Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 review: TMS Entertainment heightens the stakes and tension in an action-packed installment

By Joseph Brogan

Modified Mar 22, 2025 14:30 GMT

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 review: TMS Entertainment heightens the stakes and tension in an action-packed installment (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Heading into Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11, audiences were expecting an action-packed, tense installment to make up for the series’ prior uneventful outing. Officially released on Thursday, March 20, 2025, the installment went above and beyond fans’ expectations in every way, delivering another truly perfect episode for the final season.

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 did so by primarily relying on the action, with the episode’s only major development coming in the context of the conflict itself. While the series rarely takes this kind of approach, it works flawlessly here, showing the best the series has to offer in almost every way.

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 review: TMS Entertainment delivers another perfect installment on the back of intense action and more

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As mentioned above, the intense action and tension that Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 delivers to viewers is easily the biggest part of what makes the installment perfect. The chaotic two-front assault of Dr. Xeno Houston Wingfield’s forces on Senku Ishigami and his allies is the perfect payoff for the intense buildup the final season’s first part has done. It greatly rewards fans for their investment of several weeks of time and patience.

One major specific facet of the action seen is the incredibly high quality and consistently flawless animation TMS Entertainment gives this action. Senku and Ryusui Nanami’s dogfight against Stanley Snyder comes to mind first in this regard, boasting some of the best animations the series has ever had.

The 3D CGI animation of each plane is also particularly praiseworthy, being anything but jarring or visually offensive for the entirety of the episode. Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11’s traditional 2D animation is equally as impressive, especially in terms of its consistently high quality and lack of errors or cut corners.

This, however, should be relatively unsurprising given that it's one of the biggest strengths of TMS Entertainment’s production approach to the series. However, the action onboard the Perseus elevates this quality to another level, especially during Stanley’s epic appearance on the ship.

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11's perfect cliffhanger ending is one of its most impressive successes (Image via TMS Entertainment)

The final minutes of the installment also highlight the next biggest component in the episode’s perfection, which is the intense stakes and high tension. While these can be found throughout the entire episode given the context of this battle between Kingdoms of Science, the final moments pair it with exciting, unforeseen plot twists.

The back-and-forth from the reveal of Stanley’s double to Tsukasa Shishio’s group capturing Dr. Xeno perfectly highlights this. This specific sequence of Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 also deserves praise for its implicit development of Senku and Dr. Xeno’s relationship, and its explicit narrative development.

On the former, it proves Senku and Xeno know each other well enough to be in a constant battle of being one step ahead of the other. On the latter, it sets up an exciting powder keg of a prisoner exchange for the first cour’s finale, which is all but guaranteed to create even more action.

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While there isn’t much character development to be had in this episode outside of that of Senku and Xeno’s relationship, there are still some subtle moments. Luna Wright easily benefits the most in that regard, getting a chance to further show her genuine love for Senku while also seeing her allies discover her defection. While these few moments are subtle, they’re far from unimportant given the role Luna and others will likely play in the first cour’s finale and beyond.

Beyond these major areas, Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11’s other areas of production prove adequate enough to not drag the installment down. Production/directorial choices and voice acting are the major ones, being serviceable outings at worst which at least don’t detract from the episode’s quality.

The episode’s overall pacing is also excellent, with both aerial and sea combat being given the perfect amount of time each.

Final thoughts

Dr. Stone season 4 episode 11 goes above and beyond fan expectations inn every way possible (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Without a doubt, season 4 episode 11 is TMS Entertainment’s latest perfect episode for the fourth season and the series overall. Although all-out action isn’t what Dr. Stone is known for, episodes like these prove that it can produce as excellent an installment with this approach as any other. With the first cour’s finale being all that remains, TMS Entertainment has definitely gotten back on the horse with truly perfect timing.