Shower thoughts on https://anilist.co/manga/98416/DrSTONE/ I guess its time for another post of animanga shower thoughts. Its another rainy morning here in the north. Waking up you realise that the manga youve spent the last couple of days engrossed in reading when youre not busy writing your thesis or being with family looking after a sick baby niece has been caught up to the latest chapter. Now that quiet emptiness that comes after every new adventure has enveloped you once again falling silently as dust in its wake. This time though its not going to be for long next chapter is set to be released this Sunday and with a Season 2 thats set to be released this January Im definitely excited and its because I simply cant contain that excitement that I had to throw this out here. A fair warning this post contains major spoilers of Dr Stone thats not yet been animated so please read at own risk. I didnt know anything about Dr Stone when I first started. Actually I think I watched the first two episodes with a friend a few years ago to check it out and see if it was something we would watch. Since then a lot of things happened and my friend and I stopped seeing each other. Sucks but thats how life is I guess. Because of that Dr Stone was put on ice until quite recently when I stumbled over an interesting discussion about it on Discord which reignited my interest in the show and I decided to revive it. So grabbing my own limited knowledge of the natural sciences Im but a scientist in the humanities and the social sciences I sat down and started watching. Oh boy. Lets just say I did not regret picking it back up. Before I knew of it I had reached the end of Season 1 and I wanted more. I still do now that I also caught up with the manga. Im kinda like what the hell just happened? And that in quite a good way. I had a lot of fun watching and reading and most of all I found the premise that the series is built on to be super refreshing. 450https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772979605807693865/592a491847b8f58ca8b8d4fc8a4803e6.gif Its not often that I see an animanga based on the principles of science fly into my TBW/R list. Often science fiction can seem based on an interesting yet a more or less fantastical concept thats got very little to do with the levels of science we currently know of this comes from someone who loves science fiction with a passion. Sure there are some aspects of that in Dr Stone too dont get me wrong but it was really fun to see how science and concepts based on wellknown factual scientific concepts and theories yes the correct term is theories played a role in the series. Not gonna lie the execution of the power of science does tend to be oversimplistic in nature not to mention the power of science tends to become a bit of a buzzword mantra at times because it gets repeated a bit too often for my tastes and it almost gives you a feeling like its a bit like a magical superpower like ooh look at me I can do this I know science That feeling does not get better when our hero Senku time and time again whips up one fantastical solution after the other to the problems that he faces as he tries his hardest to uncover what happened on that day when the entire world turned to stone. 450https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772977971828228096/161adfe5ac52a338833059893490.gif HOWEVER That to me at least is a rather small AberDabei when I look at it from a bigger perspective. First things first this is science fiction. Of course it is meant to be simplified and fantastical. Most likely are elements of this series in part meant to show what baaaad stuff thank you Chrome you might be able to do with science if you learn the principles and work hard enough for it. So it really doesnt matter much how unrealistic some of the things Senku thinks up. Well at least not for me lol. It just makes it more entertaining. Besides if all of it were explained down to the last detail or kept realistic no matter what Im fairly sure that the fun not to mention the story of the series would have been lost quickly and then the series might need a different audience with degrees in the natural sciences to even understand it. These critical aspects here are simply a matter of knowing the audience and how to communicate the science on a needtoknow basis that makes it relatable and entertaining. It doesnt have to be any more complicated than that. Another thing I found entertaining about this is how this is clearly a story that builds its premise on one of those hypothetical intellectual experiments such as what would you do if you were sent back to the stone age with the scientific knowledge you currently have and such. It adds a nice little spice to the story. Its quite ironic and rather telling actually. 350https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772954274886844426/Screenshot20190723140213e1565004748350863x1024.jpg?width=566height=672 Speaking of Senku I really like the role that he plays in the story. Sure he is the main character that guides the other characters with his knowledge of science and such but he is often seen throwing the ball to other characters giving them their chance to shine and never looks down on them for lack of scientific knowledge but always encourages people to keep trying because he knows that even with his knowledge he is not infallible. He can seem cynical manipulative and even arrogant at times yet behind it all is he a selfless and sensible kind of guy. Generally this series has some pretty interesting characters and character dynamics which adds further flavour to the story. Its nothing too deep or too emotionally heavy as other series but its still got plenty of heart and humour to offer. Sure the story does rely on tropes to tell the story but nonetheless is the subtle humourous sometimes caricatured ways that any of the characters are portrayed just what makes it more fun to watch and read. 350https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772976629123252234/256568.jpg One thing I particularly enjoy in how the characters are portrayed in Dr Stone is that while there are some traits that a given character is built up around the characters are particularly made to stand out depending on what talents they have and how they contribute to the series. Like theres always a clear distinction between every characters abilities and put thought into how they can be made unique but not so unique that they cant somehow contribute to the community and the story as a whole which gives the clear sense that everyone can contribute and be part of the community whether that being the Kingdom of Science or the Tsukasa Empire. Beyond this point there will be spoilers from the manga thats not yet animated so if youve only watched the first season you might want to stop here. One character Id really like to particularly highlight here at the end of this longwinded mess of a shower thought post is probably the character thats stood out to me the most throughout both manga and anime. he was probably that character that hit me in the feels the most and a character I am most definitely looking forward to seeing more of lol. Shishio Tsukasa. Hes the kind of character that quite frankly nearly caused my eyes to pop right out of their sockets when I saw him for the first time. But there is a lot more to him than just being this really attractivelooking seemingly nice kind of guy who wants to destroy science and as the story goes along he reveals himself to be a bit of a diamond in the rough. And me being me theres just no way of resisting. 500https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772960200121647114/Screenshot20201027014344pw.katsu.katsu2.jpg?width=1443height=666 Because of his wellmeaning goal but distorted methods it had me wary of him at first where I come from the kind of thinking he presented in the series usually tends to create movements with a lot less noble motives in mind e.g. cults sects militant factions political factions you name it. its the kind of path where not just yourself but everyone around you can get seriously friggin hurt. Even with the best of intentions things go wrong and can cause a helluva lot more harm than one might think. Good intentions cannot change that. Fortunately Tsukasa just isnt that kind of monster. If he were Dr Stone would probably have had a different darker tone to it than it has Id imagine. More than anything Tsukasa is just a kindhearted young man who went through some pretty fucked up shit and felt the world weigh down on his shoulders too much so when he saw the chance to change the world for the better he took it in the hopes that he could do it. Yet I cannot help but wonder what might have happened to him if things hadnt turned out the way they did. 450https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/768780286581407757/772953555346391050/ScaryTsukasa.gif I know I know. I said that the story didnt have to be that deep. I guess Tsukasa is the exception that proves the rule here though. Either way I found it added an interesting edge to his character and his relationships to everyone else in the series... Id say he is probably that character I feel I relate to the most. Heh come to think of it he actually reminds me of another figure from a different and a lot older literary universe thats got nothing to do with animanga but everything to do with science or what was once perceived as science. But that my friends is a different discussion for another time. I think thats about all I had in mind writing this review. Did not expect it to end up this long tho whoops... I guess I went a bit overboard I really need to keep things concise around here... Oh well Im excited about whats coming next TLDR if you like good science fiction and is interested in science with a twist lighthearted sense of humour and interesting characters this might be for you.