Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7 Review

Quick Summary of Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

In Dr. Stone: New World episode 7, “Ray of Despair, Ray of Hope,” the science vessel Perseus approached the island where Senku’s farther Byakuya had landed in the space capsule almost four thousand years ago. Senku, Kohaku, Gen, and Soyuz went ashore to look for either the treasure they sought or natives they could meet. Meanwhile, using his sonar, Ukyou, picked up alarming signals from the ocean floor. Ginro volunteered to take a look, thinking a nice swim would get him out of deck duty. But Ginro was very wrong. And Ukyou was right to be concerned! What did Ginro find? Did Senku and the landing party meet any natives? And who stowed away onboard the Perseus?

Collaborating with Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime!

Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime and I are collaborating to review Dr. Stone: New World! Irina, how’s your new blogging schedule working out? From my perspective as a reader, it looks like it’s working well!

I’m enjoying it. It’s very freeing but I also miss the daily ritual so we’ll see what happens in the long run. I certainly enjoy doing more collabs again 😉

Cool! Me, too!

Review of Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

Opening Thoughts for Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

I had noticed characters in the OP that weren’t familiar to me. This week, we got to meet at least one of them: Amaryllis. But before we can talk about her introduction, we have to talk about two other things: one minor, which was a stowaway onboard the Perseus, and the other an enormous setback for our heroes – a setback that might be the most daunting they’ve faced so far. It’s certainly the most psychologically damaging!

Before we dive in, do you have any opening thoughts, Irina?

I think this might be the most significant episode plot-wise that we have had in a long time, potentially ever. It’s a huge leap as far as the central plot goes and it really changes everything. I can’t believe they dropped it now! It’s going to be very difficult to wait between seasons for the story to pick up again.

A Stern Yet Touching Moment in Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

Let’s start with a touching moment. As the crew prepared the recon squad, we got a quick shot of Suika in one of the ship’s nooks and crannies. Apparently, she had stowed away. Remember how she’s always wanted to be helpful? Well, it seems she’s retained that trait. She rolled herself onto the deck, ready to declare her readiness, when Ryusui saw her. I’ve seen lots of old pirate or military movies where they treat stowaways harshly. Ryusui’s a tough guy, but he’s not cruel, so I wondered how he would react.

He slammed a barrel over her. 

Ryusui took decisive action. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Which wasn’t at all where I thought that would go. Furthermore, he sat on the barrel so she couldn’t get out. He then talked the crew through who would go on the recon mission and why. Only after they had left did he let her out. Then, François watching in the background, did he give her a stern talking to.

By the time he turned away, Suika was in tears. She had just wanted to help, and now she felt like she was in huge trouble. But François walkedover, knelt down, and said (05:38), “A captain can’t risk the life of a child on such a dangerous mission, scouting a mysterious island. Ryusui-sama is only being so stern because he’s concerned for your safety.”

Ryusui went through the motions of reprimanding François for doing so. But I suspected his heart wasn’t in it. Later, we find out just how much he really cared for the little melon head.

Irina, any thoughts about the stowaway or her treatment?

Suika the Stowaway

Stowaways are usually a death sentence for crew mates or themselves. Because of the nature of it, ships generally carry only the supplies they need, having an unaccounted mouth to feed means someone is going hungry. Not a big deal if things go well but if things go wrong it can mean disaster. Moreover she hasn’t been vetted, hasn’t gone through any medical exam and for the purposes of the show, she’s just a little kid that threw herself in a very dangerous situation. The reaction was justified, even light.

I mentioned we’d get to meet Amaryllis, but first, we need to talk about the major development in this episode. And to be frank: I did not see it coming. Though maybe I should have. Remember how Ukyou and Ginro had investigated unusual sonar returns from the ocean floor? Turns out there were lots of petrified people down there. 

That’s frightening enough. But Ukyou shared a terrifying realization: the timeline didn’t make sense. The petrification beam had swept the Earth almost four thousand years ago. The island, at the time, had been uninhabited. It only became inhabited after the astronauts had landed. 

They didn’t have long to ponder that mystery. Ryusui realized they were being watched. But by that time, it was too late. Kohaku suspected something had happened; she had seen something flash on the ship. But Gen just thought they were having radio hardware problems. So, he and Soyuz went back to the cliffs overlooking the harbor. And what they saw horrified them.

The crew had been petrified. 

I don’t know what Gen’s worst nightmare is, but seeing this sight had to be in the top ten. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

What did you think of this development and its lead-up, Irina?

A Huge Development in Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

I thought it was fantastic. This is what I was talking about when I said it was one of the most significant episodes to the plot.

There are so many good questions brought up by this turn of events.

I think you want us to go into the who and why later on so I’ll keep it for then. Instead we can concentrate on some of the “answers” or at least new information we got. Whatever the petrification phenomenon is, it can be wielded and directed at specific people. Which means it’s most likely not a natural phenomenon. We suspected this but now we have actual confirmation.

Moreover, it’s not a planet-wide event. Once you unleash it, it’s not just going to envelop all of earth. That wasn’t really discussed in the show much. We saw it happen once and it seemed to very organically just crawl over the entire planet. There was no reason to think there was a more localized setting available. 

And that sort of makes it more obviously a weapon, right? Not an experiment gone wrong, not an accident but something designed to specifically petrify people. Unless it was modified afterwards but that brings up way more questions again.

I said the whole crew had been petrified. More precisely, the whole crew minus five. The four who had been on the landing party plus Suika. As soon as he realized what was happening, Ryusui kicked her overboard. Dude gets major points for doing what he could – he showed quick thinking, too.

