You're listening to the After Hours Arc. My name
is Anti, and I'll be your host. Join me as I
review, recap, and relive anime, one arc at a
time. And as always, these are all from a manga
-free point of view. And for tonight's episode,
I am so excited to talk about Dr. Stone, the
first season. I am so not caught up to be jumping
into Spring. I also think it's the second part
of their Season 4. I am not entirely sure. Because
this is not one that has been on my radar. I
have no clue where they're at. But I was pleasantly
surprised that when I opened it up on Crunchyroll,
there was just so much to get into. And I have
been dying. for a show that i can actually binge
i don't want one two seasons i want multiple
seasons i want movies i want it all so this one
is definitely checking all the boxes for me and
i don't really know why it took me so long to
get into it maybe i thought it was just a typical
shonen but it is a lot more than that This is
a very smart anime, and I can't help but think
of Apothecary Diaries every time I say this,
because that is how I would describe that anime
as well. And they are very similar, although
to me Apothecary Diaries is much more mystery
-based, where this is very much more world -building,
I believe. That's how I would compare it. So
getting into Dr. Stone and the setup. Everything
starts on a normal school day. We have a confession
that is waiting to happen. A love confession.
And before it happens, there's this green flash
that just goes across the whole planet like a
wave. Everybody gets turned to stone. They turn
into these statues. And I was really confused
at first because they weren't solid. You could
hear people thinking and freaking out and calling
out for help, even though they weren't actually
making sounds. If they returned to stone, I would
think that they would have been solid stone.
So I was a little confused at first. But what
happens is 3 ,700 years passed. The world basically
reclaims everything that they had built. I'm
talking skyscrapers and buildings are gone. Forests
are swallowing these cities again. Animals are
not just roaming freely, but they are the top
of the food chain. We had monkeys and lions.
And this is in Japan, so... It was pretty intense.
There is this kid who stayed conscious through
the entire petrification. And what he did was
he literally counted the seconds. He planned
on rebuilding civilization, but he needed to
know the exact day and time. So this boy literally
counted from second to zero all the way until
the time that he essentially awoke. So this boy
is Senku, and he is this science -obsessed kid,
and he is so smart. He ends up waking up six
months before his best friend Taiju, and Taiju
is so loud and obnoxious, but in the best way.
Like, for some reason, it really works for his
character, even though I feel like it should
annoy me. But after Taiju cracks out of his shell,
Senku already has a plan. He has a shelter and
basically a mission. This is the birth of the
stone world and the rebirth of human ambition.
Senku and Taiju essentially have discovered that
nitric acid is the key to reversing this stone.
petrification. They have been testing it and
refining it, and suddenly they have the power
to bring people back. Of course, Taiju wants
to revive this girl, Yuzuriha, who he was about
to confess his love to. But the stone world does
not wait for any type of romance to ensue, because
they get attacked by a lion. Which was wild.
Because even though it has been 3700 years, they
are still familiar with a modern world and a
modern Japan. So to see a lion out of nowhere
is pretty intimidating and insane. So this lion
attack ends up forcing them to have to revive
somebody else. Somebody strong enough to protect
them. And this is where we get introduced to
Tsukasa. He is the strongest primate high schooler.
He is a natural born warrior. And he ends up
punching this lion to death in like minutes of
waking up. He is an absolute beast. I immediately
knew that he was going to be bad news. At first,
he did seem like the perfect ally. But his philosophy,
it is very dark. Because he just wants to revive
the young. He wants to keep the world quote unquote
pure. And he wants to prevent people and corruption
from returning. However, what he really wants
is to create his own strong, dominated world.
With him on top. And of course Senku refuses.
Science belongs to everyone, and humanity belongs
to everyone. Senku is only going to revive everybody.
That is his goal. He is not picking and choosing.
And I will say, this is the moment that this
whole stone world, it really stopped being empty
for me. It started becoming really dangerous.
Because this Tsukasa dude literally killed people.
He smashes the heads off of a bunch of these
statues. And even Senku is like, do you know
what you just did? And he does know, and he doesn't
care. And this is where I was also confused because
it wasn't gory. There was no blood. It was a
solid statue. So I don't understand how they
were able to crack out of a shell, but Tsukasa
was able to completely knock off this petrified
head and it was solid stone. That part still
really confused me. Maybe I'll figure out more
in Season 2. I've been waiting to record this
before I start Season 2. I didn't want anything
to be clouded. I didn't want to get confused
or bring up the wrong things. But Tsukasa sees
Senku as a complete threat to his new world.
