REVIEW: ‘Dr. STONE New World’ Episode 5 — “Science Vessel Perseus”

With a necessary air or levity, Dr.STONE New World Episode 5 provides ample moments that reinforce how strong the ensemble of characters is. This is made especially true as the episode, “Science Vessel Perseus,” divides the team. One group (largely made up of any main character) is setting sail while the remaining group will stay with their village to continue the plight of revitalizing civilization and continue the growth and progress. 

There’s been at least two major time jumps so far this season, the first being to allow time for the group to grow wheat to provide them with ingredients to make food for their journey. The second comes in Dr.STONE New World Episode 5 as they need to endure another passing of seasons to build the ship they’ll be using to embark on their new adventure. This time though, rather than simply gritting their teeth and muscling through a winter that is used primarily for the sake of further invention and progress of scientific gain, they’re allowed something also crucial for the sake of societal development: they have fun. 

At first, it’s almost jarring to see Senku (Yûsuke Kobayashi) and the others snowboarding or enjoying their own abbreviated beach episode. The group is using the photographs they’re now able to take to both document the passage of time also as group mementos, leaving notations on the pictures to further cement their presence as a community that learned and grew and thrived even without all the modern advancements many of them once had. It’s not just a throwaway charming sequence that allows these characters moments of necessary reprieve from the work we’ve seen them put in, but a reminder of how far they’ve come. It also makes their departure all the more emotional because while we’re pretty much sticking with all of the characters we’ve grown to care about, barring a few, we know that these are some of the last true moments of calm before they’re entrenched in the unknown. 

Because while Senku has a goal in mind, there’s so much they don’t understand about what they’re about to get into. For the characters such as Kohaku (Manami Numakura), who have only ever known her village. They’re about to experience a journey that is as foreign an adventure as they’ve ever had, completely immersed in the unfamiliar. 

It’s a thrilling concept, as we, along with the characters, have grown so accustomed to the scenery of their world and the limitations of where they live, even with the advancements of being able to take to the skies and the sea. This marks the first major move the show has taken in ages, befitting the name for the season as the characters get ready and steel themselves for a new world. 

Directed by Nana Harada, Dr.STONE New World Episode 5 is touched up with certain flourishes for comedic effects, such as Kohaku never being able to be picked up in photos due to her speed. Harada also captures the impressive magnitude of some of these moments that build off of the existing manga panels even in freeze frame shots such as ones where Senku and Ryusui (Ryōta Suzuki) are depicted to showcase how formidable they are as a pair. 

For as much of the episode remains landbound, the scale remains looming. Perhaps it’s the lingering tension of the “why man” and the fact that the silence from them isn’t so much comforting as increasingly foreboding. 

Much more epic in tone, though is how, in the end, as the characters set sail, everything is once again linked back to season one. Senku’s first agenda item is to find the so-called treasure chest, something left on the island that his father and his crew first landed on ages and ages ago. Believing it to possess key secrets and truths about the current state of humanity, they seek to find it for the sake of unlocking any greater information that will help them find the source of the petrification beam. The source of the stories that the village has been built on, as well as a significant tie to Senku’s past, it’s a perfect way to set the stage for what’s to come next, as we’re given a satisfying full circle moment when reminds us that no piece of the story up until this part has been wasted.

We saw this in the last episode as the speed at which the team acquired new scientific gains increased exponentially compared to what they were able to accomplish in the past. Now, we see these gains not just through technology but through narrative and thematic layers. 

Dr.STONE New World Episode 5 continues to showcase the strengths of the series, from the ever-present sensation of adventure to the humor and character gags that allow for the series’ sillier tone. Setting off into what is clearly a new era of the show, “Science Vessel Perseus” proves that this season might be the series at its very best, and we’re only at the start of it. 

Dr.STONE New World is available now on Crunchyroll.