The Stone Wars have begun in Dr. Stone’s second season. Following the events of the first season finale Senku Ishigami and the members of Ishigami Village begin preparations to go to war with Tsukasa Shishio’s Tsukasa Empire for control of the stone world. After capturing a Tsukasa scout they decide to attack the Empire from within as Senku tries to ensure no casualties from either side is met. 

Dr. Stone is a 2019 shounen anime series, it is produced by TMS Entertainment, and licensed by Funimation. It is currently available on streaming platforms and home video in English. Season 2 currently airs on Funimation Now and Crunchyroll.

Editor’s Note: This review contains near complete to complete spoilers for the first six episodes of Dr. Stone: Stone Wars and potential spoilers for season one for references. 

Ishigami Village and Tsukasa Empire are getting ready to throw down as the Stone Wars proceed. As Tsukasa patiently awaits the end of his countdown to attack, Senku and the others work on more primitively made modern gadgets to aide them in battle. The situation consistently changes as Senku’s thought process on the best tools become more complex. A further challenge arrives when Ruri pleads with Senku to try his utmost to not have either side suffer from any casualties which he accepts. 

THE GOOD: Stone Wars takes place almost immediately after the events of season one with Ishigami Village preparing for the impending arrival of the Tsukasa Empire who’s leader Tsukasa is set on ending Senku’s ideal future world. He begins work on a makeshift cellphone so Ishigami can be in touch with Taiju & Yuzuriha in regards of gaining intel on Tsukasa’s planning. While building the device isn’t much of an issue getting the second cellphone to Taiju & Yuzu. Due to it’s heavy weight and finding a place to hide it from Tsukasa and his forces. Senku luckily had already planned in advance to bury the phone in his fake grave sight at Tsukasa Empire. Another problem is Tsukasa’s second-in-command Hyoga has sent his own trusted follower Homura to spy on Senku and Ishigami Village’s war prep. Senku had slowly been trying to goad Homura to their side, but failed in doing so. Realizing it’s useless he decides instead to capture her so she can’t report back to Tsukasa & Hyoga. Their initial efforts fail due to Homura’s athletic background as a pro gymnast surprising Kohaku and the other present day villagers not familiar with it. It’s not until Senku reinvents the flash grenade that they’re able to catch and imprison her. 

Meanwhile, Gen, Chrome, and Magma are tasked with bringing the second cellphone to Taiju & Yuzu. As they arrive at Tsukasa Empire, Magma suggests killing anyone who gets in their way. Chrome and Gen seriously consider the tactic, but Chrome ultimately chooses against it citing his lack of belief in his own ability to take someone’s life. They find Senku’s grave and successfully bury the phone, but are attacked by Ukyo; a Tsukasa Empire archer who has advanced hearing due to past work with sonar tech in the SDF Army. Chrome and Magma create a smoke barrier to block Ukyo’s vision allowing Gen to return to Senku first. Chrome offers to be a distraction so Magma can also return to Ishigami and he reluctantly accepts. Chrome is taken hostage by Ukyo, but is untied knowing he poses no threat nor has any plans to attempt to run away. Chrome meets Tsukasa for the first time and pronounces his undying loyalty to Senku and Ishigami and Tsukasa has him imprisoned. Senku begins development on a steam engine tank in an attempt to invade Tsukasa Empire and rescue Chrome. Tsukasa has already deduced that Senku may attempt to invade the Empire with a steam engine vehicle and has planned for traps ahead of time. Worried for his friends Chrome plans to escape from prison before they reach him. In an effort to keep an eye on Chrome, Tsukasa resurrects former cop Yo Uei who taunts Chrome believing him to be an ignorant present day primitive. Chrome plays along as he tries to plan out his escape but struggles to concentrate. He suddenly decides to burn the bamboo bars after attempting to create fire with small twigs he reobtains the battery he had on him prior to imprisonment. Chrome suspects it was Taiju who helped him and begins using it to develop acid like liquid which burns through the bamboo. Memorizing the trap layout Chrome easily escapes the guards but Yo pursues him. He tricks Yo into believing he has pneumonia before low blowing him and making his exit. Chrome shocks everyone with his successful self escape attempt as they continue their planning for the Tsukasa Empire.

Season two of Dr. Stone interestingly chooses to focus more on the introduction to new side characters over leads like Senku, Chrome, and Kohaku. This is obviously to flesh out the stone world even more and to remind us that there’s a large mix of modern and previous age characters from within the story. With only a total episode count of eleven for the season it’s a risky but bold move. However, if anyone watching the anime is familiar with the source then they know it’s full of a near endless and continuously growing roster of characters. So it’s ok for Senku and co. to have smaller roles in order to adapt them into the anime properly without taking away any of their individual impact on the source. The science is still a fun factor of the series as is the comedy. I’m really starting to dig this trend of non-superpower type shounen Dr. Stone is just another series in that line up that shows shounen doesn’t have to require superpowers to be fun, especially if they can be original.

THE BAD: It’s great that season two takes time build the expansive stone world it doesn’t go all the way with episodes completely dedicated to the Tsukasa Empire cast. It mainly lends to character spotlights on a single episode, of which we’ve only gotten about three spread out across the season focused on Yo, Ukyo, and Homura. I’m sure we’ll get at least one or two more before the season comes to a close. But it also leads me to believe that Stone Wars may also get a second season for further expansion. Otherwise the war is at risk of feeling slightly rushed on time constraints.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: So far Stone Wars is exactly what I wanted of the second season. More or less the same with a little bit extra to keep it fresh. Focusing on new characters outside of Ishigami Villages does that, but if season two is where the Stone Wars arc end it would be nice to see more world building for Tsukasa Empire outside of character backgrounds and introductions. If you’re even remotely familiar with the early arcs in the source I can see this being a non-issue, but for anime onlys I can see this being a bit of an annoyance as well.