Hello, and thanks for stopping by Anime Rants. Christmas is on the way, so to anyone who celebrates it, good luck with the preparations! For anyone who doesn’t celebrate this particular holiday, consider doing something nice for yourself or a loved one anyway. Why not make it a memorable day for your own reason?
As for this article, it contains my thoughts and responses to Dr. Stone: New World episodes 18, 19, and 20. I’m a bit behind on Fall 2023 anime, and it seems Dr. Stone has already finished its run for this season. For that reason, I’ll probably write two Dr. Stone posts back-to-back, covering the last 6 episodes. Let’s get started.
Episode 18: Flicker of Doom
Dr. Stone: New World is full of excitement and suspense in a way that previous seasons didn’t quite match. I’m thoroughly enjoying this relatively intense season. As always, I’m a fan of the highly stylized art-style, despite its divisive effect on some potential fans. The music is highly enjoyable too. Episode 18 was a great example of this season’s high stakes. Almost everyone got petrified; it was almost “game over” for good. Despite not taking this anime super seriously or critically, I am still having a lot of fun with it.
I currently have no idea how Senku avoided being petrified. I’m not going to spend a lot of time trying to guess, but it probably has something to do with the rate of speed of the medusa’s spread. However it may have happened, it was certainly a relief to see Senku’s smug and unfrozen face. For a few minutes there, I was genuinely worried everyone would be frozen again for another few millennia. Or they might never wake up again.
On a related note, if everyone on the island had indeed been petrified, wouldn’t that make life extremely difficult for Ibara? I think the only people on the ship were some normal villagers – nobody high-ranking or especially skilled. Ibara already got rid of Kirisame, and now he also gets rid of Moz, a bunch of soldiers, and every single person on the “science team”? How did he expect this to work out? Not to mention the fact that all the birds and animals on the island are also now petrified, meaning no more hunting. I thought Ibara was intelligent, but perhaps I was incorrect.
It was interesting to see the flashbacks about Soyuz and his parents. Soyuz’s mother was a brave woman. Also, baby Soyuz was so cute! During the flashbacks, we learned that the Master of the island always took wives based on their ability to remember and memorize things. It was implied that 4000 years of artificial selection was what led to Soyuz’s special power of infant memory. While I still think that’s mostly bullshit, I appreciate that the show tried to give an explanation.
Before we wrap up, I’ve got one more thought to share. What is “the strongest weapon?” According to Hyouga, the best weapon in a literal sense is the Kudayari spear – but he also spoke of the metaphorical “weapon” of humanity: the ability to build on past generations. We can teach our children to carry on our work, our skills, and our values. They improve on what they were given, generation by generation. Hyouga became “stronger” than Moz not because of innate, individual talent, but because he mastered a school of weaponry that improved itself over centuries.
Episode 19: Last Man Standing
Thanks to the signaling help from the group members as they were being frozen, Senku was able to calculate the exact timing needed to pull off a certain move. He would need to throw a jar of miracle liquid into the air so that it would hit him and unfreeze him microseconds after the petrification light enveloped him. If he waited too long or threw the jar too soon, this trick wouldn’t work. But Senku is a master of counting and calculations. He pulled it off perfectly.
Can we talk about the absolutely crazy amount of suspense in this episode? I was legitimately on the edge of my seat throughout it. There were so many times I was desperately trying to figure out how the hell to beat Ibara! I’ve never known Dr. Stone to be this intense before. Considering it’s a show that doesn’t use a lot of violence or any sort of overly dark storytelling, it still manages to create suspense with proficiency – at least at key points within the story.
Although I think it was a stupid move to petrify the whole island, Ibara was extremely intelligent and resourceful in all other matters. The old man was a truly tough opponent. I’ve said this before, but in the past, Senku had only dealt with enemies from his own age group (16-18 before petrification). But in season 3, suddenly he’s up against a very cunning adult with a lot of practical life experience. Ibara may have been a strange and creepy old fellow, but he was a worthy adversary for Senku.
The last scene in this episode is heartwarming. Senku is the only one on the island who remains un-petrified. He starts to recall the time before he was able to awaken Taiju, when he was truly alone for several months at least. Despite Senku’s usual toughness courage, and cheerfulness, even he gets lonely. Just as he was contemplating his loneliness, Ruri called him. With the cell phone compromised, Senku wasn’t able to talk back to her yet. Nevertheless, he felt better remembering Ruri and everyone else in the village. Great episode!
Episode 20: First Dream
Episode 20 was so much fun so many reasons. To start with, Kohaku was revived! I’m so happy to see her back. It was sweet when she hugged Senku, and I’m glad Amaryllis clarified that it wasn’t a romantic thing. Ginro also returned and is now fully healed. Despite my better judgment, I felt optimistic that Ginro would be less scummy after his experiences on the island. But nope – he’s still a little scumbag, and I don’t personally find him funny for it. What can you do?
Initially, I thought this would be kind of a slow-paced episode just showing the characters being unfrozen and having victory celebrations. In actuality, this episode was hugely important for the plot. The mysterious signal sender from earlier, dubbed “Why-Man” by Senku’s group, sent a vocal transmission. It’s now clear that this being is an enemy, since he tried to activate the medusa and petrify the Earth once more. Moreover, the voice was an artificial one that copied Senku’s voice. That was genuinely unsettling.
In order to find out more about the medusa and Why-Man, Senku and company un-petrify a man from the bottom of the sea who lived several hundred years ago. The attractive man is named Matsukaze, and he does indeed possess important information. Back in his day, dozens of petrification devices rained down from the sky, resulting in many island people becoming petrified – incusing Matsukaze. I doubt Matsukaze will be a hugely important character, but he seems very cool, and I think it’s funny how he mistook Ginro for his old master.
In the final scene in this episode, we heard the results of Senku and Ukyo’s efforts to track the transmission signal. Whoever sent the message is actually not on Earth, but on the moon. Thus, Senku’s new goal is to go to the moon to solve the mystery of petrification and stop the enemy of humanity forever. As you may recall, Senku’s first dream was to go to the moon – thus the name of the episode. It’s a tall order – not just building a rocket, but building one that can be safely manned with a small crew. Still, if anyone can do it, it’s Senku with the help of his team.
Thanks for reading~
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