Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 2
The first instalment of this new "behind closed doors" adventure starring Jolyne Kujo, the first female protagonist in the franchise, was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 1.
It has exciting side characters and antagonists, and it moves the plot forward at a great clip. There were several visually magnificent action moments and humorous scenes in the early half. Unfortunately, there were some problems in the first section as well.
Some of the antagonists from the first chapter didn't make an impression on me. Computer animation gave certain figures an odd appearance.
Despite having excellent personalities and skills, some of the supporting protagonists didn't receive as much screen time as our female lead.
Jolyne and Jotaro, in my opinion, settled their differences too quickly, which made her determination to help him seem a little less sincere.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 2 is now available. This section covers episodes 13 through 24, each of which has a runtime of approximately 25 minutes.
As one can see, there were a lot of unmet expectations for this portion as a continuation and follow-up. Despite numerous ways in which it improves upon the previous portion, some new and old problems surface, hurting its prospects of hitting a home run.
Jolyne mailed her father's Stand disc to the Speedwagon Foundation a few days prior to the events of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.
She is imprisoned in the prison's punishment ward after being charged with fatal accidents that occurred there.
There are numerous altercations, but Jolyne prevails because of her allies. One of them tells Jolyne that Enrico Pucci is a user of Whitesnake's Stand.
Pucci, however, is able to finish the next stage of his scheme with Dio's bone thanks to certain unanticipated events that befall our heroes. Jolyne and her allies wind up back in jail in the meantime.
Mew Mew, the head jail guard and a collaborator of Pucci, causes them problems with her numbing Stand "Jail House Lock."
Jolyne overcomes Mew Mew with the aid of Emporio Alnio, her buddy.
Jolyne and her pals seek to break out of the prison as this section comes to a close in an effort to stop Pucci from carrying out the last stage of his and Dio's long-term maniacal plot.
The second instalment of Stone Ocean continues the original part's formula while adding new extras. While introducing new antagonists for Jolyne to combat, it also provides our supporting heroines some much-needed screen time.
We also learn more about Stands' past and observe advancements in the friendship between Dio and Pucci. But the latter does not receive enough attention.
Outside of one scene, the subject is not discussed, which is something I wish was the case. Nevertheless, I found it entertaining to witness Stone Ocean take on a challenge that neither I nor previous instalments in this genre had anticipated.
Despite having some interesting ideas and a thrilling cliffhanger, the plot of chapter two left me cold in many ways.
For instance, I had conflicting feelings about the antagonists introduced in this section. I loved Kenzou and Westwood as foes since the anime took the time to develop their traits, personalities, and skills.
Others, meanwhile, felt like wasted potential despite being pumped up by dialogue or dramatic setting, such Sports Maximum, Guccio, and D and G.
While many conflicts in this anime end in pleasure and shock, others have unhappy endings.
For instance, I didn't like the way Kenzou and the Foo Fighters' bout ended because it was too silly and unsatisfying.
It should have ended when F.F. locks Kenzou and herself in the electrocution chair, in my opinion.
It would have added drama and satisfaction, especially for the character of F.F. Even though F.F. succeeds in subsequent battles, none of them matter or are handed to her to advance the story.
Because of this, Kenzou and her fight should have ended with F.F. eliminating him without assistance from Anastasia or Jolyne.
In addition to these problems, part two has an excessive amount of story convenience and poorly handles "time." For instance, the story frequently flips back and forth between various current events.
Transitions weren't seamless, and occasionally there were no "text indicators" to let the audience know whether we were in the present or the past.
To keep spectators informed, it would seem simple to overlay the animation with a text layer that reads, "_ years later." It's a strange choice that occasionally creates an uncomfortable situation.
There were many instances where the anime made dubious choices in terms of plot convenience. The fight between F.F. and Enrico Pucci came to mind.
Most of our villains receive their abilities from Pucci, but carrying a special disc to counteract F.F.'s abilities seems nonsensical.
Anastasia's victory versus Guccio also seems unsettling and excessively fortunate. The entire scenario seems out of place, and I much like seeing our heroes use more conventional methods to take down Guccio.
