Having recently finished on Netflix, this 3 Season Anime Series (4th season dates are not yet announced), I have to admit, i totally enjoyed it, despite its fallacies, the scientific errors, the repetitive ideas and concepts, and losing me in the middle. It teaches a lot, and its a hair's radius away from being a mad scientist story.
It's based on a Manga series by the same name written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Boichi. The story is about the world coming to an end due to a cataclysmic world-ending event that turns every living creature into a stone, and a science loving kid waking up after 3700 years due to some chemical reaction on his petrified form.
Story & Concept
Imagine you’re chilling in high school, doing some crazy lab experiments or about to confess your love to your childhood crush, and BOOM! A green light turns entire world to stone. Fast forward 3,700 years, one of those lab students, a genius science loving kid, Senku, wakes up and decides, “Yeah, I’m gonna bring civilization back from the Stone Age with the help of SCIENCE, and call it Scientific Society”. The premise is fresh, unique, and somehow manages to make science interesting.
Characters & Humor
- Senku, Ishigami: The scientist and main character
- Taiju, Oki: Senku's friend, more muscle than brain. He is one of the protagonists of Senku and was first one to be brought back into living by Senku.
- Chrome, a stone age scientist (known as sorcerer), offspring a a village established by astronauts who returned to earth safe after the world turned into stone.
- Tsukasa, the beast of a human, who wants to keep the world safe by not waking up everyone, only the pure of the heart.
- Gen Asagiri: My favorite, the mentalist, the trickster. He’s got that perfect mix of charisma and mischief. Whether he’s manipulating enemies with mind games or just messing around with Senku’s plans, he’s the ultimate wildcard and honestly one of the most entertaining characters in the series.
Animation & Soundtrack, and the world within.
The world created in this Manga is beautiful and revolves around Mount Fuji and Japan. It's beautifully portrayed and huge with panoramic views, scenic boat rides and wonderful hot air balloon birds-eye-views. Visually, the series is stunning. The colors pop, the petrification effects are eerie, and the science sequences have a cool “mad scientist blueprint” aesthetic. The music is wonderful too. They actually revive a record sung by Japan's most beloved singer, and invent primitive tools to play it too.
Science & Accuracy
Dr. Stone’s biggest flex is how much real science it throws at you. From making soap to crafting lightbulbs, making car engines, boats, drones, hot-air balloons and what not, it’s all theoretically possible (if you happen to be an unreasonably smart teenager with endless resources). You will 10 Billion Percent leave this show knowing how to make gunpowder and ramen from scratch.
Despite all the interesting stuff, there are many mistakes i think worth highlighting, i.e.
Senku’s survival: He supposedly stayed conscious for 3,700 years by counting seconds in his head. Cool, but... no. The human brain would give up way before that.
Superhuman strength everywhere: Tsukasa and other characters break boulders with their fists. May be Stone Age protein shakes?
Instant science: Some inventions feel rushed. Steam engines, antibiotics, and computers all happening within a few months? Even with genius-level intellect, that’s a stretch. Even if you know the blueprints.
Where are the old people: Older survivors are kind of missing in action? The whole world turned to stone, but why is everyone young and attractive when revived?
Dr. Stone is a good learning experience of many scientific concepts, or refurnishing them if you knew them already, and its pure entertainment with a pinch of war, and love affairs. It’s one of those rare anime that actually makes you smarter while keeping you entertained. Its a nerdy stuff, with fun. If you are a nerd who does like to have fun while being nerd, this is your jam.