Dr. Stone Chapter 167: Different Strokes

seiryu

1.jpg Dr. Stone Chapter 167 Different Strokes Read Online! VIZ: here

magicalmelancholy

Lit chapter! (I don't remember specifics but Dr. Xeno offering to let Chrome join)

seiryu

I thought it was kinda funny how the bits of dirt and or rock were conveniently left on Tsukasa's hand despite them somewhat leisurely loafing around when the first discover the cow stable/housing. The cow being able to talk and what she said was probably the comedic highlight of the chapter for me! So we get some clarification on power levels that Tsukasa is able to take on a group of Stan's men. Even if they are the pawn level for military adults, this implies he is at least close to Stan in terms of hand to hand combat. The somewhat minor plot hole for me is if everyone except Chrome could run so fast to get to the tunnel exit, why didn't Taiju just carry Xeno with him? In the short time of the fuse being lit and Chrome getting stuck with the dangerous job, everyone else (including Suika contextually), gets to the other side. Xeno's mindset of disliking the restrictions to his weaponry development was indirectly implied, but it was nice to see his mindset. Similar to other antagonists, it will be interesting to see how Senku overcomes this. The student besting the teacher aspect will be a big complicating factor too. Even with greater strength and endurance, the drill is why Taiju is able to get to Chrome with presumably time to spare (relative to the baddies opening up their half of the cave in). This was definitely a much needed "action" chapter with character development for Xeno. Plus, it perfectly sets up whatever Inagaki has in mind for the conclusion of the war and the twist for converting Xeno back to the good side of science. MagicalMelancholy yup, that was one of the highlights for sure. What are you thinking about Xeno and his power-lust? Are you looking forward to him "returning to normal"?

magicalmelancholy

> I thought it was kinda funny how the bits of dirt and or rock were conveniently left on Tsukasa's hand despite them somewhat leisurely loafing around when the first discover the cow stable/housing. The cow being able to talk and what she said was probably the comedic highlight of the chapter for me! So we get some clarification on power levels that Tsukasa is able to take on a group of Stan's men. Even if they are the pawn level for military adults, this implies he is at least close to Stan in terms of hand to hand combat. The somewhat minor plot hole for me is if everyone except Chrome could run so fast to get to the tunnel exit, why didn't Taiju just carry Xeno with him? In the short time of the fuse being lit and Chrome getting stuck with the dangerous job, everyone else (including Suika contextually), gets to the other side. Xeno's mindset of disliking the restrictions to his weaponry development was indirectly implied, but it was nice to see his mindset. Similar to other antagonists, it will be interesting to see how Senku overcomes this. The student besting the teacher aspect will be a big complicating factor too. Even with greater strength and endurance, the drill is why Taiju is able to get to Chrome with presumably time to spare (relative to the baddies opening up their half of the cave in). This was definitely a much needed "action" chapter with character development for Xeno. Plus, it perfectly sets up whatever Inagaki has in mind for the conclusion of the war and the twist for converting Xeno back to the good side of science. MagicalMelancholy yup, that was one of the highlights for sure. What are you thinking about Xeno and his power-lust? Are you looking forward to him "returning to normal"? I wonder how he could return to normal though (think he might be a sort of prisoner).

angellucy

Noticing the first sweat on Dr. Xeno's poker face, HA, finally gaining the proper upper hand! That pop out in the cow barn : Could it be actually an experience from real life I wonder. The cow barn scene in general I mean, not the pop out Poor Suika tho, experiencing the mighty punch of a cow tail... >.< Gen threw such a nasty trick, never do that at home, the swallowing of swords might be next... I was a bit disappointed, that the capture of the whole castle was so quick, so easy. No proper fighting was shown, or any actually. Hyouga being such a strong character, yet drawn mostly in the background, letting Kohaku and Tsukasa be the main stars of the whole overthrowing. "Stars" having only one panel of "action", uuh~ Where's the thrill... But I really liked how Suika and Gen cooperated as distraction makers, nice team work! It completed the plot twist very well. The discussion of Chrome and Dr. Xeno was quite interesting. Hopefully it was the final evil speach of Dr. Xeno, can't wait what face he's gonna make, when he meets Senku. I look forward to that meeting, very much so! After hearing the reasoning (the answer) of Chrome, I was touched a lot. His character is growing visibly, I'm proud of him. After this arc, he actually might be able to "fly from the nest"... :) And the power of Senku's team has appeared! Bcs they will always win in the case of endurance and determination, that's for sure :) I could even quote Hyoga here: "See? They truly are efficient. My allies, that is."

