Something has happened to the world... in an instant everybody has been petrified, in effect turned into statues. Three thousand, seven hundred years later science prodigy Senku and his friend Taiju awaken in a world that has lost its technology and everybody else looks like a statue. Senku figures out how to awaken others and soon they are planning to wake Yuzuriha, the girl Taiju, has feelings for. Before they can do that events force them to wake Tsukasa Shishio, the toughest person they know. While necessary at the time this soon proves to have created a problem... while Senku intends to use science to save everybody Tsukasa wants to create a world untainted by older people and their technology. Conflict is inevitable. Senku gets away and finds a village inhabited by a group of people who appear to be descendants of people who were never turned to stone. They lack technology but Senku works to gain their trust and introduce science to their world before Tsukasa and those he has awakened can attack.

When I saw this advertised I didn't expect too much but thought it might be fun enough... it turned out to be much better than I imagined. The initial premise may be rather out there but it leads to a great story. Once we are in the future there is plenty of science but this is handled in a way that makes it exciting rather than being lectured too. Senku is a solid lead character and Tsukasa is a decent antagonist, even though we see much less of him than one might expect. The rest of the cast, mostly the villagers, are nicely varied; some are keen to learn from Senku others are highly suspicious or openly hostile. The animation is good and the characters designs are distinctive so one is unlikely to confuse characters. If you are bothered by fan service and sexual references in many anime series you will be relieved to learn this series doesn't go down that route. I was very pleased that as the final episode of the first season ended it was announced that a second season had been confirmed. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anime fans.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.