Shonen manga, especially battle Shonen, usually involve characters who want to get stronger in what they do compared to others. Whether it is martial arts, sports, or even in the field of acting (like the case of Oshi No Ko), the main characters strive to get better at something while aiming to beat their competition. And that’s usually the approach Shonen mangaka have adopted since “working hard to achieve one’s goals and become the best” seems like a good message to their readers.
However, the problem with modern material is that the main characters are already equipped with plot armor and they are written in such a way that they will achieve their goals, no matter what. This is the case, especially for those in the Isekai genre. The MCs are already overpowered and fans merely read about their escapades, basically just annihilating their competition. The mangaka of Dr. Stone saw this trend and wanted to change that.
Dr. Stone‘s creator made his work while addressing a key problem in modern media
During an interview with ANN, Riichirō Inagaki, the writer, and Boichi, the artist of Dr. Stone, gave fans an inside look at how they came up in the manga industry. According to Inagaki-sensei, the material generated nowadays has characters have superpowers in such a way that they can do everything. But he wanted to make Dr. Stone in a way that reflects reality and write the main character, Senku Ishigami, as a normal boy deeply interested in science.
In today’s entertainment landscape there’s a lot of Supermans and superheroes, and they can do everything. But, in reality most people are not like that. I thought about the average person. For the average person to accomplish something, you need to keep working and build up towards whatever your goal is. I think that’s cool, and wanted to write about that.
He added:
I started wondering, “what’s a cool way to portray that average person working hard for their goal?” To amplify that idea of not being able to do anything was the idea of petrification; when you’re petrified, you can’t do anything. But you can count in that situation. That’s what the main character, Senku does. He embodies the idea of working diligently by counting for a couple thousand years.
As a kid, Inagaki was intrigued by the sciences and even thought he would become a scientist himself. But while Dr. Stone is filled with science facts, his intentions in making it are purely for entertainment.
Maybe some other manga artists might be angry at me for that answer, but for me, as long as it’s entertaining and fun, that’s what I’m always aiming for.
In Dr. Stone itself, Senku Ishigami might already be very intelligent, but he admits of making basic mistakes or doesn’t get to egotistical about it. At one point in time, Senku had overlooked the Earth’s precession and made a mistake before when Kohaku pointed out that the north star did not align with the north. He never belittles those who are less knowledgeable than him. However, he does have a habit of diving into complicated explanations in an attempt to teach others.
Sure, he may act boastfully from the outside, but beneath all that lies a genuinely selfless and kind heart. During their decisive battle, Tsukasa notes that despite Senku’s apparent cold rationale, his greatest weakness is his inability to abandon his friends, having witnessed his kindness firsthand with Yuzuriha taken hostage.
Dr. Stone‘s creators answer on when the manga will end
During the same interview in 2019, both Inagaki and Boichi were asked if they had any idea how long Dr. Stone would run. For this, Inakagi-sensei said that both of them only have a rough idea of how the story will end itself but as they’ve gone along this journey, they realized that they weren’t able to clearly estimate how long or short a specific arc would be.
However, he had mentioned a specific number and doesn’t want the manga to run as long as that, even for the sake of business.
One thing I can tell you is that in my head, I’m hoping three years and that’s not to be greedy, but I definitely want to see it to the end. What I can definitely promise is that I would never stretch it out just for the sake of business. But I will definitely see it to the end.
On the other hand, Boichi-sensei wanted Dr. Stone to run as long as possible and he hoped that Inagaki-sensei would be forced to continue unless he was feeling too pressurized.
For me, I’d love to have Dr. Stone just run as long as possible. So I want the editing department of Shonen Jump to keep pressuring Inagaki-sensei so he will continue. But if Inagaki-sensei hates the pressure and so he decides to kill Kohaku, then probably quit, too. [Laughs]
This interview took place in 2019 and since the manga began in 2017 and ended in 2022, it’s safe to say that Inakagi-sensei was bang on the money with his prediction. Now fans are awaiting whether One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda will stick to his words as well.
Dr. Stone is now available to watch on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
