Dr. Stone has been a truly amazing adventure series so far but this week’s episode is where things took quite an interesting turn. Senku was indeed rescued by Taijui’s realization that he had petrification still on the nape of his neck and that allowed the miracle liquid to cure his ailments. In the meantime though the episode switched from Senku’s origins in the Stone World and how he began his survival story. There was a beautiful scene where Senku screamed for his friend to wake up and in the present Taiju mimics his words as they pray for each to wake up albeit in different times. Senku finally wakes up and the trio realize they need to act fast in order to stop Tsukasa from overthrowing the world by beginning his plan of only awakening youth! Senku shares a plan with Yuzuriha and the trio split up as Taiju and Yuzuriha end up heading back to Tsukasa as spies. A new girl is also introduced in this episode who clearly was born during the Stone World Era and after a bad encounter with Tsukasa, Senku is luckily enough to save her. I can’t wait to see where this new meet up will lead and how our trio’s split will affect the story as a whole.

Dale decides to go back to his hometown, and Latina decides to accompany him on the journey, after preparing with a few things she might need along the way. The two set off together, taking a detour to visit Rag’s grave on their way out of town.

After watching Latina become adjusted to her new life and make some good friends, I am so excited for this new step in her adventures! Though it’s a little bittersweet to leave behind some of the characters we’ve come to love, Dale and Latina have a chance to strengthen their bond on this trip, since it will mostly be just the two of them. And of course, I’m interested to see where Dale comes from, especially since that mysterious letter seems to have pushed him to travel back. I hope they don’t skip a lot of travelling in the series, as it’ll be interesting to see how Latina reacts to different things along the way. The anime has progressed along at a quick pace thus far, given that Kenneth said Latina was working for him full-time for about 6 months, yet that span only took a few episodes. That being said, we’re enjoying this change of pace for Dale and Latina, since the series has reached its halfway point now.

Last week, our resident serious edgy guy Ulgar interrupted a lovely extraterrestrial beach episode by pointing a gun in Luca’s face. The cheerful Luca had just been trying to make friends with Ulgar, but once he let slip that his father is a powerful politician named Marco Esposito, Ulgar turned on him. This time, we finally learn the reason why.

Ulgar’s older brother was an investigative journalist who mysteriously died after digging too deep into Senator Esposito’s secrets, so Ulgar is determined to get his revenge by making that man feel the same horrific pain of losing a family member as he did. But then, Luca reveals that killing him wouldn’t make a difference because he’s an adopted child who turned out to be medically intersex. Once his parents were able to have a biological son of their own, they disinherited Luca and tossed him aside.

Positive LGBT representation in anime is hard to come by, so Kanata no Astra’s sympathetic portrayal of an intersex person is a big deal. Luca explains that he has both male and female physical traits, but identifies as male and wishes to be treated that way. It takes everyone a little getting used to, but they all respect him and continue on their journey through space. Last year’s Zombieland Saga did a terrific job with its transgender idol and this week’s Fruits Basket episode was much kinder than the old series to its crossdressing male Zodiac member, so we hope that this becomes a trend!

After her hard day at work, Yuko finally has enough money to pay off her debt to Momo in full. Momo turns down Yuko's offer to pay her and tells Yuko that she should spend the money she worked hard to earn on herself. Yuko decides that she will use her money to buy her little sister a gift. Yuko and Momo head to store to meet Ryo and let her pick out a gift. Ryo is hesitant to pick something out she wants and instead tries to get Yuko to buy items that would help her in her battle against the magical girls. Momo sees Ryo looking longingly at camera and Yuko buys it for her. With her new camera in hand, Ryo decides that she wants her first picture to be of Ryo and Momo together.

This was one of the cutest moments in any anime this season. You've got Yuko electing to spend all of her hard-earned money on her sister and Ryo trying her hardest to put her desires aside in order to help out Yuko. Then on top of all of that, there is also the added layer of Momo and her relationship with the girls. We haven't seen much of Ryo, but every time she has been on screen she has only ever tried to help out Yuko, so it was nice seeing her get something she actually wanted for a change. All around it was such a heartwarming scene with tons a laughs along the way.