seiryu

> I wonder how he could return to normal though (think he might be a sort of prisoner). I'm biased to think the same Tsukasa, Hyouga, Mozu, etc. "epiphany moment" occurs where they see that the easiest path to a fun/normal/exciting life is by following Senku. Xeno will be different because he has to accept an equal role as Senku and give up his teacher/mentor/higher role. It is necessary by the plot since Senku cannot create safe space travel for humans, and Xeno already has. Senku has the theories and understanding, but has never done the meticulous work (margins of error below 1mm). > Poor Suika tho, experiencing the mighty punch of a cow tail... >.< I saw Bochi exaggerating her squinting look on the next panel too...that was funny (only since someone gave her her glasses soon after). I would hope most cow farms are this way (with the cows happy). I know pig farms are infamous for not doing this in the recent past. > I was a bit disappointed, that the capture of the whole castle was so quick, so easy. No proper fighting was shown, or any actually. Hyouga being such a strong character, yet drawn mostly in the background, letting Kohaku and Tsukasa be the main stars of the whole overthrowing. "Stars" having only one panel of "action", uuh~ Where's the thrill... But I really liked how Suika and Gen cooperated as distraction makers, nice team work! It completed the plot twist very well. Ah, I think we still may get action against Stan. The key plot point is when Xeno's epiphany moment occurs (I guess for him it is his acceptance moment since he is technically above Senku in terms of science skill, but is not willing to change to think "outside the box). Stan, with his guns, is strong enough to take on the entire combat team alone. I think this is going to happen because we need to see for ourselves Stan's power level. It is being implied, but we need to see it to give context to future action. So I'm super optimistic on this part going through. Yes, he's loyal to Xeno, but he might need his own "epiphany moment" to see that this teenager in Senku is "better" than Xeno. > The discussion of Chrome and Dr. Xeno was quite interesting. Hopefully it was the final evil speach of Dr. Xeno, can't wait what face he's gonna make, when he meets Senku. I look forward to that meeting, very much so! After hearing the reasoning (the answer) of Chrome, I was touched a lot. His character is growing visibly, I'm proud of him. After this arc, he actually might be able to "fly from the nest"... :) And the power of Senku's team has appeared! Bcs they will always win in the case of endurance and determination, that's for sure :) I could even quote Hyoga here: "See? They truly are efficient. My allies, that is." Yes! This entire arc is the shift from complete Senku dependence to everyone carrying their own share of the responsibilities. Naturally Xeno will carry a huge chunk of this, but I have to think Xeno doesn't continue directly with Senku across the rest of the world (he stays as the head of America). Ah, MagicalMelancholy this last quote by Hyouga is probably the result based evidence you need. Something will change Xeno's perspective. What it is and when it happens will be key. So lots to look forward to in the next 5-10 chapters! Edit: I just realized Xeno will be a "prisoner" until his acceptance moment. So yes, you are correct that it is relatively "boring stuff" until the important events happen. But, the action with Stan will more than make up for the delay in the main plot being moved forward.

magicalmelancholy

Marco Polo

Man, Chrome vs. Xeno was a fun battle for sure. They're both big science lovers, but the key difference is in how they express that love - Chrome simply does it for the fun of it, whereas Xeno wants to force people to respect its power. A very interesting difference in philosophy there. I wonder what's going to happen next chapter?

seiryu

> Man, Chrome vs. Xeno was a fun battle for sure. They're both big science lovers, but the key difference is in how they express that love - Chrome simply does it for the fun of it, whereas Xeno wants to force people to respect its power. A very interesting difference in philosophy there. I wonder what's going to happen next chapter? Hmm..."battle" might be a great way of putting it since it starts the break down of Xeno's power/dominate through a dictatorship mindset. Stan is key. He's going to try to negate the "checkmate", so I think it is inevitable that we get the "real" action. It was a nice change of pace to have things "out of order".

