The Kingdom of Science is in quite a bit of a pickle. After the crew of the Perseus is petrified with their boulder bodies thrown overboard at the command of tribe leader Ibara, Senku, Gen, Suika, and Soyuz are left behind to formulate a plan. Thanks to undercover operatives Kohaku, Ginro, and Amaryllis running interference, our crew has the means to make unlimited revival fluid, enough to revive everyone petrified. There’s just one tiny problem: Who to revive first and how the heck are they going to dive deep enough to retrieve their prodigiously petrified pals? Even with the combined strength of Ryusui and Soyuz, they just don’t have the lung capacity to dive that deep for the time required. So you know what that means…it’s crafting time! What will our green-haired genius come up with in order to ensure our bros are able to revive their crafting crew?
Time for Josh to bat cleanup for the Fall 2023 Anime 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 takes a hiatus like this, I realize, especially after seeing the multiple delays of Zom100: Bucket List of the Dead, that sometimes to ensure quality, you have to pace yourself. If this first episode of the second half is anything to go by, the production crew has taken full advantage of their downtime. This is a great kickoff to the rest of the season, giving us just enough of a recap to reacquaint us with what’s going on, while not spending half the episode explaining. In a way, I love how each episode after a long break kinda starts the same way–we get a recap of how we got here, we get an explanation of the current crisis, and we get a big crafting project with Senku that helps reintroduce us to the characters. It’s a formula that has worked well this whole time, and it still works well today. This time around, we get a little more subdued yet no less awesome OP, “Haruka” by Ryujin Kiyoshi, and a very nice closing theme, “Suki ni Shinayo”, by Anly. Also, as a bit of a bonus to celebrate the second half of the season, we get a same-day English dub! Guess Crunchyroll had to give the viewers something after the fiasco regarding the subtitles of a certain show. In any case, our dub cast picks right up where they left off and sounds like NO time has passed, prodigiously playing their roles with aplomb. Aaron Dismuke still shines as Senku, and long may he reign.
So where does that leave us with the second half of Dr. Stone Season 3? Dude? Really? This is a MUST-SEE. Dr. Stone is an EVENT every season it airs, and this season promises to be no different. As I mentioned earlier, while this is not my favorite story arc of the manga series, the overall story and the characters involved still make this a great watch. If you’ve followed the series this far, then it should be a no-brainer. If you’re new to the entire franchise and have no idea who the guy with the leek-like hair and his rather vocal big oaf pal are, then what the heck are you doing here?! Go back and start from the beginning—you have a LOT to catch up on. Get Excited.
Dr. Stone is streaming on Crunchyroll.
