Dr. Stone: New World

Episode 5

This is an odd episode of Dr. Stone. For the most part, this series is about the step-by-step recreation of technology from the stone age to the modern day. Yet this episode takes what we have been focused on since last year's Dr. Stone: Ryusui special—i.e., building the ship—and fast forwards an entire year. In the process, we skip the entire ship's construction and its engine—not to mention the extraction and processing of the oil. On the one hand, such a jump leaves more than a few notable missing links in the chain of scientific discovery. On the other… well, let's just say that this arc was starting to become a bit of a slog.

Since the end of the second season, our heroes' main goal has been to reach the other side of the world and discover what turned everyone to stone in the first place. While the sudden existence of the “Why-Man” helped reinvigorate the mystery, there's only so long we can be excited by the promise of finding out what's on the other side of the world before we get tired of being teased with no payoff. In this sense, the time skip is a great idea as it keeps the story moving towards that goal in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the first thing that happens is Senku decides to stop by where his father and crew first returned to Earth to grab the “treasure” left behind thousands of years before, which means the tease of the series' big mystery continues regardless.

The other issue with this episode is that so much is crammed into one episode—not only the building of the ship but its departure—that a few important things are either glossed over or ignored completely. The biggest of these is the crew of the ship itself. Every core member of the tribe is going on the boat, including the smartest (Senku and Chrome), the most skilled with their hands (Yuzuriha and Kaseki), and the strongest (the Power Team). The risks of this decision are staggering. Should the boat sink or our heroes die in the New World, not only will scientific progress halt, but it also will likely regress. After all, all those needed to build and maintain the inventions made so far will be dead, and those who remain are either natives or those chosen for their physical attributes rather than their minds.

Moreover, taking all three “kings” (i.e., Senku, Ryusui, and Taiju) along basically leaves the kingdom leaderless. Of those left behind, likely either Minami (as she depetrified all the modern-day people) or Ruri (as the priestess of the natives) would take that role. However, it's questionable whether either would be able to hold leadership indefinitely as, despite a year of living together, they live in a society of two factions: natives and modern humans. At the very least, it feels like Gen or Taiju should have been left behind to keep the people unified.

In the end, this is another lackluster episode of Dr. Stone—though one that seems necessary to get the show back on track. While the “Treasure Island” may not be the promised New World, it is still our heroes' first step out into the unknown—and towards a place that may hold at least some answers about what happened on that fateful day 3000 years ago.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Given the choice, I would have left Taiju and Yuzuriha behind—Taiju to keep the kingdom together and Yuzuriha to pass on as many of her skills as possible.

• Oh. Bringing along the two bad guys from the last arc… Yeah. That's going to turn out well…

• I hope Nikki gets to explore the island and find some remnant of Lillian.

• The Soyuz Capsule in the tree is such an odd visual as we've never seen a single other building or piece of technology that has survived the 3000 years post-humanity out in the open.

Dr. Stone: New World is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.