angellucy

> I would hope most cow farms are this way (with the cows happy). I know pig farms are infamous for not doing this in the recent past. If only happy cows would be in all farms and enjoy their life the longest they can >.< But I believe the one in Dr. Stone is surelly the one with a lot of food and nice enviroment, soothing the readers a bit at least. > Stan, with his guns, is strong enough to take on the entire combat team alone. I think this is going to happen because we need to see for ourselves Stan's power level. It is being implied, but we need to see it to give context to future action. So I'm super optimistic on this part going through. Yes, he's loyal to Xeno, but he might need his own "epiphany moment" to see that this teenager in Senku is "better" than Xeno. That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed I wonder if Xeno is really so heartless or if he actually might waver in the deciding moment, and bcs of that it will end with Senku's win. Or Senku will have some "joker", bcs his thinking is quite fresh, always trying and exploring new things. Perhaps the fact, that Xeno himself stated in the past the patrification of the birds was noticed by a highschooler (Senku) and not him, might be the lead in the future developement <3 > I think Xeno doesn't continue directly with Senku across the rest of the world (he stays as the head of America). I think so too. Will see how will the situation develop

seiryu

> If only happy cows would be in all farms and enjoy their life the longest they can >.< But I believe the one in Dr. Stone is surelly the one with a lot of food and nice enviroment, soothing the readers a bit at least. We haven't seen too many animals, but I think Bochi is similar to Oda where he is better at drawing animals than humans! It is hard to show variety of emotions on animals without deviating from their true anatomy. These cows had happy faces despite being confined (which implies there is an entrance/exit for them to go through and probably with freedom). So hopefully we get to see more of them and other happy farms (masses of chickens would fit too) once all the action settles. > That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed I wonder if Xeno is really so heartless or if he actually might waver in the deciding moment, and bcs of that it will end with Senku's win. Or Senku will have some "joker", bcs his thinking is quite fresh, always trying and exploring new things. Perhaps the fact, that Xeno himself stated in the past the patrification of the birds was noticed by a highschooler (Senku) and not him, might be the lead in the future developement <3 To continue our long discussion...c'mon, have more faith in the Ingaki and Bochi team! The plot falls apart if at least some aspect of "resistance" by both Stan and Xeno are not addressed. Stan doesn't seem the type to just give up. He knows he has a huge advantage in skill, physical capabilities, and most importantly weaponry. Despite Senku's "checkmate", Stan knows it isn't a checkmate because Senku is not willing to kill. Ahh...Inagaki wrote the breadcrumbs into the plot already! I do think the "joker" aspect will be necessary. Xeno is not accepting Senku as being the superior scientist. Xeno is and will continue to be the better scientist for space travel development. Senku has to prove to Xeno the whole concept that "Stone world progress comes from thinking outside the box". The dogfight conversation is the breadcrumb for Xeno's epiphany point. They both are far from accepting "defeat". The war ends when both accept defeat. So this is great hype by the manga team (I think I'm going to use this from now on because I think Inagaki trusts Bochi enough to work together as rough equals now) to proclaim a "checkmate" when it is still only the first "check" by Senku.> I think so too. Will see how will the situation develop Yup, sooooo much to look forward to both for this arc and the rest of the arcs leading up to space travel!

