There is no doubt that the quality of Japanese anime is world-class level. However, don't you think that most of the reviews for the so-called "Top Anime" that you often see on social media are only praising the animation, voice actors, and opening songs?
People don't often talk about it, but as a fact, many of the good anime have memorable soundtracks.
Considering this, I strongly think Dr. Stone was a wonderful anime that is worth watching.
What’s great about Dr.Stone’s musical accompaniments?
1. There are many songs that clearly express the anime's philosophy.
A slightly lonely melody that expresses the vastness of the world is expressed with the powerful yet gentle sound of Uilleann pipes, while the slightly eerie sound of body vocals conveys a sense of loneliness, and percussion instruments express the strength to live. There is a sense of elation and relief when the flute comes into the sound as well. For some reason, the expression of the fetal movements through ethnic instruments used in addition to familiar sounds such as the piano and violin feels very nostalgic.
2. The songs match the character's feelings and personality.
If you listen to the soundtracks after watching the anime, you will notice scenes where the soundtracks are used. Its quite amazing. Even without looking at the title, you can tell that this song is definitely Tsukasa's theme song.This means that the character is expressed only through sound, not lyrics (language).
3. The music is similar to RPGs, so it's easy to get into.
This is often said to be because I am from that generation, but I personally feel that it has a philosophy that is similar to old Square works, especially Chrono Trigger. It's also a story that "transcends time", so I felt something similar in its grand world view, but I think the commonality between them is that many of the instruments used are ethnic instruments.（That said, I'm listening to Chrono Trigger's music using the Super Nintendo's acoustics, so there are limits...）
Reasons to feel the landscapes
I don't know why the sounds of ethnic instruments that I'm not used to hearing somehow feel nostalgic. I feel like there are many people like me who feel nostalgic vibes when listening to Dr. Stone's songs.
The author is also active as a composer, and is familiar with music theory.For example, I feel that major chords are bright, minor chords are dark, and diminished sounds are fearful. The textbooks tell us that the subdominant has a floating feeling and that the emotions are moved by the "scales", but I have never heard of such sound produced by the instrument itself having so much power.
However, Dr. Stone's musical accompaniments use sounds that we cannot understand because we are not used to folk instruments, and doubles his approach to emotion through musical scales created through compositional magic. Due to this this technique, it allows us to imagine the landscape.
So, why does Dr. Stone's musical accompaniment move our hearts so much? The reason is its philosophy that transcends time. A feeling of excitement that represents the mission of saving humanity around the world by bringing back the scientific level of a world that has returned to its primitive state with modern scientific knowledge. I think it's because of the variety of ethnic instruments played that it was able to make the people who watched the anime feel a sense of nostalgia and elation.
