Stone Ocean Ends on a Muted Yet Defiant Note

On December 1st, 2022, episodes 25–38 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean finally went live on Netflix, completing the series that had been hyped up a year ago. Yet outside of diehard fan circles, you’d be forgiven for missing out almost entirely. What should have been the grand finale to Part 6 of Hirohiko Araki’s long-running saga seems to have gone out on a more muted, if defiant note.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure STONE OCEAN Episodes 25-38 The Final Episodes hit Netflix on Dec 1! pic.twitter.com/QplKGDD2uU

— Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) October 7, 2022

Credit where it’s due, though. In contrast to the near-radio silence around the second batch of episodes, which I previously touched on, Netflix made more of an effort to promote the finale ahead of time. In practice, this still came across as sluggish and piecemeal, compared to the media blitz surrounding the original premiere. Anime fans felt a sense of déjà vu from the company’s “too little, too late” attempt at stoking interest. Rather than generating hype or renewed interest in the show, it instead fostered disapproval, if not general outrage. The dreaded “Netflix jail” seems to have struck again.

One consequence of this anti-hype has been the more critical tone among some on social media. Kotaku, for example, remarked how the model had robbed dramatic weight from pivotal moments because the streaming service would just autoplay the next episode before giving viewers enough time to digest it. Others lamented the loss of the weekly discussions that followed earlier JoJo shows or lost interest altogether, blaming Netflix for stirring a seemingly large sense of apathy.

This, as J-List‘s own Peter Payne attests, is a shame.

Also here are some of my own receipts. I WAS excited for the Stone Ocean anime initially, but Netflix absolutely threw a wrench into that. pic.twitter.com/DsmU1Q6cG8

— Rin | 凛 (@TheIshikawaRin) December 2, 2022

Look past the controversies surrounding the distribution and promotion of the anime, and you’ll find a crisply animated adventure that’s as insanely executed as it is insane, period. The anime manages to do justice to the original manga, which had previously been derided by some as the weakest part of the JoJo saga due to its darker tone and infamous ending. Yet despite the odds stacked against it, the story of Jolyne, Jotaro, and the Joestar bloodline defiantly makes it to the finish line.

It may not be over just yet, either. A week on from the final batch’s airing, more people seem to be paying attention, with some of the top-rated episodes in David Production’s lineup belonging to the ones around the grand finale. Given enough time, at least until Part 7 gets adapted, perhaps Stone Ocean may be able to fully escape the Netflix jail stigma and stand proudly as the great entry that it is. What are your thoughts on the anime, or on how it’s been treated? Feel free to comment below!

https://twitter.com/Saitamagoated/status/1599178963234197504