JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[DarthEnderX]

So far, I have no idea why so many call Stone Ocean the best Jojo-arc.

I have never heard anyone say that.

[MFauli]

I have never heard anyone say that.

What do you expect me to reply to that?

[DarthEnderX]

What do you expect me to reply to that?

[neflight86]

Just finished part 2, and I'm surprised I didn't see (expect) it not finishing in these twelve eps.

I don't know what it is, maybe the dreaded "Twin Towers" syndrome of starting and ending in the middle of an arc, but this really felt like spinning wheels to me. Of course things happened and we are presumably out of the prison now, but the whole thing was entertaining, but just not very interesting. I struggle to discuss any plot elements, but rather would like to dissect what Jojo is to me as of right now.

I don't know if this drive for horror spectacle is or has been the intent of Jojo for a while now, but it's starting to lose me. In the early era of stand Jojo, the stands themselves had fairly straightforward powers that were somewhat limited by how physically strong they were or how far away they could operate from their owner, giving some sense of balance to them. That no longer appears to be the case, for better or worse. A minor annoyance, as the real issue I take is that the trademark bizarreness has become firmly forced in my eyes. Random things happen and arbitrary explanations crop up later to 'justify' them, if they even attempt at all. Of course supernatural powers are going to break apart logically at some level, but the abilities and limitations are just becoming nonsensical as much as they are bizarre.

That leads to the fights looping into a formula of "something strange happens", "we realize we have fallen into a trap", "everybody calls each other idiots for struggling in that trap", a "false escape into despair", and "some ham-fisted stroke of luck or tactic saves the day". That has always been the basic structure of a post-hamon Jojo fight, but when we have no actual concept of the breadth or limitations of these powers, we are expected to simply turn off our brains and accept whatever the author tells us at face value about what's going on. This leads to characters saying (shouting) some pretty banal exposition in nebulous 'anime-time' where the seconds between life and death can transpire one half episode. Since the characters all share the same hyper masculine 'voice' (even if their designs become evermore effeminate), there is no one to connect with or care about, and the tension resides in the spectacle alone, or reveling in the absurdity of it- for the memes, if you will.

Let me put it this way: What do you remember the most about your favorite Jojo fights since... part 3 or so? It is likely the spectacle of the turnaround victory, not the beginning discovery or 'you sprung my trap, bakka!' portions which make up so much of each encounter. Everything builds up to the last saving twist, but that has become rote and much less engaging.

I hope the change of setting and re-introduction of Dio's menace might let this finish on a stronger note.

[MFauli]

I was shocked when I realized there's gonna be a part 3, ugh :/ Really not looking forward to another 12 episodes of this quality.

And I agree with neflight, the focus of Jojo has become something I don't enjoy anymore. The anime has become bizarre for being bizarre's sake, even at the cost of coherent storytelling. The thing is, it couldn't be more of a contrast following Golden Wind. Now don't think I'm saying GW is guilt-free of over-bizarre shit. But ultimately it managed to drive a story forward, going from place to place, and the battles ultimately made sense and were fun to watch. When I think of battles like in the train against the "brothers" or the mirror battle. And then the slow build-up to meeting the final villain. Superb.

Of course, there were weaker seasons, too, like half the world travel-arc and half the small town-arc were boring as fuck. But Stone Ocean most of the time feels like random shit happening AND everyone involved comes off as a total idiot. So much screaming because another trap was activated or someone realizes something, "WAAAaaaaaa!". If Joseph wa alive, we'd hear his "OH MY GOD" like a dozen times each episode.

Since neflight asked the question "what is Jojo for you?", I'd like to answer: My favorite seasons still are season 1 and 2, with Golden Wind being third. The reason is that there was a constant, perceivable escalation of powers. Things were bizarre, but it didn't feel like bs out of nowhere most of the time. And then, ofc, there were much more memorable villains (and friends). The problem imo is that the anime never managed to flesh out everyday life in this world. Even the smalltown arc didn't take time to just show us these characters' lives enough. When dramatic, effect-overloaded scenes follow up one after the other, it loses its effect on the audience and becomes tiresome, boring even.

There's, ofc, also the core issue that Dio is THE villain of the series, and that's what makes it hard to write the story: On one hand we all want Dio back, on the other hand he'd become lame if he appeared in every season, only to be defeated again. It'd be like Ganon.

My hope for SO part 3 is that it actually ends with a "bad end" and Dio's re-awakening. It'd be the worst case if Dio awakened early in part 3 and then was defeated by Jolyne and Jotaro again, ugh. If that happeneed I'd probably be done with the series. The only way to keep a villain fresh is by letting him win sometimes. And aren't there several other Jojos alive concurrently that could take over even if Jotaro and Jolyne are killed? Giorno should be a mafia boss. Smalltown-Jojo (forget his name) is younger than Jotaro and he's a muscle head, so he could probably replace Jotaro. And then there's his small friend who also got a stand and is still alive. Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for.

