(DBZ Narrator): Last time, on Project Nitsuj. Baron and Corbin tried to peek in on the girls and failed miserably. Shizuku defended her wrestling title successfully. I didn’t know she had a title. Nitsuj’s Joker amiibo and PS5 arrived in the mail making him extremely happy. Bet you didn’t know all this stuff went on behind the scenes. Also, Nitsuj did a review for the first part of Dr. Stone. That’s was cool of him. I wonder what he thought about the next part? Let’s find out now, on Project Nitsuj: Dr. Stone Part 2.
(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Last time, on-
*Phone rings*
(Nitsuj): Excuse me. Hello?
(DBZ Narrator): I got you covered Nitsuj. You’re good to go now.
(Nitsuj): Really?
(DBZ Narrator): Yeah, go ahead and start reviewing.
(Nitsuj): Alright, thanks.
*Nitsuj hangs up*
(Nitsuj): So, here’s the opening and ending themes.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for the second part is “Sangenshoku” by Pelican Fanclub. I enjoyed this opening a lot more then the first one. It gives off that feeling that things are getting serious and about to get intense.
The second ending is “Yume no You na” by Yusuke Saeki. While I like the first ending more, this ending is great as well. It’s rather beautiful and peaceful reminding us of good times we shared with others and carrying a deep meaning behind it just like the first ending.
Episodes 13-17
With the sulfuric acid, Senku and the others pretty much have all the necessary components they need for the antibiotic in episode 13. The final main component that they need is alcohol which they can get by winning the Grand Bout. We see Senku and Chrome also participate in the Grand Bout in order to increase their odds of winning (and give us a good laugh at their shenanigans). Unfortunately, the cards don’t fall into place for them as the first round of the bout is Kinro vs Gaston (I mean Magma. I’m sorry, but I keep seeing the anime version of Gaston). Before the fight can begin we see Magma’s follower Mantle trick Kohaku into believing that Suika fell into the river. While Kohaku knows Mantle is lying, she’s too noble to ignore this information and runs off to save Suika who in reality is tied to a tree which she escapes from easily and returns to the village. She returns just in time to witness Kinro actually holding his own against Magma (Kohaku’s boot camp may not have turned him into a man but it sure as hell made him stronger). Just when the fight seems to be going in Kinro’s favor, Magma takes a step out of Kinro’s reach and it gets revealed that just like Suika, Kinro is nearsighted as well. Magma takes advantage of this and mounts an offense against Kinro which takes him down, but he gets back up ready to fight for his friends. Suika tosses him her melon head and Kinro becomes Melon Mask (♫Melon Mask, Melon Mask! Densetsu no senshi-tachi yo! Melon Mask, Melon Mask ♫). Melon Mask easily defeats Magma and advances on to the next round (scene here: https://youtu.be/iVXlrW5MiK0).
In the opening moments of episode 14 we see that the fight between Melon Mask and Magma is still going on as Magma hasn’t conceded defeat yet. He manipulates Melon Mask into asking the judge if the mask is legal and once Melon Mask turns his back, Magma attacks and smashes the mask (nooo~ Melon Mask) reverting him back to Kinro and knocking him out (oh you cheating motherfucker). In the second match we have Chrome vs Mantle (and after watching the match between Melon Mask and Magma this match is like the equivalent of watching an action scene from DBZ and switching over to an action scene in Teen Titans Go) where Mantle throws the fight in order for Senku to move on to the next round by forfeit because Kohaku didn’t make it back in time. In the final match of the first round, we have Ginro take on a side character where he wins but gets the runs after eating raw leaves to give him an energy boost (scene here: https://youtu.be/zlbBtg_MCM8). We move on to the semifinals where it’s Chrome vs Magma and Magma beats Chrome into a pulp but Chrome refuses to throw in the towel. Chrome catches a break with a sand attack and grabs the shattered remains of Suika’s mask where his plan is to reflect the sunlight off the surface of Magma’s clothes and light them on fire. A good plan except the lenses on Suika’s mask are concave so it’s not gonna work unless he places water on the lenses. Luckily, Chrome also came to that conclusion, so he poured his sweat on the lenses and is now trying to start a fire which according to Senku will take 60 seconds and he has to stay still in order for this to work. Enter Gen, who gives Chrome the time he needs by pretending to put a curse on Magma saying that he moves his heart will explode. Since Magma is tired from his fight with Melon Mask and believing Gen’s BS he won’t take that chance and remains still. This gives Chrome plenty of time to start a fire and set Magma ablaze (Welcome to choose your joke. Option A): don’t stop, drop, and roll keep on burning. Option B): Hey, Burning Man has returned for the first time in years). Chrome finishes off Magma by hitting him in the groin (I’ll allow it) and pushing him into the water (scene here: https://youtu.be/PrT_af4KmxM). Chrome is declared the winner and with Senku and Ginro in the next match the kingdom of science has won the tournament.
