Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 6: Stone Ocean vol. 1

Yeah, I know this came out back in November.  I didn’t plan to have it sit on my “To Review” pile for this long, but… it just happened.  Don’t take this as an indictment of this latest series’ quality following the end of “Golden Wind.”  While it was good overall, it was the rare title to fumble away a lot of its goodwill with an overly confusing ending.  “Part 6” is representative of a fresh start, even though its ties to “Part 3 – Stardust Crusaders” are much stronger than its predecessor.  Even so, this first volume shows that the “Jojo’s” formula of over-the-top-action and strategizing hasn’t worn out its welcome yet.

We’re immediately introduced to the protagonist of this part, Jolyne Cujoh in some bad circumstances.  She’s in jail awaiting a trial after her boyfriend stole a car and hit a homeless man with it while she was in it at the time.  He’s convinced her to take the rap for it and he’s hired a lawyer to arrange what sounds like a pretty sweet plea deal to Jolyne as well.  Except that when the day of the trial comes, our protagonist finds out that she’s been tricked into taking the rap for a much worse crime and is now set to serve fifteen years in the Green Dolphin Street Maximum Security Prison, a.k.a. The Aquarium, in Florida.

That’s right, we’re getting a Women in Prison story (for now) with this latest installment of “Jojo’s.”  It’s also the first series to be set in America, or its wacky funhouse equivalent, given what we saw of Italy in “Part 5.”  Don’t go expecting serious look at our country’s prison system, is what I’m saying here as a lot of how the The Aquarium functions looks to have been gleaned from movies or TV.  What with the casually brutal guards and their eagerness to use violence to address all the problems that can’t be solved with a cash transaction.  Or how the pecking order is clearly established when you can’t get someone to pay back a debt they owe.  

It’s all very dramatic, and a little bit silly, but mangaka Hirohiko Araki gets away with it because he’s good about establishing the rules this world operates under.  Which leads to ways in which protagonist Jolyne has to struggle, and then thrive while working within them like any proper “Jojo’s” protagonist.  She’s an angry young adult who was well into her rebellious years when she was sent to prison, and that has done nothing for her mood either.  Still, it turns out to be the right mindset to have when your cellmate has the ability to shrink and grow you at will.

So no, the series hasn’t abandoned Stands and Jolyne gets hers relatively early on.  Stone Ocean is its name and while Giornio Giovana’s Golden Wind had a vaguely defined “Power of Life” ability, this new one has a much simpler gimmick.  In addition to having a decently strong physical form, it can unspool itself into string that can be controlled and sent nearly anywhere.  It’s not fancy, but we see our protagonist doing a lot with it here and it’s likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Which means that we’re likely in for another round of quality storytelling for this series, so long as Araki can keep it together in the final act.  Jolyne’s struggles against the prison guards and other inmates are well handled here, with the kind of cleverness in execution that you’ve come to expect from this title.  The only real concern I have comes up at the end, when  Araki takes what looks like a pretty straightforward setup, and then complicates it multiple times over.  It feels like the mangaka was trying to top himself, but only wound up tying his scenario in knots instead.

The hope is that this is going to be a one-off issue here, yet with how “Part 5” ended there’s genuine cause for concern that more instances like this will pop up later.  Still, this is a solid start to “Part 6” what with its solid action, general cleverness, interesting protagonist, and potential for family drama given who Jolyne’s father is.  As for whether or not it all pans out, I’ll be sticking around to see and following up on it soon…