And it's basically because of science. Science
is what creates weapons and mass destruction
and Tsukasa's sick and twisted idea of peace
doesn't align with all of that. So when he confronts
Senku, he ends up giving him one last chance
to abandon science. Senku refuses because if
he compromises here, the whole future is going
to cease to exist. There is no chance. That there
will be able to be a comeback. And I will say
at this point. They have revived Yuzuriha. And
apparently she's supposed to be some crafter.
But while Taiju is out grabbing materials. Tsukasa
ends up taking her hostage. And when he confronted
Senku about the whole science deal. He was using
Yuzuriha as leverage. He ends up killing Senku
by striking his neck. I forget exactly what spot
he was going to hit or cut, but it was supposed
to be immediate death. But what ended up happening
was there was this piece of stone fragment that
was still stuck to his skin. He had been hinting
at his neck throughout this whole part of the
season. He would be stretching it and rubbing
it. He was pretty much inviting Tsukasa to want
to attack him. So there was always this plan
in the back of his mind. And Taiju and Yuzuriha,
they realize that he had faked his death. They
could bring him back if they revive that little
piece of the stone. So even though his neck was
like snapped, when this acid got poured onto
that piece of stone, it also healed his neck.
So they end up faking his death. But this is
where they're going to part ways because Taiju
and Yuzuriha are going to go to Tsukasa's empire
and basically be double agents. While Senku is
going to head into the wilderness. So throughout
all of this, they had been working on gunpowder
and trying to make these weapons to fight him
because they're not going to be able to beat
Tsukasa. And creating all of this smoke by accidental
explosions, they were getting smoke signals from
the forest. So Senku plans to go investigate
all of that while they go play double agent.
This is where Senku is going to meet Kohaku,
who is this ninja warrior girl who is so fast
and incredibly strong. And I'd say she has very
little hesitation. She's very quick‑witted.
I really enjoyed her a lot. He ends up having
to save her using physics because she got into
it with Tsukasa. And he ends up dropping a tree
on her. So he ends up getting the tree trunk
off and she brings him to her village, which
is Ishigami Village. Now, he doesn't know this
at first, but his last name is Ishigami. So we'll
get into that in a little bit. But this village
is functioning like an actual society. There
are like dozens of people that were born in
the stone world. They aren't from the old one.
They didn't wake up from the stone. They have
no memory of that world. And Senku doesn't know
this yet. But this village is going to reshape
the entire season. Because of the way it's connected
to him. I really enjoyed the way they pulled
me through this story. Every time something
came up I was not expecting it. So I was very
happy with it. But he ends up meeting quite a
few people. We meet Chrome, who is a self‑taught
sorcerer. And he collects minerals and he loves
to experiment. He is this age's Senku, for sure.
And I love that they call themselves sorcerers
because they didn't have the word science or
scientist. We also have Kaseki, who is this elder
craftsman. And he is so funny. He just wants
to be one of the boys. And when he gets into
crafting something, he flexes and it rips off
like his clothing. And it's just so intense.
He is such a real one. I love him so much. We
also have Suika, who is this shy little kid.
And she wears this watermelon mask. And I thought
she was going to be annoying. But I do really
enjoy her. I think her role is really important.
And then we also have brothers Kinro and Ginro.
We'll just call them like gold and silver duo.
All the villagers think that Senku is this sorcerer.
And Senku ends up showing them something else
entirely. That he's a scientist. Slowly but surely,
the kingdom of science begins. If the early episodes
are about waking up, then I think this next arc
is all about leveling up. Because this is where
Dr. Stone becomes a speedrun of human history.
He is starting to recreate civilization from
scratch. He is binding and producing iron, creating
and harnessing electricity. There's glass blowing.
They created lenses and made ramen. I mean, they
kept doing so much. And eventually, which was
the main goal, they were able to make medicine.
Every invention is a step forward, and every
breakthrough ends up winning another villager's
trust, which I really enjoyed. I loved how everybody
wanted to be part of the kingdom of science.
Chrome ends up becoming Senku's right hand. Kaseki
becomes the backbone of every single invention
and machine that they need and create. Kohaku
is a fantastic protector. And Suika becomes basically
his scout. She just wants to be useful and he
allows her to. It's really cute. And the village
does begin to shift. It goes from superstition
to science. But like science alone doesn't win
any leadership. The village has its traditions.
