Summary
Season 3 ofDr. Stonecontinued its adaptation of the manga’s “Source of the Petrification Saga", following on from theDr. Stone: Ryusuispecial, where Senku and company had to revive and then placate the top sailor, Ryusui Nanami, before they could set sail for their next venture, where they may find out more than they bargained for if the manga’s “Truth of the Petrification Saga” arc is anything to go by.
The series has come a long way since the scientific genius Senku started using his wits to rebuild humanity after it was left petrified for 3,700 years. It caught on because its hero fought with his brain, and aided humanity with a scientific approach rather than his fists. But there are similar anime that focus on science and survival, and these arethe best anime likeDr. Stone.
Updated May 19, 2025 by David Heath:Things have been quiet on the Dr. Stone front in the past year, as fans wondered when the manga’s last saga would get adapted to animation. Their wait is now over, as the trailer for Dr. Stone: Science Future hit the internet. It’ll be the anime’s final season, as Senku’s crew finishes sailing across the sea, featuring new characters in Dr. Xeno and his sniper, Stanley Snyder.
The first of three cours will hit schedules and streaming platforms in January 2025, kicking off the new year in style. Still, as of this writing, it’s two months away. Fans will still have to keep themselves busy during that time and find stuff to watch during those cour breaks as well. So, this list has been updated with a few more series that resemble Dr. Stone in its premise, content, themes, or more.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slimeis about a modern-day man called Satoru getting reincarnated in a fantasy world as aDragon Quest-like slime creature called Rimuru.Dr. Stoneis about humanity essentially starting from scratch after being petrified for millennia. While an isekai that focuses heavily on magic and fantasy might sound incompatible withDr. Stone’s science-driven narrative, these shows are a good match for each other.
Like Senku, Rimuru seeks to help the fantasy world move with the times. After freeing the dragon Veldora, the two work together to form their new nation of Tempest, developing technology no other country in the world could match. They’re willing to share by allying with these other nations, but some would rather crush Tempest where it stands. As magical as the show is, it’s a good fantasy option forDr. Stonefans.
Dr. Stone’s sci-fi survival premise isn’t just limited to shōnen and seinen strips.7SEEDSmade its debut in the shojo manga magazineBessatsu Shojo Comicbefore making the leap to the josei magazineFlowersa year into its run. This suggests its premise of 5 groups of 7 people being put into cryogenic preservation to help humanity survive a meteorite crash soon got too mature for young girls and shifted to a magazine for young women instead.
The anime focuses on the groups waking up years after the meteorite’s impact. No one knows how long, but it’s been long enough for Japan’s islands to experience entirely new seasons, and for entirely new forms of life to evolve. The 5 groups not only have to learn how to survive against new threats but learn to survive with each other too, which is easier said than done. It’s a comparatively more serious and realistic take that contrasts neatly withDr. Stone.
Dr. Stonesees humanity get turned to stone, and then they break free and try to figure out how that happened retrospectively. WhileBlast of Tempestsees them almost turned into iron statues in media res. But that’s getting ahead of the show’s premise. Hakaze, the exiled witch of the Kusaribe Clan, implores Mahiro to stop her clan from reviving the Tree of Exodus. In exchange, she has to help him find who killed his sister Aika and their parents.
The Tree and its fruit are capable of inducing Black Iron Syndrome, which gradually turns humans into iron, and leads to two cities going under quarantine. But stopping this isn’t as simple as ‘destroy the tree’ or ‘stop the Kusaribe clan’. Aika is more involved in the plot than Mahiro knows, as is his longtime friend Yoshino. Hakaze isn’t all she says she is either. It makes for a compelling mystery that forms the heart of a compelling show.
On the face of it,No Game, No Lifeisn’t 1:1 exactly likeDr. Stone.It’s about two shut-in step-siblings, Shiro and Sora, who get isekai’d from Earth to the world of Disboard by its god Tet. It’s up to them to save the last remaining human kingdom of Imanity from the fifteen other magical races, and the only way to do that is through playing games.
Though it opts for games and probability rather than science, the premise is similar toDr. Stoneas the lead (or leads in this case) save the day through smarts more than brawn. Everything in Disboard is decided by games, and both Shiro and Sora are the best players around. Just as humanity has hope in Senku inDr. Stone,Shiro & Sora provide the same for Imanity, even when they meet their matches.
