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The one scene from Dr. Stone: New World that the animators hated to do

The Dr. Stone animators aren't as stone-faced as their characters.

News by Chris Arrant, Editor-in-Chief

Additional contributions by Sam Stone

Published on Wed Nov 29 2023

For those who've read the Dr. Stone manga (or watched the anime), there's one moment in the 'New World' arc that got us all in the feels. You know the one. (SPOILERS) Where Kohaku and Ginro allow themselves to be petrified after they realize it can save a wounded Ginro.

Turns out, it was just as hard to animate as it was for us to watch. We learned that and more in our recent interview with Dr. Stone director Shuhei Matsushita, producer Shusuke Katagiri, and character designer Yuko Iwasa at Anime NYC.

“Episode 13, at the end, when Kohaku and Ginro get petrified, it was a shock to read it in the manga,” the team recalls. “When I saw it, at first I didn’t want to animate it but, of course, I had to, but it was like I had to get to this point. With Episode 13, there was a lot in it and it was difficult to edit and it took a lot of time to edit as well.”

That episode, 'The Medusa's True Face,' was a real turning point - and to date in the anime, the duo haven't been brought back from being petrified. We won't spoil what happens next, however we always recommend you read the original manga.

And we recommend you come back later this week for our full Dr. Stone interview.

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Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse's Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)