Part 6: Stone Ocean



Part 6 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, subtitled Stone Ocean, is preceded by Golden Wind and followed by Steel Ball Run. Jolyne Cujoh is the JoJo for this part, and Enrico Pucci is the main antagonist. Pucci's Agents and DIO's sons are this part's villainous factions.

This is the final part set in the original continuity, the final battle to end the century-long, fateful confrontations between the Joestar family and DIO. Part 7 onward is a new series that is not connected to the first six parts.

Originally published under the title Jolyne Cujoh - Stone Ocean, the manga first released from 2000 to 2003 in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Stone Ocean was adapted into an ONA as the fifth season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation in 2021. It was released in three batches of episodes, titled From the Abyss of Despair, Stargazing, and Universal Gravitation.

The Part 6 manga began officially releasing in English starting in January 2022 on the Shonen Jump App, during the same time as VIZ's Golden Wind hard cover serialization. It began its hardcover release in November 2023 on a bimonthly schedule, as opposed to quarterly, making it the first JoJo part in the west to do this.

Netflix description
''Florida, U.S.A, 2011 -- After an accident while on a drive with her sweetheart, Jolyne Cujoh falls into a trap and is sentenced to fifteen years at the state-run maximum-security correctional facility Green Dolphin Street Prison—AKA "the Aquarium." On the verge of despair, she receives a pendant from her father that causes a mysterious power to awaken inside of her. "There are things in this world that are more terrifying than death, and what's happening in this prison is definitely one of them." A message from a mysterious boy who appears before Jolyne, inexplicable events that occur one after another, the horrifying truth told to her by her father when he comes to visit, and the name DIO… Will Jolyne ultimately be set free from this stone ocean they call a prison? The final battle to end the century-long, fateful confrontations between the Joestar family and DIO begins!!''

Summary
In Florida in 2011, follows Jotaro Kujo's daughter Jolyne Cujoh after she is sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. While learning about the bizarre rules and prisoners in the Green Dolphin Street Prison, Jolyne discovers the evil plot perpetrated by Enrico Pucci to steal her father's memory, and read the contents of a diary left behind by DIO, which tell of a way to reach "Heaven" and let Pucci be able to change fate. Jolyne is accompanied by Ermes Costello, Emporio Alniño, Foo Fighters, Narciso Anasui, and Weather Report, as they attempt to save Jotaro and stop Pucci. The story ends with five of them, including Jotaro, being killed by Pucci, as his plans come to fruition and the universe is reset. He is ultimately defeated by Emporio, which causes the universe to be reset again, creating a new world untouched by Pucci's influence, ending the curse of the Joestar bloodline for good.

Characters

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Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci (2011)
A one-shot manga chapter written by Araki starring Jolyne and a few character from Part 5 in collaboration with the Gucci clothing brand. It is non-canon, as it features the likes of Jolyne included with Part 5 characters who could never meet otherwise. Also considering that Araki's other brand deal featured manga also is non-canon, it's safe to say this one is as well.

This spin-off received an official English translation in January 2013 and was released digitally for a limited time.

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE OVER HEAVEN (2011)
A light-novel written by Niso Isin in 2011 that's meant to be the lost transcript of DIO's diary featured in Part 6. It also includes explanations for many of the obscure parts of Dio's plan and his life, including his backstory with his mother, his thoughts and feelings during the events of Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusaders, and explanations for why he needed 36 sinners to sacrifice for the Heaven plan, and how he came up with the idea of "Heaven" in the first place.

It also gives an explanation as to how DIO survived in the coffin between the events of Parts 1 and 3. In this novel, it is explained that Erina saved DIO out of the goodness of her heart and placed herself in the coffin with him. This contradicts canon, as in Part 3 it is shown that DIO survived through a hidden compartment at the bottom of the coffin.

Fujiko's Bizarre Virgin Art -Whitesnake's Miscalculation- (2021)
A one-shot featuring Jolyne written by Sho Aimoto, author of the series Kemono Jihen. It takes place during the events of Part 6, presumably before the events of the Savage Garden arc, where Jolyne meets a mysterious prisoner who makes continuous tearful requests for someone to draw her. It released in December 2021.

The story is 26 pages and tells the story of a Stand User that Whitesnake created in the prison named Fujiko Fujiyama. Whitesnake gives her the Stand Bad Romance, which she uses to control Jolyne's emotions using her drawings. The plan backfires however, because Fujiko becomes infatuated with Jolyne, and her ability to dehabilitate her ends up helping her. In the end Fujiko's memories and Stand are taken by Whitesnake and it's made as though she never existed.

Escape From JoJo's Bizarre Nightmare (2023)
An escape room based on the anime adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, set during Part 6 with an original story and a new enemy Stand. It is the third installment in a "JoJo Escape" series. It features Jolyne, Ermes, Weather, and Anasui, meaning it takes place sometime around the Jail House Lock Arc possibly. A team of up to four players are trapped in a single room in the Green Dolphin Street Prison and must solve puzzles and look for clues on how to escape and find the identity of this Stand User. The event will run from October 2023 to January 2024 in four locations starting in Tokyo.