[DarthEnderX]

Still only flashback Dio. Hopefully in part 3.

[MFauli]

Part 3 is newly released, right?

[DarthEnderX]

Part 3 is newly released, right?

No, it came out in, like....December.

[MFauli]

No, it came out in, like....December.

That's what happens when you guys don't post about it :/

[DarthEnderX]

I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. Just wasn't in a Jojo mood.

[DarthEnderX]

Okay. I watched it.

Part 6 - Part 3

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That was a real wtf ending. I know that Part 7 is some kind of reboot, so I guess now I know why.

I did geek out when Roundabout hit though.

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So pretty much every final boss since they introduced Stands had a time stand:

3 - Stop time
4 - Loop time
5 - Remove time
6 - Accelerate time

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I noticed that Weather Report got a Stand because Pucchi used the arrow on himself. Which kind of confirms my theory that the arrow's power travels through bloodlines. And the reason all the Joestars got Stands back in Part 3 is because Jonathan's body was pierced by the arrow.

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I gotta say though, I don't think I enjoyed this series much in Parts 5 and 6. Like, it just keeps getting weirder, but doesn't get...better, ya know. And Jojo's overblown sorta badness is charming at first when you can just be like "Well, this was written in the 80s." But once you're in the 2000s it's like "These characters should be less stupid by now. This guy's been doing this for 30 years."

[MFauli]

I'm still far from finishing it. Stone Ocean is easily the worst Jojo arc. The part 3 is so uber bad. Abilities are so wtf that I don't understand what's going on anymore and victory/loss feels entirely random.

Really hope the next arc returns to the level of Golden Wind or even the first two seasons. Tell me the abilities of a character and then write a fight based on those without any bs.

[DarthEnderX]

Spoilers for for the end:

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Disappointed Dio didn't return. REALLY thought that's what they were setting up.

Also, lul, Jotaro only knows one way to die:

[neflight86]

“Orange is the new Jojo” goes to you-know-who: While not the most interesting thing that aired this season, it remained a constantly entertaining spectacle, though the viewer is mostly just along for the ride as the powers and fights use such fluid logic as to be rightly unpredictable by the audience. It’s the most Jojo thing since the last season of Jojo, and the female Jojo has roughly zero impact on how things play out, if anyone was wondering.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures: Stone Ocean part 2 gets the ‘two towers’ award: Like I detailed in its thread, Jojo has, as of this season, transitioned from an dynamic action adventure to a static institution. Specifically a meme factory. There is no tension as there are no indications that the characters are in any real narrative danger despite the show going out of its way to craft specific horror styled scenarios for the cast to overcome while yelling at each other. Not enough plot progression to satisfy, and leaving off on a transition in setting is the only thing it's got going for it right now. Many shows decline over time, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but it's unfortunate to see Jojo do likewise; hopefully this is just a slump.

JoJo Stone Ocean Part 3 gets the ‘DMV’ trophy immortalizing what a massive waste of time it was. Jojo has certainly been stretched thin over the last part or two in that the stand powers are just getting more and more ridiculous and esoteric in their premises. Being supernatural is the only justification there is for how nonsensical these things have wound up being. Out of the prison, the cast finally tries to settle the score with the big bad at Cape Canaveral while battling more goons of the week. I’ve said it before and it has finally become true here: you can be weird, crass, juvenile, and disjointed, but you can’t be boring. The confrontations themselves had been passable on spectacle alone until now, but the powers were mostly meta conceptual in nature and I can’t even follow what is going on anymore because the story is so strained to escalate. Why is a spoon in a hole transporting Joylene into the memory of an airplane? What does gravity have to do with reaching heaven? Cap it off with a eons heat-death time loop joke from Futurama? Thanks, but I’m good.

As I complained about over the last year, I think the whole part six was one big misstep. The author's need to escalate the powers and villains has long since passed comical proportions. The supporting cast was also pretty weak, or rather, has always been from a character perspective as these folks could have been switched out with the ones from part five and I'd expect their fights to play out just as... bizarre. The last supporting cast that felt like it had any personality was probably part 4 which was, ironically, mostly kids. If next series is a reboot, I'm all for it resetting to a lower scope where the laws of space and time don't have to be abstracted to make battles even possible with these god-like powers.

[MFauli]

Remember when Jonathan Joestar's powers were ripples? Good times.

[Buffalobiian]

Finished Ocean Stone for the sake of it.

I don't know if weekly releases would have made it more interesting or not with discussions. I just had to stop thinking and let the story play out.

Part 2 is my favourite definitely. 6 is my least favourite, and the rest I move up or down depending on mg selective memory and mood. Funnily enough I remember Part 4's antagonist being Kira but I had forgotten who the main Jojo of that arc was until I looked it up.