As this is a podcast episode that will contain spoilers, the written content I’m doing here will just cover basic info about the podcast episode along with some important announcements. This is available for those of you who either aren’t able to listen or would rather read the info. A transcript of the episode is also available on platforms that permit them.

Long time no speak!

I have to acknowledge what was meant to be a sporadic posting schedule turned into a 4 month hiatus. The short answer is that basically my other podcast took over my time. If you didn’t already know, I’m also the host of a podcast about A Song of Ice and Fire saga by George R.R. Martin. If you’re actually interested in listening (or you know someone else who might!), you can listen to the show on https://www.thewesterosiprimer.com. I’ve created an Instagram and Twitter accounts for the show. There is also a newsletter. I started it on Substack! You can find it here.

My workflow has eased up slightly so now I’m producing content for this show again. Things will be in starts and stops, but at this time I do intend to continue Cafe Manga podcast. I can’t guarantee that I’ll consistently release episodes every week. I will be producing episodes in batches so you’ll at least get a few episodes for a few weeks before a hiatus happens again.

Of course people listening to this show on podcast platforms should try subscribing to my publication because they’re going to get content from me every week even if it’s not audio. And as I’ve said in previous episodes, there’s written content that isn’t going to be on the podcast. Like the recent series of posts I just finished about the different webcomic apps I use.

Future content on the podcast

Despite the fact that the name of the podcast is Cafe Manga, I’ve decided to include manhwa into the mix. There’s been an increase of anime in recent years that is based on Korean stories. One big example is Solo Leveling, which is a story I’ll be featuring in an episode VERY soon.

On top of that I personally have a growing interest in Korean content. I have been watching K-dramas and Korean variety shows pretty consistently since around 2012. So I feel like it only makes sense to have both Japanese and Korean stories be included on the podcast. I’m already doing this on the newsletter. With that said, let’s get into Dr. Stone!

Spoiler free thoughts about the final arc

Overall I was pretty satisfied with the ending of the series as I read the manga. I felt that they did a pretty good job giving us some exciting adventures in the world tour. I also thought it was an interesting reveal of the Why-Man and what Why-Man’s goal was.

If I were to criticize anything, I’d probably criticize the ending. It was a bit unexpected though in context it made some sense. I was still left with a couple questions, but of course I won’t get answers to them. The pace in places felt sped up compared to the earlier arcs. I guess if the story delved more into development, it would drag the story into even more volumes of the manga or a season 5.

It was only while I was reading the manga that I realized that Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi had actually been invited to New York Comic Con (NYCC) back in 2019. Unfortunately I hadn’t paid attention or was aware of Dr. Stone that year otherwise. I would have gone to that panel. To be fair I was more fixated on Tom Hiddleston and Paul Rudd attending. (Yes I took pictures with both of them.)

If you readers are interested in more details about the final arc, please listen to the episode (or read the transcript!) to get the spoiler content!

What did you think of the episode? What do you think of the upcoming season 4 of Dr. Stone? Anything you’re excited or intrigued about? Leave a comment. Let’s talk!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cafemanga.substack.com