Juvenile delinquent fights priest with superpowers and help of friendly criminals to save life of absent father

Don’t be overwhelmed, it’s just an oversimplification of the plot of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean!

 (Without any spoilers, except for what you would see in a synopsis, which isn’t really spoiling, I think.)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean is the fifth season of the TV anime series adapted from Part 6 of the manga series by artist Araki Hirohito. The 158-chapter manga was serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from January 2000 to April 2003. As of now, the first 12 episodes by David Production have aired on Netflix.

(Although the JoJo franchise is very lengthy, technically the characters and plot of every part are independent. Theoretically, one can start watching from any part and be able to understand it as long as one does not mind slight spoilers for the previous parts.)

Stone Ocean follows the story of Jolyne Cujoh, daughter of Kujo Jotaro (the protagonist of Part 3 Stardust Crusaders). In 2011, Florida, Jolyne is wrongfully accused of a crime she didn’t commit and receives a 15-year sentence. While imprisoned, she and her friends have to fight assassins sent by the priest Enrico Pucci, who is determined to kill Jolyne and her father to extinguish the Joestar bloodline in order to achieve his vision of a perfect world in which no one fights their fate.

Currently, the JoJo franchise revolves around Stands, a physical manifestation of a person’s soul. A Stand possesses superpowers such as the ability to stop time, give inanimate objects life, or create pockets of space. Stand power comes from a meteorite carrying a virus. People who are infected will die if their souls aren’t strong enough, and if they survive, their Stand will awaken, making them Stand Users. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is about the members of the Joestar family (who are all Stand Users) and their allies fighting against other Stand Users.

Notably, Jolyne is the first and only female protagonist in all 8 parts of the JoJo franchise. Stone Ocean is also the only part with an equal number of female and male main characters, and a female artist to sing the opening theme, which is very girl power, probably. too casual diction–phrase better

The first 12 episodes have demonstrated that the production quality is up to par with the previous Vento Aureo (2018), although there has been concern about later episodes. David Production is known to lose some of its crispy visuals and detail towards the finale of JoJo seasons before.

A significant breakthrough from the series’ previous installments is the change in shot planning. Because of how the JoJo fanbase is very vocal, past anime adaptations have chosen to appeal to fans rather than expanding the base by sticking to the source material. However, while Araki’s unique style works in manga, it is less appealing in animation because the shots are too disconnected. The production team of Stone Ocean has taken a new approach that has significantly improvesthe flow of the series.

So far, the first 12 episodes of Stone Ocean look great. Hopefully, this new season will be able to live up to its predecessors and be an awesome show!

Featured image – Cover of Stone Ocean manga Courtesy of Weekly Shonen Jump