https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/06/Dr.STONEBanner3.png Whether or not its actually the case hat tricks feel kind of rare in anime. A 1st season? Simple enough get your adaptation. A 2nd? Good job you held out already in the upper half. A 3rd? Well thats when you start thinking a show might actually get adapted all the way to end. And its those hallowed halls that Dr. STONE is stepping into. Animated by TMS Entertainment with original story by Riichirou Inagaki and original art by Boichi Dr. STONE returns with a new director at the helm Shuuhei Matsushita. How will his take on the best nonbattlebattle Shounen currently being made compare to that of the original director Shinya Iino? Can he bring it back from the brink after the dip that was Season 2? Well Ill give you hint: Absofreakinglutely. This is the best season of Dr. STONE yet. So without further ado lets jump in Be warned this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Dr. STONE. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/05/Dr.STONES35.4.jpg Production First up lets start with where Dr. STONE is weakest its visual production and work our way up. Just like the previous 2 seasons Dr. STONE is not what I would call a particularly animated show. The characters dont move much and when they do they dont move particularly well. This isnt Kimetsu no Yaiba or some other action battle Shounen. You arent going to find any big bombastic sakuga fight sequences that just isnt what Dr. STONE is about. Instead youre going to find stunning backgrounds beautifully picturesque still shots and wonderfully composed and directed emotional sequences. Soft lighting over a room of photos as a character reminisces of their time spent together with the team. The reflection of the stars on a slow moving river. The unblinking star of a madman hunting down a lead. This is where Dr. STONE truly excels. Lucky for us then that Dr. STONE seems to have figured that out after the lackluster Season 2. Where that season was absolutely filled with rough poorly animated battles to fit its theme of Stone Wars this season has a grand total of... None. No battles. No janky action sequences to take us out of the moment. Thats right what makes this season better isnt that its better produced or better directed though both of those are probably true. Its that Dr. STONE actually focuses on what its good at: Science and the human experience. Almost every episode has some kind of well shot well framed well realized slice of that Humanity Fuck Yeah style thats always made up the core of the show. As such while I wouldnt say it looks drastically better than previous seasons this one certainly has a higher overall average. Theres only one thing I think might really push some people away and its something thats been present since Season 1: The Chibis. Like a lot of anime Dr. STONE has this habit of using cute little chibi animations with a lot of its comedy. Now personally I dont mind these. I think Dr. STONE is rather conservative with how often it uses them generally only shifting to that style for a few seconds to get another characters reaction. There are no extended scenes drawn entirely in this style that I can think of. None that werent Science Explanations at least where Senku starts to explain whatever their next invention is. That said they do still happen basically every episode. So if thats something you just cant stand then I dont know how you made it to this season to begin with because it was there from the start. All in all while Dr. STONE isnt a particularly noteworthy visual experience I do still think its a solid step up from Season 2. You should be able to find plenty of solid backgrounds or wallpapers if thats what your looking for and plenty of scenes should stick your head with how expertly they are framed and presented. I know that at least for me personally there is one early shot of Senku mimicking the famous Einstein photo that is both awesome and incredibly resonant with the themes of the show and its something I wont forget for a while. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/04/Dr.STONES33.3.jpg Narrative That said while Dr. STONE is not the most visually engaging anime ever made it does have a pretty fantastic narrative going on. This being Season 3 Im sure you already know the basics how all of humanity was turned to stone how Senku woke up 3000 years later and how he has set himself to restoring the world through science. Im also sure that you remember the slight... detour that we took in Season 2 with the war against Tsukasa and his antiscience philosophy. Personally I found Season 2 to be rather lacking. It was filled with battles and action things Dr. STONE not only isnt good at but doesnt really care about rather than science and the human experience. Which is why Im really happy to be able to say that Season 3 walks that back and returns to what makes Dr. STONE engaging: Humanity Fuck Yeah moments. Where last season was about stabilizing the Kingdom of Science and effectively ending a civil war this season is all about righting the ship returning to the grand mystery of the petrification beam and taking our first tentative steps towards solving that. Senku and co start to look outward from their shores towards all the countries peoples and most importantly resources left scattered all around the world after the petrification. They start to develop technology for communication for long distance visuals and mapping for storage and travel. A good half of the season is just them building a ship capable of traveling the ocean. And its awesome We get to see all of the old technologies come back and get repurposed really showing how science builds on itself and gets faster and faster. If the inventions and civilization aspect of Dr. STONE was what you loved that returns in force. As for those who have been looking for more of a mystery angle Dr. STONE has that to When I said the series