With the attempted murder of Asagiri Gen last week, I thought the days of happy-go-lucky science experiments were over. The series takes a dark turn as it gears up for conflict between the villagers and Senku and the larger battle between Senku and Tsukasa. But all that tension seems to have been put on the backburner this week. While I had a good time making glass with the team, I couldn’t help but tap my foot impatiently waiting for something big to happen.

Plot

The episode opens with Ginro and Kinro continuing their spartan training with Koharu. On the sorcerer team, Senku realises that Suika wears her helmet because of nearsightedness. The villagers consider this the ‘fuzzy disease’ of which there is no cure. To help Suika, and also their future experiments, Senku decides that the team should focus on making glass. The group mine quartz sand and upgrade their furnace, but while they can make a lens for Suika, more complicated shapes are impossible. Chrome kidnaps one of the villagers who is a master artisan and convinces him to try his hand at glass blowing. With test tubes, beakers and funnels being made at record speed, the group’s science lab is almost complete. But before they can make the miracle drug, they require one more ingredient.

Episode Highlights

Old man gained: Yet another person has joined the Kingdom of Science, perhaps not as willing as the other members, but hey, he came around eventually. Kaseki is a pretty incredible character; he has a real passion for his craft and I was so impressed that he picked up glassblowing so quickly. I can’t wait until Senku can create more and more craft tools and materials for Kaseki. I guess it just goes to show, no matter what happens to society, there will always be passionate, hard-working people who are dedicated to their craft.

More great reaction faces: I’ve been saying how much I’ve loved Koharu’s angry face and Senku’s mad scientist face, but one face takes the cake: Suika’s squinting face. It’s literally me waking up in the morning just before I put on my glasses. Definitely my favorite face of the series!

Missing her family: There’s a small flashback scene of Koharu remembering receiving her father’s shield from him when she was young. He rubs her head, and by giving her the shield, I assume, encourages her fighting and physical capabilities. I wonder what happened for him to turn against her and banish her. I still don’t believe that her interfering with the bout was enough. If he was proud of her enough to give her something as big as his prized shield, he would have been even more proud to see her defeat the strongest people in the village. It just doesn’t make sense!

Comments

As someone who started wearing glasses at a young age, I immediately felt for Suika. I remember the frustration of not being able to read the blackboard and feeling embarrassed to ask my friend or copy her notes. Sometimes I just didn’t bother and never wrote anything down. I remember feeling sad about missing finer details until I pushed my face up close, sometimes even my cat seemed like a blur. Thankfully, this only lasted a few months until I mentioned it to my parents and we got glasses. For Suika, it’s lasted years. Years of thinking her condition was a sickness, something to be ashamed about, stumbling around a world which is in no way able to accommodate her eyesight. But it isn’t the inconvenience nor shame that she wishes to go away. No, she simply wishes to be able to see the beauty of the world and her friend’s faces. The field of sunflowers being Suika’s first clear sight is such a beautiful moment and I got quite teary watching it!

This ‘shame’ or ‘embarrassment’ is something Kinro also experiences. He doesn’t wish to tell Koharu about his ‘fuzzy sickness’ because he sees it as an excuse and a weakness. It makes me wonder how many other conditions which modern medicine has alleviated are viewed so negatively? I’m sure in time we will find out more about the Stone Village and their ways of living and thinking.

Looking Through Rose-Colored Glasses

As I’ve mentioned, the quality of Dr Stone episodes seems to be on the rise, and this week’s was actually quite sweet. But it wasn’t quite what I wanted. After the attack on Asagiri Gen, and the hints of Tsukasa’s army, I had expected a tense episode and not science-of-life in Stone World. I keep hoping this series will give me the action, the drama, and the conflict it hints at but it doesn’t seem to be delivering. Perhaps I should stop being so impatient and enjoy these ‘good times’. But after eleven weeks of comedy and looky-what-I-made, I’m ready for something big to happen. Come on Dr Stone, be the anime I know you can be!

NEXT TIME:  Buddies Back to Back

Dr. Stone

Summer 2019 | Anime Info | Simulcast