Dr. Stone Episode 1 Review: Stone World

Dr. Stone is one of the more hyped anime this summer season, and ooh boy was I part of the excited masses. The series is based on a manga of the same name, written by Riichiro Inagaki (also known for his 2002 series Eyeshield 21) and illustrated by Boichi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since March 2017, and currently has 112 chapters. The anime series has started off on a good note, but not an especially high one.

Japanese Original Episode Title : ストーンワールド

Plot

School student Taiju Oki is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he has a big heart and even bigger muscles (yes, this is important). After working up the courage to confess to his crush, a strange light encapsulates the world. All humans are petrified in stone, and so they remain for 3700 years. In 5738 AD, after nearly four millennia, Taiju is freed from his stony prison. He finds that his best friend, Senku, had awoken six months prior and has been working on the restoration of the human race. What Taiju lacks in brains, Senku makes up for 10 billion fold, and vice versa for strength (I told you those muscles were important). The two start off by working on a cure to depetrify the other trapped humans and creatures.

Episode Highlights

That hair: Ok, before we get any further into the review, I’ve gotta address that hair. He looks like an older, more stressed out version of Gonta from Hunter x Hunter. I wonder if hair in this series is directly proportional to brain power. Hmm…

The true horror: Everyone getting turned to stone sucks, but what was truly horrifying with the transformation was how they had to fight to keep their mind. There was no rest those 3700 years. it was filled with total concentration to maintain your sense of self. I am sure as Taiju and Senku awaken some of the others in stone, it will become clear that while they managed to keep their ‘self’, their mind is a different matter entirely.

Science lesson: Even though I’m in no way a science person, in fact I dropped the subject first chance I had in high school (history all the way!), I really did enjoy how the series gave us mini lessons. They weren’t overly complicated. In fact were quite accessible and added an interesting education aspect to this anime.

Stone birds: The flashback showing a rather cute moment between Taiju and his crush was not as innocuous as it seems. The stone birds may have actually been test runs before who or whatever unleashed the petrification onto human kind. This also explains why only a few birds have been affected and we can see other animals and hear birds throughout the episode.

Themes/Trivia

Kabedon: Perhaps one of the more unique kabedons I’ve seen. After seeing Yuzuriha’s stone figure, Taiju kabedons her as he promises to save her. Kabedon is seen in a lot of Japanese pop culture where a character (often a boy) slams the wall next to another character (often a girl) making a ‘don’ sound. It’s sometimes seen as ‘romantic’, but more often is made fun of by fans. A few years ago, there were a few videos on Vine of students trying to do the craziest kabedons they could.

Comments

Whenever I review a series, I try to go into it not knowing too much about its original form. I want to review the anime as it is, rather than contextualizing it within what I know will happen in the future. So as it stands, I’m not at all interested in Taiju and Senku. They’re almost the anime versions of that 90s TV series Pinky and the Brain. So far, one is incredibly smart and the other quite the opposite. There isn’t anything too interesting about them that hasn’t been done before. This is of course just my first impression, and I do expect (and hope) that this will change as the series progresses.

Looking at the series in terms of art and animation, I’m definitely impressed. The rendering of the stone looks fantastic and I particularly enjoyed the scene where Taiju is being transformed to stone. The spread of it across his face is so smooth and in a way realistic, especially where you can see cracks form. But what really makes Dr. Stone shine is its depictions of landscapes and backgrounds. One shot of Mt Fuji looks like a postcard photograph. The natural scenery behind the characters is so detailed and really does emphasize how different the world has become and it creates a sense of isolation. As a final note, I also enjoyed the music throughout the episode, especially the opening song.

Science, Bros!

Overall, Dr. Stone has an interesting premise and I am certainly keen to see in what direction the plot goes. It’s hard to judge characters after just one episode, but for now they haven’t really grabbed me. In fact, they do feel a bit more like caricatures. I do hope we’ll get to know them better and get past the smart dude and stupid dude tropes. But for now, it’s well worth a try out for anyone who is looking for a shonen series with some educational flair.

NEXT TIME: King of the Stone World