Whether or not it's actually the case, hat tricks feel kind of rare in anime. A 1st season? Simple enough, get your adaptation. A 2nd? Good job, you held out, already in the upper half. A 3rd?! Well that's when you start thinking a show might actually get adapted all the way to end. And it's those hallowed halls that Dr. STONE is stepping into. Animated by TMS Entertainment with original story by Riichirou Inagaki and original art by Boichi, Dr. STONE returns with a new director at the helm, Shuuhei Matsushita. How will his take on the best non-battle-battle Shounen currently being made compare to that of the original director, Shinya Iino? Can he bring it back from the brink after the dip that was Season 2? Well I'll give you hint: Abso-freaking-lutely. This is the best season of Dr. STONE yet. So without further ado, let's jump in!
Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Dr. STONE. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents.
Production
First up let's start with where Dr. STONE is weakest, its visual production, and work our way up. Just like the previous 2 seasons, Dr. STONE is not what I would call a particularly "animated" show. The characters don't move much and when they do, they don't move particularly well. This isn't Kimetsu no Yaiba or some other action battle Shounen. You aren't going to find any big bombastic sakuga fight sequences, that just isn't what Dr. STONE is about. Instead you're going to find stunning backgrounds, beautifully picturesque still shots and wonderfully composed and directed emotional sequences. Soft lighting over a room of photos as a character reminisces of their time spent together with the team. The reflection of the stars on a slow moving river. The unblinking star of a madman hunting down a lead. This is where Dr. STONE truly excels.
Lucky for us then that Dr. STONE seems to have figured that out after the lackluster Season 2. Where that season was absolutely filled with rough, poorly animated battles to fit its theme of "Stone Wars", this season has a grand total of... None. No battles. No janky action sequences to take us out of the moment. That's right, what makes this season better isn't that it's better produced or better directed, though both of those are probably true. It's that Dr. STONE actually focuses on what it's good at: Science and the human experience. Almost every episode has some kind of well shot, well framed, well realized slice of that "Humanity Fuck Yeah" style that's always made up the core of the show. As such while I wouldn't say it looks drastically better than previous seasons, this one certainly has a higher overall average.
There's only one thing I think might really push some people away, and it's something that's been present since Season 1: The Chibis. Like a lot of anime, Dr. STONE has this habit of using cute little chibi animations with a lot of its comedy. Now personally I don't mind these. I think Dr. STONE is rather conservative with how often it uses them, generally only shifting to that style for a few seconds to get another characters reaction. There are no extended scenes drawn entirely in this style that I can think of. None that weren't "Science Explanations" at least, where Senku starts to explain whatever their next invention is. That said, they do still happen basically every episode. So if that's something you just can't stand, then I don't know how you made it to this season to begin with, because it was there from the start.
All in all while Dr. STONE isn't a particularly noteworthy visual experience, I do still think it's a solid step up from Season 2. You should be able to find plenty of solid backgrounds or wallpapers if that's what your looking for, and plenty of scenes should stick your head with how expertly they are framed and presented. I know that at least for me personally, there is one early shot of Senku mimicking the famous Einstein photo that is both awesome and incredibly resonant with the themes of the show, and it's something I won't forget for a while.
Narrative
That said, while Dr. STONE is not the most visually engaging anime ever made, it does have a pretty fantastic narrative going on. This being Season 3 I'm sure you already know the basics, how all of humanity was turned to stone, how Senku woke up 3,000 years later and how he has set himself to restoring the world through science. I'm also sure that you remember the slight... detour that we took in Season 2, with the war against Tsukasa and his anti-science philosophy. Personally, I found Season 2 to be rather lacking. It was filled with battles and action, things Dr. STONE not only isn't good at but doesn't really care about, rather than science and the human experience. Which is why I'm really happy to be able to say that Season 3 walks that back and returns to what makes Dr. STONE engaging: Humanity Fuck Yeah moments.
