My thoughts so far - Stone Ocean

I was inspired to begin this note after finishing Part 6 Stone Ocean. First, I want to begin with how I have the parts ranked currently:

1.      Part 5 Golden Wind

2.      Part 3 Stardust Crusaders

3.      Part 6 Stone Ocean

4.      Part 4 Diamond is Unbreakable

5.      Part 1 Phantom Blood

6.      Part 2 Battle Tendency (re-reading)

The reason I believe Part 5 is the best is because of Diavolo as a villain. He’s a mysterious mafia boss that no one knows anything about. I think this type of villain is exactly what JoJo’s needs to be very interesting. It’s also the reason part 3 is so good. Dio is brought up as the main villain from the very beginning. And it’s also why I think part 4 falls a little short. If Kira was the the big bad since the beginning, I think it would have been more interesting.

Now into the real meat and potatoes as to why I started to write this. Hirohiko Araki cannot fucking help himself. I honestly can’t believe this. How is it that every single main villain has an ability that affects time/ has something to do with time. Dio: time stop, Kira: bites the dust (groundhog day bullshit), Diavolo: can see the future and change it, Pucci: accelerates time. I saw Pale Snake and thought, holy shit we’re not gonna have a time-based villain this time. God fucking damn it. I think the real reason I’m upset about it is because the ending felt shallow to me. Why the fuck is Jolyne’s name Irene now. Does the whole timeline change now? Will any of this be explained?

When I first started watching Stone Ocean, I felt that this would be my favorite part so far. And in the beginning, it was. But after our heroes left the prison, I think it really lost the plot. In my opinion part 6 peaks when Jolyne is fighting with Weather Forecast and she gets saved by the frog rain. However, I will applaud Araki’s continuous willingness to kill off characters. I love that shit. Overall I enjoyed this part well enough, but it could have been better for sure.

As of writing this I have read chapter 1 of Part 7. As I expected this new timeline is not explained and we are now in the 1800s. I hope and pray there is a character related to the Joestars or named JoJo in this part, or I will be very sad and hurt. Still, I think the premise of the Steel Ball Run is very cool and I am excited. After reading the entirety of Part 7, I will continue this note.