JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 2

Oh man, where to start with this? Whilst the release schedule for this anime has left many fans feeling irritated (I mean after the first batch dropped, we were left waiting for nine months), it's undeniable that the content itself is great. The fights in these twelve episodes were well done, and would leave anyone at the edge of their seats. The emotional moments were enough to make me shed a tear or two. We also got to see a lot of character development, that was really well done. The technical side of things were also really amazing, in my opinion. The art style, as always, is uniquebut bold and creates a lasting impression in your mind. The music was also amazing, and I know I'll be listening to the soundtrack as I eagerly await the release of the next part of this season. Overall, this was another amazing adaptation of it's source material, and I know the rest of the sixth arc of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure will live up to the same level as quality that David Production tends to spoil us with.

Stone Ocean part 1 was my first JoJo season because a friend recomendation and after it I watched all the previous ones in a few weeks. It kinda makes sense on it's own, but watching the previous ones makes the story and lore easier to follow as it follows the story of a family generation after generation. This installment follows Jolyne Cujoh, a japanese-american teen that ends up imprisoned after her now ex-boyfriend blames her of a fatal car accident that wasn't her fault. Everything changes when her absent father, Jotaro Kujo, visits her and reveals the family secret. Characters The character dessing is wonderful. No two characterslook alike and it has an extravagant take on 2000s fashion. Accompanied with the over the top facial expressions and poses, it makes the show really fun to watch. Jolyne is written as a beliable 18 years old. She starts as a gullible lovesick kid and matures and gains self confidence as she learns to fight and survive. As for the rest of the cast, they have well defined personalities and feel complete, with a life of their onw aside from their relationship with Jolyne. Both her allies and enemies, and even minor characters, have their own goals and secrets. Jolyne's frienships are earned and feel real. Slowly, they get involved with eachother issues and care deeply for one another. The stands are very creative and surprsising, far from the typical super powers. They have their strengths and weakness, even though not every one is as powerful. Fight scenes The diversity of stands makes the fights interesting to see, as you never know what is going to happen next. Jolyne and her allies have to learn to understand they own habilities as they go, and their enemies' too. The scenes are well choreographed and animated. The series doesn't shy away of showing blood, bones and pain, but doesn't dwelll on that to the point of making it too gore. Everything is exagerated and intense, but beliable on the context even if not realistic at all. Storytelling Both the visual storytelling and the writing transmit the oppresive atmosphere from the prison and the tension the characters live in. The pacing is carefully crafted to keep you hooked, advancing steadily without infodumping. It leaves room to breath when it's needed and builds tension as the stakes rise and the misteries unfold. It has very interesting plot points and introduces new concepts to the previous seasons lore. Overall, it's a very inmersive experience with a well written femenine cast, something that sometimes is hard to find in fiction. I recomend it if you like innovative takes on super powers and extravagant everything, from clothes to fights techniques. Also, it's very gay if you know were to look. That is always good.

This is more-so an outburst of my complaints towards Araki and JJBA rather than Part 6 itself, but these problems still apply to Stone Ocean. The concepts and ideas around JJBA are so sick, especially the Stands, but it never really taps into its true potential as a story. Araki consistently creates memorable characters with goofy, outlandish character designs, but they quickly become bland and out-dated because of the lack of change and purpose. Creating quirky characters makes it hard for the audience to immerse themselves when those exact characters are so completely unrelatable and impersonal, completely devoid of realistic human traits. This specifically isa problem rooted to JJBA antagonists as a whole (maybe with the exception of Kira); unrelentingly evil and tunnel-visioned, incapable of feeling or expressing basic human emotion. How am I supposed to feel a personal connection with these characters when they are just so unlike the average human being? My main complaint with JJBA is actually the Stands, or rather, their level of involvement in each JJBA story. It’s a dope as fk idea, but it’s still just an ability/power: it should be treated accordingly as an element and tool to the plot rather than the ENTIRE IDENTITY OF THE STORY. Entire episodes are dedicated to Stand fights between the main cast and some irrelevant “antagonist” who serves no purpose to the outcome or development of the plot other than displaying their special, mysterious power. If you think about it, these are no different from filler episodes- resulting in neither advancement of plot nor development of character. The middle portions of each JJBA story are so painful to consume because of these disguised filler episodes. You could cut the 10-12ish episodes separating the beginning and end and you’d still be able to piece together a cohesive story lmao. They literally exist for the sole purpose of showcasing Araki’s ability to imagine unique powers. Tbh tho, I can understand why people would enjoy this but I got sick of it mad quick and Araki’s already recycling Stand abilities with similar ones that we’ve already seen before. I think most people enjoy JJBA for what it is and I honestly understand. I just find it hard to force myself through that insignificant, forgettable part of the story where it’s just Stand fight after Stand fight and barely anything actually critical to the plot happening. Part 6 itself started off pretty interesting but alas, shared the same fate as the other parts once it passed the initial phase. Imma just call that the “Part 3 disease” because literally everything preceding the Dio fight served no purpose to the plot. I will say tho, Part 6 doesn’t seem to have any of those “Araki forgot” moments that are so exemplary of bad writing yet never presented as a problem in conversations concerning JJBA. If you like the concept of Stands and want to engage in the JJBA memes, go ahead and watch JJBA. I don’t think I could even recommend this to action/shonen enjoyers because most JJBA fights aren’t even straight-up combat. The MC usually wins through some tactical brilliance rather than sheer force. JJBA plotlines are always extremely linear and uninspiring anyway, so really the entire franchise’s identity is the Stand power system itself, like I said.

