The Kingdom of Science is back again for this new season of Dr. Stone! Our group of intrepid scientists and villagers is about to hit the high seas in a brand new ship they’re building from the keel up to find the One Pie—Oh wait…wrong “Jump” series. My bad. The goal this time around is to hit the high seas to find a cache of materials left behind by Senku’s father thousands of years ago on Treasure Island and crack the mystery of the petrification beam, which would hopefully heal and revive former adversary Tsukasa who is in a primitive form of Cryo-Sleep. However, as per the Scientific Method, our crew must go one step at a time: first, they need a map to find out where they’re going and fuel for both man and machine so that they can survive the long trip. So, what does our intrepid crew decide to do? Time to make with Minecraft and start planting crops, of course!
So, if you guys haven’t picked up on it by now, I am a BIG fan of Dr. Stone. Like, for real, I have a gigantic wall scroll of the citizens of Ishigami Village hanging in my room, so this new season is kind of a big deal for me. I’ve been following this story in manga form for the longest time and keeping up with the anime since it premiered many moons ago. The fact that it’s still thriving in the crowded anime space warms my heart to no end. From the jump, we’re cast right back into the next big project. This show has a way of taking simple objectives and breaking them down into a series of steps. We don’t just suddenly magic up a ship after a few episodes—our crew must WORK for it using good old-fashioned elbow grease and hard science.
This new season looks to continue what makes Dr. Stone a standout in the trope-riddled shounen anime genre. It offers an excellent balance between action and character development. From the top down, nobody is painted black and white…with the exception of Gen Asagari. Everyone has beautiful layers of complexity that the viewers peel away with each interaction. You know that Senku is the brains of the operation, but he’s not an all-perceiving fountain of knowledge. He knows a lot, but he’s also smart about what he DOESN’T know. Heck, I learned something about our big bro Taiju that I missed when reading the manga! I won’t spoil it, but we do see a side of him that we haven’t seen thus far.
If I’m being totally honest though, out of all the story arcs in the manga, this is probably the weakest one for me. Not because of the story—it’s awesome as always—but the number of characters that are introduced kinda left me feeling overwhelmed and confused. Hopefully seeing the story animated in bite-sized, easily reviewable chunks will strengthen this arc in my view.
From a production standpoint, well, heck, it’s just as prodigiously polished as all the other seasons. Animation, music, voice acting, it all looks good! The new OP, “Wasuregataki” by Huwie Ishizaki, is a bop, as are all the OPs up to this point, but, as I always say, nothing can REALLY take the place of Burnout Syndrome’s “Good Morning World!” or the remix “Good Morning (New) World!” Seriously though, the animation in the OP will have you holding down the screen capture button on your keyboard or other input device. The ending ED, “Where Do We Go?” performed by OKAMOTO’S, is very mellow and laid back, but still a cruiseable bop with excellent visuals. These title sequences alone will make you wanna invest in a 4K Monitor. (Beneath the Tangles is not responsible for any financial hardships readers will encounter out of a desire to improve their anime viewing.)
Do I really need to say it? OF FREAKING COURSE I’m gonna follow this series this season! Dr. Stone is taking the shounen anime genre into a new, more intelligent direction, and I am all for it. I know I said this was the weakest story arc in the manga, but I can’t help but express confidence that the anime will iron out the wrinkles and give us yet another exhilarating season of adventures.
Get excited, people. It’s time to hit the high seas.
Dr. Stone New World is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
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Agree on the outlines, quibble on the details: this was one of my favorite arcs in the manga. But regardless, I’m PUMPED for this season!
[…] And of course, it has to be for one of my favorite shows of all time! Yes, Dr. Stone is back and picks up like it never even paused. While I’m always left with a feeling of disappointment when a show […]