JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean

Let me have my fandom, 'kay?

Okay so I'm gonna level with you, I have absolutely no excuse for making this entry on a blog that is supposed to be about gaming. No tangential links, no segue ways, no clever weaved deeper inner meaning hiding between the lines and betraying a simply effortless critique and summation of the struggle between ballooning development costs and reduced development time across the industry. (Although there is a blog there somewhere) No, this here is deeply personal. Because you see, I'm a lonely fellow down here in the middle of nowhere, so when I want to go crazy about a topic I really like, there's not really any outlets for that. I can maintain a prolonged multifaceted conversation about the topic with myself, but after years of doing just that I've been informed by those that have walked in on me that this often comes off as 'creepy' or 'unhealthy'. (Philistines!) So this is a blog about an Anime that I can't get out of head because I'm so excited for it. No, I won't be making a habit out of this, this blog needs to about be something focused and the font of the games industry seeps endless, but I need a release. So here I am, releasing about that badass trailer for 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean' that just dropped.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, you heard of it? I go on about it here often enough. It's a series that I only really got into recently (As in, hardly more than a year ago) and thus I'm very belayed in coming to terms with the various ways in which the franchise has influenced Japanese pop culture and touched many of the brands I would come to love without even realising it. Imagine my shock when in The Golden Wind Bruno led Giorno into his favourite café, only to introduce him to- Sephiroth? No, that's Abbacchio, but it's obvious who the designers over at Square Enix were sending up to when they showed off their grey-haired antagonist back in 1997, right in the middle of The Golden Wind's manga run. I would also come to find the odd vague reference in Pokemon, and perhaps less surprisingly, in Persona. (Although I will say I was totally thrown for a loop when out of nowhere, during the Yakuza 0 secret boss, Majima literally named the series with no provocation whatsoever.) With time and effort I've come to know the series, and have even started reading the manga at by own slow pace.

What I'm trying to convey is that I am along for the Jojo ride as it releases in David Productions adaptation of it; and all my knowledge of the franchise is centralised around that series. I've watched other related stuff like OVA of Stardust Crusaders, Thus Spoke Koshibe Rohan, (The animated and live action versions) and I've dipped my toes into further reading. But I don't go beyond where the Anime has reached upto, even though through pure merit of me being so invested with this series, I know a fair bit about Parts 6-8 without having dived into the stories themselves. In fact, I'm sad to say that I know both who the main Villain is of Stone Ocean and the name of their Stand, something which I hope isn't going to ruin some great reveal for me at the end of the series like The Boss was meant to be from Golden Wind. Incidentally, through arses on the Internet, I also know the single biggest spoiler it's possible to know about the events of Stone Ocean. And I'm sure those familiar both know exactly what I mean and can sympathise with my frustration over that fact. Regardless of having said all that; I'm still hyped as heck for the new series.

Jojo is so much fun to me, effortlessly dancing between humour and tragedy like some doom-bidden 17th Century playwright. Araki's sense of humor never fails to worm under my usually pretty stoic armour, and his creativity can make even the most mundane of encounters into some wildly overdramatic duel of the fates. Who remembers when Koshibe Rohan went up against a kid who's power was that he liked playing Janken? (Rock, Paper, Scissors) What started as a harmless kids game, which was endlessly annoying to Rohan, ballooned into a grand overly-dramatic standoff between wills and fate, as both dared the other to ever more dangerous... RPS moves. It was literally just an arc about a kids' game, but Araki's world, and David Production's animation, managed to elevate that concept and refine it into a brilliantly ludicrous episode that is unforgettable. (Then again, almost all of Diamond is Unbreakable is memorable to me, as it's currently my favourite Part) This is the magic I'm hoping for out of the newly unveiled Stone Ocean.

