REVIEW: ‘Dr. STONE New World,’ Episode 8— “The Trump Card Aboard The Science Vessel”

Dr.STONE New World Season 3 Episode 8 casts an odd tone on an episode seeped with potential threats. Despite the definite peril they’re facing, the episode delivers plenty of character-driven humor due to the heightened situations they’re facing. Kohaku (Manami Numakura), in particular, is allowed to shine more than she’s typically able to, utilizing her strengths in battle while also deploying an underrated wit in a moment where quick action is necessary. Conversely, we also get to see her weaker, humorous moments, as she believes she’s going to need to be gussied up in order to help infiltrate the master’s whereabouts when he comes to pick a bride from the island.

Of the characters left unpetrified, Senku (Yûsuke Kobayashi), Gen (Kengo Kawanishi,) and Kohaku make for a fabulous, entertaining crew, especially as they act against what’s expected from these archetypes. Gen’s continued distrust in Kohaku’s motives, leading him to often tie himself to her lest she tries and start a fight with a strong opponent, is a winsome, ongoing joke. She and Senku also thrive as a dynamic under the circumstances as a recon team

As Senku and Gen continue to inspire the most conspiratorial behavior out of one another, it would be expected, in contrast, that Senku and Kohaku be set up for some sort of romantic dalliance, due to what audiences have come to expect from shonen anime. Instead, Senku continues to admire her strength and ability to survive, but neither have ever been written as being particularly interested in one another romantically, he in particular never seeming to have a care for that sort of relationship, period.

It makes their faking a romance in a desperate moment all the more hilarious, as there’s no sudden surge of feelings, just the tired acceptance of doing what needs to be done. As a character who requires a lot to be pushed to his wit’s end, it’s telling that while the fake kiss fails to phase him, we see him rise to a level of frustration in quick succession moments before. Looking for any current survivors on the ship in order to reach the lab below deck, all of them are dismayed to realize it’s Ginro (Ayumu Murase) left. He’s even more angered when he realizes Ginro is asking them for help rather than realizing they need his.

Senku realizes soon though that there’s another member of their party infiltrating the ship, with Suika (Karin Takahashi) having both traveled back aboard after having hidden the small boat the other four had used to travel inland. An observer through and through, he isn’t surprised she managed to sneak on board and is only grateful and slightly amused that it’s the child who they again have to rely on to save the day.

For all the humor the episode has, there’s a decent amount of horror too. We finally get a look at what the petrification beam looks like in this era, with a flashback that showcases how it’s used with numerous statues. The one the residents of the island have been using is much smaller in scale than what would’ve shaped the world centuries prior, but it’s no less devastating in its effect. The main takeaway though, is that there’s logic to the usage, and there are rules, much to Senku’s delight. Because with rules comes confirmation that the beam isn’t fantasy, but science, and if it’s science it means it’s a question that can be solved.

Gen remarks on the underlying trauma and secret of the petrification beam as it’s described to them in the present tense, and the animation captures it. While the character designs have been, on the whole, softened in season three, Dr.STONE New World Episode 8 showcases the animator’s ability to visualize a foreboding threat, one that hovers and looms large from above, a seemingly inescapable force that condemns anyone it touches.

The only means of escape is to cut off the affected part of the body touched by the beam — if possible — or to be far away from the radius. An imposing threat, it’s a terrific hurdle for the group because no matter Senku’s group resourcefulness and his intelligence, there’s only so much that can be done if they’re devoid of the source of the wreckage itself, no matter how much they learn about the tool itself.

Dr.STONE New World Episode 8, “The Trump Card Aboard The Science Vessel” is a strong, singular installment of the series despite being tonally inconsistent. While the series typically works when it swings from the hurdles the characters face to the comedic ways they approach and/or react to them, there’s a definite, apparent distinction this time that fails to marry as seamlessly as previous episodes.

Dr.STONE New World is available now on Crunchyroll.