OK, so sometimes I’ll get a series in the mail with no expectations pop it in and just watch. I like these, because honestly it offers some amount of surprise, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In the case of Dr. Stone I hadn’t even heard of the show, and by the end of Season 1’s first part, I was clamoring to see the 2nd half.
The series opens with a young man Taiju preparing to tell his crush Yuzuhira that he loves her. Sadly, at the very moment a bright flash happens and the world ends. The story picks up 3500 years later, and all the dead, were not so dead as they thought. They were just encased in stone and preserved. Senku, Taiju’s best friend and a great science mind has taken it upon himself to revive humanity. To do this he is using Taiju as the “brawn” to help him survive as he does this. He also awakens another strong man to help take on lions Tsukasa, who immediately starts causing chaos in this new prehistoric society.
Oh did I ever love this show. The animation is amazing, and the plot centers around a hero that uses science as a super power! Dr. Stone is basically the hero we NEED right now in these anti-science times. It floored me to have a show centered around a guy using his intellect to save humanity. Can we get more shows like this? Anyway, the show is compelling right from the start, and because this is only the first part of Season 1 it leaves on a cliff hanger that leaves the audience wanting more.
Funimation presents the series in a splendid 16×9 1080p transfer. Colors pop, and everything looks just looks gorgeous. Audio is handled with a 5.1 English track and a 2.0 Japanese track. There are 2 episode commentaries and a clean opening and closing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.