Dr. Stone Season 4: Crunchyroll Confirmed “Season 4!” See Key Visual & Release Date!
Dr. Stone’s anime series debuted back in 2019, and since then, it has been ruling its audience’s hearts. And there’s no denying that nothing can beat this anime, as its narration and science-fiction theme have remained top-notch. While many waited for Dr. Stone Season 4, Crunchyroll has recently revealed pleasant news for the avid anime fans. That’s right! We have delightful news for Dr Stone fans, as the series is all set to enchant your world once again. Curious to know how things will move in the fourth season? Then, keep reading!
The anime is based on a Japanese manga series of the same name. It follows the journey of Senku Ishigami, a scientific genius who embarks on a journey to restore civilization. The anime begins with humanity mysteriously petrified for 3,700 years. However, after Senku mysteriously revives, he sets on a mission to cure the petrified humans. In his journey, he finds several people who help him fight the enemies who try their best to halt Senku’s mission.
Dr Stone Season 4: Is It Renewed?
While Dr. Stone Season 3’s second cour wrapped up airing on December 21, 2023, news surfaced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Dr. Stone Season 4 was happening. The news quickly left fans by the storm as it appeared a day before the finale. Shonen Jump Manga’s official page took to X to share that the fourth season has secretly been renewed. The official announcement suggests that the mangaka Riichiro Inagaki commented in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #4/5 that the series will get another season.
However, fans remained baffled as neither the studio house nor Crunchyroll made the official announcement. This has left many to wonder whether the news is real or fake. However, you can rest assured. That’s because Dr. Stone Season 4 was announced following the conclusion of the third season. The anime has a history of announcing the next season shortly after its previous season wrapped up. Season 4 followed the same, leaving fans excited for the next run.
Well, the anime is highly acclaimed. It has gained financial and critical success all over the world. The anime garnered 8.1/10 on IMDb, 8.3 stars on MyAnimeList, and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not only this but in 2019, the anime was also listed in Crunchyroll’s “Top 25 best anime of the 2010s.” In addition, Senku also won the “Best Protagonist” category at the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Considering this, there’s a no-brainer as to why the studio house wants to continue with Dr. Stone.
First Poster Is Out!
While fans have waited for the official word on its release date, Crunchyroll has dropped a cryptic message. Crunchyroll surprised its fans on July 7, 2024, by announcing Dr. Stone Season 4. The streaming platform revealed the fourth season will be titled Dr. Stone Science Future. Whether the fourth run will drop in two cours hasn’t been revealed. However, the streaming platform announced that the fourth season is actually happening. During Crunchyroll’s Anime Expo 2024, the streaming platform announced that the fourth season will officially stream on Crunchyroll.
Although it hasn’t yet revealed when the series will return, it did reveal that Dr. Stone Season 4 is happening. Crunchyroll announced that the series’ return will be sooner. It also promises that the new season will feature more discoveries from Senku Ishigami and the Kingdom of Science. As a part of the announcement, the anime also dropped its official poster. It definitely excited the millions of fans, featuring the main characters. You can check it out above.
Is Dr. Stone Season 4 The Final Season?
Unfortunately, yes! Shonen Jump News confirmed that the mangaka revealed in the comment section that the anime “will head towards its conclusion.” The mangaka also revealed that the fourth season is presumably the final season. While it took the fans by storm, the anime finally confirmed the news. Shortly after the third season’s finale aired, the anime revealed Dr Stone would return for the fourth and final season, hinting the rumored ending is true. Now that the show is gearing its end, the audience is on their toes to learn how Senku will save humanity.
Dr Stone Season 4: Production Status
As of now, Crunchyroll hasn’t yet confirmed whether the series is officially in the works. However, the fourth season was announced back on December 21, 2023. Dr. Stone takes only six to seven months to conclude its production. If we consider the timeframe, the first season was announced in November 2018 and aired in July 2019. The same timeline was followed by seasons 2 and 3, as both seasons took five to six months to conclude the production. Considering this, we can expect the same with Dr. Stone Season 4.
Since Season 4 was announced in December 2023, it’s expected that the animation work has already reached its halfway. Again, the first three seasons were divided into two cours. So, we can expect the same with the fourth season. However, there’s a catch. The manga has already been concluded, and Dr. Stone Season 4 is the anime’s final season. Based on this, there’s a chance that the anime will return with three cours roughly covering 2.5 chapters of the manga per episode. If this is the case, we can expect the production work to take longer than usual. It might take a year to conclude the animation work.
