Dr. STONE SCIENCE FUTURE

Episodes 13-14

If you've not watched Dr. Stone by this point, absolutely do not start here. Despite an attempt to bring viewers up to speed on the current state of Senku's quest to revive the world's entire petrified populace, by this seventh(!) cour, there are so many characters, and so many in-jokes, that it's hard enough for a veteran viewer to keep up. We start with what I assume is a flashback to Xeno's first meeting with his eventual purple lipstick-wearing, gun-toting enforcer Stanley Snyder. Young Xeno looks so much like Senku that, for a moment, I was confused about this gray-haired child's identity. Even as an adult, Xeno is essentially Senku's dark shadow – equally obsessed with science and its “elegance”, but willing to use it to wield power through weaponry and technological superiority. Despite his lack of people skills, Senku is an optimistic philanthropist who genuinely wants to help people and improve the world. With sating his curiosity coming first on his agenda, of course.

This first episode is even more dialogue-focused than usual, with Senku and Xeno spitballing relentlessly while trying to identify the source of the petrification beam from thousands of years previously. As usual, Dr. Stone strains credulity when it comes to the mechanics by which its scientist characters derive their solutions, but it's never meant to be taken seriously. Case in point – when self-taught neo-stone age scientist Chrome decides to barge in on Senku and Xeno's science discussions, he's bemused to find them blowing enormous glycerol-reinforced soap bubbles. Why? Why not? It's this kind of random, whimsical humor that either attracts or repels viewers from the show. I mostly kind of dig it.

What I dislike is anything involving the screechingly irritating side character Ginro. He's a one-joke character, in that he's physically useless, mentally weak, and courageously challenged. He adds nothing to the show, and every scene in which he appears is like metaphorical nails on a chalkboard to me. He's followed around by his inexplicably devoted manservant/bodyguard Matsukaze, and succeeds only in disappointing the poor man with his terrible decisions. Hopefully, Ginro will meet some painfully humiliating and sticky end this season.

Otherwise, the first episode is mostly concerned with setting up the main conflict for the season, which is Stanley's pursuit of Senku and Xeno across the sea (courtesy of Ginro's needless information-leaking screwup). It's not going to convince naysayers to return, nor will it attract new viewers. I find it entertaining enough that I'll stick with it to the end, even when the humor often fails to land for me.

Immediately, the second episode is improved by a distinct reduction in Ginro-related content, as he only briefly appears in a single scene and doesn't do anything egregiously irritating. Hopefully, he remains stuck in Stanley's ship's torture dungeon for the rest of the season, having his fingernails slowly twisted off, off-screen.

Instead, we meet a new gimmick character, and she's a pumpkin-flavored, adult-sized Suika! Dr. Chelsea was originally part of Dr. Xeno's conference at the time of the original petrification, and she received the message to remain (ludicrously) conscious for the several thousand years of immobility awaiting her. When she awoke three years after Xeno and Stanley, due to her appalling eyesight, she completely missed the signs erected to inform petrification survivors of the new settlement. Instead, she wandered down south into coastal California. There, she survived by apparently eating, wearing, and living in pumpkins. Even after being rescued and provided with functioning eyeglasses by Senku and pals, she decides to maintain a distinct pumpkin fashion sense. When we first meet her, Dr Chelsea's eyes are so screwed up due to uncorrected myopia that she looks several centuries old. I'm pretty sure that's not how faces work, but then her “normal” face has a perpetual cat-like smirk plastered on it. I'm not sure what's worse.

Xeno tries to tempt her to the dark side, but Dr Chelsea doesn't need decent eyes to see he's a wrong'un, deciding instead to align with Senku, mainly because he's “more fun”. Dr Chelsea brings her encyclopedic mind to the table, her grey matter packed with obsessively catalogued geographical details. If this were a Danganronpa game, she'd be “the Ultimate Geographer”. She's a bit less likely to meet a sticky, pumpkin juice-stained end in Dr. Stone, though. Already, she has proven useful to Senku by suggesting a shortcut to the central Amazon rainforest that doesn't involve sailing all the way around the bottom of Argentina and up the eastern coast. However, it hinges on finding a source of rubber to make motorcycle tires. Yeah, Senku's going to build a fleet of motorcycles so his team can roar across northern Ecuador and over the mountains to reach the Amazon River.

Dr Chelsea's misspelled “HELL” (should be “HELP”) canvases also help Senku's little ship gain some distance from Stanley's larger carrier ship by being re-purposed as massive kite sails. Stanley has more fuel than he needs, while Senku's ship runs on burnt wood, necessitating regular landings to harvest fresh wood. While it briefly looks like Stanley might catch them using his radar, Senku's always been blessed with a mix of both luck and resourcefulness. Despite the unlikely fortuitousness of Dr Chelsea's arrival (surely it would statistically be more likely she'd have woken alone, lived alone, and died among her pumpkins without ever encountering another human being), she's yet another bow in Senku's quiver. Senku might be annoying and hyper-focused on science to the exclusion of all else, but he has a way of dragging others into his enthusiastic, crackpot schemes. Even supposed antagonist Xeno seems happy to be along for the ride. No wonder, as Dr. Stone remains a great deal of daft fun.

Rating: 3.5 (Episode 13)
Rating: 4 (Episode 14)