To be continued….
What They Say:
Episode #24: “Voices Over Infinite Distance”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
He’s done it! Senku has created a device that transmits the human voice into electrical signals to be sent wherever they may go!
But he has created only one device, and it’s large, and oh… did he fail to mention they would need another to communicate both ways wirelessly?
The villagers are momentarily aghast that Senku didn’t tell him they would need more than one device but he has enough right now to demonstrate how the system works. We get a recreation of the telephone in short order, running a line from the science lab to the village. Chrome is encouraged by Ginro (in his only moment of intelligence) to confess his feelings to Ruri. Yet Chrome botches that by simply expressing excitement at the new communication process. The experience does trigger a memory of a story about a ‘speaker’ and Chrome is suddenly confused.
It turns out Senku’s dad passed down a story as a message in a bottle, hiding a longer message in another bottle. One that would remain until his son could find it. Yes, Senku’s dad placed a large amount of faith in his son. He predicted that his descendants wouldn’t have progressed past the stone age? That his son would somehow survive it be resurrected? Dude must have been psychic.
Improbability aside, Senku’s father hid a recording made on the bottom of a bottle. A literal message in a bottle. Senku recreates a record player to playback the message etched into the glass. Glass records may seem odd, but they were among the first medium used for sound recordings. (However, those were not etched recordings, but photographic emulsion.) I don’t even know how accurate a hacked together recording device created with a borrowed diamond wedding ring would be.
I’m certain it wouldn’t be anywhere near as clear as the resulting sound. Nor as long at the size it was recorded at. Plus, there’s no way they would get the playback speed correct on the first try. Having an even higher-pitched Dad for a moment would have been hilarious.
I guess the resulting moment wouldn’t have been this touching message from a father to his son and the people of the future. We get a nice song from Lillian and nothing from the others, which is a bit mean. There’s a moment of joy from the surprised and pleased villagers.
The end of this episode is a perfect tease for what’s to come. Tsukasa’s people are waiting for spring to launch their attack. Taiju and Yuzuriha (oh wow, remember those two?) are standing by Senku’s grave while being watched by Tsukasa’s followers. War is coming, and yes, season two is happening.
In Summary:
Dr. Stone ends its first season with something that it has done remarkably well since the beginning and with a good amount of self-awareness, a heartfelt moment. The voices of the far distant past impart a message of hope to the future, promising the secrets of the world to a society living on the fringes. Sure, there are still a lot of convenient circumstances that need to be ignored, even when the science behind it makes sense. Dr. Stone has been a breath of fresh air for the shonen genre, where so many stories have been bogged down with excessive amounts of doom and gloom. Here is a story about progress, what humanity can achieve when working together, and the desire to make people’s lives better. Creation over destruction. I’m looking forward to season two.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Toonami