Episode 15 is a rather funny episode. It starts with Ginro misinterpreting what Ruri said and tries to defeat Senku in order to become the chief of the village (hmm~ I wonder. *Nitsuj goes to his laptop and looks up the word scum. The first picture that comes up is the Jack Bros.* Well that was obvious. *Nitsuj scrolls down the page to see more pictures of the Jack Bros. and Kazuma from Konosuba until he finally comes across a picture of Ginro* Just as I suspected). Senku is able to beat Ginro by hitting him in the groin (what is with all the low blows these last few episodes? The Kingdom of Science plays dirty. (Shizuku): Win by any means necessary). Senku advances to the finals to face Chrome where Chrome is unable to fight due to exhaustion and passes out. This means Senku is the leader and the new husband of Ruri (sorry Senhaku fans. Or is it Koku?). Senku decides to worry about this later, takes the alcohol, and begins working on the drug to save Ruri with the help of everyone else (scene here: https://youtu.be/X1SUqyoI_VI). After about a day and half, the drug is finished and ready for Ruri to take. Also, side note, Senku kept his promise with Gen and made him a bottle of cola (https://youtu.be/xSTN3mHEAOA). Senku takes the drug to Ruri who takes in a rather provocative manner (not sure if that was done on purpose or accident. Oh, who I’m kidding, it’s Japan, they know what they were doing). At first, the drug hurts her more than it helps her, but after figuring out that the sickness is pneumonia, Senku just ups the dosage of sulfur and Ruri makes a full recovery. With Ruri’s recovery, Senku is declared the new leader of Ishigami village which just happens to be his last name (scene here: https://youtu.be/4bDxJCrbZoM).
Holy shit, episodes 16-17 explains so much for us. So we find out that Senku’s dad, Byakuka, was a school teacher who got to live his dream and go to space with 5 other people from around the world. Thanks to that, they were able to avoid being petrified like the rest of the planet (scene here: https://youtu.be/VRMEZRxcwtA). They all decided to return to Earth, landed on an island, and began making plans to save humanity as Byakuka believed that Senku was out there and would find a way to save everyone. One by one the other astronauts died (well two of them went missing and two of them ironically died from pneumonia) with two of them having kids who would go on to establish Ishigami village (so this village is a product of inbreeding). Byakuka created the 100 stories to keep the knowledge of science alive believing that someone would take an interest in his stories (the one about stones was a big hit) and to give Senku assistance in his goal to save the world. Ruri takes Senku to Byakuka’s grave where even he sheds a tear in secret and thanks Byakuka for his gift (I’m sure it’s what he’s always wanted). As the village celebrates, Gen tells Senku that Tsukasa is heading their way and he plans to destroy them.
Episodes 17-21
As the village continues to celebrate, members of Tsukasa’s kingdom arrive outside the village and they are not young people (that fucking hypocrite. They look like they’re 40 years old). Kinro manages to lure them onto the bridge and is able to hold them back with his spear (smart move). However, he meets his match with Hyoga a dangerous man who uses a more versatile spear that spins. Kinro gets stabbed and is about to fall into the water until Senku uses the last of his gun powder in a makeshift rifle to scare Hyoga and the others away with Gen going with them to be a spy. Hyoga’s men plan to attack the village on a stormy day and Senku uses this time to prep the village for battle. He makes glasses for Kinro (not gonna lie, he looks like a badass now) and creates one of the best weapons of all time, katanas. In 3 days a storm arrives and Hyoga’s men attack the village where their weapons get destroyed by the katanas (I’m just waiting for someone to start wielding three of them). Their fight against Hyoga doesn’t go so well as he shows he’s a formidable opponent and almost kills Kohaku if not for Gen who tampered with his weapon earlier and caused it to fall apart leaving Hyoga defenseless (scene here: https://youtu.be/mEoASeRla9c).
