Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 6: Stone Ocean vol. 7

I was hoping that mangaka Hirohiko Araki would rein himself in after the previous volume felt like it was all over the place in terms of its quality and focus.  That doesn’t happen here as it seems that he’s going to try and go bigger and weirder before this Part is over.  As “Bohemian Ecstatic” showed in vol. 6, that’s not always a good thing, but at least we only get two more chapters before the reset button is hit and we don’t have to mention it again.  The arc that follows, “Sky Guy,” is a good example of what I’d like to see as it pits Jolyene, Ermes, and Emporio against a Stand User with a power that’s easily understandable yet still weird.  That gives us a tense, strategic fight where one of its highlights involves our protagonist setting herself on fire.

Then we get to the last two arcs and things start feeling like they’re going off the rails again.  “Netherworld” gives us a Stand User who can draw memories from the very Earth itself and has Jolyene and Ermes put into a frankly insane situation that even sees Pale Snake’s plans disrupted for a moment.  That disruption leads into the start of the next arc, “Heavy Forecast,” as Weather Forecast’s personality gets an adjustment and people start turning into snails.

It’s clear from how this volume ended that Araki wants to keep the momentum going as this Part heads into its climax.  Yet, it seems as if the more he tries to find crazier and crazier situations to put his characters into, the further the story’s logic slips away.  Given that it looks like we’re headed for a final showdown at Cape Canaveral, I wouldn’t rule out that the final arc will take place IN SPAAAAAAACE!!!  Whether or not that inspires Araki to give us a straightforward conflict in an out-there setting, or a finale that hardly makes any sense (as was the case last time), it’s anybody’s guess at this point.