"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean"

     I remember when my friend first introduced me to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, I was skeptical, I mean all he showed me were the really weird poses and the flamboyant outfits. I mean he also loved to belt the theme song from the top of his lungs which didn't help, so it's not like I wasn't skeptical for a reason. Not to mention, the show is ridiculously long, who wouldn't feel daunted to start an anime series whose manga started in 1987? I have to admit though, once I started I was hooked, especially considering it was one of the very first anime series I willingly chose to watch, as I was a bit wary of the medium up until that point.
    

    Frankly, I think it's a good thing I started off with JJBA, because it was so ridiculous at times, and as someone who adored comic books and superheroes, it felt good to have these colourful casts supercharged with powers that really tested your imagination. And I have to admit, Stone Ocean continues that trend, and gives what I think a fitting sendoff to this current iteration of JJBA. Now, I have to preface this with saying that my favourite part has to be either Part 3 or Part 4, being Stardust Crusaders or Diamond is Unbreakable. What I loved about Part 3 was the journey that all of the group members took together, they were unstoppable in their resolve to complete their quest against Dio, and it reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender in the best way possible. On the other hand, Part 4 really shone to me for the exact opposite reason, they weren't constantly on the move, but they were situated in one spot, and I loved the episodes where they really made Morioh feel alive.

    Looking back, I wasn't the most fond of Part 5, while I do think that Golden Wind had some amazing fights, I always felt like the story could have gone a different way. Ultimately, while Giorno does become a Mafia boss, I always thought it would have been cooler if he actually climbed the mafia ranks and you met more members of the  "Stand Mafia" rather than them going on a chase for the boss. Moreover, I always felt that having it take place over the span of basically a week felt unrealistic because so much happened.

    Now, this might be a bit controversial, but I think Stone Ocean got the series back on the right track. I'm not saying by any means is Part 5 bad, but I kind of enjoyed Part 6 more. Personally, I never understood all the hate for Part 6, like I get it, Steel Ball Run is cool, but I also really enjoyed the characters in Stone Ocean, even if they really leaned into the Bizarre part of this season, I think some of the stand abilities were the most creative. 

    That's not something I say lightly either, because I really appreciate how it isn't too complicated. Too often do anime with special abilities like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man, have these complex and powerful characters, only for them to be bogged down by an ability that takes 2 pages to explain that the reader just kind of has to go along with. JJK is the most egregious with this, especially as the series wraps up its final arc, so I'm glad that the abilities still felt unique, but simple enough to pick up on pretty easily as the series goes on. I mean while it might get more confusing later on, I think the abilities for this part at least were well written.

    Speaking of unique, I would say I also enjoyed most of the characters in this part to be honest. Frankly, I don't think we got much fleshing out for any of them other than Ermes and Weather Report, but otherwise I really enjoyed the general designs and personalities of them all. Though, Jotaro is still my favourite character, something about how badass he is just stands out every time, and when he came back I'll admit I was a little excited. When it comes to Pucci, I thought he was odd because the writers are trying to make him a good person but at the same time also not? Like he does all of this moral ranting about how he's trying to make the world a better place, but not once does he really do anything that good, and literally the characters thought he was just crazy for like 80% of the series as well? I just thought it was weird how they were trying to make him a gray villain where you could side with him while also just not making him very redeemable?

    In terms of setting, I thought having it mostly take place in a prison was cool, but frankly I was never the biggest fans of series that mainly take place inside prisons, because usually it feels like it's allowed to spread its legs once it leaves the prison setting, making the prison settings look quite bad in comparison. I just don't know what there is to complain about. In terms of it being an anime, I thought it was kind of refreshing to be able to watch it but still watch with somewhat bated breath because I could hardly remember anything.

    I mean part of the issue is that I binged Stone Ocean, and I'm not quite comfortable yet reading manga so sometimes I jump around panel to panel, but otherwise I didn't remember too many details, especially near the end. Like, I vaguely remember something about Emporio fighting Pucci in the end, but I hardly remember it looking nearly as cool as it did, as I thought he was a bit whiny at times, so it was good to see it amp up some crucial moments of the manga.

Final Score: 85/100

    I mean what is there to hate about this part of JJBA? I suppose if you're sexist and hate how women appear in this series, but frankly for such a male dominated series/medium it was refreshing to have more women to take the stage, because Part 5 was the only other part that even featured a woman, and Trish wasn't that powerful anyways. I do think Netflix needed to do a better job marketing this series, because the way it was released was so pitiful, and ruined any and all hype the series had. Imagine if they released it weekly or something, people would actually be talking about the series instead of having it get buried underneath the rubble.