The Dr. Stone manga by Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi will begin its final story arc in two weeks with Chapter 213.
This announcement was made in Weekly Shonen Jump's 43rd print issue of 2021 in Japan. This issue, released on Monday, also announced that Dr. Stone would need to take a week off from its weekly release schedule so that Inagaki and Boichi can have more time to do the proper research for the conclusion of the epic science-based manga. Chapter 213 will be published in Weekly Shonen Jump's 45th issue of the year, hitting Japanese newsstands on October 11. The series is simulpublished in English on Viz's American Shonen Jump website and on the international MANGA Plus website; chapters go up on Sundays rather than Mondays in the United States due to the time zone difference.
Dr. Stone began publication in March 2017 and is currently the fourth longest-running series being published in Weekly Shonen Jump. One Piece, going strong since July 1997, holds the record; second and third place go to My Hero Academia (began in July 2014) and Black Clover (began in February 2015) respectively. This ranking does not count Hunter X Hunter, which began in March 1998 and is still technically ongoing but hasn't published a new chapter in years.
CBR interviewed Inagaki and Boichi about Dr. Stone at Anime NYC 2019. When asked how long they envisioned the series to last, Inagaki answered, "We have a certain goal we’re striving for, but as far as the journey goes that’s unknown. It might be a windy U-turn, it might be a short journey, it might be a long journey. It’s hard to answer. I actually asked that question myself to Boichi-sensei in the past, and he said, 'Do whatever you feel does justice to the story.'" Boichi offered a different answer: "I hope it will last for a million years."
Dr. Stone begins with an event that turns all of humanity to stone. When teenage genius Senku Ishigami manages to awaken from this petrification over 3,700 years later, he sets his brilliant mind to work not only to revive the rest of humanity but to rebuild technology and civilization from the ground up. The hit manga was adapted into an anime in 2019, which received a second season earlier this year.
Source: Weekly Shonen Jump, via Anime News Network
