Dr. STONE – 21, 22, 23

「スパルタ工作クラブ」 (Suparuta Kousaku Kurabu)
“Spartan Craft Club”

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「THE TREASURE」 (THE TREASURE)
“The Treasure”

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「科学の波」 (Kagaku no Nami)
“Wave of Science”

Man, I take a vacation and come back to a three episode post? Holy moly.

General Impressions

Man, a lot has happened in the past three weeks! Seeing how a lot from episode 21 and 22 essentially built up to the finale of episode 23, it feels like the best way to tackle this gigantic three-episode post is to just talk about everything as a whole. That and I’m sure nobody wants a 1500+ word post — so let’s just jump into it!

The journey to finalizing the vacuum tube has been one hell of ride. Combining various concepts that took humanity thousands of years to figure out (plus getting lucky with the discovery of good old element 74 aka tungsten) with a ton of hard work and tenacity, it felt so good to see Senku’s cell phone plan come to fruition by the end of episode 23. Looking back on the previous two episodes, it’s kind of crazy just how well thought out the entire plan was. Starting with the power source of the phone (batteries) to tackling the inherent problems with using inferior materials (tungsten mining) all the way to figuring out how to craft complicated glass contraptions (the vacuum tubes plus the Hickman Pump to create an even better vacuum), it’s quite amazing when looking at the flow post-completion. That said, none of this could or would have been possible without Senku’s second strength — his compassion and love for others.

Outside of the cool scientific feats that we see almost once a week, the thing that keeps me coming back for more is watching just how much Senku affects the lives of everyone around him. Even with his attempts at portraying a sarcastic and somewhat cold persona, it’s obvious to everyone just how much he cares about those around him. Week after week, we get to see how his decisions ultimately create a reality where he’s able to rally everyone around him. Using this week’s obvious example, I nearly cried when Senku provided the village a way to create heat within their homes. Sure, he needed a way to burn through coal to get the leftover byproducts, but there wasn’t any concrete reason he needed to pound stoves together. Except to prevent something as ridiculous as children or the elderly from dying from the weather.

Outside of his empathy, the other thing I wanted to touch on was how Senku was able to convert Magma into an ally. Seeing through Magma’s simple mindset, I was blown away when Senku managed to get through to Magma man-to-man. With the belief that no one starts out as a complete jerk while also not insulting Magma’s way of life, the scene in the caves where Magma saves Senku’s life not once but twice was a fantastic depiction of taking your enemies and turning them into allies through love rather than violence.

Man, what a great series of episodes! It was super fun catching up and watching Senku and the Kingdom of Science rapidly progress toward the present. That said, it looks like the battle with Tsukasa is rapidly rushing toward us and who knows what’ll happen? Luckily it looks like Senku has some secrets up his sleeves and I’m willing to bet there’ll be some more crazy ideas outside of the Senku Phone. Anyways, see you guys next week!

Preview