Summary
- Final Dr. Stone season, Science Future, starts Jan. 9, with 36 episodes split into 3 cours.
- A special episode, Dr. Stone: Ryusui, is canon and adapts chapters 84-89.
- Story explores science vs power theme, introduces scientific concepts in a fun way.
After over a year since Dr. Stone: New World, the fourth and final Dr. Stone season will finally start airing next month. Dr Stone: Science Future is slated for January 9, 2025, and will be streamed on Crunchyroll. The final season will be split into 3 cours, so it will total around 36 episodes. Season 3 adapted volumes 11-16, and this new season will adapt volumes 17-27, so anything less than 30 episodes might feel rushed.
Besides the previous seasons, a special episode was broadcast in 2022, titled Dr. Stone: Ryusui. Despite being a separate animation, this one is canon and adapts chapters 84-89 (between seasons 2 and 3), which is an arc focused on maritime conglomerate heir Ryusui Nanami.
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Petrification and The Future
For those unfamiliar with Dr. Stone, the story starts in 2019 (which was “a near future” when it started serialization in 2017), when all humans are suddenly petrified, including Senku Ishigami, the protagonist. 3,700 years later (that would be the 58th century), he is revived out of nowhere. Human civilization is gone, but he decides to study the petrified humans in order to try to develop a cure.
A few months later, one of his friends, Taiju Oki, is also revived. They learn they could come back because of nitric acid, so they try to develop a way to de-petrify everyone else and create a new science-oriented civilization. One of their friends, Tsukasa Shishio (one of the first people they revive), however, is against it. Tsukasa believes a new world should be based on strength and will fight anyone who disagrees or might try to prevent him from creating this new world.
Science Can Be Fun
This story starts as a “science vs power” tale, with Senku and Tsukasa forming their own kingdoms and eventually clashing — Senku wins, and reunites with Tsukasa, who actually wants to build a world without exploitation (but now in a more pacific way). But other kingdoms are also scattered around the world. Besides those plots, the story never loses sight of the petrification mystery, which they discover to be related to a strange green light.
Dr. Stone introduces a few scientific concepts in a fun way, and also plays with a few historical facts. For example, in this final season, we can expect the main characters to (re)discover America and even go to the moon.
Season 3 Main Staff
Season 3 Staff is Likely Returning For Season 4
TMS Entertainment produced every season, but seasons 1-2 were animated by 8PAN, while the third season was handled by Die4Studio. The director also changed in the third season, with Shuhei Matsushita (Deemo: Memorial Keys) replacing Shinya Iino, and he is returning to direct season 4 according to MyAnimeList.
Yuichiro Kido was the head writer in all seasons, but seems to be unconfirmed as scriptwriter for season 4. Tatsuya Kato, Hiroaki Tsutsumi, and Yuki Kanesaka seem to be once again in charge of the music.
The original Dr. Stone manga was serialized from 2017 to 2022, with 27 volumes, and published in the US by VIZ Media. It is penned by Riichiro Inagaki (plot) and Boichi (art).
Dr. Stone: Science Future
is confirmed to be streamed on Crunchyroll starting January 9, 2025.
Based on Riichiro Inagaki’s shonen manga, the Dr. Stone anime takes place thousands of years after a cataclysmic event turned humanity into stone. Awakening in a Stone Age-style world, Senku sets out to speedrun humanity’s growth through the power of science.