Dr. STONE Vol. 15by Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 9 For the expected final battle between the Kingdom of Science and the Petrification Kingdom, the strongest members of the Science side are woken up -- but will they be enough to face off against Moz and bring down the enemy weapon (especially when some members have their own ambitions)? Or will Senku have to use a weapon of last resort?Art-wise, the depiction of the female characters isn't too over-the-top this volume -- a little weirdness with one character's breasts, but not an overabundance of crotch-shots (save for an interstitial or two), and we get some nicely risqué external obliques on a couple of male characters, so it comes out even. There's not a lot of new science in this one, so much as some refinements of stuff already in play, and one of the instances is a little vague in the application. Even so, I'm engaged enough with the story and character development that I don't mind the absence of major advances. I am still annoyed at the inconsistencies about the petrification ray, though -- they say that a character can't be revived because they're too eroded, despite then having spent far less time petrified than the people who were petrified when Senku was (like, by thousands of years!), and despite having been kept indoors! It's later said that some integral bits are missing -- and that those pieces were taken by a villain. But I guess the talk of erosion is to make it clear that, even if they got the pieces back, they couldn't help the person. But erosion suggests a natural process - it would make more sense to say that things were purposefully sanded by a human hand. Otherwise, as far as the plot goes, there are some good twists / moments of great uncertainty that throw things off the rails (in the best way for us, if not for the characters), making for some intense moments -- especially the end, which is a hell of a cliff-hanger, and includes a wonderfully poignant moment! (And let me just say how much I love that the Petrification ray has been dubbed the "Medusa", while the ship of the Kingdom of Science kingdom is called the "Perseus"!) I'm so happy to see Kinro again! I'm glad we at least got moment focused on his emotional reaction to the news of what's happened to Ginro, but I still really would have loved a bit more there. Maybe next volume? Meanwhile, I'm proud of Kinro's resolve, but I also hope it proves unnecessary! Unfortunately, a character I don't like is also revived. I appreciate that this character adds drama, but every moment the character was on the page was a chore to get through, even with one of my faves also being there. A character that's hard to like has some nice little moments, but also spoils one of them, making it hard to feel bad about what happens to them, and kind of wishing it had happened sooner. And yet, I do feel a tiny bit bad for them at the same time, if only because I want the person who did it too them gone even more, and it was kinda sad how things played out, hope being snatched away so quickly. I find myself surprised to be happy about the return of another character! There was even a moment, with the expression on this character's face, that made me go all soft, despite having been glad when the character had been taken off the canvas before. I certainly wouldn't mind a redemption arc for this person! Written: April 3, 2021
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