MANGA REVIEW | "Dr. STONE" - Volume Twenty-Three
Earth was encased in stone for three thousand years. So what’s another seven? Thankfully, Suika’s can-do attitude finally brings her to recreate the formula that brings Senku and the other Kingdom of Science crew back to life. But as Dr. STONE keeps showing, many challenges await before the entire world can come back. In Volume 23, the mission to do just that finally takes shape.
There’s no time to waste for the Kingdom of Science, although a celebratory party isn’t out of the question. The Why Man is still on the moon waiting to petrify everyone again. That’s why Senku, Ryusei, and Xeno — who’s playing nice for the time being — begin to plan to make a spaceship to the moon. But in order to get the right tools, a trip through the many oceans is required.
Rocket fuel, the toughest steel, and even the proper calculations to get to the moon are needed to reach Why Man. As Senku and his crew gather all of these materials, much progress outside of the main quest. The re-creation of air conditioning brings joy to everyone, whereas a missile to blow a hole through a plugged-up canal mixes fright and excitement. But through BOICHI’s art, their reactions are detailed greatly with a strong dose of hilarity.
But it’s Riichiro Inagaki’s storytelling that keeps breathing new air into Dr. STONE, as each invention brought back from obscurity brings the crew one step closer to their goal. The Fuel, the steel, and even those math calculations may be all for the sake of getting to space, but they also wind up being helpful to smaller problems. One such problem is a certain sibling rivalry involving Ryusei and a certain mathematician. But even with emotional scars deep within the resident of India, the guy finds a way to take a bad situation and turn it into a good one.
Despite him being thousands of miles in space, the Why Man keeps acting as a constant threat. Although we’ve yet to even see his true face, his threats keep Senku and the others on their toes. Death is even on the table for the Why Man, even though Senku realizes that the Petrification Device can be a key to immortality. Yet even with such ominous threats, Senku has a hunch that a parle of sorts may be key to bringing back Earth from its stone prison.
Dr. STONE keeps the sparks flying and the smarts flowing throughout its twenty-third volume. As the Kingdom of Science travels through the world to gather those important ingredients, the quest to reviving all of humanity seems to be in Senku’s reach. But given Why Man’s mysterious mannerisms, could the lunar resident have one last trick up his sleeve? If so, perhaps Gen could come in and pull a fast one on Dr. STONE’s big baddie…
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media