And basically there's this whole deal which decides
who earns the title of chief. These are the village
games. It's this tournament arc. It was a lot
of fun. I definitely thought it was more comedy
than anything. But it was also very political
because the winner becomes the next chief. And
Senku doesn't care about power, but he does care
about the final ingredient that he needs to make
antibiotics, which is alcohol. And the winner
receives like a shit ton from the village. So
he enters and we all enter. So we have Kinro,
Ginro, Kohaku, Chrome and Senku taking part in
this tournament. One of the people who plans
to take everybody out is this guy Magma. And
he starts off as a total piece of shit. Like
he wants the priestess who's sick. This is Kohaku's
sister Ruri. And if you win this tournament,
you have to marry her and you become the village
chief. it's again this whole tradition he doesn't
care if she dies he just wants the village to
become strong and it's very dark and twisted
but his view of the world definitely changes
because of Senku throughout the series which
i really enjoy because he ended up growing on
me so much instead of just being an he's actually
pretty funny And he is going to be a great ally
and asset in the kingdom of science. Through
a mix of strategy, chaos, and technicalities,
Senku actually wins. And he becomes the chief.
And it was so funny because he demands all the
booze. And as soon as he gets it, he goes, okay,
I want a divorce. And then bounces. There's never
been a divorce in the history of this tradition
at this point. But they are able to make this
drug for Kohaku's sister. And when they bring
it to Ruri, at first she gets worse, but then
she recovers. Because she actually had Pneumonia.
And in Senku's world, that was very easy to treat.
But in this stone world, it is a death sentence.
she ends up revealing something that Senku was
not expecting at all. And that is the village
is named Ishigami Village, which is his surname.
They go into the Hundred Tales, which are stories
that were passed down through generations. These
were created by the astronauts who survived the
petrification because they weren't on Earth when
it happened. It was very intense to watch. Because
it was led by Senku's father. I believe he's
like his adopted father, not by blood. And the
village exists because his dad knew that Senku
would wake up and rebuild civilization. So he
built a legacy for him. Basically a foundation
and a community waiting for this spark of science.
This is definitely the emotional peak of season
one. I was getting very teary‑eyed. It was intense.
This definitely made the story feel very personal.
Because they do not have a very emotional relationship.
But you can tell that it's definitely hitting
him in ways. So Tsukasa is building an empire
of strength. Where Senku is building this empire
of science. And between them stands Gen, who
is this mentalist who was playing both sides,
but he is ultimately on Team Kingdom of Science.
I really enjoy him. I will say they make some
weird faces, and he makes some really, really
creepy faces. But I do enjoy him, and his character
design is pretty fun. He's wearing this, like,
purple kimono‑style robe. And he's got very
jacked up, almost Bungo Stray Dogs Atsushi‑style
haircut. Like, the bangs are all over the place.
And I think it's two‑tone. If I recall, it's
black and gray. But I really like him. And the
Kingdom of Science ends up beginning its biggest
project, which is working on a cell phone. So
they have to make all of these different components
pretty much create like this miracle. And where
they're at, even though they make all these components,
it's very basic. It's pretty much more like a
landline than anything. But it was pretty, pretty
impressive. In the end, there is this little
disc and it was a recording. What the recording
was, was not just Senku's dad. But one of the
women on the shuttle was this pop star. She definitely
passed on the genes to Kohaku and her sister
Ruri because she had blonde hair, blue eyes.
She was gorgeous and she sang for them and they
have never heard music before. So it was really,
really intense. Even though Tsukasa's army has
been trying to get them and defeat them you know
they have set fire to their village shit's going
crazy but no matter what this unity that is forming
through this bond of science is definitely stronger
and i believe they're going to be able to counter
a lot of Tsukasa's strategy and planning i believe
I think they're going to end up having some serious
advantages. Based on also knowing the lay of
the land, these people literally grew up in the
stone world. So I'm assuming that they would
have a better understanding of the land. But
that's pretty much where season one leaves us.
We have a big war coming and we're going to be
reuniting with Taiju and Yuzuriha. I'm sure we'll
get some other allies, hopefully. But in the
same sense, so will Tsukasa. All in all, this
show really had me hooked. And I don't even know
why. But it was so good. And now that I have
recorded this, I am so excited to jump into season
two. I'm definitely not catching up. For the
spring release. There's no way. I will get to
it when I get to it. But I am very happy with
this. But speaking of the spring releases. I've
been all over the place with those. I was under
the impression. That I was only watching the
Witch Hat Atelier. And Daemons of the Shadow
Realm. But then I found the go for it Nakumara.
That'd be Elle, which I'm not really sure how
I feel about that one yet. I am going to be doing
a spring first impressions type of episode, so
I won't get too much into it now. But I wanted
to watch Mao, which is going to be on Hulu, which
I don't have. And then there was the Riddle of
the Great Sage or something like that, and I
cannot find out where to watch that. So basically,
I've only added the BL to my spring lineup. So
I do have three shows now. I'm not sure if I'm
going to finish the Go For It one. It is very
campy, so we'll see. If you've made it this far,
thanks for hanging out with me. Don't forget
to check out on Tuesdays. I upload the recaps
following this current season of Witch Hat Atelier.
I will put a link in the description for that
until next time. I will see you then.