Dr. Stone: Science Pure VS Pure Science
Now I’ve already done a review of Dr. Stone. However, the purpose of this review is to dive a bit deeper into the views of Senku and Tsukasa. These two juxtapose each other to varying degrees and are antithetical to each other. However, they also have qualities that make them similar to each other, which helps them clash well with each other. I will be going over the qualities of these characters and comprehensively revealing who they are at their core and why their roles are so important in Dr. Stone.
Senku is the easiest by far in Dr. Stone. The main reason for this is that he is a simple person in general. Senku loves science, that much is abundantly obvious. And he will do anything to experiment and put many of his hypotheses to work. Sometimes it seems like such odd and mundane recipes that later make great relevance. He loves his experiments and his progress.
And at the start when he awoke from the stone survival came first. Then when Taiju arrived surviving came easier allowing Senku to focus on more complicated scientific endeavors. Senku quickly realizes the drawbacks and downfalls of his physical form. Instead of wasting time working out to build muscle, he chooses someone to revive that he knows has a physical advantage to assist him. His logical thinking knew he needed companions to assist him.
And even later, in Dr. Stone, when we see Ishigami Village assisting him, he makes sure that he is constantly around people who can assist him. He knows to build the kingdom of science he needs the help of many people. Especially because of his inability to revive any more people he has to focus on the village. Not only is it logical, but he is also thinking in the long run. To say Senku is a genius is an understatement. I believe that Senku is not just a genius but an utter scientific talent in critical thinking.
Senku has often created scenarios that feel almost military-like in nature. The way they lured Homura in close enough for capture and the traps set to neutralize her isn’t just something one just thinks up. Senku has either some form of militant knowledge or a sixth sense of battle tactics. It’s only solidified later when he builds a TANK! A TANK! This man is absolutely insane when you think that a good third of his knowledge is based on knowledge that can kill people.
And Senku knows this. His first instinct is to try and resolve things peacefully. Build his scientific world high enough to the point none could stand against him. He’s treating this like an arms race. And he’s completely right in his way of thinking. But I can’t talk about his genius without talking about Tsukasa.
Tsukasa is a beast in terms of physical strength. More so than Taiju, due to Taiju’s unwillingness to throw a punch. Tsukasa thinks in a very similar way to Senku. This is shown very clearly when based on ingredients alone he knew Senku was making gunpowder. To have this knowledge shows that he too is a genius. Not so much like Senku but with his knowledge of battle tactics and strength in numbers he was quick to secure the Miracle Cave and begin the revival process when he thought Senku was dead.
Tsukasa thinks about the revival like Senku. He knows they need numbers; however, he believes in a survival of the fittest mentality as well as young and youthful should be revived while the adults should be left and destroyed. And the worst part is his reasoning is sound. If they revived the adults they’d try to take over and bring back all the greed that there was in the world before its collapse. Claims on land, unnecessary violence.
Tsukasa makes a lot of sense in this moment however it’s still wrong in Senku’s mind. Science is in all ages; the progress of humanity cannot thrive unless all ages and genders work together. We see this when Senku speaks of similar qualities and the art that appears on the screen shows this line of thinking. It’s ideal. But Tsukasa lets his past and personal goals skew his decision-making.
They both know this is an arms race. While Tsukasa works with power and scare tactics Senku works with secrecy and information muddling. They both have their strengths. Tsukasa’s downfall was not realizing the Youth too can be evil.
These in-depth studies are important because they show many ways in which certain characters may look like polar opposites but, deep down, want the same thing. These two are exceedingly similar. And, like Tsukasa said, if they had met a bit earlier, they could have been friends. I guess we just have to wait until he’s back again.
That’s my take anyway! If you enjoyed it, please let me know! I’d love to find out which anime I should do an in-depth review on next! See you guys later!