angellucy

> That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed I wonder if Xeno is really so heartless or if he actually might waver in the deciding moment, and bcs of that it will end with Senku's win. Or Senku will have some "joker", bcs his thinking is quite fresh, always trying and exploring new things. Perhaps the fact, that Xeno himself stated in the past the patrification of the birds was noticed by a highschooler (Senku) and not him, might be the lead in the future developement <3 To continue our long discussion...c'mon, have more faith in the Ingaki and Bochi team! The plot falls apart if at least some aspect of "resistance" by both Stan and Xeno are not addressed. Stan doesn't seem the type to just give up. He knows he has a huge advantage in skill, physical capabilities, and most importantly weaponry. Despite Senku's "checkmate", Stan knows it isn't a checkmate because Senku is not willing to kill. Ahh...Inagaki wrote the breadcrumbs into the plot already! I do think the "joker" aspect will be necessary. Xeno is not accepting Senku as being the superior scientist. Xeno is and will continue to be the better scientist for space travel development. Senku has to prove to Xeno the whole concept that "Stone world progress comes from thinking outside the box". The dogfight conversation is the breadcrumb for Xeno's epiphany point. They both are far from accepting "defeat". The war ends whe.n both accept defeat. So this is great hype by the manga team (I think I'm going to use this from now on because I think Inagaki trusts Bochi enough to work together as rough equals now) to proclaim a "checkmate" when it is still only the first "check" by Senku. You don't understand, again. I said nothing about no complications and no mighty fights, even nothing about fast acceptance of the defeat (by the antagonists), only musing about Xeno's developement in reasoning, kind of rhetorical questions of mine. I even agreed that those fights will be the peaks of this arc! But I won't expect any way of how those fights will be shown for sure in the manga, bcs I wanna be surprised and not disappointed, that was what I was talking about. And if I get to the next-to-last paragraph - the possibility of the travel to the moon thanks to the cooperation of Senku and Xeno - I even mentioned that idea first in our long discussions, so, yeah, I see the breadcrumbs. BTW: How is it not "joker", if Senku might actually make Xeno waver in his believes I wonder. It doesn't have to be an invention, just an idea might be enough to convince Xeno about new possibilities, doesn't necessary mean automatically accepting defeat tho, I was just musing, not stating how it is! I don't use the word "might" only for fun. Tho I personally consider a tie as some form of a win too, as long as Senku won't have to serve or die, isn't it quite a happy outcome? :)

seiryu

> or I might be disappointed the next time angellucy How else am I supposed to read/interpret this? The fact that you question that it is even a possibility is my point. I don't expect Oda to go through with B.S. ever again. By my definition, B.S. content is anything that causes huge plot holes and deviates from the established direction of the plot. So if the Dr. Stone team suddenly decided to kill of Xeno, this would be complete B.S. to me because Xeno is absolutely required to build the spaceships with the correct margin of errors (there has to be precision in fractions of a millimeter). I am fully understanding based on what is being presented, so if you do not question, then that's the whole point of discussions to bridge the perspective differences. You are implying "questioning" of the manga team that I think is unnecessary. Over the 4ish years of manga content, there are no plot holes. The only discrepancy is suddenly changing people's power levels (which is cleaned up by training scenes). Dr. Stone has zero plot holes, so expecting plot holes is a contradiction to me. There are incomplete and unknown aspects for sure, but the literary perfection is there. Yes, it's only one comment, but it reflects expecting less that literary perfection from a team that is already doing it constantly for a long time. I cannot work 4 years straight without making a mistake. They are already in the realm of exceeding the vast majority of people's level of excellence (already in the 97+ percentile of the bell curve). And this is why I say you are unconsciously underrating Dr. Stone. It is impossible for the manga team to not connect the breadcrumbs for Xeno and by associated Stan as well. If we were to do a VCCash bet, you wouldn't take it because you already know it is the most likely scenario to happen. If you consciously know it is almost guaranteed to happen, there is no need to question it. Yes, it's a natural part of human nature, but my whole point is to have higher expectations for the series all the time. It is going to continue to exceed even this. Reading more into your response, I think you think I'm questioning your analysis of the content (which I am not FYI). I am only questioning why you question/unconsciously EXPECT to be disappointed. Absolutely nothing else. Again, I can only operate on the response you post. It is only a small comment, but it implies huge things. It may be something purely unconscious. Maybe you always expect/prepare for the worse (which is a great life skill FYI). Exceptions have to be made. And especially if it is for something that is going to be 99.999+% positive. I round that up to 100%. We disagree on this, but I am questioning why the 0.001% is such a big deal. Having over 5% error rates is already acceptable for human performance. I don't see why people do not celebrate achieving something super human. Four years of work without a single mistake is something none of us can claim. I'd bet all my VCCash on it. Not appreciating the super human excellence is my overall big picture point. Dr. Stone is already better than what your unconscious comment implies. > BTW: How is it not "joker", if Senku might actually make Xeno waver in his believes I wonder. It doesn't have to be an invention, just an idea might be enough to convince Xeno about new possibilities, doesn't necessary mean automatically accepting defeat tho, I was just musing, not stating how it is! I don't use the word "might" only for fun. Tho I personally consider a tie as some form of a win too, as long as Senku won't have to serve or die, isn't it quite a happy outcome? :) Wait...I 100% agree with the "joker" usage. I posted: > I do think the "joker" aspect will be necessary. Just because I nitpick at one tiny unconscious comment doesn't mean I disagree with everything...FYI I know this is part of "ripping posts" apart so I'm already 100% used to it (people perceive and "attack" when none exists). I take the time to bridge the gaps though. I am only disagreeing with the implied unconscious underrating of Dr. Stone. I am like a mirror though. If someone responds with negativity, and keeps it up, I will respond with a bigger counter. So reading your response here and going back to the initial usage of "joker", I am reading that we 100% agree already.