Will TMS Entertainment Return To Produce The Show?
TMS Entertainment adapted Dr. Stone, and since 2018, the studio house has dealt with animation work. It has developed three brilliant seasons so far. It’s believed that TMS Entertainment will return for Dr. Stone Season 4. However, the production house is currently working on Rinkai! and Sakamoto Days. Considering its busy schedule, it doesn’t seem like the studio house will return with the fourth season soon. Besides this, Dr Stone Season 4 has yet to be enlisted on the official website of TMS Entertainment.
This has left fans wondering whether TMS Entertainment will animate the show. However, considering its history, we can safely say the studio house will be returned. TMS Entertainment is a Japanese animation studio. Since it was founded, it has dropped several hit TV animes, films, OVA, ONA, and video games. Some of its remarkable works include Detective Conan, Anpanman, Lupin the Third, Attack No. 1, and Gamba no Bouken.
Dr Stone Season 4: What To Expect Next?
The third season finale was a rollercoaster ride. After reviving people, Senku learned they needed to make more revival portions to save people. However, to do this, they needed to cultivate corn to create more alcohol. The team decided to head to the United States of America, where they could grow as much corn as they’d like. The episode then ended with Perseus setting sail, leaving Ishigami Village behind.
Now that the team has left the Ishigami Village, we can expect Dr Stone Season 4 to focus more on the action. Since it’s the final season, there will be more actions and fewer filler story arcs. If this is the case, season 4 will open up in America, where Senku and his crew will meet some more petrified humans. In order to revive them, Senku will work on his plan to grow more crops. However, the path will be challenging as the team will soon encounter more enemies and monsters on their way.
In addition, Senku has also planned to make a spaceship to the moon so he can face Tsukasa Shishio, the series antagonist. The third season has already hinted that Shishio plans to petrify the entire earth. However, it remains unclear how he will proceed with the plan. Senku knows Tsukasa Shishio is trouble and will go to any length to petrify humanity. So before he can make his move, Senku might head to the moon. This challenging journey will indeed bring lots of trouble and twisted discoveries on the protagonist’s way.
Is There Enough Source Material?
The anime is adapted from Riichiro Inagaki manga, illustrated by South Korean artist Boichi. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from March 6, 2017, to July 4, 2022. Since the manga has already been concluded, there isn’t enough source material available left to cover up in the anime series. As of April 4, 2024, it has 27 Tankobon volumes, covering a total of 232 chapters. While the first three seasons have already covered most of the chapters, there are only 90 chapters left to be explored.
Thus, considering this, there isn’t ample source material left to return with more seasons. This could be the reason why Dr. Stone Season 4 will be the final season. It might return with three cours of 12 episodes each. Otherwise, the final season will explore 36-39 episodes in two cours. Although nothing has been confirmed at this moment, TAD will update you shortly after learning the official news.
Dr Stone Season 4 Cast Details
There’s no denying there won’t be another season with Senku Ishigami and his crew. And how can he forget the series’ main antagonist? So, all the main characters and prominent voice actors will return for the final season. These include:
- Senku Ishigami – Yusuke Kobayashi (Japanese), Aaron Dismuke (English)
- Taiju Oki – Makoto Furukawa (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)
- Yuzuriha Ogawa – Kana Ichinose (Japanese), Brittany Lauda (English)
- Tsukasa Shishio – Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)
- Gen Asagiri – Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese), Brandon Mclnnis (English)
- Chrome – Gen Sato (Japanese), Matt Shipman (English)
- Kohaku – Manami Numakura (Japanese), Felecia Angelle (English)
- Suika – Karin Takahashi (Japanese), Sarah Wiedenheft (English)
- Ryusui Nanami – Ryota Suzuki (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)
Dr Stone Season 4 Release Date
As of now, Crunchyroll hasn’t yet announced the release date of Dr. Stone Season 4. However, the first three seasons were released just six months after its announcement. If the fourth season follows the same pattern, we can expect season 4 to be out sometime in the fall of 2024. But considering TMS Entertainment is currently busy with other projects, there’s a slight chance that the fourth season might be released sometime in Q2 of 2025. But don’t fret! We will keep you updated. This is all for now. Keep coming back to The Anime Daily for more anime-related updates.
