Byakuya Ishigami/Synopsis

## History

### Early Life

Not much is known of his early life but he worked part time as a professor when he failed the astronaut swimming team. He was best friends with Senku's parents. It is unknown what became of them, though Byakuya came into the custody of their child Senku.

When Senku first showed signs of being interested in science, Byakuya did not hesitate to sell his car in order to fund Senku's opportunity to explore his scientific interest.  Unlike Senku, Byakuya was a lax and carefree man, as he liked to talk about poetry and fairy tales and would get scolded by Senku because of it. Nonetheless, Senku influenced a lot of Byakuya's personality and behavior.

Although he initially gave up on his dream as an astronaut, he was once again motivated to become one when Senku and Taiju tried to help him overcome his weakness of not being able to swim in clothes by creating a suit for him.

When Senku was ten, he visited Byakuya at NASA and he was excited to see his son, only to be disappointed by the fact Senku only wanted his credit card and was leaving that same day. During his time at NASA, he met the scientist Dr. Xeno and they had a conversation about what they would do if humanity were to revert back to Stone Age and other scientists. Five years later, Byakuya later prepared for another visit from Senku. He found his son in the courtyard, admiring a statue of a ship. He caught Senku's attention, noticing he seemed to space out and Senku told him it was nothing after he noticed Xeno walking away.

### Journey Into Space

Days before he was sent to space, Byakuya told Senku on the live interview that he was going to bring him back souvenirs. Once he boards the crew, Byakuya gets to know its members: Yakov and his wife Darya, along with Connie Lee. Their conversation is interrupted by Lillian Weinberg, who claims to be a space tourist, who bought the seat on the station for 4.5 million dollars. She condescendingly belittles Yakov for not greeting her properly, greatly startling the astronaut.

However, this behavior turns out to be a ruse created by Lillian and Byakuya, and it gets accidentally broken once Byakuya bursts into laughter and the diva follows. Lillian introduces herself to the rest of the crew as Shamil Volkov, commenting she's been like this the entire trip, ordering both Byakuya and Lillian to stop laughing at last.

Byakuya and Darya then go on to set Lillian's songs in the spacecraft in order to set the "proper atmosphere" to greet the diva. Eventually, having contacted her fans from space, Lillian offers Byakuya and Shamil contact with their loved ones on Earth. Shamil refuses, saying he is single, while Byakuya mentions his son Senku who is a lot like Shamil - informing his father he is not interested in contact. Byakuya concludes that Senku is most likely wrapped in his own research as they speak.

Some time later, Byakuya barges into a chamber on the spacecraft to offer Shamil Japanese food. Shamil refuses however, saying that packs of nutritional jelly is enough for him. This shocks Byakuya who wonders how the astronaut doesn't get sick from constantly eating the same food. Regardless, Byakuya tosses the ramen, noting that it's from a popular shop Senku and him frequently visited. Shamil berates Byakuya on his behavior, warning him that the crew is here in order to work, not to have fun. Despite the critique, the latter is unmoved and continues teasing Shamil on his seriousness, provoking him into trying ramen by saying that it's okay if he feels scared enough not to eat it.

As Shamil begins eating ramen, his face turns to shock. Byakuya playfully wonders whether the former is shaking from the ecstasy of good food, which Shamil refutes and tells the crew to look out the window. Having witnessed a gigantic beam of light covering the earth, a panicked Byakuya worries for his son. Later on, Byakuya establishes contact with the earth through internet, showing the rest of the group its current state - the entirety of humanity having turned to statues.

Once the crew begins discussing their next steps, Byakuya suggests they return to the planet. Yakov pleads that they should wait for someone to come to save them, however Byakuya disagrees. He says that the six astronauts in space are the only ones unaffected by the event and claims they will help humanity instead.

Byakuya uses some of his son's problem solving techniques to pinpoint the source of the beam by looking at post timestamps on the internet, concluding that people over the world would be affected at different time intervals. He is complimented by Lillian but humbly states that he learned these skills from his son. As the group plans on where to land, with Yakov suggesting it to be Japan in case the hotspot of the beam is radioactive, Byakuya suggests launching a vessel with only him inside. Shamil quickly refuses this, saying that the group won't have enough vessels to fit the number of people. Shamil then punches Byakuya and states that since Byakuya has a son, loners like him should be the ones risking their lives instead. With Shamil, Lillian and Connie landing in water and not their target on ground, Darya proposes that the remaining members rescue them. Yakov worries that they too will miss their target and fail in saving them, noting that the margin of error is 10 kilometers. Byakuya responds that he is ready to swim 10 kilometers if he has to.

