The Dr. Stone Stone Wars part of the anime has come to a breathtaking end, and I’m here to give a review/breakdown of the Stone Wars arc as a whole (in place of reviews for episodes 10/11). Stone Wars is chapters 46 through 82, so we’ll include some of season 1 (which ended on chapter 60) with almost all of season 2. From when Hyoga first visits the village until Senku declares he’ll petrify Tsukasa.
Stone Wars major events:
building of the cell phone
Chrome/Magma/Senku going into the cave
Byakuya’s record
delivering the cell phone
Chrome’s time in jail
Gen acting as Lillian
moving to a new base with the steam gorilla
the battle at the miracle cave
Mirai’s revival
the tag team battle against Hyoga
Stone Wars begins with a jarring change of events as several terrifying things happen in an instant. On that night, after a long talk with Ruri about Ishigami history and visiting Byakuya’s grave, Senku finds out he can no longer hide his existence from Tsukasa and must go to war. Tsukasa’s army came to the village sooner than Gen expected, and Kinro left to fight by himself is soon stabbed by Hyoga the moment he appears on the bridge. Ginro is forced with the decision to cut down the bridge, and Senku would rather not let Kinro die either so he has no choice but to use the last of his gunpowder as a bluff.
Right away, we see that Hyoga has no second thoughts about killing. Even Tsukasa would have rather opted to find a way to conquer the village that didn’t require killing. Maybe Hyoga knows this, since he blamed the death of the goons poisoned by Sulfurina’s toxic gases on Senku. Since his appearance, Hyoga has needlessly killed or tried to kill and easily moves on, as we see when he doesn’t bother to remember the goons’ names who died.
There were several hints that things would turn south between Hyoga and Tsukasa. When he was first revived, he said he wouldn’t want to go up against Tsukasa. When he doesn’t remember the goons’ names, it’s seen as a significant difference between him and Tsukasa. We learn from Ukyo that Hyoga lied to Tsukasa about how those goons died, and then Ukyo comes out with it straightforwardly: There will be blood between them.
What is it that Hyoga and Tsukasa actually disagreed on? Or rather, what Hyoga didn’t like about Tsukasa’s plan and kept secret about it until he had a chance to take over. According to Hyoga, they both believed the petrification was a chance to control who gets to live in the new world. However, their parameters for who should be revived were a bit different. Hyoga was only interested in reviving the best of the best, while Tsukasa only wanted to revive those he believed were not corrupt. Hyoga couldn’t accept the idea of reviving useless people, even if they are pure.
Once Tsukasa has his sister back, we see a very different side of him. Maybe it was just the circumstances of the fight against Hyoga, but he was proud to have won as a team with Senku. While his values and motivations may or may not have changed, he begins to show regret about the statues. He's always had a level of respect for Senku, but I think he was more able to appreciate Senku’s mission once they took him in. Especially if it gives him a chance to be saved.
Let’s continue with some thoughts on other characters’ development during this arc, in no particular order. Maybe they made a change, or maybe we just learned more about them and their capabilities. Who would be MVP?
Characters
Gen has shown real dedication to the Kingdom of Science and has worked so hard to contribute to their success. He really puts himself through hell during Stone Wars, time and time again, for the team. From the beginning of Stone Wars when he had convinced Tsukasa’s army to let him go to the village first (which was right after he ran like crazy while injured to get to Tsukasa’s base on time), to his elaborate plan to play as Lillian, to taking the lead while delivering the cellphone (being a guide, communicating their location, creating a fake cellphone for Homura, watching out for Ukyo), and running like crazy again to get back in time to act as Lillian. Of course Senku never takes a break, but Gen doesn’t either. He’s one of Senku’s biggest fans, and unless the whole “I only do what benefits me” thing was totally an act, he must feel strongly about Senku’s mission that he has turned around completely from that and now wants to do everything he can to help.
Another dedicated member of the science kingdom is Chrome, to the point that he accepted death as a consequence of his loyalty. During Stone Wars, he does well to fulfill his self-titled role as “science-user”. Chrome already had a talent for finding connections and using that to form ideas, and the more science he learned from Senku the more he was able to do that. The fact that his waterwheel was such a success gives him the confidence to act on his own ambition. He knew there was a way out of the jail, and he knew he had the skills to figure it out. He didn’t fret about not having Senku there, and only focused on his best effort to escape. There was a moment that makes me wonder if Chrome reminds Senku of Byakuya, because they both come to the same conclusion when they seem to be trapped: It’s not that I should wait for them to save me, but I need to go help them.
A few new characters are introduced as part of Tsukasa’s empire, but all eventually join the Kingdom of Science. As they do so, we learn Nikki, Ukyo, and Yo’s history, values, and their reasoning for switching sides. Yo’s reasons may not be so eloquent as the others, but he’s definitely not an enemy. Nikki’s top priority is preserving Lillian’s song, and her background tells us why it’s so important to her. She’s violent at first, acting on what abuse has taught her to control people with force, but we don’t see that anymore once her heart is taken back by Lillian and Senku’s promise. Ukyo can’t bear to see anyone killed, so he’s a great fit for the Kingdom of Science’s mission. The anime has expanded on all three of their backstories in great ways that show they have their own missions in life.
Another new character at the beginning of this arc is Homura. She plays an important support role for Hyoga, and she’s happy to serve him. Hyoga introduces her as a very useful and reliable player, and the fact that she was able to sneak into the village and start a fire makes her a scary opponent.
