It picks up the quick tempo of Golden Wind, compressing a number of chapters from the manga into a shorter amount of time so the show hits the ground running even by comparison to an already quickly paced prior season.Įven among the other JoJo’s Bizarre Adeventures, Stone Ocean’s story is one of a constant existential terror, beginning with its protagonist distraught over the time she’ll lose facing a 15-year prison sentence-in Florida no less. Of course, it later expands out to a much larger scale, but these early episodes are mostly set in and around the institution.
Speaking of Diamond is Unbreakable-like how that season scaled the series down from the globetrotting adventures of Stardust Crusaders- Stone Ocean focuses in on Jolyne’s plight in the Green Dolphin prison in Florida (called “The Aquarium” by its inmates), following on from Golden Wind’s journey across Italy.
Other examples include moments where a ghost child dressed like a baseball player gives cryptic, prophetic warnings, or a sniper smuggles in gun parts through blocks of cheese. One minute, it talks around some surprisingly heavy subject matter and nasty gore, and in the next, a tiny bug man hisses “Goo… Goo… Dollsss!!” as it chases a tiny Jolyne.
The other thing is its wild variance in tone. While not expressly about queer culture, you can hardly call the queerness of the show subtext even with some more overt elements from the manga cut out, it’s as prominent as the heart-shaped chest window on Bruno Bucciarati’s suit. That change-which began around Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable-is now perhaps among the most striking things about JoJo, along with the dramatic poses. By that I mean that instead of the more typically macho appearances of Parts 1–3, where most high schoolers are two meters in height and look like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, Hirohiko Araki’s characters have since taken on sleeker, frequently more beautiful androgynous appearances, like Greek sculptures come to life. Though it continues on with the story of the Joestar bloodline (something signified by a trademark star birthmark) as established in Phantom Blood, Stone Ocean follows on in the visual style and tone of Diamond is Unbreakable and Golden Wind.
That foe, the wielder of the Stand "Made in Heaven," is a more existentially terrifying foe that JoJo has ever had-one that also introduces the new complication of Stand Users with multiple abilities. They sort of become this season’s MacGuffin, with Jolyne spending her time in prison chasing the one with the power to steal them. In addition to the power of Stands, Stone Ocean introduces “DISCs”, essentially magic CDs that contain the soul. Soon after she arrives, malevolent forces move against her and her family and she’s forced to use her newfound Stand powers (named “Stone Free”) to fend for herself.
And now, his one-time acolytes seek revenge against the Joestar bloodline.Įnter Jolyne Cujoh, Jotaro’s estranged daughter, who begins the season framed for murder and sentenced to 15 years in a Florida state prison. Even after he is killed by Jonathan’s descendant ( Stardust Crusaders protagonist Jotaro Kujo), Dio (also known as DIO) continues to haunt the Joestar family with the events he set in motion. The story begins hundreds of years in the past, beginning with Jonathan Joestar and his adoptive brother and nemesis Dio Brando, a vampire. A season that feels incredibly long-awaited, Stone Ocean is something of a finale for a narrative that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been telling for the better part of a decade.