How Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Completely Changed the Series

Major Spoilers for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean’s finale ahead

The generations-spanning epic Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has just concluded the eighth part of its manga, but the most significant point in the entire series was undoubtedly in part six, Stone Ocean. The announcement of Stone Ocean‘s anime adaptation has led fans to rejoice, but aside from being the debut of the first female Joestar, what makes Stone Ocean so important?

The sixth installment follows Jolyne Cujoh, daughter of part 3’s protagonist Jotaro Kujo. As is typical for Jojo heroes, the story revolves around the consequences of her family’s actions in previous parts, particularly Jotaro and Joseph’s battle against Dio in Egypt. Jolyne ends up battling against one of Dio’s surviving minions, out for revenge and setting the stage for what he hopes will be Dio’s return. While the Joestars have gone up against enemies with incredible Stand powers before, from Dio’s time stop to Kira’s reversal of time, the villain of part six, Pucci, aims to use his stand to reshape the entire universe into one where Dio reigns supreme. The stakes for Jolyne are higher than any of her predecessors… and they didn’t quite pull it off this time.

In Stone Ocean‘s final arc, Jolyne and her companions confront Pucci to prevent him from obtaining this ultimate stand power, but are essentially too late. Pucci begins creating a new universe that, should it be allowed to expand outward, will overwrite the previous reality–getting rid of the Joestar family for good by killing them before they’re incorporated into the new universe. Pucci goes on a truly brutal rampage, taking out heroes right and left… until only one character, the least combat-savvy Emporio, remains alive. Emporio manages to take out Pucci, killing him in the alternate universe and preventing his soul from returning to the original. But this doesn’t just kill Pucci: it deletes him from existence, so his influence on the world is erased, which stops the events of Stone Ocean from ever happening.

It’s interesting to note that, while the next part, Steel Ball Run, is set in an alternate continuity, it isn’t the same alternate universe established at the end of Stone Ocean. For example, in the Steel Ball Run/Jojolion continuity, the entire history of the Joestar family is radically different, and while some characters like Joseph and Holly are shown to still exist, others like Jotaro demonstrably couldn’t. Jotaro is shown in the post-final battle new universe in Stone Ocean and has led a significantly different life without Pucci’s interference. And in this universe, Jotaro names his daughter Irene, not Jolyne–symbolizing the end of the need for “JoJo”s in this universe. While fans are divided on whether or not this universal rewrite counts as a “happy ending,” Stone Ocean acts as the capstone for the original continuity.

While its ending remains extremely controversial, Stone Ocean establishes the existence of multiple universes, something which becomes an essential fact for the world of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure moving forward. Whether this will continue being the case as the series soon moves on to a part nine remains unknown for now, but with the way villains’ powers have escalated over time, it’s certainly not something that can be ruled out.

About The Author

Carlyle Edmundson
(231 Articles Published)

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Carlyle Edmundson is a news and features writer with an affinity for science fiction and fantasy. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a BS in Film Studies and is glad that it’s relevant to his work. A lifelong fan of anime and manga, he has attended dozens of conventions over the years and may or may not have cosplayed at them. He is also the author of the Dystopian Detective series, available from most places ebooks are sold.

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