'Dr. Stone' Returns for a Third Season — Get Caught up on Season 2, 'Stone Wars'

Spoiler alert! This article contains plot details for Dr. Stone.

As the Spring 2023 anime season kicks off, there aren't just new anime pilots to look forward to. April 2023 marks the return of several popular and fan-favorite anime. One of them is Dr. Stone, adapted from the award-winning Shōnen Jump manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Boichi. Season 1 of the anime premiered back in 2019 with Season 2 following two years later in 2021.

In Dr. Stone, a strange phenomenon befalls humanity that turns all humans into stone.

3,700 years later after nature reclaims the land, a young man named Senku Ishigami emerges from his petrified state under mysterious circumstances. Using his vast intellect and encyclopedic knowledge of science, Senku seeks to survive in what he calls the "Stone World," and attempts to develop ways to restore the world and all of the petrified humans to their former state.

With Season 3 on the horizon, get caught up on Season 2, dubbed Dr. Stone: Stone Wars.

When last we left Senku in Season 1, he made himself at home among a tribe of humans who descended from survivors of the initial petrification incident, albeit without knowledge of science or technology. Senku even developed a nitric acid compound that he uses to restore petrified humans to life. He teaches the tribe, particularly a gifted boy named Chrome, all he knows about science in an attempt to fast-track their way to modern tools in their fight against the mighty Tsukasa Shishio.

As a refresher, Tsukasa is an absurdly powerful martial artist who seeks to create a new world using Senku's revival fluid, a world where he only restores those he finds pure and destroys those he deems wicked. He finds himself at odds with Senku, who simply seeks to restore every petrified human in existence.

Season 1 follows the Kingdom of Science and Tsukasa's Empire as they both restore especially-talented humans and recruit them in their impending war. In Season 2, the battle officially kicks off.

Senku slowly but surely develops resources with his kingdom to build rudimentary weapons and tools, including a phone that he uses to secretly contact Taiju and Yuzuriha, his moles in the Tsukasa Empire, to learn more about their plans.

Using a combination of espionage, crude but serviceable technology, and the genuine promise of humanity's salvation, Senku is able to recruit plenty of Tsukasa's troops to his side throughout each battle and scientific advancement that they make.

As the battle nears its climax, Senku eventually learns from Tsukasa that he is attempting to create a perfect world for his little sister, Mirai. Tsukasa agrees to a truce in exchange for Senku using his revival fluid to revive his sister. The two of them even team up to defeat Hyoga, another powerful warrior revived from the old world who wished to create a world where only the strong survive. However, Tsukasa is gravely injured in the process.

The Stone Wars end with the Kingdom of Science victorious, but Senku resolves to keep Tsukasa on ice until he can develop a method to petrify and de-petrify him in order to restore his body and heal his injuries. To that end, Senku resolves to construct a nautical vessel to sail the Stone World in search of more resources.

In a canon special that premiered in July 2022, Senku revives Ryusui Nanami, a prodigal sailor who is made captain of their ship.

Senku's adventure to restore humanity continues in Season 3. Dr. Stone: New World begins streaming on Crunchyroll on Apr. 6.