Dr. Stone: New World Episode 13 Review

Posted on by Irina

Ok, I’ll try not to jump straight to the end even though that’s the only thing I actually want to talk about. I bet it’s the part of the episode that made the biggest impact on you as well. Oh well, let’s see ow long I can hold out.

Let’s start at the start and talk a bit about the title instead. I am quite embarrassed to admit that I never really thought about naming the petrification weapon: Medusa. It is the perfect and most obvious name yet somehow it never came to my mind. And what I like about it, or just generally about giving the petrification beam a name, is that it sort of personifies it. In many ways, this petrification beam has been the main overall antagonist of the series. Sure every season had its own more pressing antagonist but the thing looming over all the events of Dr. Stone was this beam and the mystery around it. Giving it a name makes it feel more present and tangible somehow.

The other thing I couldn’t help noticing about the first part of the episode is that Taiju, who was already a caricature, is really getting flanderized here. I mean he’s essentially a type of physical Deus Ex capable of any feat of strength or endurance required to move the plot along. Now I do like Taiju and the foil he represents for Senku. Or at least how their personalities played off each other in season 1. But that is largely gone as Senku and Taiju rarely interact one-on-one anymore and now he just seems a bit too excessive. and that’s saying something for a Dr. Stone character.

In fact, I feel like most of the characters are fodder this season. Gen is reduced to a few quips and could easily have been replaced by someone else or just not be there at all. RRyuusui hasn’t really had the chance to do anything yet and the rest of the science team are still stone. It’s really the infiltration team that has any tangible narrative weight this season.

Speaking of which, the second half of the episode started in a rather mundane way. I mean there were events that would make for a perfectly good episode. Gin getting called to the Master and Kohaku being found out. Both of these events on their own would have made for an exciting episode but are also perfectly in line with how the season has been progressing. Until they weren’t.

Dr. Stone does not kill its darlings. It’s not that type of show. At least it wasn’t. And let me be clear, I completely believe that being revived from petrification will in fact heal Ginro and everything will be okay as he said. There is no other reason for specifically pointing out that Kaseki had his arthritis cured through the depetrification process other than to establish or remind us that it can cure physical conditions. So there was ever any time that I thought Ginro was a goner.

But, I still found the scene honestly poignant. His grace in the face of the inevitable, the story allowing him dignity for once and even how quick and without ceremony the deathblow was. all of these elements came together really well and reminded me that Dr. Stone is capable of such moments at its best.

And we got a glimpse at the petrification beam. What the heck… I do hope we get an explanation for that. Even a crazy sci fi one that could never work. They better not have strung us along this whole time to not address it!

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2 thoughts on “Dr. Stone: New World Episode 13 Review”

  1. Pingback: Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 13: Favorites - Crow's World of Anime

  2. One of the things I’ve liked most about Dr. Stone is how it manages to hit these amazing emotional beats, the finale of this episode being one of those.

    So glad that scene hadn’t been spoiled for me ahead of time.

    Both Kohaku and Ginro have so such faith/trust in science – and in their comrades.

    And we’re also here afforded some insight into the type of guy Kohaku is drawn towards (… as if we didn’t already have a pretty good idea about that.)

    For the record, this episode adapts manga chapters 119-121, pretty much shot-for-shot.

    The guy who reviews Dr. Stone episodes with an eye towards the accuracy of their science seems to be MIA, possibly no one has told him that new episodes are being aired.

    Irina, your comment last week that the animation style had shifted a bit continues to hold true: Comparing it to the Manga chapters, I wonder how much of that is trying to hew a little closer to how Bouchi was rendering things at that point.

    At first, I thought it might be (… partly) due to the show’s animator/character designer Minako Shiba’s passing in 2021, though it’s doubtful we’d only just be noticing a stylistic shift now.

    More likely, some of the work is being farmed out to other hands this season.

    Perseus fought Medusa, who turned people to stone: Riichiro Inagaki (… in retrospect) probably had that analogy in mind all along, though I’d not picked up on that till the ‘Science Vessel’ bearing his name was built.

    The “Medusa” tech has this weird ‘Möbius Strip’ feel to it, or perhaps an ‘Ouroboros’ feel, like a snake eating its own tail.

    We still don’t know how the ‘Petrification Effect’ is turned on/off or activated, or when/how the tech was recovered.

    For a story so deeply rooted in real science, it’s almost paradoxical that the current core MacGuffin is a mechanism so far removed from existing technology.

    Used in the short term, there are crazy-wild healing benefits to be had, as seen with both Mirai and Kaseki, though like most technologies it can all too easily be weaponized as well.

    I liked how the final scene rolled into the end credits for awhile, always a nice touch: This might have been a better (… though more excruciating) cliffhanger between cours, though pausing on the cusp of anyone else being revived has its merits as well.

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