The majority of the returning and new cast members were handled noticeably better in the second episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean. Jolyne doesn't take centre stage like she did in the first section. She still has a nice personality, but she seems different. She still possesses her previous harsh, coarse, and raucous qualities, mind you.
On the other hand, the conflicts and circumstances she finds herself in serve to enhance her compassionate and insightful personality. As we witness a touching, spiritual moment between them, I thought they handled her newly discovered respect for Jotaro here better than in the first section.
Even though I like Jolyne, I'm glad the anime spent more time developing our other heroes. The actors I connected with the most in this were Ermes and F.F.
My blood started to boil as I saw him play with Ermes and tell her her sister deserved to die. I found satisfaction in watching Ermes fling countless fists in his direction.
It was a great act of atonement because I cried when I saw Ermes's sister's soul embrace her later. Fortunately, I also found that I liked F.F.'s character a lot.
Despite the fact that F.F. does not share Ermes' emotional upbringing, she significantly contributed to this story. With its choice to ignore Jolyne, the character of F.F. gains greater depth.
F.F. strives to become more human despite leading a bug's life and takes numerous steps to do so. However, we do get to see her.
Even though I had issues with some of her battle's endings, I thought how she used both human and insect-like intelligence in them to be fascinating and appealing.
I was able to care about a non-human entity because to the anime. Her parting remarks to Jolyne still make me feel deeply moved, even if I wish we had seen her interact with her away from the battlefield.
While Ermes, F.F., and Jolyne were handled well in the anime, I contend that the other characters left me with conflicted emotions. The characteristics of Anastasia and Emporio struck me as being inconsistent in that regard.
The Stand powers of both characters are intriguing, but their personalities are a little off-putting and overly eccentric. For example, Anastasia's affection for Jolyne seems forced.
The two's humorous exchanges are entertaining but annoying. It would have been preferable if this romance had begun in part one so that it would feel less awkward and more wholesome.
The case of Emporio is intriguing. He serves as the team's worry-wort for the most of the series. He has a tendency to offer negative viewpoints, and the amount of displeasure in his voice frequently irritates me.
Some of the villains in the series were amazing, while others were underwhelming. As I already mentioned, several villains received significant build-ups but fell short of my expectations.
The attention spent on some villains, such as Westwood, Kenzou, and Mew Mew, was fantastic. Unfortunately, some people suffer from the perception that they are nothing more than forgettable training tools for our heroes.
The series' villains could have been given more life if some of its silly-centric content had been eliminated.
Animation-wise, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 2 is a significant improvement over its predecessor.
Some Stands in this section, like Kenzou's Dragon's Dream and Pucci's Whitesnake, do make use of CGI.
I did, however, come to appreciate his frailty a little because of his effort in Jolyne's battle with Mew Mew. He does excellent research for a child protagonist.
Jolyne defeats this part's most unpleasant and mind-numbing enemy thanks to his binary system code. He also gains some character growth from this battle.
Background characters just receive silhouettes rather than fully detailed models.
My connection to the surroundings wasn't destroyed by this creative choice, but it did make the humorous scenes seem uninspired in hindsight.
It was entertaining and plenty of action. The spiritual and symbolic picture connecting Jotaro and Ermes' sister, F.F., was my favourite. I hope the animation studio at Stone Ocean has success with the upcoming episode.
While still passionate and cheerful, the music in Part 2 is a little more memorable. Its action-packed sequences have a great soundtrack that helped some of the bouts in this section stand out more.
Stone Ocean's sound effects faithfully reproduce the tense atmosphere of its forerunners, including Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusaders.
Sadly, Stone Ocean's opening theme remained unchanged. Still, I don't think the music has the same effect as earlier JoJo's Bizarre Adventure scenes.
The soundtrack accomplishes its goal nicely and is unquestionably an improvement over part one, except from that.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean part 2 is a worthy continuation of the events introduced in part 1 despite its flaws.
It spends more time developing its supporting characters and introduces a number of new ones that will have an influence on you or cause you to reflect on mankind.
She learns of Whitesnake's scheme regarding Dio's bone in the punishment ward.
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