The Spring 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Dr. Stone: New World

With the Stone Wars over, the former members of Tsukasa's Empire of Might join forces with the Kingdom of Science to build a ship capable of sailing across open ocean to seek answers on the mystery of the global petrification. However, before they can begin their voyage Senku and his friends need to find some key resources and push some new scientific advancements to build the type of vessel they need.

Dr. Stone: New World is based on Boichi and Riichirou Inagaki's Dr. Stone manga and streams on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

This episode picks up right where the Ryusui special left off and pretty much establishes that we are in for a few episodes of setup before our cast goes on their world-tracking voyage. The ship for such an expedition is currently being built and the hunt for fuel is still underway but there are still a lot of other little things that need to be considered like the preservation of food.

Ryusui already established a strong presence in his special, but this episode better integrates him into the main cast. Not only are there more instances of him interacting with specific characters, we also get a sense that he does have a heart underneath that pompous and greedy exterior. I like the fact that this show highlights both the caring and practical sides of characters like Senku and Ryosuke.

There was a part of me that was hoping the show's presentation would step up, but aside from a few cute sequences here and there, it's all relatively the same from a visual standpoint. I like when the show references things like Minecraft in order to highlight agriculture; it's more interesting viewing when the animation staff uses its own visual metaphors instead of just treating the manga like a storyboard.

Either way, even though I know what is in store for Senku and gang, I'm really looking forward to getting to relive all those experiences alongside everybody else! The Dr. Stone manga officially ended not too long ago and it is honestly one of my favorite shōnen series of all time. I don't know why it took so long for an anime continuation compared to other shows in a similar time frame, but I'm just glad that we get to see more from the Kingdom of Science.

When we last left our heroes, they were hard at work preparing for their transcontinental sea adventure. Rather than being at the mercy of the winds and waves, Senku wants an engine on the ship—meaning they need to find oil. This wouldn't be a problem if the landscape of Japan hadn't changed so much due to multiple eruptions of Mt. Fuji over the centuries when everyone was turned to stone. Basically, they need to map the area, and from that figure out where oil is likely to be.

As with every one of Senku's goals, all the steps along the way bear fruit as well. The need to map the area leads to human flight. Human flight leads to finding new hunting areas and supplies of wild wheat. Wheat leads to agriculture, and agriculture leads to being able to support a much larger population than hunting, gathering, and fishing would. What's great about this is that we see the real human impact of such massive leaps in science. We learn that the population of Ishigami Village has surged at times, but that they were at the whims of the fishing harvest—and one bad season is enough to starve a large portion of the population to death. With Senku and Ryusui ending the village's reliance on fishing, they have all but assured that these people will never go hungry again.

The rest of the episode is spent showing what is happening with the Kingdom of Science tribe while Senku and Ryusui are off searching for oil. Taiju gets to shine here with his optimism and compassion. Although he has often been a joke character in the series, no one has the willpower he does. All of this is on display in this episode as he works late into the night tilling the fields—not because he wants the food for himself, but because if they have more food, they'll be able to un-petrify the family members of the tribe. Is it any wonder Yuzuriha is in love with him?

Moreover, Taiju shows off one of the greatest things about science. He's not the most intelligent person, but he remembers that Senku once told him that farmers ground up sea shells and sprinkled them into the soil when growing crops—and so he does so. It increases his crop yield far beyond everyone else's. Does he understand why it worked? No. But it still does. You don't need to be intelligent to put scientific knowledge to use. Facts are facts regardless.

All in all, this is a fantastic episode of Dr. Stone. It uses the situation to show the humanity of Senku and Ryusui and the importance of agriculture to the growth and prosperity of mankind. But more than that, it shows why the last scientific mind on Earth—the one man capable of returning humanity to the heights it once reached—would choose Taiju as his first companion above any other. There is no one out there with more humanity than Taiju.

Just a heads-up to any Anime-only viewers: you're definitely going to need to watch the “Ryusui” TV special from last year. It's already up on Crunchyroll, and this season premiere picks up right where it left off. So if you don't want to spend the whole episode wondering who this pirate guy is, or how Senku and co. made a hot air balloon to search for oil fields, you'll want to check it out.

Other than that, though, Dr. Stone is back as if it never left. With the conflict of the Stone Wars arc taken care of, the Kingdom of Science is busy working to establish its new society for the long run – with one group searching for oil fields as part of an eventual quest to sail across the ocean, while the other is busy sowing the first crops in over 3700 years. It's exactly the kind of practical-level science the series has always thrived with, and with the expanded cast of characters all together now, it's a very comfy and enjoyable watch. There's just something delightful about seeing Taiju diligently work the wheat fields, promising he'll grow enough food for his new home and friends to never worry about going hungry again. Bless him.

The one possible wrinkle is Ryusui, who's possibly the largest and loudest personality in the show's already raucous bunch. He is loud, greedy by his own admission, and has essentially become Senku's new second fiddle while they work on all the ocean-crossing prep, so he'll be the focus for a while. In other words he has a lot of potential Scrappy Doo energy to him, and if the series isn't careful he could wind up dragging things down compared to our established cast. Thankfully, the series seems aware of that, and takes some important measures to give his foibles an admirable context. Yes, he's a greedy man who grew up with incomparable privilege, but he's not a sponging failson who coasted off his family's wealth. His desire to have “everything” in the world is defined by his appreciation of the people and things around him, and in the context of a barely-established human society at war with the elements, his greed manifests as a desire for a more reliable life for everyone.

It's a tricky tightrope to walk, but at least for this episode, Dr. Stone has managed to keep its footing steady and sure. Mostly though, I'm just happy to see the series focusing on its greatest strengths, as the cast speedruns the agricultural revolution and works through the complex logistics of maintaining a growing population. The OP promises we'll be getting some more fights, eventually, but for right now I'm more excited to see them figure out how to make bread.