C&C - Dr. Stone - “Voices Over Infinite Distances” [2/22] (SEASON FINALE)

[Kitschensyngk]

And just where have you two been?

SPRING IS COMING.

"This will be the beginning of the Stone Wars."
You have acquired DISNEY LAWSUIT!

 

[Nobodyman]

And that's the end of Season 1. They better get to the damn battle already in Season 2.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

 

[Yojimbo]

lol, yeah, we do need a second phone.

That's pretty cool the Founders left some clues in the Hundred Tales. I imagine the record could be just the beginning.

Ha, a Goku "cameo." Neat.

Seeing Tsukasa in the cave got me thinking again about why the Ishigami Village folk don't get petrified. A natural immunity developed over the generations or are we in for a shocking development next season?

 

[Peter Paltridge]

I'm gonna have to pause this on rewatch to see if it was really Goku. Wonder if they had to call Toei for permission on that one.

And after all that preparation, the show ends before we get the big war. Who knows how long it'll take to pick up that cliffhanger. Hopefully Toonami gets the chance.

Dr. Stone was certainly one of Toonami's more unique programs, and not in the HamTaro sense. It was a nice change of pace....shonen by way of Bill Nye.

OT: Dammit Mike! Keep your politics out of my better cartoon show!

His ads have been inescapable for over a month, but Toonami was the last great refuge....He breached the wall!

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Seeing Tsukasa in the cave got me thinking again about why the Ishigami Village folk don't get petrified. A natural immunity developed over the generations or are we in for a shocking development next season?

Spoiler

The people from Ishigami Village are descendants of Senku's dad and the other astronauts who were on the International Space Station when the big petrification happened.

 

[Yojimbo]

Spoiler

The people from Ishigami Village are descendants of Senku's dad and the other astronauts who were on the International Space Station when the big petrification happened.

Exactly, that petrification wave looked like it was triggered from a point that they saw on the space station and it may not be a natural virus that stayed around. It was just the one wave then that was it. If that's so, then whoever did so assumed there were no people left, hope this doesn't turn into a Lost thing where there's a station and a button to press that could send another wave. Eh, it's pretty far away from them in a whole different country.

 

[PicardMan]

Vinyl is probably at least more recognizable than cassette tapes to gen Z kids. Feels awkward when I have a few late 90s casette tapes lying around.

Anyway, this was a pretty unique shonen and it's a shock that a show like this is second in the lineup. Toonami fans' tastes are diversifying judging by the success of this and Food Wars. Speaking of rock based music, how about some obscure band Petra as Petra means rock.

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. I didn't really blame Senku for not explaining that they'd need to repeat the process all over again considering it was so hard to make just one cell phone. It was pretty cute how Chrome was just so excited over science when he talked to Ruri. Confessing to her while everyone else was around her would have been putting her too much on the spot and made it less personal anyway. It was kind of interesting how one of the stories Senku's father left behind basically hinted at a time capsule. It was also quite impressive that they not only made a working CD out of glass, but it survived for thousand of years.

It was sweet how Byakuya wanted to leave something behind for Senku. While he was right in that Senku wouldn't be into that kind of sentimental message, it was still sad that he didn't say that he loved him one more time. Senku is not particularly emotional, but I'm sure at least part of him would have liked to hear it. Although, the fact that Byakuya knew that Senku would be there to hear the CD shows how much faith he had in his son and that he deeply cares for him. Still, the message was all about leaving something behind to help give Senku and everyone else hope. I loved Lillian's song and the singing was quite nice. Even though she couldn't perform for crowds, her song touched all of the villagers' hearts. There was just something so beautiful and tragic that Lillian's song could reach her descendants thousands of years after she died, especially with that visual of Lillian singing in front of Ruri. It was a nice way to show what kind of impact she could have even at this point.

It was quite touching that everyone was set on restoring humanity after listening to the CD. They were already amazed at just hearing the founders' voices, but they were more determined than ever before to help Senku. That brief montage of what kind of entertainment the world used to have was funny, mainly because they actually did show a Nintendo Switch and a brief image of Goku. Now Dragon Ball is obviously huge piece of Japanese media and the Switch is the most recent Nintendo console system, so they would both stand out for the audience. It was just funny to see that, especially Goku. It was also nice to see a bit of Taiju and Yuzuriha. It's a shame that they didn't reunite with Senku and meet his new friends, but that will most likely happen sometime during the second season.

Overall, it was a pretty good episode and a good season finale. It sets things up pretty nicely for the Stone Wars while also making it feel like a natural stopping point for the time being. The season as a whole was pretty solid. It is a different kind of shonen series, but that made it feel more unique. Despite the first episode and the general premise of the vast majority of humanity being frozen in stone for thousands of years, Dr. Stone is usually a pretty upbeat series. It can be silly and funny with its gags and characters. There is still a serious tone to it, but I think blending in some comical moments and elements help to make it more engaging and fun than if it was always serious. The main focus is how science is so amazing, which is true, but I also like how it gives a hopeful theme to the series. Even though they've lost so much during these thousands of years, Senku is still determined to restore humanity and effectively bring their world back through the power of science. It really brings a more hopeful and optimistic feeling for the series for humanity to overcome such huge odds.

