Welcome to another Anime Rant! Today I’ll be reviewing Dr. Stone episode 4!

Wow, seriously, this episode got me all hyped again after I was starting to really worry that it wouldn’t be interesting. It had all the right levels of comedy, emotional moments, character development, and suspense. I still don’t know where the story will go from here, but I’m more optimistic about it than at the end of last week’s episode.

So, there are other people. Or at least one other person. That kind of surprised me. I remembering seeing a blond girl in the opening and this is obviously her, but I figured she would be someone Senku and company unfroze from stone. I also wasn’t expecting to see her this early in the series, but I’m glad for it. It’s better to establish your main characters in the early episodes, even if the series is going to be 24-26 episodes.

Hopefully, this new girl will be little more interesting than Yuzuriha. Don’t get me wrong, Yuzuriha is awesome, but she’s too perfect. She’s so sweet and understanding, she’s fairly intelligent and has physical stamina, and she’s criminally cute. I prefer characters who don’t blind me with goodness. Also, when it comes to anime girls, I typically like the more fiery and assertive ones. Maybe the golden-haired girl will be more like that.

The comedy in this episode felt kind “off,” or rather, it was easy to envision people being thrown off by it. As for me, I enjoyed it. The absurdly exaggerated face expressions were amusing, and if Senku’s science kitchen were a real show, I would watch that, too. Also, random note: I think it’s cute how Senku gets so excited over making gunpowder.

In this episode, I’m glad some things were explained and some small arguments of mine were put to rest. For example, it seemed strange that Senku didn’t try to negogiate before running away to make gunpowder last episode. Now we know he had every intention to negogiate after he had made some gunpowder. For another example, how did Tsukasa arrive at the conclusion that Senku and company would make gunpowder? Well, now we know he had some hints, like the fourth use of potassium carbonate form seashells.

You can still say Tsukasa is overpowered, what with being knowledgeable, clever, having super-human strength, and that handsome face. He would be as blinding as Yuzuriha if not for his, you know, desire to murder all petrified people who are middle-aged or elderly. But back to the point, I prefer an OP villain when there is also a protagonist who is OP in a sense. After all, Senku has practically endless knowledge about science and survival.

When I mentioned character development, I was referring to the way this episode lets us really get to know Senku. The flashbacks of his childhood showed how truly dedicated and passionate he is about science. The ultimate proof was when he was faced with Tsukasa, and told he could live if he promised to abandon sciene forever. Senku refused. He would literally rather die. We also learned form this episode that Senku can’t always keep his calm when his friends are danger. He really does care about people and wants to avoid any loss of life. Other than that, he’s still the same eccentric, scheming, and sarcastic Senku I love. Note: young Senku from the flashback is adorable!

Oh, and here are two random notes. 1) The piece of music/insert song starting around 09:05 was awesome. 2) Yuzuriha is even cuter than before with short hair.

That concludes my rant about the latest Dr. Stone episode. Thank you for visiting Anime Rants today. Your readership is greatly appreciated. Here’s wishing you a happy and safe start to the weekend! Ja, ne!

Previous Posts About This Series:
Dr. Stone Episode 1 Review
Dr. Stone Episode 2 Review
Dr. Stone Episode 3 Review

PATREON

(Images from: Dr. Stone. Dir. S Iino. TMS Entertainment. 2019.)