Dr. Stone 3 Episode 1 – Return to the Kingdom of Science

Hello one and all. It’s been a bit since we’ve talked about Dr. Stone and also since I’ve had the pleasure to review a series with Crow. I hope I’m not too rusty! Let me see if I can remember how it goes. There will be spoilers and screencap and we’re going to talk all about the first episode of season 3 of Dr. Stone. 

But before we get to all that good stuff, Crow, how have you been? What’s new,? How’s the book coming along?

Hi, Irina! I’m well, thanks for asking! I hope all’s well with you, too! Right now, I’m writing the fifth book, and I hope to publish the third soon. Exciting times from that perspective! 

I’m hoping I’m not rusty, too. But, I have to say that you’ve set the tone nicely, and I feel right at home! So let’s take a look at this episode!

I’m not sure if everyone watched Ryusui. It’s that special episode that aired between season 2 and 3. If you haven’t seen it, you must be really confused by what’s going on. I suggest you go watch it. But if you absolutely don’t want to, here’s the quickest recap I can muster.

In order to continue progressing in this new world, Senku has determined that he needs to get out of Japan, in other words, cross the ocean. And so he decides to revive the world’s greatest sailor, who wouldn’t you know it is another eccentric character. He agrees to help under the condition that they invent money and that he gets most of it. Now they need to build a ship and that’s more or less where we’re at.

That was maybe a touch too condensed. Would you like to clear things up a bit, Crow?

You’ve given a great description! Clear and concise! In fact, I’ll only add two things. First, I’ll second your suggestion that folks check it out. It had all of the humor and character of the previous two seasons. Second, Senku built the balloon we see them using early in this episode. At least, I think we saw that for the first time in Ryusui. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!

Season 3 picks up exactly where Ryusui left off. Half the village is building a ship with the help of the remnants of the Kingdom of might. They also need to find fuel to power said ship and the slightly more mundane consideration that they need to have the resources to keep all these new people alive for the next year or two until all the preparations are ready.

I liked how smoothly and quickly this episode managed to recap the story so far. I was impressed considering how much they had to go over and how little exposition there was.

Personally, I find that Dr. Stone really shines in the mundane. When they’re all working together to find solutions to everyday stuff. In this case, how not to starve. And of course, agriculture is a game changer. I’m actually a little surprised Senku didn’t establish that already, aren’t you, Crow?

A little surprised, yes. In his defense, he’s been busy! But food being so important, I think he was likely, at the very least, aware of the problem. 

The episode impressed me with how it showed the dangers of starvation from Ryusui’s. He was complaining about the bland diet when one of the older women started talking about how they had lost people to starvation. Seeing Ryusui grow somber really sold the reality of that danger. Made it real in a visceral sort of way.

This episode mostly served to reintroduce us to the case and slowly set up the season to come so there isn’t all that much to talk about However, it did give Taiju a chance to take center stage for a few seconds and that made me happy. I’ve always had a soft spot for that big lug, and it’s nice to see the show justify that affection.

Were you happy to see him again, Crow?

Absolutely! Seeing him earn the farming crown (and how hilarious was it that Gen used the hat Yuzuriha made as incentive?) was a genuinely touching moment. He absolutely earned it. I had never thought about it before, but Senku was right – Taiju is a perfect farmer.

The other thing the episode did was to properly introduce us to Ryusui. Now, you would think the special episode bearing his name would have already done that, and to a certain point it did, but I think we saw another side of him this time around.

A softer and more likable side. I do really like the idea that a greedy man will want everything for himself, but a truly greedy man, one might even say the greediest man in the world, will want everything for everybody! I don’t know, that made me smile. I liked it. Greed is good…

Seeing how he reacted to the old woman’s stories about starvation, and seeing him say “I only care about not having to see the tears of such beautiful women! I’m the greediest man on Earth, you see.” – that was really cool. Humanized him beyond what happened in the single episode named after him.

At one point, Kohaku mentions that Gen is a difficult and slightly scary character but Ryusui might be worse. I disagree, I think Gen still has him beat. What do you think, Crow?

That’s a good question! Both of them, at least so far, use their powers for good! I’m inclined to agree with you, though, because with Gen, his power can take almost any form. It’s hard to know when he’s telling the truth versus manipulating the situation! With Ryusui, it’s all about earning money. That’s more predictable; it’s easier to know when he’s being greedy and when he’s not being greedy. And like you said – if he channels his greed so that everyone comes out ahead, then it’s a good thing.

One of the things I told Crow before watching the episode is that I was looking forward to seeing how money was going to “screw up everything”. To put it a touch more eloquently, I was really curious to see how currency would affect the social dynamics in this world when you consider that half the people there have no conception of it. I’ve come to realize that I have not personally read or seen any fiction explore the initial impact of the invention of currency and it got me very curious.

It seems that I’m going to have to wait a bit longer for that though as the episode did not really follow up on that in any way. In fact, for a while, I thought they might have dropped that thread altogether, but they did mention currency in the last third of the episode. A brief mention is all there was though. 

Are you curious about it, Crow?

Yes, I am. There’s that old saying about money being the root of all evil. So far, Senkuu has been using it to manipulate Ryusui, but the show generally presents ideas on many levels. I think they’ll get more into it, and I hope they do. Seeing how that particular technology changes people could be very interesting!

All in all, it was a good first episode. A nice comfortable reintroduction to the world and characters of Dr. Stone. We will have to wait until next week to get a real idea of the story though. I’m looking forward to it!

Me, too! It was great seeing all the characters again. Almost like a reunion! 

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