Today, SpeedontheBeat.com is honored to have writer and artist Saturn, Alexander grace the site. This is the first of (hopefully) many pieces Saturn drops on SOTB.

When we first connected, we discussed ways we could help each other out on the writer and artist sides of things. A few weeks or so later, Saturn makes her SOTB (writer) debut with her thoughts on one of this year’s most-intriguing concepts. Yep, we’re talking Dr. Stone. It’s time to get excited. Also, if you haven’t already, check out Saturn’s Signs project here. She did her damnedest to avoid spoilers, so I’ll try mine to avoid spoilers in the images.

You know how some video games are like an open world? That’s exactly how I feel about Dr. Stone. Not that it’s a video game anime, though. Those don’t necessarily have the best plots, if we’re all being honest. They also sometimes translate from gameplay to an actual show awkwardly. No, Dr. Stone is like an open world game because the whole map is up for grabs when it comes to this show. The potential is literally unlimited.

I had my doubts–a lot of them–when it first started just because I didn’t like the character design or the premise. But as someone who always needs something to watch of course when I was desperate, I tuned into Dr. Stone. Man, am I glad I did.

This show fuses science, action, and, as a Gemini (someone who appreciates smart shit in general), it’s a joy to watch. It’s hilarious. Beyond that, you actually learn from watching it. It gets serious when it needs to, and as soon as you’re pretty sure the entire idea of the show, a breadcrumb in the plot is dropped to elude to the fact that the current story isn’t even a fraction. The premise is, essentially that there are 3 main characters (Senku, Taiju, and Yuzuriha) in a modern world much like today. The show starts off with them doing nothing but what teenagers normally do during the school year, be in school. Out of absolutely nowhere, everyone turns to stone. Not “the whole high school” everyone, but EVERYONE everyone.

This leaves a lot to the imagination. Why did everyone petrify? Was it natural? Was it planned? Was it an accident? Was it part of some unknown war? How do you even un-petrify? And more importantly, if you ever do–since you know, you’re still you and all–WHAT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY? Everything has basically been vacant for five thousand years. You’d literally have to start back from zero rebuilding the advanced world we live in.

That’s the premise for Dr. Stone (at least, after they wake up it is). Along the journey, there’s a crazy teenager that quite literally wants Senku dead (you’ll have to watch to find out why). From this, we get a battle of kingdoms. Through that, we get instructions on how to make everything from soap to an antibiotic, pretty decent fight scenes, and a thick plot and character development all while leaving the question open of WHY AND HOW WAS EVERYONE PETRIFIED?

The story is so immersive that you almost forget to pose this question while you watch it. The series hasn’t gotten around to it yet, but the if the journey to that answer is anything like the one that has taken place so far, Dr. Stone has an extremely bright (which is actually a pun if you’ve ever seen it) future ahead of it. Do yourself a favor. Watch Dr. Stone. You may even grab a couple extra IQ points while you’re at it.

(Ed. Note: You can watch the series dubbed on FunimationNOW or subbed on Crunchyroll.)