I don’t hear all too much about Dr. Stone now that we’ve reached the midway point. I don’t know if that’s because a lot of people abandoned it during those few rough patches at the beginning of the season or because now that it’s settled into a steady rhythm there’s nothing to be upset about.
I mean, the shows I hear about lately are usually shows that people are mad about or shows that people are mad about other people being mad about… And right now, I don’t think there’s much reason to be mad at Dr. Stone at all.
What I thought Would Happen
I didn’t really know. To be honest, Dr. Stone has been difficult for me to predict. I mean I can figure the basic beats and I have a pretty good idea of which characters are going to be in the episode but beyond that it’s a little too episodic for me to infer too much.
The only thread I thought they would follow up on was Kinro’s short shortsightedness. They did insist on it quite a bit last episode and we just got glasses, I thought this was a safe bet.
What Did Happen
Well I still think they are going to address Kinro’s shortsightedness but it’s going to be in another episode.
This time around it seems Senku set his sights on acquiring some sulfuric acid. Very useful for both farming and chemical synthesis. Unfortunately it’s also highly toxic and corrosive so even locating it is dangerous, let alone collecting it. Apparently Kinro is also allergic enough to the stuff to hallucinate from the fumes. I feel you Kinro, I’m also allergic to any sulfa based drugs.
So after locating a sulfur lake, Senku and co. end up creating basic charcoal filter masks to allow them to survive the fumes long enough to get a decent acid sample. Through this dangerous scientific adventure, Chrome and Senku affirm and solidify their friendship with Kohaku faces her own choice. Ginro must figure out what he stands for and everyone else is doing their own thing I guess.
What About the Characters
The character evolution this week was pretty naive and a little sappy. I like both of these things. I enjoyed it. It seems that they were set on humanizing Senku a bit this week. First by seemingly having him be selfless by choosing to go collect the acid by himself, second by illustrating that he was in fact scared but putting on a brave face. Since this was illustrated by a slight shaking of his hand, it’s easy to imagine that he had been equally terrified many times in past episodes. Suddenly he’s just a scared kid trying to do his best. I’m not sure how successful it was but I kind of liked it.
Senku and Chrome have already been pretty solidly established as a great team so this was just friendship fanservice. This is a pretty well established and very common anime trope so I have to figure most fans won’t have an issue with it. And although Chrome had a few good lines, the fact is he didn’t really get any development this week.
The character we really learned the most about was Ginro. For me this was a bumpy ride. There were a few moments where he threatened to devolve into another Taiju (or even Zenitsu). He is the loudest and most energetic of the group and I was afraid e would quickly get tiresome. Some moments did go a bit far for me. However, the episode quickly reeled him in and ultimately he ended up being a decent supporting character.
What I Liked
I enjoyed the dynamic between the main cast very much. Or rather I should say, between Chrome, Kohaku and Senku. Their personalities are really well balanced and they neither overshadow each other nor are they all the same character. The quiet conversation between Kohaku and Chrome was particularly sweet without becoming cloying thanks to some cheap laughs at the end.
I have a lot of fun with the fact that Senku is still very out of shape compared to the rest. They didn’t insist on it or anything which makes it even more fun.
Although I’m not entirely sure why, I really liked the sulfur demon lady. Visually it was a striking and amusing scene but there was also something to spoke to me in the idea that a sulfur lake was inhabited by sirens beckoning men of science to their deaths.
Finally, as I mentioned above, it was a great relief that the episode cut short all of Ginro’s more annoying tendencies before they got too out of hand.
What I Liked Less
As much as the nighttime friendship scene between Senku and Chrome made me smile, the base premise there was just off. I mean it made no sense to me. How could Senku possible think that it’s the best move for him to go. If something goes wrong that’s it. Not only is Ruri dead, Taiju and Yuzu probably are as well. How exactly was he planning on transferring all his knowledge to Chrome in a single evening. And even if he magically managed it, this is all new to Chrome, he won’t be able to analyze and use the information as well as Senku could. For a super genius, this plan really seems lacking. Tobe honest, I was still miffed Senku went at all. He could have monitored from a safe distance if need be.
Saving Chrome with the spear was also supremely silly and just difficult to swallow. I’m not trying to pretend that Dr. Stone is a realistic show by any means however this particular event just didn’t work for me.
Closing Thoughts
Despite the heavy handed moments the Dr Stone was just plain fun this week and what more could you ask for? It’s a great way to start off the weekend and I hope you are having fun with it as well!
Mood: Ready for some medicine
The spear rescue annoyed me also. For a show so much about science you’d think they’d consider leverage and how impossible it would be to simply hold up another grown man on the end of a spear, let alone catch one who was falling. I actually thought he was really going to die in that scene because there was no realistic way of saving him.
I guess we learned that both Ginro and that spear itself are improbably strong…