The Stone Wars Arc has officially come to an end with Senku and the Ishigami Villagers coming out victorious. But victory comes at a price as both a character and the series say farewell for now. That being said, our review for the final episode shall also touch on the entirety of Dr. Stone’s second season.
“Prologue of Dr. Stone” covered Chapters 82-83 of the manga.
Quick Recap
Here’s what you’ve missed from the previous episode:
Senku manages to de-petrify Tsukasa Shishio’s younger sister, Mirai Shishio.
Hyoga blew up the Cave of Miracles and delivered an unsuspecting blow to Tsukasa throwing him over the cliff; Senku attempts to save him and gets dragged onto the current
The final battle concluded with Hyoga against the tag team of Senku and Tsukasa; Hyoga was knocked out because of Senku’s little gadget that electrocuted him
You can check out the full review of the previous episode here.
Overhyped
The first season of Dr. Stone gave the audience such a fresh take on nerdy and intellectual subjects by delivering each episode in such an entertaining way. This definitely continued in the Stone Wars Arc despite falling short in terms of action. Since the series has already come to a close, maybe the show really intended to give a new take on this so called “war” in which case, the expectations of the author were not meant. Technically speaking, there was still a war that transpired. Just not the one that most of us expected it to be.
That being said, the entire theme of the show becomes limited to delivering science projects to restore and save the world from petrification. It’s still a great plot on paper but judging from what we have seen so far, the potential conflicts lack depth; and since Senku is the only one capable of accomplishing this mission, the supporting characters have no choice but to follow his lead. This makes the entire storyline linear with minimal room for character growth and development.
It’s such a shame seeing a unique plot like this under-deliver. There’s no problem with the animation nor the delivery but personally, the second season sadly did not live up to the hype.
Senku’s Revenge
Despite its lack of action, the show was able to keep the audience engaged with its occasional heartfelt moments. As a man of Science, Senku finds joy in creating inventions but what always gets lost in the background is the fact that he creates those things not just to accomplish his goals but to improve the quality of living of everyone surrounding him. We have seen this in multiple occasions throughout the season but the finale has got to be at the very top of that list.
Despite being deemed as the main antagonist for this arc, Tsukasa Shishio showed his most vulnerable state at the very end. He was willing to bear the sin of playing god by eradicating specific humans of the Earth whom he felt the world would be better without, at least by his standards. But this did not define Tsukasa until the last two episodes as he was shown as a compassionate, loving brother who was willing to do anything to save his younger sister, Mirai, from dying. Making us all believe that he was not really a bad guy to start with.
This continued on in the final episode as he and Senku delivered such an emotional and seemingly ironic scene that captivated the viewers as both characters evened up the score.
Up to the very end, Dr. Stone: Stone Wars! Stayed true to what its fans and viewers have grown to love: its creative and highly entertaining delivery of science experiments. But we would not want this to be the only take away for a show that delivered more than just that. We want to give emphasis that the show was able to broaden the mentality of its viewers when tackling different scenarios in life.
Most often than not, people tend to react on certain events and jump the gun the moment an opportunity opens. However, Dr. Stone reminds us to always keep our emotions in check and make sure we assess each and every situation objectively so that we can act logically with a cool and calm head. This does not say in any way that emotions do not matter. This is just a reminder that emotions can make your mind clouded which might affect your decision-making.
The show may have underperformed in some aspects but at least it delivered what it was good at. Not to fret though, it has been announced that Dr. Stone will be coming back for another season. Our only hope is that there are more opportunities to add to the characters’ depth and more potential complicated conflicts.
'til the next science project!
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Dr. Stone: Stone Wars! Under-delivered in terms of action sequences but stayed true to its nature of delivering science projects and inventions in a creative and highly entertaining manner.
Due to Senku’s intellectual mind, he is the only one capable of leading everyone and restoring the world from its petrification; this limits character depth and potential for conflicts.
While Senku enjoys doing scientific experiments, he makes sure that everything has its purpose and most often than not, that is to make sure that he and everyone around him has an improved quality of living
Dr. Stone reminds us to always keep our emotions in check and make sure we assess each and every situation objectively so that we can act logically with a cool and calm head
The author hopes for Season 3 to have more opportunities to add to the characters’ depth and more potential complicated conflicts
Official Anime Website: Dr. STONE
Official Anime Twitter: @STONE_anime_off
©Kome Studio, Boichi/SHUEISHA, DrStone Project
What did you think about this episode? Let's discuss in the comments below!