Where last season was about stabilizing the Kingdom of Science and, effectively, ending a civil war, this season is all about righting the ship, returning to the grand mystery of the petrification beam and taking our first tentative steps towards solving that. Senku and co start to look outward from their shores, towards all the countries, peoples and most importantly resources, left scattered all around the world after the petrification. They start to develop technology for communication, for long distance visuals and mapping, for storage and travel. A good half of the season is just them building a ship capable of traveling the ocean. And it's awesome! We get to see all of the old technologies come back and get repurposed, really showing how science builds on itself and gets faster and faster. If the inventions and civilization aspect of Dr. STONE was what you loved, that returns in force.
As for those who have been looking for more of a mystery angle, Dr. STONE has that to! When I said the series returned to the mystery of the petrification beam I didn't just mean nominally. There is real, tangible progress towards figuring what it is and what happened. I won't spoil you on it, as it's a large part of the season. But there are a good number of hints and story beats dedicated towards progressing it. Something we haven't seen since... Episode 1 of Season 1 probably? In short, it feels like this is the season where Dr. STONE has finally found its footing and knows what it wants to do.
There are only 2 real problems here that I can see. The 1st is that the season does start rather slow. It has a lot of establishing information and new characters to introduce before it widens its scope. This isn't a huge deal, as it's still filled with science. But some might feel like the show is stagnating a bit at the start and I want to assure you it's all for a purpose. The 2nd, and far larger, issue with the season is that it's only 11 episodes long. Only a single one of the story arcs started in episode 1 actually get resolved, with the "finale" feeling more like a mid-season climax then an ending. Once Season 4/Part 2 comes out this won't be a big deal, just continue on. But knowing we have to wait 6 months for more Dr. STONE? This might frustrate some people.
Characters
A major contributing factor to the success of the narrative would Dr. STONE's cast. The core, Senku/Chrome/Kohaku/Gen, continue to be as good as they ever were. New situations, new interactions, nice callbacks to previous interactions. And Dr. STONE makes sure to give each of them, each member of the cast at large really, their moments to shine. Whether it be Chrome figuring out a use for one of their new technologies for Senku can explain it, Kohaku becoming better at identifying and using their technology, etc etc. Every member has a part to play, a role in the cast/Kingdom. While some get more attention then others, it never feels like they are irrelevant or unnecessary. Not even with the introduction of new, but similar, characters!
Speaking of new characters, Dr. STONE introduces a few this season. The biggest is Ryusui, who was technically introduced in the OVA that bridges Season 2 and 3, but who many of you will probably meet for the first time. Along with him we get Francois, Soyoz, and a few others. Overall I quite like these new additions to the cast. Ryusui is easily the most contentious of the lot, and will probably be a "Love'm or hate'm" style character for most people. Dr. STONE tries its best to frame his ambition and drive in a positive light, and personally I think it succeeded by the end. But I'm sure some people will see his arrogance and greed and decide he isn't for them. Still, I expect those people to find at least one new character they will come to like.
Finally we need to talk about the "villains". I put villain in quotes because, as far as the narrative it concerned, it's still undecided where exactly they will fall. However they are framed as such from their initial introduction, as well as their designs, that I feel comfortable calling them that. The villains here are setup rather well, and I think they have potential to be just as interesting as Tsukasa but with a much better narrative structure to support their conflict. However with where the season ends that's really all they have. There's no time for them to do or evolve into much more. As such, while they are setup well, they don't really get to do anything. I'm sure for some that will be a disappointment, and to them I say wait for Season 4. But for those looking for something in the now... You'll probably be disappointed.
OST
Finally we come to the OST, what I typically view to be one of Dr. STONE's strongest aspects. Composed once again by the trio of Tatsuya Katou, Yukihiro Kanesaka, and Hiroaki Tsutsumi, Dr. STONE's OST once again delivers. Just take a listen to the absolute high sea adventure that is Ryusui's Theme here in the trailer, or the somber grandeur and majesty of the dawns first light in this clip from the Ryusui OVA special. It's use of everything from classical orchestras to techno and rock to traditional instruments always makes Dr. STONE's OST one of the most varied and interesting in a season, and that holds true here. Not to mention all of the songs from the first 2 seasons as well. My only regret is that, at the time of this review, the official OST has not yet been released so I can't go in-depth for you.
