Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 review: TMS Entertainment kicks off New America City Arc

Modified Jan 09, 2025 15:30 GMT

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 review: TMS Entertainment kicks off New America City Arc — Ryusui and Senku playing poker in Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1, titled Ryusui vs. Senku, premiered on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 10 pm JST. Following the anime's previous season called Dr. Stone: New World, fans had high expectations from the premiere of Dr. Stone: Science Future anime.

The previous season set up some major developments for the anime as the Kingdom of Science set forth to America, hoping to derive the tools to help them reach the moon. So, let's take a deep dive into Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1, to analyze how TMS Entertainment has handled the fourth season's premiere.

Considering that the animation studio has always adapted the anime well, the question is whether they have stayed consistent with the production quality.

Disclaimer: This article contains the author's opinion.

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 review: Character design and narrative changes

Ryusui and Senku as seen in Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Considering that Dr. Stone's setting does not allow the characters to have a lot of apparel changes, new character designs don't appear very often. However, this was not the case for the premiere of Dr. Stone: Science Future, as the anime saw Senku, Ryusui, Kohaku, Gen, and Ukyo don a new look.

Senku and Ryusui go up against each other in a poker game, and the two characters change their outfits. Senku wore a suit, while Ryusui donned a tuxedo. Joining them as the game dealer, Ukyo wore a waistcoat.

Meanwhile, Kohaku and Gen, who teamed up with Senku and Ryusui, wore an elegant yellow dress and purple suit, respectively. Each new character design looked good but seemed outlandish compared to the anime's norm.

Senku and Ryusui as seen in Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 (Image via TMS Entertainment)

As for the narrative changes, TMS Entertainment pretty much did a one-to-one adaptation of the manga for the anime until the end of the poker game. This is because the anime omitted a huge portion of the manga from the source material.

In the manga, the Bar Francois segment first saw the butler concocting non-alcoholic drinks for the people aboard the ship. It was only later that Senku was shown making beer, served aboard the Perseus.

Francois as seen in Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 (Image via TMS Entertainment)

However, the Bar Francois segment skipped the cocktail portion in the anime and directly jumped to the beer part. Considering that the anime episode ended soon after, there is a good chance that TMS Entertainment omitted some source material for better pacing. There is also the chance that the anime wanted to save that segment from the manga for the start of the next episode.

Production quality and animation

Speaking of production quality, TMS Entertainment has remained consistent with its animation from the previous seasons. The anime has captured the characters' expressions and any of the previous seasons.

Kohaku as seen in Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Moreover, it does not seem like TMS Entertainment has tried cutting down on the production quality. This is especially evident from Kohaku's scene that saw her pick up cards from the deck on Senku's instruction. While it may not be visible on the first watch, if slowed down, it is very clear that the animation studio animated Kohaku picking all three cards from the middle of the deck.

Final thoughts on Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1

While Dr. Stone season 4 episode 1 is a fun watch, it is not a stunning premiere as the anime looks and feels exactly like the previous seasons. There is no drop in production quality, allowing the anime to remain consistent for viewers. With that, the only thing fans can hope from the anime is for an exciting narrative to help them stay on the edge of their seats.