What about the man himself, Senku? The trip to the mine and the telescope gift were a time that he learned to trust the people who trust in him. His logical side told him he was on his own and was only lucky to have people go along with him, but the Kingdom of Science holds strong and everyone believes in his mission and appreciates him.
We see just how monumental Yuzuriha’s task is in rebuilding the statues, and that she is capable of accomplishing it. By the way, this is Ukyo’s first impression of how Senku does things – the value of life behind it and the dedication to make it happen.
Magma had always acted based on his selfish intentions. Being the strongest in the village, Kohaku had been the only one to get in his way which made him vengeful. Senku’s effect on him is different. Magma still makes sure Senku knows he’s the strongest, but he understands how important Senku is to the village. Still, he wasn’t trustworthy until their experience in the cave with Chrome. Once it was time for Magma to join the cell phone delivery mission, there was no concern of his betrayal. Only the danger of him acting rashly and never understanding the idea of conquering without casualties.
Crafts
During Hyoga’s first visit, Senku improvises a canon with an iron rod, dirt and what’s left of his gunpowder. This successfully runs them off to reevaluate their strategy. Senku’s next craft to prepare them for Hyoga’s next visit is a set of katanas that are another measure of defense. With the katanas they successfully scare off Tsukasa’s army again. These become a permanent upgrade to their weaponry.
Another science item crafted to help prepare for the next battle is Kinro’s glasses. After such a close call that injured him, it was time for Kinro to take full advantage of the power of glasses that he first experienced during the Grand Bout.
The last item that helped the Kingdom of Science win against Hyoga’s second attack was the small knife that Suika delivered to Gen. Without it, Kohaku would have been added to the list of people stabbed by Hyoga’s spear. Instead, his spear broke just before it hit her. Senku sent the item without a clear purpose for it, only having trust in Gen that he’ll make good use of it.
The cell phone comes in when Senku decides they need to strike against Tsukasa first before they are attacked again. Thus begins the long road through the winter to building the phone and getting it to Taiju and Yuzuriha.
Secondary items created during the cell phone construction:
cotton candy
vacuum tubes
tungsten filament
gears
waterwheel
hydroelectric power
batteries
light bulbs
Senku’s flash grenade is a great example of his mission to accomplish his goal without hurting anyone. Even Kohaku asks him if she should go ahead and kill Homura. If there’s a way to instead disable the enemy, that’s the option Senku will always choose, and will always try to find a way to avoid killing.
Senku will also always try to think ahead of ways to keep his advantage. He knew Homura could get away, so he already planned to mark her shoes with tungsten and had created a blacklight to track her. This strategy of staying ahead of the game also helps him avoid situations where he would have to resort to bloodshed.
If you want to count Chrome’s sweat-a-thon in jail as “crafting”, then the formula he creates to break open the bars is the only crafting done outside of Senku’s supervision along with the fake blood he used to get away from Yo.
The big re-invention of the arc was the steam gorilla. First it was a simple steam engine on a platform on wheels. Then it was upgraded to carry the science gear and travel to the new base. Once Chrome was captured, it got another upgrade with the paper armor. And finally when Chrome returned, the cannon with sulfuric acid was added. The engine is a neck-swing steam engine that works like the Level 2 furnace pumps except backwards. The steam created by the hot water pushes out the piston, instead of the pistons pushing air into the furnace.
The re-invention that put a stop to the war was nitroglycerin, cleverly added to paper airplanes to create missiles. Then it was used to create sticks of dynamite, which helped to find Mirai but also was used by Homura to destroy the Miracle Cave.
Sometime between that and the fight with Hyoga, Senku created a taser hidden under his shirt using leftover parts taken from the cellphone that Hyoga took from Senku’s gravesite.
The final invention we see in season 2 is after the end of Stone Wars but it’s the refrigerator for Tsukasa. This is the first invention to start the next arc and begin Senku’s journey to build up the Kingdom of Science to where they can travel the world in search of answers to the petrification and a way to save Tsukasa.
An honorary mention is the anime-only freeze-dried ramen. I think it was mostly added to be able to have crafting in the first episode, and it is referenced some later on. But the problem it solves is not something we really see as a major part of the story, which is keeping soldiers properly fueled during a war in the harsh winter.
A couple of emotional moments I wanted to mention:
Senku wants to share some cotton candy with Homura (the fact that he thought of her and wants to share it with her, I like to think is something he learned from Byakuya) and the moment when she tries it. In the anime, it brings back memories of the old world as you faintly hear the sounds of a bustling festival.
When Gen is about to reveal Senku’s birthday telescope, Senku is quick to assume that everyone had turned against him for their own safety. Not only was he wrong, but Gen knows him well enough that a telescope would fit him well and went through the trouble of calculating his birthday. After that, Senku probably considered the fact that he shouldn’t ever have to worry about the villagers turning against him, especially with Gen’s reassurance.
The end of Stone Wars comes with a claim from Senku out of left field: He declares he will petrify Tsukasa to save him. Of course he has no idea how that will happen, but it leads them into what the next arc is about – building up the Kingdom of Science so that they may travel across the world. It’s clearly something Senku already had in mind but this silly war with Tsukasa was in the way. And now he has another reason to prioritize finding answers to the petrification as part of that journey – to save Tsukasa.
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