After their arrival back to the planet and a grueling 10 hours of search, Byakuya is ultimately successful in finding the stranded astronauts. The group settles on an uninhabited island, the boat they used belonging to a recluse. Byakuya is next seen opening a survival kit from the spacecraft.

3 years pass since their initial arrival, and Byakuya congratulates Shamil and Connie on their wedding. A grateful Shamil nonetheless states that excessive ceremony is unnecessary, given the current state they are living in. In celebration, Lillian begins singing, only to be reminded of her past with an alcoholic father and her love for music. She quickly flees the scene and is followed by Byakuya. Once approached by him, she laments on humanity's music being lost forever after the event, with Byakuya disagreeing on the matter. The latter states that the petrification will ultimately be undone eventually and that humanity is not finished yet. Additionally, he strongly believes his son, Senku, is still alive. A crying Lillian assures him so, Byakuya saying that Senku is far more important than someone like him and thinking there is no chance Senku would simply turn to stone and die. The astronaut comes to a conclusion that the day Senku wakes up, he will require allies to aid him - and so in order to help his son, he will create a society that will stretch through millennia.

### Teacher to the end

After a period of time, Connie succumbs to pneumonia she contracts on the island and Yakov and Darya get lost at sea while looking for an antibiotic on the mainland, before being presumed dead. Byakuya and Lillian tend to Shamil, who has also been infected with the disease. Shamil calls Byakuya out on looking gloomy in contrast to his optimistic and cheerful attitude before, but nevertheless states that he has enjoyed time with the crew ever since they went to space. After telling Byakuya that the ramen he was given was delicious enough to make him smile, Byakuya sheds a tear of grief and states that humanity will eventually once more reach the point of eating ramen in space. Shamil passes away from pneumonia as well.

Byakuya is next seen writing "The hundred tales" for the future generations to live by. He complains that writing in English is a difficult task, as Lillian tells him Japanese is fine as well, since she always wanted to know more about his native language. Byakuya reflects on the relevant content of the stories to help future generations survive. The last story of the hundred tales is a personal message to Senku from Byakuya. He tells his son the souvenirs he was supposed to bring turned out to be Senku's future allies he will encounter once he gets depetrified. He informs Senku that although the post-collapsed world was fun, it was pneumonia that caused the deaths of many of his crew-mates. By combining allies with his science, Byakuya believes Senku will rebuild civilization, even if he has to do it from scratch.

Byakuya spent many years after the petrification, gathering rare metals that he knew would be essential for Senku once he was revived (since most of them had been stripped from the Earth by man).

He continued to do this, even when he was the last survivor from his crew, and the children didn't understand the purpose of gathering them. Byakuya also ensured that the future generations would be aware of history's achievements by often recounting stories.

Eventually, after many years, Byakuya became so old, he collapsed in a stream one night. Byakuya realized that these were his final moments, but he was happy to see the stars. Byakuya then died peacefully, staring at the reflection of the stars, his last thoughts being of Senku.

## Plot

### **Vs. Tsukasa Arc**

Byakuya is shown in a flashback of how he sold his car in order to give Senku the opportunity to explore his scientific curiosity.

### **Village Origins Arc**

Byakuya is later shown in a flashback of Senku's memories, in which Byakuya wasn't able to become an astronaut because he couldn't swim in clothes. Senku, wanting to help his father, developed a suit with Taiju that used electric signals to forcibly move a person's body, and thus training them with motions. Although the suit didn't help much, it was enough to motivate Byakuya to learn how to swim on his own and he became an astronaut. Just before Byakuya took off to space, he went in front of the announcer camera and told Senku that he'll bring back some space souvenirs for him. It was then revealed that he returned to Earth after the mass-petrification of humans and founded Ishigami village along with his crew. He created the 100 Tales, a collection of stories that contained survival tips for their descendants, and left a time capsule disc for Senku for when he woke up.

### **Communications Arc**

He decides to leave a glass record for Senku containing a message from him and a song preformed by him and the crew.

### **Treasure Island Arc**

It is revealed Byakuya placed his desire of his descendants to return to his homeland in the 100 tales. After discovering another stone world tribe, Senku contacts Ruri who stated that one of the tales was about heading to the homeland of Byakuya.

## References

1. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 10, Page Byakuya helps Senku.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 42
3. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 156
4. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 43
5. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 44
6. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 45
7. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 115
8. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 60
9. ↑ Dr. Stone Manga: Chapter 102