I was so excited coming into the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean manga. I loved the anime when it aired on Netflix, and there always tend to be more details and depth in the original source. The first volume doesn’t disappoint, and I feel like that’s especially true concerning Stone Ocean characters.
If you did happen to see the anime adaptation, then a lot of the first volume of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean manga will feel quite familiar. It’s a very faithful adaptation. If it is new to someone, Stone Ocean is yet another fantastic example of Hirohiko Araki’s intricate designs for characters and storytelling.
Things start off a bit fast-paced, to help swiftly introduce the reader to Jolyne Cujoh and her situation. After taking the fall for a deadly hit-and-run her boyfriend committed, she’s on the way to trial and prison. However, before going before the judge, her lawyer presents her with a locket her mother was holding for her from her absentee father, Jotaro Kujo. It contains a fragment of the arrow from Diamond is Unbreakable and, upon handling the item, unlocks her ability to use the Stand Stone Free.
While much of this first volume does deal with her coming to terms with using her Stand and somehow encountering an array of other Stand users, as well as the encounter with Jotaro as he comes to help her break out of prison, it’s also an even more detailed introduction to her, Ermes Costello, and the other inmates at the prison. Especially since, due to the natural constraints of the anime adaptation, it means more opportunities for interactions.
The initial interactions between Jolyne and Ermes are a great example. When we first meet them in holding, when Jolyne talks about being caught by the guards and we see the initial flashback to what happened with Romeo, we get an immediate and perfect introduction to the kind of person she is. She’s still a bit childish. However, she’s also strong and can be assertive. There’s also a bit of a dramatic nature and goofiness there. Yet, we also see her compassion and inability to ignore the potential pain of someone else.
Likewise, we get a similar read on Ermes right away. She’s more knowledgeable and has a sense of experience with both prison life and the world in general. She’s okay with friendly teasing, but is quick to step in for Jolyne when others get involved and shows genuine concern for someone she just met. There’s an immediate intelligence. And again, we get all this in the anime adaptation as well. However, I feel that Araki’s original material offers an additional sense of nuance.
It even comes through with Jolyne’s later encounters with other characters in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean manga. The whole encounter with Gwess feels far more pressing here. Especially as we’re getting even a better idea directly from Araki how Jolyne handles this first encounter with another Stand user and, in turn, begins to really properly use and experiment with Stone Free to deal with the situation. Then with her father Jotaro, we get this initial moment of them reuniting. The art direction and storytelling really helps convey their positions.
It’s a wonderfully detailed experience, especially if someone is coming to the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean manga after watching the anime. You can see how well the major beats and people’s personalities were handled. Yet, at the same time, I feel like somehow Stone Ocean’s characters are even richer when you have the book open in front of you.
Volume 1 of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stone Ocean manga is available now via Viz Media, and volume 2 will be released on January 23, 2024. The anime adaptation is available on Netflix.