I am now deathly afraid of how the Steel Ball Run adaptation is going to turn out. The second batch of episodes manages to mostly capture the energy, wackiness and bloody violence of the first batch and more, but the way this part has been handled is seriously one of the biggest displays of incompetency I've ever seen in this medium. Aside from the mass release of episodes killing weekly discussion and hype, Netflix didn't even bother to add in a recap in episode 13 despite it being NINE MONTHS since the last episode, and made no efforts to promote this release in any way.If I didn't see a reminder on the JoJo subreddit I would not have remembered that it came out. Story - With this batch, I am reminded why Stone Ocean wasn’t as interesting to me as the other parts until after the prison break in the manga. A lot of the arcs in this batch are just not very interesting and while seeing these scenes animated does make it a bit better, it’s still by far the weakest aspect in part 6, and the writing does not help because some of the dialogue is very bad and even ironic enjoyment isn’t enough to overlook it. At least it ends on a strong note. As a fan of Christopher Nolan’s Memento, the last two episodes are one big reference to that film and I really enjoyed watching it. Characters - Jolyne remains in my top 3 favorite JoJos alongside Jotaro and Johnny. She is just so badass and her design and Stand are just so sick, and her brash personality is very endearing and fun to watch. Ermes is given more backstory and her fight with Sports Maxx, while not the best looking, I found to still pack a lot of emotional punch. Foo Fighters is the highlight for this batch, and her struggle with identity and consciousness was very poignant and her fear of losing them was very relatable and sad. Anasui is finally given a chance to shine and he is… quite an interesting character to say the least, and Diver Down is an awesome Stand as well. As for Enrico Pucci and Whitesnake… It's incredible just how menacing, cold, and calculating the anime made them both look, and he’s now one of my favorite JoJo villains. Animation - The animation quality overall is... honestly incredibly mediocre. Whether it's because of the pandemic or Netflix's tomfoolery or a combination of both, it just looked super off. Faces, animation, CGI, background, you name it, it was super shoddy and very noticeable and a considerable step down not just from other parts but the first batch. It does get much better for Planet Waves and Jailhouse Lock at the very least and the fights for those arcs were given justice, but everything else was just so off-putting. I have a feeling the blu-ray comparisons are going to be very noticeable this time around. Sound - Ai Fairouz as Jolyne is literal perfection. Nothing more to say. Ermes and Foo Fighters sound great, Daisuke Namikawa is perfect as Narciso Anasui and he seems to have a particular talent for voicing hot but morally questionable men (I forgot just how creepy Anasui was lmao), Tomokazu Seki as Enrico Pucci is simply incredible and is honestly on par with Koyasu’s portrayal of DIO, and even minor characters such as Kenzou, Miu Miu, and Viviano Westwood, etc. all sounded fantastic as expected. OP and ED are a banger as usual and I don't skip them ever. Sound effects are done very well and add to the brutality of these fights. Overall, despite major issues that I had with the animations, I think David Productions did a pretty serviceable job with adapting the weakest overall aspect of Stone Ocean, and I am looking forward to the third batch because that is when things will truly escalate into batshit insanity and it will be glorious to witness. I just wish Netflix cared more and hope that they will approach Part 7 in a very different manner, because otherwise we're in trouble.