Calmer Heads Prevailed

Kohaku was all for charging in to challenge whoever had petrified the crew. Gen, though, stopped her. He had to rope her ankle to do it. But he stopped it. Good thing, too – Kohaku has a good heart, but she doesn’t have a strategic mind.

Gen had to go to great lengths to protect Kohaku — at great personal risk! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Together, all of them planned what to do next. It came down to this: they needed either allies, or they needed to understand their enemy. So they began a methodical search. Science figured prominently, at least at first. 

They found some shells someone had recently discarded. Senku created a finger printing solution that helped them identify whoever had discarded the shells as a woman. He also found a hair that helped him confirm the identity as a woman. From there, Gen worked up a psychological profile, and they figured out she would probably head uphill. So, up the hill they went!

They found the woman. But it wasn’t at all what they expected. Three men were proposing to her! She declined, but she declined in a way that made it clear that their proposals didn’t move her emotionally – even though she pretended they did. She even squirted an irritant in her eyes to make it look like she’d been weeping. 

Amaryllis’ Subtle Expertise

At this point, what did you think of Amaryllis, Irina?

I think that pretty is a skill! I really liked that her tag later on in the episode was prettiest girl on the island or something like that. It’s funny because at the end of the day, a lot of the girls look the same with different hair and clothes so it’s really just a question of PR. Which is kind of realistic!

After she dismissed the would-be suitors, Gen and Kohaku tried to come up with the perfect approach. They wanted to be subtle; they wanted to plan their cards close to their chest. But Senku just walked up and asked for the treasure chest.

He’s a scientist. What can we expect?

Senku just walked up and asked for the treasure chest. And check out Kohaku’s expression! She wasn’t in the least bit surprised. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Amaryllis’ reaction was very, very interesting. She wasn’t scared in the least. Amaryllis didn’t recognize any of them, so she assumed they were from the “inner palace.” She asked they had come to take her to the master. Of course, that meant nothing to our heroes. But when Gen asked Soyuz what she meant, Amaryllis assumed he was the leader. She then fell all over herself praising him – thinking he was the master. She told him he had kind, embracing eyes.

Buy Soyuz, as flattered as he was – and he was very flattered – had to admit he wasn’t the master. Kohaku asked if she meant Senku, so Amaryllis tried her act again.

And here we learned something important about her character: she has an honest heart. Because she looked at Senku and tried to praise him. But she couldn’t. “Such might… well, maybe not so much,” she said, trying to praise his arms (19:32). “… Such embracing, kind… actually they look pretty evil. Such intelligent eyes!”

She was pretty bummed her attack hadn’t worked. 

Trouble in the Village

A commotion back at her village disrupted their talk. The villagers had had enough of their master (this time, because he was apparently going to take Amaryllis as his wife. That seemed to terrify Amaryllis, for a very simple reason: she was afraid her master would petrify them.

Yep. The master of her village wielded the power of petrification.

Irina, what’d you make of this development?

Ok, I have absolutely no reason to think this but I don’t believe “the master” is the WhyMan or even a modern man. I think he’s just a random descendant who stumbled upon technology he has no understanding of and figured out how to use it just well enough to seize power. You know what I mean?

He’s a, for lack of a better word, primitive like the rest of the island folk, and he found something and it’s just pure luck he didn’t petrify himself yet. 

Amaryllis was terrified the Master would turn more villagers into stone. How much control does he have over the petrification process? How much does he understand it? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Like I said, I have no real reasons to think this. It’s a feeling and sort of what I think would fit in best with the narrative flow of the story but there are some structural benefits to making it this way. 

The petrification event is the central mystery of Dr. Stone. If they find someone who can explain everything that happened then the central arc, and in a way the entire story, is over. Sure, you could go on making it more of a rebuilding civilization story with a monster of the week premise, but Dr. Stone as we have come to know it would be over. And I really don’t think they want to do that yet. 

Clues to the Bigger Picture

As such, this has to be a clue but not a complete answer. And the best way to make sure it’s not a complete answer is by making the guy who wields it completely devoid of information. Heck, they could even damage whatever the petrification device is (at this point I’m assuming it’s some sort of machine) so that even Senku can’t reverse engineer it and they just have like an idea of the materials needed or the petrification process but aren’t closer to figuring out the motivations or how to undo it in one fell swoop or anything like that.

But like I said, it’s pure conjecture at this point.

We might not know anything about the master yet, but it seems clear that Amaryllis’ intelligence and drive will be valuable additions to the recon party. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Is this master related to Why Man? Did he just stumble on the technology? If so, how? Those answers will have to wait for a future episode. I didn’t expect this development – but now I’m seriously interested in seeing how it works out!

Closing Thoughts on Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7

Any closing thoughts, Irina?

Oh opps, I should have read ahead. Well I covered my points on the master so I guess I’ll talk about a few points I brought up in my gallery post. Like the fact that visually, the plants, forests and general environment of the island looks very similar to that of Japan and the village so I think they are relatively close to each other. Like this island is not off the coast of Canada or anything. 

I feel like the arc of the season just started so I’m curious to see what they will do with the episodes they have left. 

Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Dr. Stone: New World – Episode 7 discussion

This Collaboration (I Drink and Watch Anime and Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 1: New World Map
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 2: Greed Equals Justice
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 3: First Contact
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 4: Eyes of Science
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 5: Science Vessel Perseus
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 6: TREASURE BOX
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 7: Ray of Despair, Ray of Hope
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 8: The Trump Card Aboard the Science Vessel
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 9: Beautiful Science
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 10: SCIENCE WARS
• Dr. Stone: New World Episode 11: With This Fist, a Miracle