angellucy

seiryu If we agree already, why discuss it then I read it repeatedly the other way around, now I see it XD You're returning to literary perfection, but I wasn't talking about it at all. I wasn't talking about anything specific actually. Only generaly saying that I don't expect anything, so that I could be nicely surprised, when some situation happens. And in the case the twist or some specific characteristic of the story won't happen, I won't be dissapointed, bcs I didn't expect anything. Not having expectations, doesn't mean I underrate it at all. I don't expect anything in all series I watch, so that I could enjoy it more, when the time comes. And yes, you did "attack". Kinda reprimanded me, tho you mentioned things I wasn't even writing about.

seiryu

angellucy

> If we agree already, why discuss it then To clarify and bridge the gap. K, maybe I have to do this without saying literary perfection. Do you expect Inagaki and Bochi to let the plot go to crap and have major plot holes? I think it is that simple. If you do not expect this, then there is no reason to pose the questioning comment to me. Based on how it reads to me, you are contradicting yourself. It reads like "I really enjoy the series AND can see how everything gets connected, but I still expect them to mess up and make everything disconnected". You do not state this, but the direct questioning implies that you expect things to go downhill. You even stated this directly with Xeno and Stan not being handled correctly. Hopefully this bridges the gap better. You asume things, tho I didn't say them. Why do you think that I expect the story to be messed up and disconnected only? I simply state, if some details weren't connected yet, how can I say it's literary perfect, when it wasn't done yet (the connetions of the crumbs))? The author may make a mistake and make the plot hole, doesn't mean he will, doesn't mean he won't. We are still practically getting introduced to the possibilities Dr. Stone posses in the matter of the story developement, we're "at the first parts" of the whole story. The breadcrumbs are prepeared to be joined together in the future (some already did) - that is the potential of literary perfection I see in Dr. Stone and I have no problem with it, even tho it may seem so to you? So the series has the potential, yes, but saying literary perfect... will wait when it gets much farther in the plot to confim it. That was what I was trying to say. The future is unpredictable and I won't state sth, that wasn't confirmed fully. That's why I postponed the decision. That's it, I make it more simple, I might be a bit confusing in my previous and following reasoning, but I decided to write a clear line. I can't say sth is literary perfect, if it's not finnished. I realized this fact after our discussions now and I will follow it from now on. So from now on, the continued series that seem literary perfect has the potential of being so, and the finished ones are literary perfect after being analysed through and through and meet the conditions in the end. Hopefully I got through somehow :) > And yes, you did "attack". Kinda reprimanded me, tho you mentioned things I wasn't even writing about. Please quote where you felt this. Pointing out the truth is not an "attack". "Ripping posts apart" make people feel attacked and I am fully aware of that. For whatever parts I have gotten feedback on, this has been the case. You haven't triggered by Trump pet peeve, so I'm very confident on this. Communication on potential "trigger words" (see literary perfection), is something that helps me be able to discuss without triggering attacks. You being able to see my perspective is essentially what I'm doing with bridging the gap. Being able to see both sides of a story is always universally useful/beneficial. Ok, here is an example.. You wrote.. > Stan, with his guns, is strong enough to take on the entire combat team alone. I think this is going to happen because we need to see for ourselves Stan's power level. It is being implied, but we need to see it to give context to future action. So I'm super optimistic on this part going through. Yes, he's loyal to Xeno, but he might need his own "epiphany moment" to see that this teenager in Senku is "better" than Xeno. Me.. > That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed I wonder if Xeno is really so heartless or if he actually might waver in the deciding moment, and bcs of that it will end with Senku's win. When I wrote not expecting anything so that I could get more surprised, it was to your last sentence of "epiphany moment". Meaning, me not imaging any details to get surprised more effectively later. In my later sentence I agreed the fight will be there (Stan vs. Senku's team), even pointed out how epic it will be, bcs I considered it to be sort of a peak of this arc in a way. > To continue our long discussion...c'mon, have more faith in the Ingaki and Bochi team! The plot falls apart if at least some aspect of "resistance" by both Stan and Xeno are not addressed. Stan doesn't seem the type to just give up. He knows he has a huge advantage in skill, physical capabilities, and most importantly weaponry. Despite Senku's "checkmate", Stan knows it isn't a checkmate because Senku is not willing to kill. Ahh...Inagaki wrote the breadcrumbs into the plot already! They both are far from accepting "defeat". The war ends when both accept defeat. So this is great hype by the manga team to proclaim a "checkmate" when it is still only the first "check" by Senku. > I said nothing about no complications and no mighty fights, even nothing about fast acceptance of the defeat (by the antagonists), only musing about Xeno's developement in reasoning *, kind of rhetorical questions of mine. I even agreed that those fights will be the peaks of this arc! But I won't expect any way of how those fights will be shown for sure in the manga, bcs I wanna be surprised and not disappointed, that was what I was talking about. What is underlined was you reprimanding me, when I was actually agreeing with you What is red is roughly when we didn't understand each other. The timing of the posts is not right, bcs I use ctrl c ctrl v often. *I was getting a bit side tracked with my musing about Xeno, I think I was referencing to our much older discussions, not particulary this one. It might be just an accidental thought of mine too