Set in Florida 2011, Part 6 of Jojo, coined Stone Ocean, is set to follow Jolyne Cujoh, the only female Jojo protagonist so far, as she struggles from within prison to prove her innocence and get back at whoever framed her. A simple enough set up, but I'm sure that when thrown into the world of Stands, Spirits and metaphysical discussions about the reaches of fate; this series is going to springboard into that ever-inciting crazy territory real quick. I, for one, am very interested in how Stone Free is going to play out in the series, as I've taken great care to ensure that I know literally nothing about it's abilities so that I might have that same moment of utter surprise I had when I saw Josuke and Giorno's Stands. To the eye of the uninformed layman, It looks like the Stand is actually made up of Jolyne herself, which is quite interesting, and it unravels from her body in order to materialise itself. (At least that's what I thought I saw from the trailer) I wonder how having a Stand literally connected to yourself, that needs to unwind rather than materialise, could make the user vulnerable, if that is something which will be explored at all.

I'm also very pumped to see this supporting cast, as people who are more familiar with the material than me seem to have some very strong opinions about some of these Jobros. (If 'JoBros' even applies this time around given the setting of a woman's penitentiary) I've heard such heavy-hearted opinions such as "utterly stupid" and "nonsensical" dropped here and there, so I just need to see what has people so worked up over this cast in particular. And, of course, I'm always happy to see our Ocean-man Jotaro Kujo actually showing up to see his daughter. The same daughter who would have been a small child by the events of 'Diamond Is Unbreakable', but Jotaro still went off to Japan for several months in order to look at Starfish. Yeah, I'm sure he looked up the whole 'inheritance' thing to justify the trip to the wife, but we all know he was there for the marine life. (What else could he have been busy with for half the series?)

But how could I even mention Stone Ocean without brining up the theme. That theme! The music which Yugo Kanno composes for the series, as well as the various opening themes which get made from other artists and Western ending themes which are picked by Araki, are nothing short of legendary. One theme in particular, Il Vento D'oro (otherwise known as Giorno's Theme) quite literally surpasses the anime itself in popularity. As such, hopefuls were hopping like maniacs in anticipation of Joylne's Theme, and I think that most of us expected having to wait until the premiere of the show. The gods smile on us, however, because for a brief snippet at the end of the trailer we actually got a chance to hear a cut-out of the song itself and the Jojo fans of the Internet went wild. I can't count the amount of reaction memes I've seen to the Jolyne theme after less than three days, people are stoked for it. (Either that or they're sick of the two years of Giorno's Theme being played everywhere, they need a new king to take the throne.)

One comparison which I've seen bought up a couple of times is that the Theme is similar to Wonder Woman's modern DCEU Theme in choice of instrument and a few of the chords. I see the resemblance, however I was never a fan of the WW theme and so I can't say I think it's a rip-off per-se. (I actually like this one, afterall) The theme actually surprised me in that it wasn't a retread of Stardust Crusaders (Jotaro's Theme) like a lot of people immediately assumed it would be, although in hindsight I can't imagine Yugo Kanno wanting to directly court accusations of him copying himself. (And I'm sure there'll be the old Jotaro riff thrown in there for prosperities' sake. Josuke got a snippet of that riff in his theme, afterall.) I do appreciate the leaning into Giorno's Theme's use of voices in the song, as it elevates the scene it's played in by making events feel bigger, like there's a chorus cheering on the hero at the most grand moments; and I just love hearing the name of the part be used. (There's no other opportunity in which we'll get to hear that.)

So this December comes with it's very own bounties for us in Jojo's Stone Ocean at it lands on Netflix, probably not over on this side of the world however, because Netflix hates everyone who doesn't own a VPN. (I know I need to get one, get off my back already!) Everything I've seen, heard or felt so far has been really exciting and I'm just happy to accept Jolyne into the Joestar Pantheon as it's been waiting patiently for so long. Also, I do know that those familiar with the entire franchise seem to almost ubiquitously agree that Part 7, Steel Ball Run, is the best that Jojo currently has to offer; and so a morbid part of me is waiting for Stone Ocean to be done and out of the way so I can start waiting on what many are hoping will be the Magnum Opus of this Anime run. But the rest of is me just as excited for Jolyne in the now, and wants to see her story firsthand. (Johnny, and his great franchise reboot, can wait) That's about the extent of my feelings, I thank you for sticking with my extended geek-out and hope you can appreciate how excited I am to experience what, in a way, is the finale to a nearly 10 year old series. (There will be more stories, but they won't be in the world and with the characters I've come to love) Okay, Weeb officially exorcised, now the gaming degenerate can reassume control.