returned to the mystery of the petrification beam I didnt just mean nominally. There is real tangible progress towards figuring what it is and what happened. I wont spoil you on it as its a large part of the season. But there are a good number of hints and story beats dedicated towards progressing it. Something we havent seen since... Episode 1 of Season 1 probably? In short it feels like this is the season where Dr. STONE has finally found its footing and knows what it wants to do. There are only 2 real problems here that I can see. The 1st is that the season does start rather slow. It has a lot of establishing information and new characters to introduce before it widens its scope. This isnt a huge deal as its still filled with science. But some might feel like the show is stagnating a bit at the start and I want to assure you its all for a purpose. The 2nd and far larger issue with the season is that its only 11 episodes long. Only a single one of the story arcs started in episode 1 actually get resolved with the finale feeling more like a midseason climax then an ending. Once Season 4/Part 2 comes out this wont be a big deal just continue on. But knowing we have to wait 6 months for more Dr. STONE? This might frustrate some people. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/06/Dr.STONES39.2.jpg Characters A major contributing factor to the success of the narrative would Dr. STONEs cast. The core Senku/Chrome/Kohaku/Gen continue to be as good as they ever were. New situations new interactions nice callbacks to previous interactions. And Dr. STONE makes sure to give each of them each member of the cast at large really their moments to shine. Whether it be Chrome figuring out a use for one of their new technologies for Senku can explain it Kohaku becoming better at identifying and using their technology etc etc. Every member has a part to play a role in the cast/Kingdom. While some get more attention then others it never feels like they are irrelevant or unnecessary. Not even with the introduction of new but similar characters Speaking of new characters Dr. STONE introduces a few this season. The biggest is Ryusui who was technically introduced in the OVA that bridges Season 2 and 3 but who many of you will probably meet for the first time. Along with him we get Francois Soyoz and a few others. Overall I quite like these new additions to the cast. Ryusui is easily the most contentious of the lot and will probably be a Lovem or hatem style character for most people. Dr. STONE tries its best to frame his ambition and drive in a positive light and personally I think it succeeded by the end. But Im sure some people will see his arrogance and greed and decide he isnt for them. Still I expect those people to find at least one new character they will come to like. Finally we need to talk about the villains. I put villain in quotes because as far as the narrative it concerned its still undecided where exactly they will fall. However they are framed as such from their initial introduction as well as their designs that I feel comfortable calling them that. The villains here are setup rather well and I think they have potential to be just as interesting as Tsukasa but with a much better narrative structure to support their conflict. However with where the season ends thats really all they have. Theres no time for them to do or evolve into much more. As such while they are setup well they dont really get to do anything. Im sure for some that will be a disappointment and to them I say wait for Season 4. But for those looking for something in the now... Youll probably be disappointed. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/05/Dr.STONES36.3.jpg OST Finally we come to the OST what I typically view to be one of Dr. STONEs strongest aspects. Composed once again by the trio of Tatsuya Katou Yukihiro Kanesaka and Hiroaki Tsutsumi Dr. STONEs OST once again delivers. Just take a listen to the absolute high sea adventure that is Ryusuis Theme here in the trailer or the somber grandeur and majesty of the dawns first light in this clip from the Ryusui OVA special. Its use of everything from classical orchestras to techno and rock to traditional instruments always makes Dr. STONEs OST one of the most varied and interesting in a season and that holds true here. Not to mention all of the songs from the first 2 seasons as well. My only regret is that at the time of this review the official OST has not yet been released so I cant go indepth for you. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/05/Dr.STONES35.3.jpg Finding Your Stride This brings me to the personal section of the review. This is where I try to give you a tiny peak into my personal experience with a show so you can understand where everything you just read is coming from. Fair warning this is a noholdsbarred spoiler section. If you havent watched the show and dont want to be spoiled dont read it. Otherwise if you want to get to know me a bit then head on in https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/04/Dr.STONES32.3.jpg Conclusion So yeah all in all while this season of Dr. STONE isnt perfect it has some pacing and ending issues as well as a lackluster production in a number of ways I still think its the best season of Dr. STONE yet. It feels like we are finally setting down the path of what was originally promised to us all the way back in Season 1 and Im just so happy about it. My hope is that now that Dr. STONE knows exactly what it wants and needs to be that it can start to iterate and improve upon it even faster. And considering that we are getting a Part 2 a Season 4 later this year already? It gives me a lot of hope that we may just get a fabled complete adaptation. That would be pretty rad if you ask me because I know theres some wild stuff ahead after this. Thanks for reading If you want to leave a comment positive or negative you can leave it herehttps://anilist.co/activity/577375118.