seiryu

> or I might be disappointed the next time > That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. Is the full context. I'm also going to through in the tag for the extra notification, which I did the first time I brought this up: angellucy. It reads like "I still at least partially expect the plot to get disconnected/lose believability" (=> i.e. lose levels of literary perfection per my bias/word choice) to me at the positive end of the spectrum. I still read it as "I still expect the plot to go to low levels of connectivity and believability" with the caveat of "to some extent only". The reason for this is that we already agreed that the Xeno and Stan epiphany moments were key to this arc, if not the remainder of the series. Yes, It's only one comment. If you don't think the plot will become disconnected, why question? Why think you are going to be disappointed? I think you are underrating Dr. Stone, because of this exact chain of thoughts. I can only go off of what I read, and this quote contradicts other stuff I'm reading. > You asume things, tho I didn't say them...Hopefully I got through somehow :) Please let me know if I'm just completely misreading something per the above. I don't know if previous quotes generates the notification, so I'm going to give the benefit of believing it doesn't. I 100% understand of waiting to see if Dr. Stone truly meets "literary perfection" to your current definition. I am driven by what reads like extremely low expectations to me. I read that you agreed that connecting breadcrumbs does increase enjoyment. You might not agree on "universality", but I am reading that we agree on the concepts. It's late, so I'm going to get back to the rest of the post tomorrow if work isn't too busy...looks like it might be though...

