Dr. Stone: New World Episode 22 Review

Posted on by Irina

You know what, now that the season is over and I can look back on it as a whole, I really enjoyed this season of Dr. Stone. The pacing was great, there were several points where I was genuinely intrigued by what would happen next and it was consistently fun to meet new characters and get plot reveals. It felt like we actually moved forward and that can be a challenge for long-running anime.

In a lot of ways, this was more like a setup episode for the next season than a finale, which means that not all that much happened. I say that when they just revived one of the pivotal characters after seasons. I guess Dr. Stone is just the sort of show where a lot of stuff happens all the time. Anyway, Tsukasa is back! Woohoo! And they made really sure that we remember just how cool this guy is. I wish they had given him some sort of intro music that plays every time he shows up. I think that would have really dialed up the comedy!

And it was everything I was hoping for. It was emotional, he was super gracious and all and still imposing. I do remember thinking that the character’s crack lines were one of the most evocative and distinctive character design elements of the show and it was actually a bit of a shame that they lost them. I was even going to write about how Senku not using the device to get rid of his cracks because it was running out of juice was just an excuse so he could keep his awesome face tattoos but then Gen beat me to it and just manually added them back in with face paint! Good move! You can cosplay an unseen Dr. Stone character simply by drawing a bunch of those lines on your face. It’s a great marketing tool!

I’m all over the place but I just want to tell you about all the little things I noticed. Like they are still doing Ginro dirty. Maybe it’s more fun in manga form but his over-the-top ego is just not coming off well onscreen. At least for me. And I actually like the character to begin with. It does seem like Tsukasa’s return may have humbled him a bit but it’s hard to say since we didn’t see Ginro for the rest of the episode.

The big issue with Tsukasa is that he is an ideologue. And a pretty fervent one at that. It’s what made him so dangerous in the first place. It’s also what makes him a good foil for Senku and up to a certain point, Gen, who are both pragmatic to a fault. I hadn’t thought of the fact that we now have Ryuusi to think about as well and he also has a very unique set of values he likes to live by. On paper, those should clash with Tsukasa and likely will at some point in the future. But fundamentally they are both hmmm, what’s the word I’m looking for. Is it communist? Probably not, at least not as we know it. What’s the word for people who think that collaboration is by far the best way to run a society. We should all work together for the betterment of all rather than for personal gain. Cause that’s what they both seem to believe at the end of the day. Let’s see how that translates when a lot more people are around to annoy them!

What this episode set up was that before the team goes to the moon. Still super ridiculous and I love it. They are going to go to America. For corn… And I get it. Corn is an overpowered resource. It’s not quite as great as water but it’s still mighty impressive. And I guess they could revive a few high school NASA scientists while there.

But the thing is, they are going to the other side of the world by ship. Like watership, not space. I looked it up and with modern technology it takes anywhere from 10 to 30 days to sail from Japan to America. Depending on weather and sea routes. And I couldn’t find how long it would have taken in less modern times, mostly because I gave up quickly but also because very few people did it and they stopped a lot along the way. So my guestimate is that it’s going to take them anywhere from 3 to 6 months. Are we about to watch 2 seasons of traveling? I’m not opposed, I’m just curious.

Previous Dr. Stone 3 Posts

3 thoughts on “Dr. Stone: New World Episode 22 Review”

  1. Belatedly, a few thoughts on the Season 3 Finale …

    – Would have to go back and check, but reasonably sure that “What’s The Situation?” was the exact phrase Tsukasa spoke when de-Petrified the first time.

    – New (… or at least seldom-heard) music cue playing over the Tsukasa flashback. Might be a cue used when they first froze Tsukasa.

    – The ‘Laying on of Hands’ sequence is a single panel in the Manga, drawn out here to wondrous emotional effect.

    Utterly amazing, between the music, direction and dialogue, how much emotion permeates the revival scene.

    Even moreso, if you consider that Tsukasa was the show’s ‘Big Bad’ for the first half of the series.

    – Ruri is a Romantic. Also stronger than she looks.

    – Gen had more to do this week, and with more people. Subtle interactions.

    – François had her role to play as well.

    “Stollen: The Goat’s Gift” – Tried some earlier in the year, might never have known about it save for “Dr. Stone.”

    Speaking of which, Riichiro Inagaki had been reaching around for something to justify the series’ title for ages, this rationale might actually stick.

    – Yuzuriha and Kaseki are by turns adorable and horrifying in their zealousness.

    – Senku has a grand plan – as always – and that ‘Road Map’ is certainly visually impressive.

    “We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard” – JFK, in reference to the Space Program.

    Even Magma was grinning at the audaciousness of it all.

    – The last thing Senku and Tsukasa spoke of prior to Tsukasa’s refrigeration was who they might deploy aboard a space capsule such as the Soyuz: Foreshadowing.

    – The anthropomorphic ears of corn are dressed as Ryusui, Kohaku, Senku & Chrome.

    – This time, Mantle actually definitely did go with them, as did Suika – as a full crew member – and Minami.

    And Kirisame.

    And Matsukaze.

    And Tsukasa.

    – That callback to ‘Li’l Senku’ is from one of the earliest episodes, where he declared to a teacher that he was “… going to the Moon. Right now!”

    – Adapts Chapters #141-142

    Season 4 Confirmed: Dr. Stone Science Future! 🙏✨

    My concern is that there are about 90 chapters remaining to adapt, and on average the series has averaged two or three chapters per episode.

    Even if the production company burns through these, they’ll need 30 episodes, bare minimum, to do the Manga justice. 🤔✨

    About the proposed Spacecraft …

    If they follow the basic design glimpsed in this episode, looking at the more detailed art in the corresponding Manga chapter, it looks to include an orbital command capsule, detachable aerodynamic return vehicle for atmospheric re-entry, along with multiple Lunar Excursion Modules.

    Realistically, the return vehicle and LEMs would add drag upon launch, so the craft probably would require stages of booster rockets with the capacity of the Saturn V (… used in the original Moon Shot) for its launch.

    The Return Craft portion appears to take design cues from the “Flying Wing” school of aerodynamics, allowing for a controlled landing.

    (Long, long runway would assist.)

    And so, the equally long, long wait until the next season begins …

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  3. Pingback: Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 22: Favorites - Crow's World of Anime

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