Finding Your Stride
This brings me to the personal section of the review. This is where I try to give you a tiny peak into my personal experience with a show so you can understand where everything you just read is coming from. Fair warning, this is a no-holds-barred spoiler section. If you haven't watched the show and don't want to be spoiled, don't read it. Otherwise if you want to get to know me a bit, then head on in!
Spoiler, click to view
So to get right into things, my favorite part of Dr. STONE is and always will be it's uncanny ability to connect its science and inventions to our human experience. Of being able to take something as simple as a photograph and turn that into a characters driving emotional need. Or how building a ship becomes someone's statement of independence. From something as simple as shampoo to panning for gold and platinum for literal decades, Dr. STONE never fails to give us those patented "Humanity Fuck Yeah" moments. And if you don't know what that is, go look for a subreddit by the same name... Assuming it hasn't gone dark right now. The point is, to me these are the bread and butter of the Dr. STONE experience and something that very few other anime out there can provide. And it feels like Dr. STONE has finally figured that out.In the 1st season Dr. STONE was riding high off novelty. It had the idea, it had the setup, but it was still trying to be a Shounen battle series in a lot of ways. We had fights, conflict, an overarching villain in Tsukasa. And we saw that through to its logical conclusion in the 2nd season, where Dr. STONE ended up sidelining a lot of it's best traits to try and really become that weekly Shounen action blockbuster. And it failed, in my opinion. With it's 3rd season, Dr. STONE has realized that and is buckling down and refocusing itself on all the things I just talked about. It's like the author now knows, without a shadow of a doubt, what he wants this series to become and is dedicating it to that.
You can see this in both the 1st half of this season as well as our new villains. For the former, half the season is just about figuring out how to build a ship. No battles, no action, just a year long sequence of events as they complete the largest construction project they've ever undertaken. It's all science, resource gathering and logistics, with some emotional bits connecting it all together. There isn't an ounce of danger. And for the former, when we get to the 2nd half? Even then the danger isn't of a physical, "I'm going to kill you" sense. Rather it's the re-introduction of the petrification beam, what set all of this off to begin with, and those who control it.
Kirisame, while physically a match for Kohaku, is more centered around the petrification mystery. Meanwhile Ibara is presented as the cruel, cunning, calculating sort of evil. Someone who is a match for Senku in a lot of ways, challenging him on the field of intelligence and deductive reasoning. We can see it in how he figures things out, approaches problems and refuses to accept the same easy answers his men do. And finally we have Moz, a character most like Hyoga and Tsukasa yet who is being completely sidelined as little more then an excuse to not just send Kohaku in to beat them all up. It's clear what kind of conflicts Dr. STONE wants to have moving forward, and I for one think they are far better then the physical confrontation we got from Tsukasa in Season 2.
Suffice to say, it feels like Dr. STONE has finally found, and hit, its stride. Like it knows what it wants to be and how to pace itself. No more awkwardly drawn out battles or contests of physical strength. Instead we get problem solving, technology, and a mysterious force called the "Why Man" projecting out across the world on the radio. And to me this refocusing, this shift in direction back towards the original premise, is what makes this season stand out so much compared to the previous 2.
Conclusion
So yeah, all in all while this season of Dr. STONE isn't perfect, it has some pacing and ending issues as well as a lackluster production in a number of ways, I still think it's the best season of Dr. STONE yet. It feels like we are finally setting down the path of what was originally promised to us all the way back in Season 1 and I'm just so happy about it. My hope is that now that Dr. STONE knows exactly what it wants, and needs, to be that it can start to iterate and improve upon it even faster. And considering that we are getting a Part 2, a Season 4, later this year already? It gives me a lot of hope that we may just get a fabled complete adaptation. That would be pretty rad if you ask me, because I know there's some wild stuff ahead after this.
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