angellucy

seiryu Nice, we understand each other now in most of the stuff. Cool, thanks for your patience :) The only thing you're persuaded about from one of my sentences is that I still expect the story will create some plot hole in the future or the story in general won't be that great. The sentence was... "That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed..." I often tend to reply to the last sentence of the post I mention first. With this orange sentence of mine I was replying to your sentence and that was... "Yes, he's loyal to Xeno, but he might need his own "epiphany moment" to see that this teenager in Senku is "better" than Xeno." I found the idea (Stan being amazed by teenager Senku's ability, which may be better than Xeno's) quite cool, but decided to stop expecting that it will happen to get more surprised when it actually happens, as if I didn't know about the idea at all. Maybe I should get a bit more specific. For example when we were talking about the ending of Senku vs. Tsukasa arc in the manga thread, I mentioned I was very hyped at the start (when each side was measuring each other for quite some time before the actual "war" happened), but the ending of the fight turned out to be a bit hasty, which disappointed me. I expected the first "great war" of the series to be a bit longer, especially the fighting of Senku's team vs. Tsukasa and Hyouga, the strongest threats of that time, but it was a bit too fast paced, maybe the number of struggles was too few or rather most of them were easily resolved? The great threat turned to be more of a piece of cake, rather than hard struggle maybe? Don't know, just had that feeling that time. The whole reason why I write about this is, I expected sth (some breadcrumbs indicated, it's gonna be big, sth to be excited about, so I made expectations accordingly), but it turned out to be more simple than the expectations I got indicated, which resulted in a small disappointment. I think I said my reasoning somewhere already - "I won't expect" (neutralize my expectations) doesn't equal that the series is not worth of expectations. Not to me, not at all. It's actually a general rule of mine, so that I get surprised in a nice way during my watch/read - not expecting => getting surprised more easily => have more fun. I'm trying to say that I have no expectations during the series (in any actually) so that I get more excited when I watch/read it. I have no expectations, not low, but none. But that is only bcs I want to be surprised in a good way in the future, rather than get disappointed instead, not seeing sth I expected to be shown (Ofc ppl tend to have expectations, me too, but I try to not to, bcs of the reason I said a few times already). Is it somehow clearer now?

seiryu

> "That sounds cool, I will neutralize my expectations tho, so that I'll get surprised, or I might be disappointed the next time, if sth wouldn't be shown. But you pointing out the battle Xeno vs. Senku and Senku's team vs. Stan, those might be the peaks of this story arc indeed..." I often tend to reply to the last sentence of the post I mention first. With this orange sentence of mine I was replying to your sentence and that was... "Yes, he's loyal to Xeno, but he might need his own "epiphany moment" to see that this teenager in Senku is "better" than Xeno." Nice, that's all I needed to hear since it clarifies why the contradiction I read everywhere else. A negative of always looking for literary perfection is that I hyperanalyze everything. Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's bad. > but it was a bit too fast paced, maybe the number of struggles was too few or rather most of them were easily resolved? The great threat turned to be more of a piece of cake, rather than hard struggle maybe? I can 100% understand it being "too fast of a pace" relative to the hype and build up. I think the key context is that Senku is a below average human in terms of physical capabilities. Senku not immediately dying against Tsukasa and Hyouga is a huge win (even by Senku's words in the Hyouga fight when he has to carry part of the combat burden with Tsukasa injured). To me, I see Senku simply surviving equally as surprising/impactful/fulfilling as Senku surviving Stan's sniper shot. Senku is completely outmatched physically/physics-wise. A huge simplification of Dr. Stone is that everyone has a very specific "role" for their plot and personality. No one will ever deviate from the personality side. Senku deviating and doing the opposite (being a part of the "combat team" temporarily) is a huge deal. Senku can't take on a lion bare handed. Context implies Hyouga can. I'm also biased to like the Dr. Stone "action" because it is more realistic from a martial arts stand point. All it takes is the one opening to capitalize on. It is more enjoyable when it is something like a back and forth chess match (the fight against the pervy old-man in Treasure Island => Ibara? I think? or the poker match).> not expecting => getting surprised more easily => have more fun. I'm trying to say that I have no expectations during the series (in any actually) so that I get more excited when I watch/read it. I have no expectations, not low, but none. I can 100% on the mindset because I do the exact same things for movies. And this is where I think you instinctually have higher expectations once you become a loyal fan (and it's all relative because you rate One Piece quite highly from my understanding but still choose to not follow it more thoroughly discussion-wise at least). But yes, I definitely got the answer I needed above, so all good from my side!

