Dr. Stone (Episode 21) – Spartan Crafts Club

With Chrome and Kaseki’s waterwheel generating electricity, Senku goes about replacing all the man-powered tasks. All of a sudden, a mobile communications network isn’t looking so crazy!
What did you watch?
As much as I am looking forward to seeing how the war between Senku and Tsukasa goes, it’s episodes like this that have been the highlight of the series. This is episode 21 of Dr. Stone and Senku is determined to push on and create a mobile communication device that will no doubt be invaluable in the battle with Tsukasa. There will be spoilers, lots of science, and Kohaku and Riri in one of the cutest moments of the series!

What happened?
Now that they have a hydroelectric generator, they need to find a way to store the power. Senku puts Chrome and Kaseki back to work. They are tired and worn out, but the ideas and innovations that Senku presenting to them are too exhilarating to pass up. Before long, they have created a battery using sulphuric acid and copper. It was at this moment that Ginro realised that with the waterwheel, they would never need to crack the generator by hand. The news was well-received by Kinro too.
Next, they managed to build lightbulbs, which Senku placed into a tall evergreen and lit up with the battery. Gen looked at the snow around them and then asked Senku if it was Christmas day and it was. A happy coincidence, I’m sure! With a new light source, Chrome went into the caves to find minerals for future developments. While he was gone, Senku and Kaseki attempted to make vacuum tubes for the coms device, which was proving much harder than they thought. Gen suggested that they all go and watch the sunrise on the New Year’s morning to get a fresh perspective. Suika had brought one of the minerals and it reacted to the ultraviolet light. Senku realised that they had found Tungsten, the hardest element known to man!

What did you think?
This series just delivers incredible moments and with the interesting cast of characters, it all comes to life in some wonderfully heartwarming scenes. Even something as simple as Kinro’s reaction to not having to hand-crank the electricity generator spoke volumes. From what we’ve learnt about Kinro as a character, it showed just how hard a task it was that he was relieved to be free of it. That wouldn’t work if we didn’t understand the characters. Basically, it all just fits together perfectly.

What was your favourite moment?
With the heavy-duty tasks being taken care off by the waterwheel, the villagers were free to prepare for the coming winter. Now, however, things were going to be different. They had the means to preserve food in glass jars and many other new ideas and technology that Senku brought to the table. While all of this was going on, there was one scene that just made me smile. That was seeing Kohaku and Riri squashing grapes with their feet. No doubt to make wine. It was Kohaku’s face that sold the scene.
Again, it was one of those situations where understanding the character made the reaction that much better. We all know that Kohaku is the toughest fighter in the village. She’s often the one to question Senku and offer a different opinion to Chrome. She’s also his biggest supporter. So, seeing her smiling and grinning as she got to do something as silly as squashing grapes with her feet with her sister, who would have died without Senku’s intervention, was absolutely priceless.

What was your least favourite moment?
The idea of Christmas appearing in anime had always struck me as kind of odd, but after a little research, I understand that Japan has adopted it in some ways. Mostly, the being kind to each other and giving presents parts, which is the parts I’m fully behind. The other thing that has become a staple of Japanese Christmas is KFC! That’s right, Kentucky Fried Chicken! So, Senku! Where’s my bucket of deep-fried chicken to go with your Christmas tree? I am, of course, joking, but not about KFC and now I know what I want for dinner…

Who was your favourite character?
I talked about the Chrome and Kaseki partnership in the last episode and they continue to go from strength to strength. There was a great moment between Kaseki and Senku where Kaseki explained that his life had been quiet and easy before Senku arrived, but it was so much more exciting now. He also believed that many others would agree with his sentiment. I thought that was a very sincere discussion and I kind of feel the same way about life before Dr Stone, minus the manual labour and all that.

Who was your least favourite character?
It’s impossible to pick anyone this week, so here’s a picture of Ginro electrocuting himself with the battery that Senku, Chrome, and Kaseki made. That’s much better than talking about something that I didn’t like!

Would you like some more?
I’m starting to think that we won’t be getting to the war in this season. The episode ended with Senku, Chrome, and Magma going into the caves to find more tungsten which is obviously going to take up a portion of the next episode. So, after that, there are only two, possibly two and a half episodes left. They better get on and announce a second season because this has been too good a show to not keep it going.

Other reviews in the series
Series Information
English Title | Dr. Stone |
Japanese Title | Dr. Stone |
Genres | Action, Adventure, Apocalyptic, Comedy, Science Fiction, Survival |
Demographic | Shounen |
Anime
Season One
Season Two
Bonus Posts
Saturday Spinoff | Kohaku Lost |
You might also like…

[…] The Otaku Author: Dr. Stone (Episode 21) – Spartan Crafts Club […]