At the start of episode 19, despite Hyoga being defenseless he still manages to get the upper hand thanks to a woman named Homura who snuck into the village and lit their huts on fire. This forces everyone to retreat to Chrome’s hut where Hyoga and the others plan to ambush them. Suika picks up on this and acts like a sacrifice to lure Hyoga and the others away. They chase her up the mountain where the strong winds carry the sulfuric acid down towards them (it’s the lady of the lake, run~). Kohaku and Senku manage to catch up to Suika in the nick of time and give her a mask while Hyoga and the others get to higher ground for safety. The next day the village begins to rebuild and Senku announces their next big invention, a cellphone (not a smartphone, big difference). Hyoga and Homura make it back to Tsukasa after sacrificing the others (they were idiots anyway) and he’s pretty pissed about all of this (scenes here: https://youtu.be/WDkJON5c9xo and https://youtu.be/iMUwJ5tCmrU).
In episode 20, the race is on to create cellphones (again, big difference from smartphone) before spring when Tsukasa will launch an all-out attack on Senku’s village. Senku’s first act to get a cellphone, make cotton candy (man’s gotta satisfy his sweet tooth). There actually is a reason to why he’s doing this, it’s to test out their device before moving on to gold to create the wires for their cellphones. Everyone seems to enjoy the cotton candy as it’s the first time any of them have had candy (scene here: https://youtu.be/2uD-Fv3nBWo, when you guys taste chocolate or better yet a Reese’s peanut butter cups, your life will never be same). He even offers some to Homura who’s spying on them from afar (scene here: https://youtu.be/0cvrLWcdBaY, make them join your side with cotton candy. Not a bad strategy). While the cotton candy is good, Senku discovers that it’s clumpy because they’re not going fast enough when they make it so they make a gear which speeds up the process as well as eliminate the clumps. Chrome takes it a step further by actually making a waterwheel (holy shit, you started a new age). Combining the waterwheel with the rest of their inventions they bring an end to the stone age and welcome in the age of energy as they’ve acquired their first hydroelectric power plant (scene here: https://youtu.be/ht7GVh49jSU).
Not much to say about episode 21 but it a very good episode with some solid animation. Thanks to their hydroelectric plant, they’re able to make some makeshift batteries (and everyone couldn’t be happier as it just makes their lives easier) and that just opens up a whole new world of possibilities for them. As the seasons change and winter begins to set in we see the village begin harvesting and gathering supplies for winter as well as training for the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, Senku’s science team starts to make lightbulbs where they make enough to light up a tree on Christmas day (scene here: https://youtu.be/gR0K7CDzUbk, happy Christmas everyone) and even explain how they make the lightbulbs and everything (is it wrong to say that I’m learning more from this anime than I did in any of my other science classes? I swear this anime needs to be shown in schools all across the world). However, the group hits a wall when they try to make vacuum tubes the same tubes used in cellphones where the bamboo filaments are just too weak for the tubes and they don’t have any stronger filaments. Just when it seems like Senku is about to give up on the ideas of cellphones, Suika presents an alternative, tungsten, the strongest metal in the world (scene here: https://youtu.be/wsPwKKvaHfg, it makes heat look like a bitch). Chrome found the mineral up stream inside a cave which means there must be more further inside the cave so Senku, Chrome, and Magma gear up to be the excavation party to find the tungsten (a good team but we’re missing one person. Captain Toad).
Episodes 22-24
Episode 22 is fast but a very good episode. Senku, Chrome, and Magma go into the cave where Magma gets a chance to redeem his character. He saves Senku from falling down a pit and even acknowledges that he doesn’t like Senku and still wants to be the chief of the village. However, he understands just how severe the situation is and how much of a threat Tsukasa holds that he’s willing to set aside his grudge and ambitions for the good of the village (maybe he’s not Gaston after all). They finally find the tungsten and return to the village where its Senku’s birthday and the village went out of their way to create a telescope and an observatory for him (scene here: https://youtu.be/GPkWe3uVEIQ).
In episode 23 now that they have all the parts they need to make the cellphone everyone splits to create the wires, tubes, batteries, and microphone (this whole episode makes me realize I know jack shit about cellphones and how they work). At the end of the episode they finally accomplish their goal and create the cellphone (the new Senkusung Galaxy looks good).