angellucy

> but it was a bit too fast paced, maybe the number of struggles was too few or rather most of them were easily resolved? The great threat turned to be more of a piece of cake, rather than hard struggle maybe? A huge simplification of Dr. Stone is that everyone has a very specific "role" for their plot and personality. No one will ever deviate from the personality side. Senku deviating and doing the opposite (being a part of the "combat team" temporarily) is a huge deal. Senku can't take on a lion bare handed. Context implies Hyouga can. I like it, when there are character's deviations from time to time, it turns the developement more exciting and unpredictable Main chars having their own role isn't that bad, in a way, we can enjoy the situations, they're good at, thinking how cool and dependable they are, but sometimes I realize, we have very little knowledge about their family background, bcs of that simplification. We don't know anything about parents of Suika, Chrome or of any char actually (Ruri and Kuroha are the exceptions), even tho they are quite young to be already so independent themselves. It turns the characters a bit generic, but on the other hand it's understandable, bcs the main point of the series is to evolve to the previous days, so any "side trips" would probably slow it down and the story might have loose its exiting fast pacing filled with frequent twists. It has pros and cons. > I'm also biased to like the Dr. Stone "action" because it is more realistic from a martial arts stand point. All it takes is the one opening to capitalize on. It is more enjoyable when it is something like a back and forth chess match (the fight against the pervy old-man in Treasure Island => Ibara? I think? or the poker match). It was Ibara indeed :) If it's the fight of wits only, I love it too, bcs the strength of those fights is measured mostly by the number of predictions of various possibilities, turning the story to be fresh, complex, interesting. That's why the Ibara x Senku fight was so thrilling and I didn't mind they did it with wits only at all, new move vs. newer one, step by step surprising each other, that was very nice. The comparison with the chess is nicely said, it was very similar to the Senku/Ibara case. I will borrow this comparison a bit and talk about some kind of an obsevation of mine. The whole arc's developements (simplified a bit) might be generalized as the chess game too, showing many interesting moves from both sides, but at the same time, bcs of the fast pacing, stealing the spot light of many characters bcs little developement details are shown. If I'd look at the whole story arcs developements as if they were just games played on chess boards, it turns many main characters into simple chess pieces and like this those characters tend to have a very little of their own moments, their importance degrading only to their simple characteristics of "the role" they were assigned with and nth deeper. That may influence their popularity too, bcs they just turn into sth minor, with side appearences. They are important in a great plan (strong will fight strong, spies will gain infos etc.), but not as the individual (showing their own funny weaknesses/trolling in peaceful times, talk more often about any of their past/past mistakes, combine the characteristics of each "role" and try to create interesting clashes - discussion/fight clashes among chars, and so on - I yearn for more relatable situations). Bcs of that, the number of favourite/memorable scenes for fans may decrease in a way. The fights of the powerhouses may be an example, their fights are often cut off as sth done already or in progress, but shown only briefly with little details of the actual developement or any inner thougts of the chars. Fans may loose many possibly favourite moments this way, bcs they weren't even shown at the expense of the story fast pacing. The story may show some of "my" mentioned moments, but they are very brief or they are only part of the great developement of the mains of the main chars (Senku, Chrome, the current antagonists etc.). It saddens me. It shortens the number of possible favourite characters too. But that is just another of my musings, I'm not complaining or trying to degrade the series in any way, just musing. I hope it's still considered to be related to this chapter, it is slightly shown there too ... > not expecting => getting surprised more easily => have more fun. I'm trying to say that I have no expectations during the series (in any actually) so that I get more excited when I watch/read it. I have no expectations, not low, but none. I can 100% on the mindset because I do the exact same things for movies. And this is where I think you instinctually have higher expectations once you become a loyal fan (and it's all relative because you rate One Piece quite highly from my understanding but still choose to not follow it more thoroughly discussion-wise at least). When I love something, I don't want it to change. Maybe that's why I'm deaf to any One Piece discussions But it's more bcs I'm not up to date, so I'm rather wary of spoilers. In the case of Dr. Stone, I personaly love talking about it, bcs I watched it and read all of it at the same time, which is probably the first for me. I have never "analyzed" sth so thoroughly before, but I'm glad I do so. Bcs of various reasons :) It deepens my interest and I accept it as the whole, with all pros and cons.