Dr. Stone #1-5

Dr. Stone #1-5

Originally released in 2017

Written by Riichiro Inagaki

Art by Boichi

This is one of many newer series that I'm not familiar with, but I knew that it was written by the writer of Eyeshield 21, so I thought I'd look into it.  At first, it starts out like a relatively ordinary high school, with the only out-of-place element being the hair of the science-obsessed character (and seemingly the titular character) Senku.  His friend Taiju (who's strong but blunt) is going to confess to the girl that he has a crush on, Yuzuriha.

And then a light covers the Earth, petrifying all of humanity. (and also birds, who were seemingly a test subject for the petrification; other animals aren't petrified)  We don't see the full chain of events after the petrification, but for what little we do see, there are some unpleasant results.  People on board planes are petrified mid-flight, causing the planes to crash to the ground and shattering everyone on-board.

Taiju is still conscious throughout all of this, retaining his consciousness by thinking about how he has to survive so he can confess his feelings to Yuzuriha.  Eventually, the petrification shatters, and he awakens to find that Senju is up and about as well.  He's been awake for six months, and by keeping track of the time while he was petrified, he's determined that roughly three thousand and seven hundred years have passed.

Now, Senku and Taiju have to use Senju's scientific know-how and Taiju's brawn and determination to undo the petrification and rebuild society.  It's a fun introductory arc, showing the painstaking methods of trying to start from scratch and work with what little you have while retaining modern scientific knowledge, and I liked how it showed the duo's trial and error when it came to figuring out how to undo the petrification based on where they were both located, which was near a bat cave.

Eventually, after testing a serum on birds, they have enough of it to revive one person.  Naturally, Taiju wants to revive Yuzuriha first (and as thanks for his help, Senku has no problem with letting Taiju pick), but circumstances (and lions) force them to use it on a renowned fighter and high schooler named Tsukasa Shishio, who fends off the beasts.

Shishio is insanely powerful and skilled, to the point that Senku is worried because in a society with prehistoric weapons at best, Shishio could easily take over and become a ruthless dictator.  Making matters worse is that he and Senku are at odds about how to handle the revival of humanity.  Shishio distrusts adults after an incident where he was beaten up by them when he was a child for picking seashells off the beach for his sister, and only wants to revive teens and children. (he goes out of his way to smash the petrified bodies of adults despite knowing that it's murder)

On the other hand, Senku wants to revive everyone.  I'm not sure at this point if this is the type of series where Shishio can be convinced that his attitudes are wrong, or if the divide is going to get worse and Shishio will become the main villain of the series. (or at least the main human villain - it's unclear who or what caused the mass petrification)

Yuzuriha is eventually revived, and while the art style is generally good, my concern is with the faces of the women.  Yuzuriha looks off at times - I get that Boichi is trying to make her look cute, but at times, she looks almost doll-like and unnatural compared to the more expressive faces of the men.  Maybe that will change as the series goes on, though.

It's an interesting start to the series that makes it feel like a mix of Lord Of The Flies and Bill Nye The Science Guy. It seems like the series is trying to teach the audience about various aspects of science and culture while focusing on a group of teenagers trying to survive in what has become an uninhabited and overgrown civilization with next to nothing.