Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6 : Stone Ocean – A Restrospective Reflection

For me, my journey through reading Stone Ocean was much different compared to previous parts. It took much longer for me to finish it as I only read a few chapters at a time. There was little excitement after the completion of each chapter, and the plot was difficult for me to follow. The entire feel was lackluster. Now, most would consider this fair evidence that the manga is not a good read. That was also my first impression right after finishing it, however only now do I realise that perhaps I did not pay close enough attention while reading, and should really give it more credit.

Thoughts on Jolyne -
The most important character of any Jojo part is usually the main Jojo. In Part 6, Jolyne, the first female Jojo, is introduced. Jolyne is the daughter of Jotaro Kujo, and begins her story in prison, reminiscent of Jotaro in Part 3. Due to this prison setting, her character development faces a problem, which Jotaro also shared. Looking at Part 4, Josuke is shown to live a normal life as a student, and we can see various aspects of his personality as he encounters enemies, talks to friends and lives his life. This is one of the things which Part 4 does really well, and was probably the addition which increased its popularity above other parts. Jotaro, despite being a 17 year old highschool student, was forced to journey to Egypt all while fighting enemy stand users pretty much on a daily basis. This meant that we couldn’t see various aspects of Jotaro which make up who he is. In Part 4 and Part 6 Jotaro plays different roles, as a supporting character. This meant that we could see what Jotaro is like when not constantly fighting, and these appearances helped readers connect with his character. Unfortunately, Jolyne’s character is faced with the same problem, and even worse, she is in prison, with no friends, no sense of security as well as having the huge task of recovering her father’s memory. Throughout Stone Ocean I felt that the majority of Jolyne’s character was shown through how she deals with her enemies, and little through her relationships with other characters. Even so, her action scenes show us her ingenuity, fighting spirit, and badassery similar to Joseph, Jonathan and Jotaro. Though she does have a unique personality it is quite hard to get a feel of and is somewhat masked by the prison setting.


MAJOR SPOILER ALERT:


Thoughts on Battles
While some battles in Stone Ocean were quite exceptional, for example Underworld, C-Moon, even Marilyn Manson, some were too difficult to understand, or outright stupid. In my opinion these are the battles against Johngalli A, Thunder McQueen, Kenzou, Miu Miu, Ungalo and the final fight against Pucci. I will explain these in detail.
The first main threat to appear is Johngalli A. While appearing to be an important character at first since he is a servant of Dio, after his first and only appearance he dies. This would be fine if he was defeated as a result of Jolyne’s efforts, since during the fight Jolyne and Jotaro were trying to defeat him. However, as the fight progresses it is suddenly revealed that they were unconscious and in a dream. “Waking up from a dream” while being attacked by a strange acid by a completely different stand user simply doesn’t not flow well, hence why I think this fight was written poorly. The fights against Thunder McQueen and Kenzou seemed a bit brute forced with little strategy, although they aren’t even that bad when compared to Ungalo/Bohemian Rhapsody. First, the stand ability is ridiculous. Bohemian Rhapsody has the power to animate fictional characters, as well as pull someone’s fate into the fate of one of the fictional characters. However, an ability this strong could only be countered by PLOT, hence creating a fictional character whose entire purpose would be to counteract the stand would, in fact, counteract the stand. That was just bad writing.
The battle against Miu Miu was quite difficult to follow. The stand ability causes the person affected to lose all long term memory after being attacked, and only keep three pieces of information in their short term memory. While the concept is quite interesting, I still cannot find a logical explanation for how the fight panned out. Jolyne was somehow able to defeat Miu Miu by receiving multiple pieces of information as a single piece, through the use of a mirror to see bullet reflections. This then poses the question, what qualifies as a piece of information? While I could understand King Crimson’s ability, I cannot understand Jailhouse Lock, therefore this battle was bad. Smh.
Finally, the ultimate battle, with 150 chapters leading up to it, was sadly anticlimactic. Compared to the defeat of Yoshikage Kira in Part 4, where multiple characters played their part to contribute towards their victory, or even Dio’s defeat in Part 3, which was mostly a Jotaro one man carry, Made in Heaven basically confused and bewildered Jolyne’s entire group, killed all but Emporio, and restarted the entire universe. Pucci was later then killed by Emporio through one stupid mistake. Think of the fight as Yoshikage Kira team wiping, then tripping and being run over by the ambulance, with none of the action in between. Maybe it was slightly better, and I am exaggerating, but the disappointment is real. Additionally, Made in Heaven’s ability was hardly explained at all, with about one page of explanation and a small diagram. This made the ending extremely confusing and controversial.

Thoughts on the Main Antagonist
Perhaps the most well written character in Stone Ocean is the main antagonist, Enrico Pucci. Part of what makes him a good villain is the way he conducts himself, in a calm and calculated way. Even as a follower of Dio, he is much more than just a pawn. The best part of Pucci, in my opinion, is the backstory. What made Part 5 all the more memorable and enjoyable for me were the backstories for each member of Passione, which enhanced the feel and character for each member. Pucci’s backstory has got to be one of the best in the entire original universe. His ties with Weather Report, Gravity and Dio made him what is described as the worst kind of evil : When one does not even know what they do is evil. His character as well as his incredible stand evolution really help him shine as an incredibly powerful but memorable villain.

Final Word
Stone Ocean pushed the boundaries of Jojo’s beyond what we as readers believed possible, and it was certainly a rough ride to the end. Part 6 had both well and poorly written moments, however given that the series has “Bizarre” in its title one shouldn’t have too many expectations going into it. If you can enjoy the manga for what it is, and not lament on what it could have been, Part 6 is an incredible part and is certainly up to standard with the rest of Jojo’s.