since she's proficient in judo (which is all about using your opponent's weight against them) and Magma doesn't have his weapon of choice, she probably can.

Dr. Stone: New World is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.