The characters were also pretty likable. Even though Senku is ridiculously smart, I really like the moments where he does become more emotional. It shows that he does care about the people around him and that makes him more of an endearing lead than he would have been otherwise. As much as I like Taniju and Yuzuriha, I kind of don't blame them for wanting to introduce the villagers instead. It gave Senku different characters to bounce off of who wouldn't know about his world and it helped progress the overall storyline as well. Chrome, Kohaku and Suika all had pretty solid moments throughout the rest of the season. The scientific explanations could sometimes drag on a bit too long and I'm still not too happy with Magma's redemption either, but I didn't have a lot of huge problems with the season. It was an interesting different kind of shonen series with some pretty funny bits and heartfelt moments to make it more engaging. I'm sure that season two will eventually make its way to Toonami, although it's hard to say when considering we don't have a release date for it yet. I'll be sure to check it out whenever it does get on the block though.

 

[Terror of Death]

Thoughts on season overall

Pros:

Comedy. It was a lot funnier than I originally thought it was going to be. I got some laughs from the first few episodes but things became much better once they introduced the villagers. The facial reactions of the characters and delivery from the voice actors really sold it.

Character development. I was surprised that so many of the cast, even some of the minor characters received some type of growth. Despite being the main protagonist Senku seemed like he received the least amount but I mostly fine with that since the others made up for it.

Educational value. Very rare to see that in Shonen anime especially the more comedic ones. Usually the scientific elements are heavily exaggerated and or don't have any basis in fact whatsoever. I'm aware some of the outcomes were slightly exaggerated and some of the minor steps were skipped but it was still more realistic than most anime I've watched.

Subversion of the traitor/opportunist character trope. Gen's design, the first opening theme, and his backstory made me believe he was going to spend most of the series looking out for himself and being a villian. I thought he was going to play both sides until the perfect moment arrived for him to usurp Tsukasa or Senku or get enough followers and resources to make his own kingdom. Or after betraying the Kingdom of Science he would eventually realize the error of his ways and join them for good. I was shocked that he defected after two episodes and that all it took was healing his wounds and promising him some soda. He's definitely my favorite character in the series.

Cons:

Not enough screen time for Tsukasa. He basically became a non entity after he "killed" Senku and most of his scenes were short flashbacks of reviving people or talking to his henchmen. I thought they were going to show how he built up his kingdom and the struggles he had to go through as a parallel to Senku's journey. But he was pretty much sitting on a throne the whole time waiting to hear back from his minions like a typical saturday morning cartoon villain. A very major blunder considering his introduction made him out to be a smarter and more sympathetic villain than the usual strong man ruler type.s

Magma becoming a good guy. He didn't hesitate to try and kill Gen and nothing from his earlier appearances made him out to have some type of conscious. He should have either joined up with Tsusaksas men during the attack on the bridge or been portrayed as more of goofy brute who had a little bit of honor. Accepting Senku as the village leader and wanting to see more cool science stuff doesn't make any sense for his type of character.

Pacing. I noticed things started to drag around the time the group was preparing for the tournament. And some of the explanations and resource gathering scenes could have been condensed throughout the show. I guess the anime staff didn't want to end the show in the middle of the war but I feel they could have squeezed in another volume of material.

Space arc felt rushed. I expected another episode or two but once they landed or Earth things went by really fast and it ended somewhat anticlimactically. They also could have used the 100 tale thing to dole out the story a little bit over time and not reveal all the important moments immediately. The astronauts will probably make a few more appearances in future like in episode 24 but it will lose some impact for me.

Music. The bgm itself wasn't too bad but much of it felt out of place with the setting. They used too many different genres like rap, jazz, celtic and should of just stuck with one. I'm noticing this more and more with anime nowadays and Bleach seems to be the only one who was successfully able to pull it off. The opening and endings were great though especially the first ones.

Somewhat limited premise and protagonist. A lot of it is Senkus explaining things to everyone and most outcomes hinge on his knowledge and predictions being correct. Due to that there's not much room for his character to grow and there's a general lack of true danger or even a possibility of failure. They do throw in some unpredictability with the other characters but even then the outcomes usually don't change too much for the worse. That could change during future arcs but the general upbeat and comedic tone make me doubt it.

Some repetitive elements. Senku and Chromes catchphrases, the characters spending most episodes in the same areas, and even a lot of the shot composition and storyboarding was reused. It's not an action heavy series and the budget was definitely in the mid-tier or lower mid-tier range but the show would have benefited with a different director or studio at the helm.

Overall liked the show but didnt love it. A couple changes could have elevated it to being truly great but its still has a lot of good aspects. It's not one of the favorite Shonen Jump series but it's one of the most original I've seen.