In the final episode (wow, I was enjoying this anime so much that I actually forgot what episode I was on) Senku breaks the news to everyone that they have to make another cellphone and give it to Taiju and Yuzuriha. However, that plan gets put to the side as Senku pieces together that his father left him a recording in his grave in the form of a glass disc. Using the parts they have, they managed to create a record player and play it where they get treated to a song from the idol Lilian who was one of the astronauts. The song blows everyone’s mind and only increases their interest in science as well as their resolve to defeat Tsukasa (scene here: https://youtu.be/vyqD6P_z3oo). That’s pretty much the episode right there and we end with them confirming that season 2 is in production (Stone Wars! Coming soon).
Final Thoughts
So that was Dr. Stone. When this anime first came out a lot of people were questioning how scientifically accurate the series was. This answer, very accurate. A lot of the scientific inventions, talks, explanations are all accurate and you learn so much from them. However, the way in which they are achieved is exaggerated for the sake of the story and plot. The anime is a fun watch and makes science fun to learn and watch. Like I said, I feel like I learnt more from this anime then any of my other science classes. That’s probably the main selling point of this series along with the idea and characters. The idea of the world being driven back into the stone age and to slowly claw back to their technological age is great and makes you wonder how they’re going to achieve their goals as well as what they’ll make next. I have to admit a lot of the inventions they make are cool and interesting. The anime is also funny. There’s a lot of really funny moments throughout the anime as well as wholesome moments as well. The anime manages to balance out the comedy and serious moments well.
As far as characters go they’re all great as well. I love Senku’s character. He’s a lot different from your typical shonen protagonist. He’s not strong physically, not overly emotional, and even his attitude comes across as smug and sadistic at times. However, he is a guy who cares about the people closest to him, is confident in his decisions, and is passionate about what he’s doing to save the world. The main antagonist Tsukasa’s plan is somewhat sympathetic. He is right, some humans are selfish and evil and would be better off not being revived in this new world. However, him just deciding to kill off all adults is wrong and a lot of his ideas are stupid, corrupt, and will backfire on him. Tsukasa says he wants to rid the world of corruption yet he himself is already becoming a corrupt dictator. He doesn’t believe in the advancements of science and even tried to kill Senku to keep humanity in the stone age where he could rule. Whether he realizes it or not, Tsukasa in the end just wants to create a cult where he rules, nobody challenges him, and he is seen as a god who in truth breaks all of his principles and everything he stands for without realizing it. The rest of the characters are good as well. While Taiju and Yuzuriha are only around for about ¼ of the anime they do leave an impact on Senku. Taiju is Senku’s best friend. While he’s not the smartest person he has a good heart who cares for others and someone who Senku can trust. Yuzuriha is a kind soul and can also see that Senku is a kind person who cares about others. The three come together to create one whole person. Senku is the brains, Taiju is the brawn, and Yuzuriha is the soul/spirit. I did like how the people of Ishigami Village have their own personalities. Even the side characters who we don’t focus on all that much have their own distinct personality and look that makes them stand out. Chrome is like Senku only more sincere and honest. While he doesn’t know as much as Senku he’s able to create his own inventions and come to his own conclusions about science and how it works. He’s a perfect assistant for Senku. For Kohaku a lot of people like to ship her with Senku, but I think they work better as friends. She was the first to recognize Senku’s brilliance and trusts him to save her sister. Suika was cute and hilarious, Kaseki is badass, and the brother duo of Kinro and Ginro provided us with a lot of funny moments. The only real downside with these characters is that they don’t go through much development which isn’t the main focus of this series.
The animation can be a hit and miss at some points. On the one hand the backgrounds look good but can be repetitive and lazy. When the anime wants to be funny and exaggerate the scene it does that extremely well with the facial expressions and over the top humor. However, there’s not much movement among the characters in scenes when they’re talking to each other and the characters come across as stiff. The fight scenes aren’t anything special, but to the anime’s credit this isn’t really the focus of the series so I can let it slide. Although I do hope it improves in the next season for the big battle between Senku and Tsukasa. I found myself really liking the soundtrack in this anime. It had a good mix of rock music and surprisingly hip-hop a genre of music I hadn’t seen used all that well in anime since Soul Eater and Samurai Champloo.
Final Score
The final score for Dr. Stone is an 8.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. I have heard this series piss off a few sci-fi fans and some of their complaints are justified, but I don’t think that’s enough to straight up hate the series as some of them have. This anime was a fun and educational watch with the right level of intensity and intrigue to keep you interested in what’s going to happen next. I can’t wait for the next season to start airing. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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