Dr. STONE

Through all of my years of indulging in the mediums of anime and manga, I've never quite felt the urge to write an in-depth review about a series I had experienced. Maybe it's because I felt I never had anything I desired to talk about in particular, since other people seemed to be much more applicated for the job, going in excruciating detail about what they enjoyed or disliked about different works, whose thoughts often made me take notice of some particular elements that slipped my mind on my first experience. But something about watching last week's episode of the anime for Dr. Stone made me remember the thought I had at the end of the manga, and it's something that has really struck me in a way no other piece of media quite has, which I find particularly fascinating and I do wonder if there are people out there in the platform that can relate to my feelings in any way.

In all aspects, I shouldn't like this manga. It's full of one dimensional characters that seem to be introduced only for the purpuse of carrying out a specific task to craft a particular item (often not even being unique in that field as seen with the group that specializes in physical strength), meandering story arcs that make you wonder how much of the story was actually planned out in advance aside from the science re-inventions that the crew was going to bring back from the old world, and the awkward paneling that makes the pages feel bloated and rigid to read through, salvaged only by Boichi's legitimely great detailed artwork and spreads that while I understand may not be everyone's cup of tea, I find particularly impressive in depicting the complex items that they create in a grandiose fashion, detailing every intricate part of the artefacts previously built.

Now, with all that being said, you fellow reader might think that this comic would be a waste of time akin to spending a whole hour washing your car only for rain to fall in the next day. Although, if you payed attention to the previous paragraph, there is but one element that I consistenly shined light upon in being the one saving grace of the product in question. It being its unwaveringly positive commentary on the aspect of the human nature linked to the advancement and evolution of the possibilities we are able to achieve through the sheer and utter determination imbeded within our species.

SO. Those are a lot of big words, but what do I mean by this exactly?
Let's break it down step by step.

Let's begin taking a look at the premise. A world where all technology has been made null through what Senku believes to be a science weapon of some kind. Science itself is what made the world of Dr. Stone what we see throughout the story. A world where only the mighty survive by sheer physical prowess alone. This premise ignites the debate that is the crux of the first arc of the story. "Is science worth bringing back in the first place?". There are legitimate reasons for us to desire a simpler world with simpler rules. The world is full of uncertainty and chaos, technology dominating our lives day after day without a stopping point anywhere in sight. The internet and social media have meant a new paragraph in the history of humanity and the way it affects our interpersonal communication, society's rules bind down the individual in circumstances they have no mean of controling, the globlal enviroment that keeps degrading at an alarming rate, the nuclear apocalypse that is talked about more and more by the media, with fear of the inventions we ourselves created. Is technology really responsible for our own destruction? Is there any meaning in the progress of our species in the first place?

In the face of all this, our protagonist takes center stage. And, when I said that science and its relation to humanity serves as the core theme of the story, I was more specifically refering to the character of Ishigami Senku. As is Senku —through the mundane but no less escential events that shaped his childhood through his father— who takes the readers on a journey to find a different answer than the one we might come to by ourselves after spending too much time watching the news channel during a tuesday morning. Senku, and Inagaki by extension, communicate that science can and only will be a result of our infinite desire to be greater than what we are, to have the things we do not have. And that desire is, fundamentally, positive. Regardless of the results later caused by the wretched intentions of individuals, the advancement of technology, no matter the pain it may bring with it, will always serve to elevate our race to greater, previously unimagined heights.

Senku is hard headed and totally full of himself, but his determination knows no bounds. And is precicely that, combined for his passion and love of science, that brings people closer to him. Because even though he might not appear as such on the surface, Senku is a deeply empathetic person that wants nothing else than to help other people with science, just how it illuminated him in his childhood years. His selflessness creates the bonds that are crucial to rebuilding civilization, as he is incapable of doing so by himself, directly pointed by its physical inability. And that leads us to the second part of the series' message. We not only need science to advance, but science can only be developed through a community, and the hearts of the people are what ultimately shape the purpose of the fruits of our labor. In this case, the bonds between the members of the cast.

That is Dr. Stone's answer to its laid thesis, and is one I find particularly heartfelt and emotive. There are numerous examples through the series that I will not go into due to spoilers, but every step Senku and the gang take to bring back a lost artifact from the previous era carries a profound pathos unique to this work. We've seen science shows as kids before, we've seen the wacky stuff they can build with seemingly ordinary ingredients. But the amount of research that goes into each of the projects the characters work their way through devolves in an apreciation for the process of craftmanship itself, thus making the actual finalization of the item in question a moment of unmatched bliss. The final arc of the story is essential to this message, with the use of certain characters in it, the creation of their biggest project yet and the identity of the final obstacle they have fo face.

In the end, Dr. Stone might seem like your generic science based Weekly Shonen Jump manga series. And yeah, in a lot of unfortunate ways, it is. My enjoyment of it definitely dwindled during a big part of the middle portion. But I felt the need to communicate the potency of its intentions, and how effectively the author transmited them through this manga that this particular reader found strongly charming and sincere, the act of going through that final stretch of chapters ending up as a very intimate experience, making me look at the world and its history in a slight more positive light.

Writing this review, I think I came to the conclusion that the reason why the themes of the narrative made such an impact on me is because they really didn't have any right to be as potent as they were in the context of this kind of product, and only really hit me years after I caught up and started reading it weekly. It took me by surprise. And I'm not trying to diminish it, these are just my honest feelings about my personal journey with the series.

TL;DR: It's an ok science shonen on the surface, but with a strong message that left a big impact on me, delivered with great thought and care that makes it well worth reading to any enthusiasts of the medium that are looking for a new, innovative story with charm spread all throughout its pages.