Creation and Development
It's possible Araki planned Part 6 to be the final part in the original lineage as early as the end of Part 5's serialization. He commented in an interview with Monsoon in April 1999 that the series was almost over. At that point he had also already decided that Part 6 would be set in the future, but how far and how the protagonist would relate to the Joestars was still undecided by then.

It is well-known that Steel Ball Run first began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump without the "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" supertitle, but before Stone Ocean 's release, WSJ had asked him to remove the title then, but he refused, until he finally gave in prior to Part 7's release.

Stone Ocean is the first part to keep the same subtitle between magazine release and later manga releases. Araki stated that the "Stone" in Stone Ocean refers to Jolyne's will, and the "Ocean" is all of womankind. The part's title also continues the trend of the last three of the part being named after the protagonist's Stand.

Trivia

 * The end of Part 6, that being with the universe being reset, does not lead into Part 7 that takes place in an alternate universe. Araki stated that he felt that he was at his peak with Stone Ocean and wanted to go back to his roots for Part 7.
 * Donatello Versace's backstory is very similar to that of Stanley Yelnat's from the movie "Holes."
 * This is the first season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation not to premiere in either April or October. Its Netflix premiere date is in December and the date it returned to Japanese television was in January.
 * It is the first official English translation of the series to be released digitally before in physical volume format.
 * In early Part 6, Jolyne had a habit of using the word "fly" a lot, which is what the spin-off Jolyne, Fly High With Gucci is referencing in its title.
 * This is the first part of the series to drop the roman numeral numbering system, as every part previously had been referred to by them.
 * Stone Ocean 's magazine chapters were called "Acts" in their original release, as opposed to chapters.

Iconography
Similarly to Part 5, one image is most noticeably representable for Part 6, that being the butterfly. It is an iconic piece on Jolyne's chest and as a tattoo on her arm, and it is used most often to represent Stone Ocean. It is used in the Bunkoban edition logo, the anime logo, VIZ's official English logo, and its representational icon in All-Star Battle and Eyes of Heaven. The butterfly logo is most often depicted with a dagger in the center, mimicking Jolyne's iconic tattoo, and the heart that is around it in the part of Jolyne's clothing where it appears.

Other less notable icons with regards to Stone Ocean include the heart, strings or webs, the moon, and the sign of infinity. All of these are used dispersed through promotional material for the anime adaptation and manga media. Strings and webs are used in the official English cover for Stone Ocean's manga and some anime materials, and the sign of infinity is most noticeably part of the centerpiece for the anime adaptation's official logo.

Continuity

 * Jolyne Cujoh, the main protagonist of this part, is the daughter of Jotaro Kujo. While she was born before Part 4 took place, she does not appear or get mentioned in any official media.
 * Enrico Pucci, the main antagonist of this part, is revealed to be a minion of DIO and his confidant. DIO's true plans are finally revealed, after first being alluded to in Part 4, which are to "attain Heaven." DIO left behind a notebook in his mansion that listed all the steps to achieve heaven, which was subsequently burnt by Jotaro after the events of Part 3.
 * It is also revealed that DIO left a bone from his finger in Pucci's possession, should his plan backfire and he dies before it can be completed. This ends up actually being the case, and Pucci uses the bone to create a spawn of DIO known as the Green Baby, which Pucci fuses his Stand with to become Made in Heaven.
 * Another one of DIO's minions is revealed in this part, the blind master sniper, Johngalli A.
 * The flashbacks between DIO and Pucci show the model ship DIO had on display in his room is actually a model recreation of the ship that he and Jonathan had their fateful final battle on.
 * Jotaro sends Jolyne an Arrow shard in the mail with her belongings in order to unlock her Stand. It is unknown exactly which Arrow this is a shard of, but it is likely the one that came to be in the Speedwagon Foundation's possession in Part 4, the one originally belonging to Keicho Nijimura.
 * It was also likely broken to a small shard in order to fit it in her locket.
 * Jotaro reappears in this part as a major ally for the beginnings and ends of this part. He is the only returning character from a previous part in Part 6.
 * The manga that Yo-Yo Ma gives to Jolyne during the Yo-Yo Ma is Coming! arc is a volume of Pink Dark Boy, Rohan Kishibe from Part 4's manga series.
 * This part reveals that DIO had three other children besides Giorno, Donatello Veruss, Ungalo, and Rykiel. Each of them had an unfortunate upbringing, which led them down bad paths in life.
 * Roundabout2.jpg the end of the part, the universe is reset and most of the main cast, save for Emporio, lose their memories of the entire part. With the universe being reset, Pucci's influence on the Joestar group and the world disappears.
 * The universe reset does not affect the continuity of the previous or future parts, as the timeline changes are mostly confined to the events of Part 6 and the characters surrounding it.
 * The ending sequence in the anime adaptation may confirm this, as it shows visuals of all of the past parts, including Jonathan with Danny, Joseph and Caesar, the Crusaders, the Morioh Town residents, and Team Bucciarati getting in a boat together. The final sequence shows the events of the end of Part 6 in the new universe, so it's possible it's showing that they are all in the same world.

Gallery
"'Thank you very much for reading Part 6 'Stone Ocean'. See you in the next part, 'Steel Ball Run''"