Life After Dr. Stone with Aaron Dismuke, Felecia Angelle, and Brandon McInnis

As the Dr. Stone anime dashes headlong towards its conclusion, Anime News Network took some time to sit down with English voice actors Aaron Dismuke (Senku), Felecia Angelle (Kohaku), and Brandon McInnis (Gen) to talk about their favorite lines, lasting memories playing their characters, and what the show has taught them about both science and life.

I want to know what your favorite voice line is for your character?

Brandon McInnis: My favorite voice line for Gen is “Holy Mother Milk! They're even dairy farming!”

Aaron Dismuke: I'll just go generic. “This is exhilarating. Get excited.”

Felecia Angelle: I actually pulled up my convention quotes to get it exactly right. “The only thing I want is to save my sister's life.”

Brandon McInnis: Aaron was talking about a scene earlier, and it refreshed my memory on how much I loved it. It's the scene where Senku and Gen work together to call someone and impersonate a singer who isn't there. It's such a fun scene because Senku and Gen are being devious, and they have this diabolical energy together that's just really fun.

Felecia Angelle: One that comes immediately to mind is, on a personal level, it was really resonant to me. I started the show when I lived in Dallas, and then I moved to California one week before the COVID lockdown. I was away from my group of friends for a full year, and I had finally booked a ticket. Things were opening up. I was going to go see my friends, but I had a from-home session right before that flight, and it was for Dr. Stone, and it was the reunion of the former and new members of the Kingdom of Science.

Ricco Fajardo, who plays Taiju, is an incredibly close friend of mine. He was one of the people I was going to see, and as we're recording, there is this moment where the reunion is happening, and you hear him yell in the distance, which I don't think I even needed headphones for.

If you listen now, you can hear him somewhere. But the line that I get to say is, “I know that voice anywhere. That's Taiju.” It was just this incredible emotional moment of reunion, both in fiction and reality.

Aaron Dismuke: It's probably when we put Tsukasa on ice. I cryogenically freeze him in the hopes that we can resurrect him with stone technology later. And I'm just talking about nonsense to distract him from the pain of death. And I start talking about how I think the mushrooms in the Mario video games are psychedelic, and it's all in his head. And I'm just kind of joking around, and Senku never does small talk. It's not a thing normally, and Tsukasa's like “What is this, Senku? Why are you just talking about doing small talk?” And I'm like, “What's wrong with that?”

He gets more sentimental and more emotionally available as the story progresses. And that was a big one for him, and also for me as an actor. It was the first time I cried in the booth in like 20 years of being good at script analysis, but not great emotional connection as a voice actor.

What did you learn from this show? There are all the little science bits in there that I always thought were so fun.

Brandon McInnis: There's a part in the show where Gen sings a song about making manganese batteries. So that was a fun learning moment for me on how batteries are made, and something that I've learned from this show outside of science is: sometimes you can manipulate people into believing in themselves when they do not believe in themselves. And I think that is noble.

Felecia Angelle: Science-wise, I learned that apparently sulfuric acid is gorgeous. It manifests as a hot girl. I didn't know that. Now I do. Outside of that, this show has just reinforced the hope-core way I live my life. The world really likes to try to rattle that cage and tell you, "No, that's not the way things are!" But it's really nice to have been able to live for so long in this world where people work together for the greater good, and there is just a belief that things are going to turn out okay if we all help each other.

Aaron Dismuke: Scientifically, it's mostly in one ear, out the other. I think maybe I could make soap in the Dr. Stone way. The rest of it, I don't know. But piggybacking off what Felicia was saying, I think something I've learned from Dr. Stone is that you can learn something from literally everyone you meet, whether they seem clever or seem evil or seem weird.

There's a lesson that they have to teach you, and they can be a useful contributing member of your community. Senku doesn't get smarter as the story goes. He doesn't have any level-up system except insofar as the kingdom of science levels up by bringing in new people into the fold, bringing inside the mathematician or bringing in a master clockmaker or a mentalist or a lioness, and each of these people makes us stronger. But Senku was exactly as smart at the beginning of the story as he is at the end.

I wanted to know if there was anything that you could say to your character. What would you say?

Felecia Angelle: This has been quite a journey with them. So I would just say thank you. It's been tremendous, and I've loved every second of it. Kohaku is fierce and loving and strong and deeply weird, and it's helped me love those things about myself.

Brandon McInnis: I am very grateful as well to Gen, and if I had a chance to say something to him, I would probably express that and also point out Gen's whimsy and just tell him how much I love his whimsy.

Aaron Dismuke: Get your finger out of your ear! I might tell him to check if he has an ear infection.

Felecia Angelle: Bro can't invent a Q-Tip?

Aaron Dismuke: I know it's supposed to be clinically bad advice to use a Q-Tip, but I know he'd like the feeling.

Do you remember when you first started working on this, like, compared to this point? Did you think it was going to be what it is now?

Felecia Angelle: I remember my first moments with Kohaku, where confusion because she only had one word. The show is simulcast, so we're on a weekly schedule. And so for her first episode, I go into the booth. Clifford Chapin was casting and directing at the time. I've known him for a super, super long time, and she's silhouetted, staring off into the middle distance, counting smoke, and she just comes on, and the seiyuu's got this rich, deep tone. And she just says like “three”.

And I looked at him in a panic, and I said, “What are you doing, man? She's too cool for me. Why am I...what?” And he said, “Just wait.” He didn't tell me, “No, she's not.” He said, “Just wait.” And I came in the next week, and instantly we had that moment where she's just a demure, young, beautiful girl with her big eyes and her flowers, and then her flowers have knives. And I was like, That's why I'm here. I get it. Thank you.

It's been this journey of sort of like seeing her in this one way and then getting the more kaleidoscopic view of her in the world and realizing all the places we overlap. And I have said it before, and I'll say it again: being cast as Kohaku is one of the biggest compliments anyone who has ever known me has paid me. I feel very grateful.

Brandon McInnis: At the beginning of Dr. Stone, I remember Clifford and I were talking at length about the specific quirks of Gen's speech in the script, which was cool. So much care was put into the casting of this show. Clifford Chapin directed a good portion of this show, including the parts where we were all cast. So Clifford showed us very specifically, and there was such thoughtfulness, and I'm so grateful to Clifford for putting us in these roles.

I don't think any of us had any idea it would be what it is today. I mean, as an actor, we work very hard to work just as hard on every show that we participate in, and we get in the booth and act as acting is that acting and is our process. We're fully present for it as best we can.

And so, you know, it was just another show when it started, and we were very invested as we wanted the work to be good. And the fan response has been overwhelming. It really has been. So, just moving to see how much fans have connected with that, and we have connected with it as well. It's just a beautiful show, and we're so grateful to be part of it.

Aaron Dismuke: I was also intimidated by how cool my character seemed. I remember an unseemly amount of my mind when I was first recording was occupied with “Do I sound cool?” And another growth as an actor moment for me was talking to Tyler Walker, who did the script adaptation.

He was like, “You know, Aaron, you do sound cool and determined, but Senku's also having a blast. Like, he also really likes this. Like he's kind of glad the apocalypse happens because what a puzzle.” I think what makes him so cool is his unabashed enthusiasm for his hobby, which is making cool stuff out of nothing, seemingly.