First off, let me say that the premiere episode of Dr. Stone was really pretty good. It had me solidly entertained for 22 minutes anyway. But it strikes me that even allowing for the fact that there hasn’t been any ‘splaining yet, this is a series that requires a larger than normal suspension of disbelief, even for a shounen sci-fi. Even for a Shounen Jump sci-fi. Our protagonist (or deuteragonist, I’m not sure yet) may frame his mission as to “beat fantasy with science”, but there’s a lot of stuff here that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
That said, I think it’s only fair to give Senku-kun (Kobayashi Yuusuke) a chance to do his magic science and judge the premise on the merits of the explanations, not the lack of them. I only mention it because it’s pretty rare with this sort of speculative fiction that I’m bothered by the sheer incongruity of the plot, and I was a bit here. I mean, how in the world is a human body (and brain) – consisting of living cells – supposed to survive for 3700 years with no food or water, even assuming it was still getting oxygen? And then there’s the matter of whether any human could remain remotely sane in such circumstances. And then- no, never mind. Once I start going down that road we’ll be here for weeks.
If indeed Senku isn’t the protagonist of Dr. Stone, it’s because Ooki Taiju (Furukawa Makoto) is. Senku is a teenaged mad scientist, cocksure to the degree of ten billion percent about everything. Ooki is his complete opposite, a seemingly simple-minded brute who’s nevertheless kind-hearted and quite at peace with his limitations. One day he’s about to confess to Ogawa Yuzuriha (Ichinose Kana), who he’s been in love with for five years, but just as he’s about to do so (or chicken out) a strange light appears, and instantly people all over the world are turned to stone. Or are they?
There are some clues here I’m sure will be followed up on. Principally incongruous is that in addition to people, it seems birds were subject to the same effects, and before the wave struck humanity too – some birds, anyway. Given that there are other animals much closer to humans from an evolutionary standpoint this has to mean something. We don’t know if other humans were alive inside their stone cages too (all signs point to yes, at least for some of them) or why seemingly only these two boys seem to have broken free. I wonder if these “stone” casings were biological rather than mineral in nature, somehow providing sustenance to the living beings trapped in them for all this time.
These two main – and for now, only – characters are certainly pleasant enough to be around, though I didn’t find the dialogue in the premiere to be especially scintillating or anything. Oddly enough in looking at the two of them I kept thinking of Yu Yu Hakusho – something in the character designs I guess – and the overall art style from TMS is somehow kind of 90’s in terms of both the faces and the backgrounds. I rather liked the quirky pacing and percussion-driven background music here – it definitely made Dr. Stone feel like something that wasn’t a mass-produced model.
That’s the bottom line for my interest, I suppose. This series is at least distinctive, and unlikely as the premise is at least it’s one I haven’t seen done before. I did find myself hoping the Senku would be successful in reviving other humans sooner rather than later, because while it was amusing for one ep I think he and Ooki-kun surviving on their own and bantering has a pretty limited shelf-life. And it looks as if that may be the case, judging by Senku’s success at pairing alcohol and nitric acid from bat guano to make a solvent that frees a bird (still alive) from its stone prison. It’s way too early to make a call here, but I enjoyed this premiere enough to make me modestly optimistic that Dr. Stone can deliver.
Onix Franceschini
July 6, 2019 at 10:42 pmThe manga is super entertaining and Senkus wild science experiments are the best part of it. The cast definitely grows in ways you won’t expect, so keep an eye out. I feel this is an overall underrated manga so I hope the anime does it justice.
Derrick
July 6, 2019 at 10:43 pm(Deleted)
Guardian Enzo
July 6, 2019 at 10:49 pmToo specific a manga spoiler.
GC
July 6, 2019 at 11:53 pmThe ED shows them waking up quite a few humans but not his love interest. Its bugging me as to why?
Was an entertaining 22 minutes. Gonna keep watching and see.
Simone
July 7, 2019 at 1:28 amWell, really, the petrification thing here while interesting is ultimately a plot device to put the protagonists in the situation of having to rebuild civilization from scratch without resorting to tired cliches like either time travel or being transported to another world. Which is in fact my biggest worry for the series – I don’t really see WHAT explanation could it be given that will be entirely satisfying, considering the rest of the science in the story is, while used in over-the-top ways, quite accurate in principle. For now, I’d say it’s holding up decently.
Roger
July 7, 2019 at 3:24 amThis is a series that shines due to how different it is from other shonen archetype stories. Enzo, I recomend you stick to it, soon the story will reach a point where it gets hard to look away.
@Simone This series could on the surface be compared with Isekai if it weren’t by how clever, unique and well thought out it is. Not that I don’t enjoy a good Isekai every now and then, but most of them end up being to similar for me to feel like they deserve a spot on the pantheon of great anime/manga stories.
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2019 at 8:39 amI still think of YYH every time I look at those faces.
Ko
July 7, 2019 at 12:48 pmFor how they survive without sustenance, it seems like if we can judge by that one girl Ooki found and pieced her body back together, they are entirely turned to stone and wouldn’t need any form of sustenance for their bodies at least. That said, who knows if that’s the case for everyone since we just see a coating coming off when they’re coming out of it.
I was pretty entertained by this first episode and am looking forward to more, but the good doctor here still has to win me over.
Yann
July 8, 2019 at 1:29 amIt seems more of a stupid excuse for a premise than a situation requiring suspension of disbelief… Nobody would come out all genki from thousands of years of forced meditation. It’s fundamentally flawed from the very beginning. There’s nothing to suspend. You have to pretend that didn’t happen. That’s a big ask… I’ll read your reviews to see if it improves, but I’m dropping this for now.
Roger
July 8, 2019 at 6:19 am@Yann
The premise is probably the weakest part of the story, I have to agree with you on that. But the story finds its strength in the unusual way the main characters use their abilities to solve their obstacles. In the wise words of Jesse Pinkman:
YEAH SCIENCE!!!
You might not like the series for a variety of reasons, but the execution and progression of the plot is first class and refreshing in a way that is hard to describe.
Dop
July 8, 2019 at 8:46 amYeah, this is one of those things where if I stand back and look at it I can clearly see that twelve year old me would have absolutely loved this to bits, but *cough harrumph ahem* years older me may be prepared to give it a few more episodes but is totally not convinced.
Orion Taylor
July 8, 2019 at 1:13 pmThere have been a couple of moment when reading the manga where I’ve thought: “I don’t think the author took _____ scientific fact into consideration here”, and then I’d turn the page to find the story immediately answering my concern, which has been pretty cool. Even my concerns about the mechanics of the few fantasy elements have been somewhat addressed (with characters voicing similar concerns in the story, which has also been pretty cool).
Overall, I have been pretty impressed from what I’ve read so far (currently about halfway through). IMO, the plot/characters/initial premise are passable, which is perfectly fine since they are all really just a vehicle for all the fascinating scientific concepts that gets discussed/implemented. If you are willing to occasionally suspend your disbelief, then this is a really fun series.