Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 17 – Quick Summary
In Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 episode 17, “JOKER,” Senkuu and his team followed the unhinged Magma toward Ibara. The good news? Magma’s gunshots were seriously freaking out Ibara and his people. The bad news? Well, to start with, Magma fired indiscriminately and wasted bullets. The Kingdom of Science was also outnumbered about 30 to 1. Can Senkuu reclaim the gun before Magma wastes all the ammunition? Even if he can, what can his small team do against so many foes? And where is Taiju? Shouldn’t he be back by now?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 17
Gen wasn’t sure how to take Hyouga’s words. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Senkuu de-petrify Hyouga freaked out Gen more than it freaked me out. Which makes sense. I’m perfectly safe on this side of my computer screen. Can’t say as much for Gen!
How did Gen react to that fear? He did what Gen does best. He tried to figure out a way to get into Hyouga’s mind. Gen tried to convince Nikki – who is endearingly romantic – to pretend to like Hyouga. She’s a trooper. She was prepared to do it for the sake of the team.
Unfortunately for Gen, Hyouga remembered how he was. He told Gen to shut “his filthy mouth.” Which he did – all the while begging for Hyouga not to kill him.
Hyouga dismissed Gen’s concerns, saying (11:23), “I think highly of your filthiness. You do your work very properly.”
I’m not sure it was particularly reassuring, but at least Gen knew he wasn’t in imminent danger of being killed. By Hyouga, anyway.
Favorite Moment from Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 17
Did Ibara know what he was saying? Or was it just an incantation? I suspect he knew, because he tailored the device to Kirisame’s proximity. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: The Quality of Kirisame’s Character
I’ve often wondered how much Kirisame knew about what was going on. Did she buy into Ibara’s vision of the world? Or was she going along because she’d been duped? I’m actually happy to learn that it appears to be the latter. As much as I like Ibara as a villain (intelligent villains are my favorites), I don’t want to see mini-Ibaras. One’s enough.
I selected my favorite moment for two reasons: what it revealed about Kirisame, and what it revealed about the world.
What’d you think when Ibara, in front of Kirisame, asked Ooarashi to take the little ornament (the freaking Medusa device) and hang it up in the center of the island? We all knew what Ibara was capable of, and this was well within those parameters. Kirisame knew what that little ornament did – and the cost it would extract from Ooarashi.
How cool was it that we were about to learn just what kind of character Kirisame really was? Very cool, that’s how cool!
Kirisame did not like what Ibara asked Ooarashi to do. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
She objected. Ibara answered her by saying (17:38), “Why would I care?” He challenged her by asking if she would dare disobey the Master. That was the biggest mistake of his life (so far).
Kirisame remembered back to when she was a little kid (we can debate the effectiveness of in-line flashbacks, and I’ll respectfully listen to your perspective!). She had been with a group of kids who had begged the Master, Soyuz’ dad, to petrify the whole mountain because something had frightened them. The dude, like the good father we already thought he was, listened to them and took their concern seriously. Then he acted.
Delivery: An Advanced Device
He showed them what they were really afraid of (an abandoned scarecrow – who the hell leaves one of those lying around, especially one that terrifying?). Then he said something that Kirisame remembered.
“The petrification light must never be used in a broad area,” he said kindly (18:53). “This world doesn’t exist merely to serve humans. It belongs to all that live. Don’t forget that.”
And now, here in the present, Kirisame had just heard Ibara first order Ooarashi to his death (more or less), then invoke the name of the Master to justify it. “Ibara-sama,” she said, poised for violence (19:23). “Is that truly the Master’s wish?”
Ibara have overplayed his hand. And Kirisame was too honest to hide it. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
My favorite moment was when she attacked. Ibara’s no fool. He knew there was no convincing her. He raised the Medusa device to his lips and said – and said – “One meter. One second” (19:23).
We know that a petrified Kirisame ended up on the ocean floor. But we also know two things that I think are important. First, Kirisame really was dedicated to the Master and not Ibara. I’m glad she wasn’t some cold-hearted murderer (though I supposed her willingness to kill makes her a somewhat kind-hearted executioner, which is only a little better). And second – the Medusa device is voice activated. In English, no less! That explains the lack of an obvious interface. It also leaves many, many questions unanswered – which is good, since this isn’t the series’ reveal!
What did you think of Hyouga’s fight against Moz (so far)? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 17: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Dr. Stone New World Part 2 – Episode 17 discussion
- I Drink and Watch Anime: Dr. Stone: New World Episode 17 Review
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 12: The Kingdom of Science’s Counterattack
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 13: The Medusa’s True Face
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 14: Deal Game, Test of Wit
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 15: Battle in Three Dimensions
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 16: Total War
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 17: JOKER
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 18: Flicker of Doom
- Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part 2 Episode 19: LAST MAN STANDING
Still kicking myself for not having posted about that telling look Magma gave the gun a few episodes back. 🤦♂️✨
Notes:
– The second De-Petrification seems to heal up any scars from the first.
– Adapts Manga Chapters #130-131
(As Dr. Stone concludes with Chapter #232, there remain just over 100 chapters to adapt: Two full seasons would accommodate those comfortably, I should think.) 🤞✨
– Hyouga served as a proverbial “Chekhov’s Gun” – Though the gun was Chekhov’s as well. Fittingly.
– “Voice Activated.”
Hmm.
I’d assumed that there was some button or reactive surface to push, which – depending upon how long it is depressed – determined the radius/diameter of the field effect, but Voice Activation might make more sense.
Really need to wonder how they figured that out.
(I mean, did the Medusa Device come with a set of instructions?) 🙄✨
There’s likely an upper limit to the range of the effect field, though Ibara definitely believes it’s range is sufficient to engulf the entirety of the island.
It’s true, we don’t yet know how or when the Villagers of the Petrification Kingdom obtained it: Pity Byakuya & Company didn’t have access to it, or they could have petrified those suffering from pneumonia. 🤔✨
I remember Magma’s look, but I wasn’t sure how to interpret it. Guess we know now!
De-petrification and healing — I’m still wondering if the thing was intended as a next-gen medical device and it’s prototype phase got out of hand. Whoops!
I’m wondering how the Master (and whoever came before) figured out how to use. I can just see the field guide: “Thank you for purchasing the Medusa Medical Device. Warning: Can petrify the entire planet.” At least, I hope that’d be on the cover instead of hidden in an appendix.
Or the EULA.
I hadn’t even thought about it curing pneumonia. Man, that’s sad!