While it’s not strictly mentioned inFood Wars, there is a science to cooking. Making the perfect dish is akin to chemistry, requiring careful measurements, experimentation, and knowing how elements connect, clash, blend, or repel each other. But the similarities betweenFood WarsandDr. Stonelie in their leads’ passion for (and the shonen-ification of) their unlikely fields.
To succeed his father as head of the family restaurant, Sōma must test his cooking skills at the Tōtsuki Culinary Academy via their shokugeki cook-offs. The winner gains acclaim and all sorts of prizes, while the loser risks expulsion. Sōma is as keen on cooking as Senku is about science, with both shows having an educational streak, asFood Warsuses real recipes and depicts the food as closely as possible to the real, finished dishes.
Appare-Ranmangoes back to science and has a genius as its lead. But humanity isn’t on the brink this time. Only the dreams of Appare Sorrano, a gifted engineer in late 19th century Japan. He wants to go across the sea, through the sky, and to the moon, with only his chaperone, Kosame Ishikki, bringing him back down to Earth. His ambitions get them stuck in the middle of the ocean, then shipped over to Los Angeles.
With nothing left to lose, the two enter the Trans-America Wild Race, where they could potentially win a cash prize big enough to get them home. Provided Appare’s newly built automobile can hold up against the other racers. It plays out like a mixture ofJojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, with the 19th-century setting and a transcontinental race across the States, withDr. Stone’s science and adventure, with a whimsy of its own.
If science can be used to win races, make alcohol, or save humanity, can it also be used for romance? Anyone who wants more science than shōnen might like to give a romcom likeScience Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It(akaRikeKoifor short) a go. Just as the title suggests, it tries to tackle the subject of love and romance in a more analytical way with its leads Shinya and Ayame, researchers at Saitama University.
They work so well together that Ayame reveals she might be falling in love with Shinya. He feels the same way despite being less used to intimacy. So, they both agree to approach it scientifically, measuring their heart rates in situations and collecting the data to come to their conclusions. It balances out their stiffness with their more fun-loving coworkers and a cute, cuddly bear mascot that pops up to explain scientific concepts.
Log Horizonfocuses more on the survival aspects ofDr. Stonebut with more of a sci-fi twist. In it, the MMORPGElder Talehas taken the world by storm, providing millions of players with different things to do. But something strange happens when 30,000 players in Japan download its 12th expansion pack, ‘Homesteading the Noosphere/Novasphere Pioneers’, and end up physically transported to its world as their in-game avatars.
Since it’s a fantasy game, they’ve essentially been sent back to the medieval era, and with no obvious ways of getting back home, they have to figure out how to survive inElder Talefor real. Shiroe has an advantage in that he knows the game inside and out, but it’ll take the support of his friends Naotsugu and Akatsuki, among others, to survive in the long run.Log Horizonmight not do much forDr. Stonefans who prefer its science themes, but it might click with those who fancy its videogame-based takes on its premise.
Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu’s dystopian taleThe Promised Neverlandneeds no introduction. The original manga was widely praised, and the anime’s first season was a breath of fresh air that brought out the story’s psychological horror and thrills. The second season still got plaudits for its suspense. Yet it was sucha steep drop-off in qualitythat it was compared to the infamous final season ofGame of Thrones.
Still, that first season is top-notch and would suit fans who’d like something that hasDr. Stone’s survival premise, but with more of a horror edge. It’s about a bunch of kids who live happily at Grace Field House. But their innocence is shattered when a girl called Emma discovers they’re being raised to be fed to demons. Grace Field isn’t the only orphanage doing this either. With her friends, Emma breaks out to save the others and make a living in the wilderness.
Log Horizonhas its players getting sucked into its digital world, but gamers don’t need to be isekai’d to live their favorite games, as Ryota discovers inBTOOOM!He mastered the game while living unemployed with his mom. Then, one day, he wakes up to find himself on a remote island, where he essentially has to play the game in real life by fighting back against weapon-toting goons with only a few allies by his side. Like Himiko, a fellowBTOOOMplayer whose avatar was married to Ryota’s.
While it’s also about survival, the series focuses more on the brawn than the brain, as Ryota and Co. have to shoot back against their enemies instead of figuring out a field of science. Many of them are grimmer figures than Senku’s friends and frenemies. But it has a similarly complicated plot of conspiracies and shady organizations in its background, as someone or something has to be running these realBTOOOMgames for some grim purposes.
