Are you ready for science and adventure with a side of silliness? Dr. Stone: New World is finally continuing! This anime has been a favorite of mine for a while now, so I’m excited for more. I’m not crazy about the new opening song, but besides that, it’s looking great already. Below are recaps and responses to the first three episodes of the new season.
(Note: Crunchyroll is listing these episodes as 12, 13, and 14, rather than 1, 2, and 3. Since Crunchyroll is where I’m watching the show, I’ll follow suit with their counting style.)
Episode 12: The Kingdom of Science’s Counterattack
As usual, we’ll begin with a recap of events. Now that the team can produce miracle liquid, the next step is to un-petrify their comrades on the boat. The first target is Ryusui. It took some help from Kohaku and the rat robots, but all the pieces of Ryusui’s stone body were soon assembled. Senku applied the liquid and Ryusui was revived. The next target to save is Kaseki. The team will definitely need him if they want to manufacture a drone.
Kaseki and the others from the boat have been tossed overboard by the islanders. Diving to retrieve them is the obvious plan, but nobody can hold their breath for long enough. Thus, Senku creates oxygen tanks and a pump. The whole team helped as usual. After much hard work, they are ready to go diving. Senku and Gen stay above in a small boat, while Soyuz and Ryusui dive down to find the statues.
Thanks to Soyuz’s insight, it doesn’t take long to find all the statues. But from there, Soyuz and Ryusui run into problems. They’re not strong enough to pull Kaseki out of the sand. Long story short, they revive Taiju first. He then uses his incredible strength to pull out Kaseki and bring him back to the surface. Soyuz and Ryusui also return to the boat unharmed. This is a victory for the Kingdom of Science!
This episode highlighted the themes of teamwork and individual skill-sets, which have always been important themes in Dr. Stone. We’ve seen the team interactions of most of these characters before now – except for Ryusui and Soyuz. In this episode, they did a great job working together, as well as utilizing their individual strengths. I’m especially impressed with Soyuz and his near-perfect memory and observational skills.
Enjoying the wholesome atmosphere of Dr. Stone is all well and good. But I will also take this opportunity to be shallow and lustful. Ryusui is incredibly hot. His body is beautiful, and I don’t think I truly noticed before now. The best part is that Ryusui is canonically twenty years old. He’s not a teenager like Taiju or Chrome. That means I can be horny for him without feeling weird about it. (Though some would say it’s still weird to lust after a 2D fictional character.) Anyway, that concludes my thoughts on episode 12!
Episode 13: The Medusa’s True Face
In the first section of this episode, Senku and company revive Kaseki. With Senku’s guidance, he creates the first version of the drone, which can fly, albeit clumsily. The rest of the episode was about the “pretty girl team” on the island. Ginro has been called to see the Master. He’s nervous, but Kohaku urges him to complete his mission. After Ginro leaves, Kohaku is confronted by Moz, the strongest warrior she’s ever met. Their fated fight finally begins.
Meanwhile, in the Master’s cabin, Ibara tries to sexually assault Ginro. He responds by giving the old man a dose of mildly toxic gas – a weaponized gift from Senku. Then Ginro looks past the curtains and sees the true form of the Master: a petrified man with features similar to Soyuz. Unfortunately, Ibara recovers quickly from the gas. Ginro flees, but just as he’s approaching Kohaku, Ibara catches up and brutally stabs him.
Kohaku abandons the fight with Moz and holds the dying Ginro in her arms. Ginro relays the information about the Master, and then Kohaku bets everything on a long-term survival plan. She starts shouting the secret about the Master. The only way to shut her up is to use the petrification weapon. If Ginro is petrified before death, he can be revived in a fully restored form in the future. Thus, Kohaku and Ginro both get turned into stone.
I have a lot of thoughts about this episode, but I already spent three paragraphs on the recap, so I’ll try to be brief. First of all, I’m proud of Ginro for his courage and sacrifice. I like him more after his infiltration mission. Another character to mention is Moz. He’s a decent antagonist, but I think he’s too overpowered. Kohaku was the best fighter in the series until now. Moz, however, is even stronger. That bugs me. Then again, maybe it’s time Kohaku actually had a challenge.
Now, let’s talk briefly about the petrification weapon, followed by the Master. Just before Kohaku was petrified, she saw the true form of the weapon. It looked more like a sophisticated sci-fi gadget than a magical item. Since the device isn’t magic, Senku should be able to figure out the science behind it – eventually. As for the Master, I assume he was the original user of the petrification weapon, as well as Soyuz’s ancestor. He may be the one responsible for destroying humanity. I’m excited to learn more.
Episode 14: Deal Game, Test of Wit
After Senku revives Yuzuriha, Chrome, and Ukyo, someone swims into the sapphire cave. It’s Amaryllis, carrying the bad news about Kohaku and Ginro as well as the information about the Master. Senku’s team refuses to get depressed, and instead analyzed the data. They determine that there is only one petrification weapon, and it’s always handled by Kirisame rather than Ibara.
Just then, Moz appears in the cave among them. He’s prepared to kill everyone, but Taiju manages to buy them a few seconds of time to think. Gen steps up to the plate as the mentalist. Thanks to his smooth words and manipulation techniques, the Kingdom of Science avoids annihilation. They form a temporary alliance with Moz, who wants to kill Ibara and take over the Inner Palace. He never stood a chance against the petrification weapon before, but now, Senku’s team is helping.
Ever since his introduction way back in the first season, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the character of Gen. He’s still one of my favorites after all this time. Gen is intelligent and has his own brand of charisma – everyone knows that much. But I think we sometimes forget Gen’s trait of courage. It took massive guts to stand there and bargain with a man who could quickly and easily make mincemeat of him and all his companions. Gen really outdid himself in this episode!
The alliance with Moz is imperative to the mission of defeating Ibara. Still, this is just temporary, and Moz hasn’t agreed to hand over the petrification weapon after their victory. It’s only natural to worry about Moz as a serious future threat. On the other hand, there is also a strong chance that Senku and company will work a little bit of “shounen magic,” winning Moz to their side by the power of friendship. That’s what I’m expecting, but we’ll have to wait a while to see how it plays out.
That wraps up my response to Dr. Stone: New World episode 14. See you next time!
Thanks for reading~
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